The unexpected

There are some things you experience in life that are just plain unexpected. Some of these things are hard, some exciting, some thought provoking. But wouldn't you agree that those unexpected experiences are usually a gift?

Yesterday our little LDS branch did a service project up on the Mount of Olives. We picked olives for hours in order to help a Lutheran hospital on their quest to provide good care for poor Palestinians.

We filled several big bags....


In order to raise money, they then press the olives for oil, and put them in hand blown glass bottles to sell.

Awesome.



Unexpected, but awesome.

Halloween

I officially miss the celebrating of American holidays. It's just not that same when no one understands why your baby is dressed up like a lion. We went to playgroup (for expats) Friday morning, which had a Halloween theme, and as we were approaching the house, a very cute little Arab man asked us who's birthday it was. We explained it's an American holiday, Halloween, and that kids dress up. He asked if it's a religious holiday or a government holiday...I think all three of us moms chimed it at the same time, "It's not religious!" We can't have them thinking we're too weird.

So Joni had two costumes, since she was having a hard time choosing between her two options. In the morning for playgroup she was a ballerina.

On the way there - one very excited girl. Luckily, my friends actually have cars, so we do catch a ride occasionally.

Here Jackson is trying to escape in his lion costume. I didn't get any great pictures of him...blurry and such, but I'll include these two.

Someone brought a pinata, I think straight from Mexico. Fantastic idea - the kids loved it!

Here is Joni's second costume - medieval princess. We went to a friend's house to carve "pumpkins" (or the closest thing we could come up with), and Joni sported this get-up...

(Just being a proud mommy and showing off her awesome 'do)

All of us at the Myers' house, showing off our "pumpkins". Bro. Fitzgerald, the Crawfords, us, and the Myers. Tom was mighty proud of his Cyclops - that's so Tom, right?

Emptying our giant pumpkin. I think she took two little slops out and was done. She likes to be clean too much to deal with such messy matters.

The cute kiddies - Jackson, Joni, Claire, Zoe, Benji, and Eli.

Think about it....

Which one would you miss the most?

• car

• dishwasher

• iron/ironing board (no way to iron your clothes, even for church)

• Target + Walmart + Shopko

• microwave

• blender + handmixer + crockpot

• TV

• the absence of large machine guns on every corner

• your books

• flat iron/curling iron/hair dryer that works (well)
  

• cheese and meat - TOGETHER

• regular dish set (as in, more than a few plastic plates, a few spoons/forks, and ONE butter knife)

• washing machine & dryer

• mexican food

• carpet

• wall hangings...or any other home decor, for that matter
  

• your mom

• cheese that has FLAVOR

• mountains

• income
  

• BYU football (Tom's suggestion)

• grass

• makeup that doesn't cost you your first born

• a bank that actually lets you access your OWN money

• (while we're on the subject, DECENT customer service)

• 90% of your shoes
  

• your native language (both spoken and written)
  

• couches (seriously, couches! could you do without?!?)

• clean neighborhood
  

Really, take a minute and think about, and I think I will feel better.

Because I miss them ALL.

Guilt

All parents do dumb things, all parents make stupid mistakes...so why is it that Tom and I feel so guilty?

Maybe because BOTH of our kids have knots on their heads.

Jackson has literally fallen on his head four or five times (lost track) in the last several days.

I'm even brave enough to show the evidence.

So sad.

This little dandy was acquired when he landed head first out of his stroller, onto the grocery store floor.

We don't even know how Joni got hers - any time we ask her, she says something different.


On a happy note....

As I've mentioned before, Jackson has an abundantly good appetite. Food is a very serious matter for him. He often talks to and yells at his food before he eats it. If you're feeding him yourself (as opposed to him just stuffing things in his own mouth) he will begin to yell at you for the next bite, before the current one is completely swallowed.

With that in mind, I have to share this quick video. We had given him several falafel balls on a plate (yes, on the floor - no highchair, remember), so he stuffed them all in his mouth and crawled off to play. As you can see from the video, the balls kept spewing out, unable to stay put, and he would shove them back in. What he's doing here is not necessarily unusual for him - I just felt like capturing it this time....

Oh, how I LoVe that little man.

Joni's big #4!

My little girl is getting so darn big. The night before her birthday, all I could think about was the night before she was born four years ago. We had no idea that our little Jojo was about to make a surprise entrance into this world, five weeks earlier than expected.

I remember that night very clearly. Due to some severe swelling, the doctors were keeping an eye on me. I had gone back into the hospital to finish up some lab work. Just as they were sending me on my way, my OB made a frantic call to the nurses, telling them to keep me there because I had to have the baby that night.

A few hours later, Joni came into this world via c-section. I missed most of the birth because in the middle of surgery, I began to feel very severe pain, and they basically knocked me out. Several hours later Joni was sent to another hospital because she needed more and better care. I didn't get to hold her until she was several days old. Her entrance into our lives and the proceeding weeks were a bit of a roller coaster, but we loved her every step of the way. She's our little Jojo, and we're so glad she's part of this family.

Little Joni just a few days old in the NICU

Growing up.....

In the bath at about 7 mo. or so / in her BYU shirt at 13 mo. / and eating cake on her 2nd b-day.

Her 4th birthday was a couple of days ago. It was celebrated quite simply here in Jerusalem, but we tried our best to help her feel special...because she is.

Joni enjoying her very expensive cheesy noodles. :)

Joni with her cake she picked out from the grocery store (with no mixer, no oven, and no measuring utensils, I have a good excuse to buy instead of make). Technically, the cake says congratulations (in Hebrew) but she was convinced it said Happy Birthday.

She spent a good part of the evening talking to family back in the states over Skype.

Just as Tom's family was about to sing Happy Birthday to her, she yells, "Wait! I'm not ready! I have to put on my lipstick first!" Funny kid. You'd think she was turning 14 instead of 4.

Happy Birthday Jojo! We love you!!!

Joni's "Utah" birthday

Before I post pictures of Joni's real birthday, I thought I'd share some pictures of her "Utah" birthday we had for her about a month ago.

Knowing that we would be in Jerusalem for Joni's big #4, we decided to let her have a little party in Utah before we left. So we invited her two little cousins her age that live nearby, Abby and Ava, and took them to Jungle Jim's Playland in Salt Lake. They had a ball!

First, we had a picnic at a park.

Then we busted up a pinata (okay, the kids hardly made a dent - my sister Kristin finally ended up whacking it to death).

The girls loved all the rides. It's like a Six Flags, but for 4 year-olds. Awesome.

Kristin being a good sport.


Bumper cars.

Joni, Abby, and Ava with Grandma and Grandpa.

The babies were very patient. We basically just stayed and stayed until the girls had had their fill of rides and fun. Here is Jackson giving Grandma a "love".

Jackson starting to get veeeery tired.

The look on Joni's face here sums up the day she had. I think she rode the merry-go-round about ten different times, and she was ecstatic about it every time.

Ever heard of a toilet???

That's what I feel like saying to people around here. I have been here a mere three weeks, and I have already seen FIVE people taking a "wiz" (Tom's word) out in public.

The grand total is actually six if I count Tom's little "emergency" a couple days ago.

Oh wait, I guess it's seven if I count Joni's accident the other day at the playground.

(And none of that includes the picture that's stuck to the inside of our bathroom door - it's of two little boys peeing out on a sidewalk, and there's no earthly way to remove it).

Yes, this is my life.