Internet was incredibly iffy in Addis. It was dial up, for one thing. And for another there were a number of factors that would render us dial-tone-less and unable to, well, dial up, at any given moment. For instance, a rainstorm, electricity being out, or you know, just a little wind. I'd be online for two minutes and then suddenly bumped off, unable to get back on for the rest of the day. It was delightful. And embarrassingly difficult to deal with. I felt pretty disconnected with what was happening (some of which were big happenings) around the world with family and friends.
ANYWAY, there would have never been enough consistent internet time to post...so I would email Erin some pictures and a post and bam! it'd be on the blog. So great.
And while we're talking about Erin, we should also talk about how she cleaned our apartment and cleaned out our fridge and pantry! after we left, did laundry for me, emailed me almost daily, prepped and then cleaned before and after sub-leasers came, kept track of our mail, deposited checks, stocked our refrigerator and had the apartment nice 'n tidy when we walked in the door. Oh yes, she (and another dear friend Holly) also had dinner and chocolate chip cookie bars waiting for us.
Those two friends' kindness and attention to detail (and knowing what would mean love to me) brought me to tears when I walked into our home. Really.
So! Technically it's been a SUPER long time since I'VE posted something on here. :) (I do think that's what I was originally saying before I got side tracked with the huge blessing of friends God has given us here in Dallas)
The past two and a half months at home have flown by. At the end of each week I am amazed that it's Sunday night again and I'm sitting at the computer planning the menu and scribbling out the grocery list for another week.
How is Lucy Dawn six months old?
And Josie old enough to be in Cubbies?
To fast track you, here's a little of what's happened:
I got super sick on the flight to Houston from Dubai - as in, no sleeping, fever, uncomfy sick. It was kind of a mid-air nightmare. Thankfully the girls still did fabulous. LD slept at least half the flight in her bassinet
and Josie watched 5 movies (at least that's the number she keeps telling people "I watch FIVE movies on the plane!!"). Honestly, she could have watched 10 and I'm not sure I would have minded. It was sort of that kind of flight. 
So we were welcomed as a big sick mess by awaiting family. We weren't TOO sick for pappasitos, though. Chips, salsa and fajitas? Never to sick for that.
That first week back was yucky. I only got out of bed to go to the dr. to find out I had a touch of pnemonia and to attend a meeting for work. Jeremiah did everything that week...it was as if he had forgotten me in Africa...I was that absent. Poor guy.
Towards the end of the week I got better (whoo hoo!) and we welcomed one of Josie's best friends (and cousin) to town for a week long dance camp,
as well as nightly family VBS at our church
(we all went and Jeremiah and I, and Grandma for the couple days she was here, were the leaders). Adding another 3 year old to a 750 sq ft apt and small SUV was funny and as you can imagine, busy. The girls had a blast together and I was so thankful we could have a 2nd annual dallas dance camp week.
Grandma drove the girls back to Houston for yet another dance camp the following week! LD and I drove down in the middle of the week to a) celebrate another best friend cousin's 3rd bday and b) to escape the massive construction noises coming from right outside our windows (we are in the midst of a building-wide construction project that produces noise that even the loudest volume on the stereo can't overcome). We drove home to Dallas the next morning and prepped for a building wide event (part of my new job is to plan the building's events). Josie got her new loft bed
and has started swimming! (constantly impressing me with her bravery)The next week we celebrated our 5th anniversary with an overnight stay at a great hotel in Dallas - and Josie got to spend the night with my long time amazing friend Mary Kathryn (and her husband and her dog, which should be noted, because both her husband and her dog helped occupy Josie while she was there!). (we couldn't leave LD because bless her heart, she won't take a bottle - oh dear.)
We picked Josie up from MK's and drove to the lakehouse that weekend to hang out with the fam, where Jeremiah wake-boarded, Josie tubed for the first time (!!!) LD donned a lifejacket for the first time, and Ellie got bit by a spider for the first time that later got infected and then put her out for ANOTHER week. Slightly pathetic, and very painful. It wasn't pretty. I'll leave it at that.
A couple weeks later we made a super painful drive to Houston for our annual family weekend and really enjoyed time with all of my brothers and sisters and nieces and nephew, and of course the ones that started it all, my parents. They had planned a fun weekend of relaxed time in each other's homes, around tables and in front of ipads and football games (it happens). It was fun. But we dreaded the drive back...little LD is not the quiet traveler that Josie was. :) She's lovely indeed, but you better believe she's verbal.
And now Jeremiah's classes and job interviews have started, Josie's AWANA and ballet classes have started (and "homeschool" started...and pretty much stopped...we play better than we do "school"), Ellie's Bible studies have started (and work responsibilities kept going), dr. appointments for Lucy Dawn have started, our marriage small group started, juggling life with one car started, and a calendar full of other things (like LOTS of time outside and fun with friends) started.
Each semester, thus far in seminary, has brought changes. None has looked exactly like another. So that's kind of where we are now. Sorting through the changes that this semester has brought, and figuring out what our "normal" looks like this fall. I'm a big big fan of routine, and bringing a pretty steady rhythm to our days and weeks, so it takes me awhile to adapt to each semester. Feels like we are almost to a steady beat, though. Almost.
Ethiopia is always a constant in our thoughts. As crazy as life has been, it seems like yesterday we were walking the muddy streets of Addis . Convenience of home (and I do mean home as in the U.S. of A., baby) is fantastic, but the taste of what life could be like one day was great too (hard, but great.)...we won't ever forget our time there.
We have some pretty big items we are praying through right now...Lucy Dawn has some odd joint issues which haven't been diagnosed yet but we are seeing specialists about...Josie has initiated quite a few conversations (and prayers) about Jesus and the cross and heaven...Jeremiah is looking for a job and studying Hebrew (among other things but Hebrew is INTENSE)...and I (I was going to say Ellie, but let's be honest about who is writing this) am struggling to not worry and am just kind of tired.
So there you have it. A little fast track...that wasn't so fast since I'm sure it took you a lot longer than "fast" to read it.
I do hope to post more regularly and also post some of my journals from the rest of our time in Ethiopia. There was so much to say it was hard to make it publishable sometimes. Really, there's so much to say that sometimes I can't even verbalize it!
So, not a promise, but here's to hoping I can find some time to type more. (and maybe less at the same time so people can finish an entry in one setting!)
P.S. tons more pictures to post, but blogger isn't letting me right now...will try again later.
