En Garde!

Merry Christmas to Aubree!  Her fencing gear arrived today!  The pants are the wrong size, so we're sending them back.  Doesn't she look amazing?  She's having a lot of fun with this sport!

Our Next Assignment!

Mike received an email last night that he has been paneled for Houston, Texas!  We are excited to move back to the States (even though we REALLY wanted to stay overseas), because we will be closer to family.  The last month, I have been talking myself into moving back.  It was a long shot to get another overseas position, as State Medical only approved 3 cities for Aubree to go to.  So, here I've been psyching myself up to move back, and every day I have found a positive reason.  Houston was Mike's #1 pick, and I was going back and forth between Houston and Denver.  I've known all along that we will end up where the Lord needs us, and I know that I will be happy wherever we live, so it didn't really matter to me where it was.  If all goes well, we'll be able to extend to be there 3 years, and Aubree will graduate from high school.  Our biggest challenge will be finding a home to rent that is affordable and in a neighborhood with AMAZING schools.  We've already heard from many friends that the Woodlands fits that bill, so we might concentrate there.  I sold a lot of our furniture before we moved out here, so there will be quite a bit that we'll need to purchase.  It will be nice to have all the rest of our stuff out of storage.  As this was our first overseas post, I wasn't quite sure what to bring.  I miss a lot of things, and some that I was sure were coming out, didn't.  (Next time I will know better what to pack.)  Anyway, here is a list, in no particular order, of things I am looking forward to.

REAL milk!!!  Not shelf milk or powdered, but real!
Boy Scouts where I don't have to be everything.
different kinds of cheeses
Seminary for Aubree
foods that haven't been salted to within an inch of their lives
fruit whenever I want it
real streets
being able to return things to a store if it doesn't fit, breaks, etc.
being only 1 time zone away from my sisters!!!

Things I am going to MISS!
Fresh fruit in season - SO flavorful
the most amazing tomatoes EVER!!!
Shopska salad
good Feta cheese
kebap

Family Photos

Our friend David took new photos of our family, and they turned out great!  The pictures on our wall are 2.5 years old, and the kids (mostly Aubree) have changed a lot!  I can't wait to get the prints in the mail!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

I vant to suck your blood!



My masterpiece!





The calculator says "HELLO"!



Yummy Food!!!

Did you know I contribute to a food blog?  Well, now you do.  My little sister started it as a way to have my mom's recipes in one place.  I love being able to easily find a recipe, instead of calling around to figure out who has what.  It's also a fun way to find new recipes that my sisters have tried.  I've been collecting new recipes as I am now more "domestic".  It's not easy to find ready-made things here, and I have to get creative when it comes to some ingredients.  I have learned that I enjoy cooking, especially when I have all the right tools.  It is very easy to cook fresh here (when things are in season), because all the fresh produce is AMAZING!!!  Aubree and a couple of her friends decided that they wanted to go vegetarian and no soda for a month.  We told Aubree that we would do more meatless meals, but we couldn't do 100%.  She has, however given up soda completely.  So, in my quest to find meatless meals that still have good protein, I've been looking at beans.  We can get a couple different kinds here, and I also already had some in my pantry.  The black beans and rice was a HUGE hit.  I wanted a good red beans and rice recipe, and my amazing friend Mandy gave me hers!  It is authentic Louisiana cuisine, and my boys weren't all that thrilled with it.  It had too many vegetables, I didn't add the sausage, and it was soupier than what they were envisioning.  Aubree and I loved it!  The leftovers are being frozen into individual portions so we can eat them for lunch later on.  I'm not freezing the rice with it, but it's really good by itself as a stew.  If you would like to try out this incredible dish, just click here, or click on the blog on the sidebar that is titled "Simply Delectable Cooking".  Let me know if you try anything out, and if you have a favorite family recipe, please send it to me!  I would love to try it!!!  Oh, and another awesome part of the food blog is the pictures included with each post!  (Except the black beans and rice.  My family ate it so fast, I didn't have time to get a picture!!!)