I am finding many interesting things to photograph and here in Kuwait. Some of the most interesting advice about driving can be found on the overpasses. Here is one I snapped recently. I just wish most people driving here read this and understood it. I still cringe when I see children laying on the front dashboard of a car or hoping around on the driver's lap while going 70 MPH down the motorway. you'll be glad to know I have remained "civilized". I am awfully concerned though about my driving upon returning to the states. I might need a refresher course in driving American style : )

I am really enjoying photography, I even have been dreaming about getting perfect photos. There are not many birds in Kuwait, much to my chagrin and this has become a passion of mine as well. Here is a picture of the little three at the Embassy playground on the merry go round.

On the 20th of January Timmy turned three! We have not really celebrated because Kelly has been gone. It is no fun to open birthday gifts without Daddy to help build the excitement. Besides, Timmy doesn't really understand what a birthday is, so don't worry he hasn't missed it, yet.

Timmy, you are an amazingly sweet little man. You are extremely patient, fun loving, sweet to your "twin" sister, silly, a great bike rider and a wonderful snuggler. We are so glad God added you to our family! I can't imagine my life without you. Who would say " You funny, Mom." or "I not say that!" when we tease you. Who would come to hug me when I cry and say "Mommy, sad?" You are the best, Timmy. The first photo was taken of you dressed up by big sister, Faith. She said you were graduating from Medical school. The others are of a birthday present from Mommy, Daddy and the bunch. You love it! You especially love hiding in it and scaring anyone who happens by. You remind so much of your father. You both optimize patience and unconditional love. Lastly, Timmy you have an amazing throwing arm. You can throw a ball better than most children I have ever seen. I picture you playing a fullback in football someday, you are tough!!! Just remember keep your head down! Love you little man~ Mommy

I am excited to report that very quickly Kelly will return to Kuwait, YAY! It has been an extremely hard parenting journey for me and I frankly am not as nice when he is gone. I feel bled dry. I am up before the crack of dawn, getting the girls on the bus, feeding all the kids, cleaning up, buying things we need for the home because many things are still in Virgina, trying to keep all people happy and not fighting, more meals and clean up, reading a plethora of books, kissing all hurts, bathing five children, helping with homework, completing bedtime routines, making lunches for the next day, and lastly reassuring those nightmare sufferers. I am tired just typing it! We have survived and even thrived in some areas. Overall it went well, do I want to do it all again without help? NO!!!!!

We are in the process of hiring someone to live in our home to help us out. She will function as a nanny/housekeeper. She has her own room and full bath that has a separate entrance. These homes here are enormous! I'll be honest I am still, like a typical American, uncomfortable with the idea of someone I employ living in my home. I am truly fiercely independent, but God and the Foreign Service are changing that. I have had to rely on others to help.

Our host family, the "R" family, has been the best! We can't thank them enough. They have gone above and beyond the call of duty. They have shared tips, tricks and their frustrations so I can learn quickly minus the frustrations. I can't wait to become a host family as well. I know what the concerns are, I have lived them. I am excited to bless someone else as they come to post.

We have settled into a more regular routine and even made friends with the little Kuwaiti boy and his nanny next door. Some of our favorites of late are our weekly IKEA stop to get ice cream cones. The ice cream there is very good and quite reasonably priced per Kuwait standards. The other favorite is Domino's Pizza. Truly a taste of home as it is headquartered in Michigan. I am just positive the sausage on the supreme pizza is pork. Everyone reassures me that it is not. Pork you see is illegal in Kuwait, along with alcohol, and pornography. Chicken hot dogs are good, but just not the same as a juicy Koegel's dog with some mustard and kraut.

Have a great weekend~

" I have a dream that my four (five) little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. "

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

"If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive."

~Martin Luther King Jr.~

While most of you were sleeping we here on the other side of the globe were up and out. I was determined today to go to a place call Lulu's Hypermarket down off the Fourth Ring Road, because I had heard there is a Plant Souk there. I have wanted plants since we arrived. But alas, things that were higher priorities got in the way of me finding something beautiful to add color to our home. I found my way to the Fourth Ring Road and drove until I saw the huge Lulu's hypermarket sign. Beyond Lulu's is the Plant Souk. I drive by and found a shop I liked so I stopped. I bartered at first unsuccessfully. The key is you have to be able to walk away, right? That is exactly what I did do. I think the gentlemen bartering with me thought I was sold. To his dismay, I moved down to the next shop.

I bartered there for a Bougainvillea tree. I have ALWAYS wanted one, it is much to cold to grow one in Michigan. I would always see them while vacationing in warmer states and think "I wish we had those back home." I know for you Californians and warmer weather people this plant may not seem like a big deal as they are all over. But to someone who has never cared for one and always envied them, I was excited to see some small trees planted in pots. I went to barter and the gentlemen asked immediately "from U.K. or U.S.?". I of course answered him and thought I guess my cover is blown, now I will get the American price!! I got him down to 5 KD (Kuwaiti Dinars) which is about 20 U.S. dollars. I was satisfied and I had him carry it to the back of the "Blue Bomber" (our mini-van) and we were off to the Hypermarket. What is a "hyper" market? Luke stated "you must have to be hyper to go in there" After considering that I immediately knew if that was the case we were in good company : )

We ate at McDonalds, and we all survived without any major incidents. We all really like the chocolate milk box, as we don't have those in the states. After we got ice cream from a local vendor outside the Hypermarket. Timmy proceeded to dump all the ice cream from his cone on the floor. He was fine with it. After I pantomimed to the man that it was on the ground and he should come and clean it before someone slipped on it. I added a tiny bit of Hope's ice cream to Timmy's clean cone. He was happy to have that, but he really doesn't like ice cream. It is too cold for him. He wants to like it and knows his older siblings do, so he always acts like it is the best while licking it very gingerly and then eventually it is all mushy and it gets thrown away. By the time the ice cream was finished, Timmy was still holding his mushy cone with a majority of the ice cream left!

We made it back home before the noon rush of people leaving the mosques. Today was a victory indeed, I don't mind stretching my comfort zone. I just don't like to be forced to do it too quickly. I am getting used to this being home, what fun we had today!! Have a great Friday~

Hello Again, I am so glad to be back! This week we had some exciting new developments. Grace and Faith started school. They are thrilled to get to ride a bus to school. I am glad with the wild fast driving here that they have individual seat belts in their bus. I miss them after being with them for man months straight. They are loving meeting new friends and learning some really exciting things.

Faith's class is learning about Japan and Grace's Kenya for International week at the school. Faith has shared about Mt. Fuji and why Japan is called " The Land of the rising Sun". Grace has shared some interesting things that Kenyans drink. Two of them being animal blood and sour milk. And to think I would like to live there someday. Here are my two oldest babies before the crack of dawn before the bus picked them up. The school/work week in Kuwait is Sunday through Thursday. As I type this I look forward to the weekend after a busy week, TGIT(Thursday)!!!!


The other photos were taken on Saturday when our big shipment of HHE arrived. We were so excited for the arrival of our earthly belongings, especially boxes of stuffed animals and toys. Honestly after all the items that were in the shipping containers were loaded into the house I was thanking God for the arrival of the stuffed bears, dogs and cats. If those wouldn't have made it there wouldn't have been a dry eye in the house, mine included. I am now crying for other reasons. The moving company erred on our shipment. At least half of our stuff that we wanted shipped to Kuwait, after diligently going through ever box or item multiple times, is still in northern Virginia in storage. I have loads of plastic containers and boxes that were never supposed to see the light of day for quite awhile, lining all available spaces in hallways and extra rooms. Obviously the next job for me is to get the items that need to go back to storage in D.C. back there. I am going through inventories line by line to understand the mistakes and request the things we wanted here be shipped to us as soon as possible. I am missing all my dishes and most of the boxes from the kitchen. I now understand why one must be so flexible when part of the Foreign Service. Assume things will not go as planned, plan accordingly, assert yourself when there are problems and of course cover it all with prayer.

I mentioned the "wild" driving here. I have been to countries in the past that have wild drivers before. The difference is that this is a great deal of weaving in and out of traffic at HIGH rates of speed. My first thought upon arrival, "I am not driving here!" Over time it became clear that without a car of your own you are trapped, there is no safe public transportation for us to take and taxis are expensive. We rented a car for a week while Kelly worked out buying an older minivan from one of the driver's at the Embassy. Kelly drove at first while I sat in the passenger seat cringing and commonly waiting to feel the impact of another car bearing down on us. I knew Kelly was going to be traveling for work, so I had to suck it up and just do it! I learned that he who hesitates while driving here is not only lost, but hit by the other guy who assumed you drove like all the rest of Kuwait.

After many days driving in our "new" old Chevy Venture minivan I can say that I have scrapped together all my collective grit and pluck to navigate the highways of Kuwait. I am now happy to report I am able to drive without breaking into cold sweats. I had a big near miss the other day and I praise God for protecting us! I had braced myself to hear the scrapping metal against metal, as I was circling the "round about". Amazingly, we missed this guy in his BMW sports car. I knew the Venture could handle a bump, but one would think that he would not want his beautifully iridescent blue chick magnet to remain showy and dent less. As I watched him so close to my car I realized he never even looked my way or flinched, just kept right on driving.

Please keep up the prayers for us all, we are getting settled and in. This is feeling more and more like "home", our things are arriving, we are making memories and we are back into a more normal pattern of our days. I will be back soon with more photos to give you a taste of what the city looks like. Thanks for being patient with us as we worked out our technical issues. I have missed this outlet very much and am so blessed to have this way to communicate with you all. Have a great night~

This is Kelly, posting for a change. Crystal usually does the blogging, but she is currently in Kuwait struggling to get our internet connected and so she is unable to post anything. I am in Baghdad right now with a good connection and thought I would add something to the blog so we won’t be forgotten. We hope to have our internet connected soon, so Crystal should be back online and I imagine she will have a lot to say about our adventure thus far.

Our family is doing great now. We had a rough initial week in Kuwait, as everyone developed a GI virus and we had a veritable puke-fest. We had nowhere to go but up after that. Everyone is healthy again and adjusted to our new timezone (8 hrs ahead of Eastern Time).

Everyone recovered in time to celebrate Christmas in our new home. We were blessed to have new friends set up a Christmas tree, with lights and ornaments, prior to our arrival. Kids always make Christmas fun. We especially appreciated being as close as we've ever been to Bethlehem during the season. We didn't have a white Christmas this year, but perhaps a bit more like the original advent 2000 years ago.

I was in Kuwait for just over two weeks when I had to leave for Baghdad. Crystal has been working diligently to organize our new house. Huge boxes of belongings have arrived that were packed several months ago in Michigan. The kids were happily reunited with their box of stuffed animals they have worried over for months. I’m sure Crystal will have stories to tell about her packing and unpacking experience.

The oldest girls started school yesterday and they are really enjoying it. I believe they have been starved for interaction with other kids, as we were somewhat isolated as a family in Washington DC for so long. They are attending an international school with other students from all over the world. Grace is in 2nd grade and Faith is in 1st. Luke and the twins have more mommy time to themselves now and Luke is getting some undivided attention, for a change, when the twins are napping.

I am currently working in Baghdad. I am impressed with the great group of people serving here to try and help this country. I’m limited in what I can talk about regarding the details, but the people at the embassy are great. We have people working here from over 50 countries. There is a large dining hall, and I have enjoyed each day meeting someone new from another place in the world who has voluntarily chosen to work at our embassy. I have dined and talked with people from Peru, Ukraine, Philippines, Uganda, South Africa, Madagascar, Norway, Senegal, Hungary, India, Bangladesh, and Canada, a truly international experience, without the jet lag.

I’ve included some pictures (can't figure out how to place them where I want them) and hope you enjoy them. We’re all looking forward to getting our internet going to help us feel more connected to friends and family. Hopefully soon and Crystal will have lots to post.