Changes

The McDonalds and our favorite coffee shop in our suburb. Still closed the last time we checked.

During the past two weeks we have been living our lives with a few changes. Some would say these changes would make life more difficult, and in a way, they are right, but some of these changes have been blessings in disguise. Up until now, I have been teaching kindergarten at the school our son attends, and while I love being around these precious little ones, it has been difficult at home. With my husband teaching in the high-school, our daughter teaching in the middle-school and me teaching in the elementary, our home has not been receiving the attention it deserves. So, starting the 2nd semester, I will no longer be teaching. I will become a full-time housewife again. I am greatly looking forward to it.

Little did I know that I would be spending much more time at home and getting to much more of those housewife chores than I had bargained for. Most businesses shut down during this time, and that means restaurants and fast food chains. If you have been reading my blog for long, you probably read the one about how restaurants and fast food chains deliver. Well, that was one change our family had to adjust to. All of our meals had to be cooked at home. Now that has not been a bad thing because we are home and not going to work/school. This has been one of those "blessings in disguise", except I think my son may be having McDonalds withdrawals. ;o) I am also missing our favorite coffee shop.

Another thing that happened was that our cleaner was not able to come this past week. Ok, I can hear alot of you saying "You have a cleaner come to your home?" Well, what you have to understand is that we do have someone come once a week. He gets paid somewhere between $11.00 - $12.00 for about 6 hours of work. He is a Sudanese man named Deng, and this is how he makes his living. Also, it is very helpful for him to come since we live where the sand and dust can build up in homes very fast. So, there is more of those "housewife chores" that had to be done, but fortunately, the whole family has been home so everyone has chipped in and helped out a little, plus, Deng should be back tomorrow. :oD

It has been nice being home with my family, but I can't wait till things get back to "normal". I just wonder when that will be, and if it will get back to the "normal" we were used to before, or if there will be more changes.

Day after Christmas

This year, we actually did not get around to opening our Christmas presents till the morning after Christmas. We were really busy Christmas Eve Day and Christmas Day. Just wanted to post a few of the pictures we took. You can see our pretty tree and some of our bedouin furniture. Notice the beautiful light fixture. It is one of my favorite things we have purchased here.

You might ask, who is the other boy in the pictures? Well, one of Levi's friends has been staying with us. He is staying for 10 days while his parents are in South Africa for his brother's graduation from University.

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas holiday. I just wanted to put a quote down that I borrowed from a friend on Facebook. Hope he doesn't mind, but it is the message I would like to send out this and every Christmas.

"The older I get, the less I look for presents for me under a tree -- the more I look for the Presence of the One who died for me on a tree."

Here's wishing all of you out there a wonderful holiday season and a blessed New Year.

Several Reasons I Miss the States

I love kids, and I really love all of these little girls. They are just several little reasons I miss the States when I am overseas. The one I am holding, and the one behind me in the turquoise t-shirt are my nieces. The rest of them are my sister's best friend's little girls. Aren't they all sweet? They are sweet to look at anyway. They can be a bit of a hand-full and a bit mischevious when they are all together, but I miss them anyway.

If you notice, they are all wearing "Egypt" t-shirts. Even the baby, who is only 3 months old is wearing one.

I really hate missing out on their lives as they grow up, but most of them are at an age now where they pretty much remember me. I'm just happy about that, and I'm also happy that when I do return, I get so many hugs.

A Trip to the Past

Our family took a short drive last Saturday to an area very close to where we live called "Wilson's Creek Battlefield". It is a national park and is an area where a battle took place during the Civil War. Today, August 10th, is the anniversary of that battle, and because of the anniversary there were some special activities that went on there this past weekend.

The first thing we did was watch a movie that was about 20 minutes long about the battle that took place at Wilson's Creek 148 years ago today. I'm not much of a history buff, but I do admit the movie was quite interesting. Missouri was one of the only States that was split on its decision whether to stay with the Union, which was the Northern States, or go with the Confederates which were the Southern. The battle was considered a victory for the South, but it was not a strong enough victory to take Missouri away from the Union.

The next thing we did was park the car and walk a beautiful scenic route back to the site of a mill was called Gibson's Mill. As you can see, it was a beautiful, sunny day and a nice day for a walk. Doesn't the creek look inviting?

The beautiful, green path we walked.

After this, we went to see a house that was actually there during this famous battle in Missouri. There was a family that lived there called the "Ray" family. There were 12 people who lived in this small house, and then a slave and her 4 children that occupied a cabin in back of the house. The house has been redone but still has the original fireplace. The house was occupied till around the 1960s. During the battle, most of the family stayed in the cellar which was under the house. When the battle was over, they left the cellar, only to find all kinds of dead and wounded soldiers all over their yard and fields. So, the house served as a hospital during and after the battle.

The original fireplace.

The house of the Ray family.

The next thing we watched was a demonstration of how the soldiers shot a cannon and how the infantry loaded and shot their weapons. This was very interesting to me. The cannon took around 6 to 7 men to operate it. In both this group and the group of men in the infantry we took notice of how there were even very young men, practically still boys, who participated. This is not unlike what it would have been like back then.


There was lots of other things to do and observe, but by this time, we were 2 hours past our lunch time. So, we decided to call it a day. Tim and Dillon went back the next day and went to the museum and to a seminar on how to trace your ancestry back to Civil War times. Tim really enjoys tracing his ancestry and has done this for many years, but that will be a topic for another post here soon.

Tomorrow, I'll try to post some more pictures of this adventure, as there were just too many to post in this one post.

A Special Aunt

My Mom was the baby of the family with 6 siblings, the oldest of which is my Aunt Shirley. Aunt Shirley is 20 years older than my Mom, and therefore sometimes felt more like a Mom to my Mom and a Grandma to me. She has always been a very special person in my life.

As a child, I can remember going to her house and my sister and I would always cry when we had to leave. Like I said before, she always felt more like a Grandma, and we even called her husband, my Uncle Carl, Papa. He was the only Grandpa figure I remember, as one grandpa passed away long before I was born, and the other one when I was around 2. Unfortunately, Papa passed away a little over 20 years ago.

Aunt Shirley continued on though, still being someone very special in my life. She loves to do for, and give to others. About 10 years ago, I graduated from college, and her gift to me was a beautiful hand made quilt. Well, after receiving that quilt, I had a new obsession. I love quilts. I would love to be able to make them, but I probably would not have the patience to do them by hand like Aunt Shirley. Also, I have a wrist that bothers me quite a bit, so I don't even know if I would physically be able to do this. It has always amazed me though, how Aunt Shirly, being around 82 years old now, can still whip out quilts at an amazing speed. Since that first quilt I received back in 1999, Aunt Shirley has made around 6 or 7 for my family alone.

The quilt above is a quilt that I went out and bought the fabric for, intending on trying to make a quilt for Levi myself, but I just didn't have the patience or the time. So, I took the fabric to Aunt Shirley and asked her if she could make it. Well, she had the top of the quilt done in about 2 weeks. She doesn't do her own quilting anymore, so the quilt was then off to a woman she uses to be quilted. After just a few days it was ready, and I went and picked it up yesterday. I tried to pay Aunt Shirley something for doing this for me, but she absolutely refused as she always does. I will just have to go buy her something special or take her out to lunch sometime. She sure deserves it.

Our Trip to Silver Dollar City

One of our favorite rides there, "Wildfire"

My husband and two sons at the beginning of "Wildfire"

Tim and Levi rode "The Lost River". You usually get soaked on this ride.

Riding the train. We got robbed. This is the robber and the conductor.

A lady making peanut brittle.

A man who made beautiful knives.

Funnel Cake, Yum!

A lady that was in character.

A man that was in character.

One of my favorite places to go when I am back home is a place called "Silver Dollar City". It is a theme park that takes you back to the simple life of the 1880s in America. One of the things I love about this theme park is that it is so family friendly. Another thing I love, is that there is something for everyone.

This is a list of what SDC offers on a daily basis during the season they are open:

-A Culinary and Craft School featuring cooking and craft classes.
-30 thrilling attractions and rides.
-60 unique craft shops.
-Live entertainment featuring more than 40 shows daily.
-Branson Craftsmen demonstrating skills in pioneer crafts.
-A dozen family friendly restaurants offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

My husband, our two boys and I went to Silver Dollar City yesterday. Our daughter did not get to go because she had to work. The first thing we did after we entered the park was go ride our favorite roller-coaster "Wildfire". There are some pictures above of this roller-coaster, and one of Tim and the boys as the ride was just beginning.

Another neat thing about the park is that all of the employees dress as if they were still living in the 1880s. They are always in character. I think it would be so much fun to have a job here.

There are tons of craft items also that are made by craftsmen right there in Silver Dollar City. Usually, you can go around to the craft stores and watch each craft being made. There are glass-blowers who make beautiful glass items such as vases, jewelry, all different kinds of dishes, and tons of little trinkets. There are blacksmiths, woodcarvers, women who make quilts, rag dolls, lye soap, etc. I could go on and on.

The food here is also spectacular. One could easily gain a few pounds in just one day from the homemade taffy, pork rinds, straberries or peaches and cream, funnel cakes, and all of the good Southern cookin.

Also, the entertainment in fantastic. There is all sorts of shows going on all over the park, from gospel singing groups, country or blue-grass music, comical shows, and kids' shows. One of the most popular ones that has been around for ages is the Saloon Show. Yes, there is a saloon in Silver Dollar City, but don't worry, the strongest beer they serve is Root Beer.

If you would like to check out Silver Dollar City for yourself, here is a link that you can do that.

http://www.bransonsilverdollarcity.com/

I have posted quite a few pictures, but it was hard to choose just a few. Hope you enjoy them.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad on their wedding day back in 1964.


Mom and Dad just a couple of years ago.


Tomorrow is my Mom and Dad's 45th anniversary. That is a long time to be married. I am really fortunate to have been raised in a home where the parents were in it for the long haul. It is really a blessing to see that the love between them seems to grow each year. Yes, they had their struggles, just like any other married couple, but I think it is a real accomplishment in this day and age to remain married. It takes a committment, right from the start. It takes the attitude that, no matter what, problems will be worked out.

So, I just wanted to take today and post a couple of pictures of my Mom and Dad and let everyone know how much I love them and how proud I am of them.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!! May you have many more years together.

More Surprises

Seems like my family loves to surprise me. Last March, my son Levi and I were the only ones in our family, and amongst some of our friends, that did not know my daughter Kaily was coming to Egypt for a visit. I was sitting in our apartment, waiting for Tim to get home. I heard the front door open, and assuming it was Tim, just kept watching TV. All of a sudden, someone came up behind me, and started kissing me on the cheek. I almost had a heart attack when I turned around and realised it was my daughter. What a wonderful surprise!!

Well, a couple of days ago, I was surprised by my family again. As you all know, we recently returned to the States for a visit, and I was at my sister's house. Someone knocked on the door, and I did not think anything of it because we were expecting my sister's best friend and her kids. Well, imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw one of my favorite uncles, who I had not seen in 12 years. Then in walked my cousin, and an aunt who I had not seen for a very long time as well. I have to say I was very, very close to tears.

Again, my whole family knew about this. From what I heard, my sister had let it slip a couple of times in front of me, but I was so busy playing with my niece that I didn't hear her.

My uncle, aunt, and cousin that were here are from Oregon, and I am sad to say that they are already on their way back. But, I am so glad that it worked out they were still here for a couple of days after we arrived. It was such a blessing.

In the picture above, I am standing between my aunt and uncle (who are brother and sister). Also in the picture is my cousin with her husband and their little boy. The other picture is one of my favorite pictures of me and my daughter Kaily.