We Have a Senior

Blog Post about November 2021

Did I wait until November to take "first day of school" pictures?

Yes, I did.

Does anyone know why?

No, they do not.

Do we have a SENIOR this year?

YES, WE DO!

The current academics presently living at home

Since it was only 10pm in Nashville, our distant academic joined us.

Our fourth grader at the French School

Our very tall Sophomore

AND....OUR SENIOR!!! 

Karis is amazing, and this house will feel a void when she is gone.

She is funny, kind, smart, caring, clever, and she is such a hard worker!

She has plans to pursue an education in dance science, working toward a degree in physical therapy.

Porches are for People

Blog Post About May 2021

Our front porch area doesn't have a ton of room for activities to take place, but Keira does manage to go around in circles on her scooter, Doug grills some amazing meals for us, and visitors greet us at our gate.

Sometimes a beggar knocks asking for money; sometimes our neighbors bring over some of their food to share with us; sometimes a man representing the water company or the generator comes by asking for payment (there is no mail system here - it's door-to-door); and sometimes a salesman will try to sell books, soap, beauty products, etc. (remember door-to-door encyclopedia salesmen)??

Anyway, one night, daughters, nieces and cousins from a house down the street came knocking for Keira. 

The girls don't know English except a few phrases: 

How are you?

What's your name?

Where's Keira?

Most of the time, during the day, my answer is, "Keira la muxtapa" (She's at school), but this night, she went out to see them, and they were so excited. 

May 27, 2021

It makes me very aware that I have never seen any of these girls in a school uniform, and I have never seen any of them coming from or going to a school. 

I don't know how they are educated or even if they are, but it is a good conversation topic for Keira and I about how appreciative we should be that she is allowed an education.

It's the little things.

One day, Caleb was washing the porch for us, and he and Keira decided to play in the water after the porch was clean.

I don't know how Keira's knees could handle it, but she would run and slide across the tile. Ouch!

Caleb would spray her as she went, and she loved it. 

I stopped cutting up a watermelon to video her, and then they both wanted watermelon.

Caleb suggested I video Keira in slow-motion sliding across the tile, eating her watermelon.

I took some still shots to show you, but the video is so much better (and I have no idea what Caleb's hands are doing). Maybe he's praying she didn't get hurt as she slid into the wall each time.

I wish you could see the videos :)

May 29, 2021

I like that they find fun things to do even though we don't have a yard or grass.

Life is what you make it :)

Side notes, if you're curious: the propane bottles to the right are what we use to run our oven and heat rooms with individual propane heaters. 

And across the way, is a house to the right and an empty lot to the left. Our neighbors have a pick-up truck they use to drive around to neighborhoods and sell fruits and vegetables out of the back. This lot is where they store their empty crates until they can haul them off.

*Karis took some of her senior photos this year in front of the crates, and they turned out so good ;)

I was so thankful Kylie said she could take Karis' senior photos. 

These were taken two weeks ago when she was here:)

January 5, 2022

A Quiet Thanksgiving and a Photo Shoot

Blog About Fall 2020

Thanksgiving was a quiet affair, and we changed things up a bit, since it was just us. My kids didn't grow up with "typical" Thanksgiving food (and it's not really their favorite), so overseas, we usually have Mexican food on Thanksgiving.

This year, we had a brisket and some other favorite foods that we enjoy when we're in America.

We all remained outside, socially distanced, and we tossed the football around and enjoyed the beautiful weather!!

We also had a family photo shoot planned for when Kylie was in town, but we delayed it 6 days to give more time for Doug to finish his recovery time. He didn't have horrible symptoms, but he also didn't want to be around others until the time limit was up.

 The day we rescheduled for was FRIGID and WINDY!

The above photos were obviously mine.

You can tell a difference because the ones below shine.

They were taken by the amazing Melissa Darst!

First day of school (for some)

Blog Post About Summer 2020

Since we all got dressed up for Kylie's birthday, it seemed like a good time to take "Back to School" pictures. Caleb and Karis started four days before this, on the 17th, Keira wouldn't start online with the French School until September, and Kylie's first day of college would be September 8th.

Kylie was actually the only one that had to wear a mask walking into her buildings while the rest of them schooled at home on a computer, but we felt like we needed to take the obligatory 2020 Covid school picture.

Caleb HAD to throw the "smolder" in there.

And we also took the obligatory "social distancing" picture. We hope these pictures don't become the norm for years to come...

August 21, 2020