Erica's party

Erica had a few friends over last night for a late 15th birthday party. Other than putting food on the table, explaining my right to ultimate veto power on the movie they chose (which I didn't even have to use because they picked a good one), and taking three pictures I steered clear of the whole thing. Unbeknownst to me Anna Grace went in and took a few pictures of the party as well. Here are our combined efforts. And I have chosen not to explain these pictures. What can I say about 10 teenagers sitting around eating and talking? They did play some games as well, but there are no pictures of that.

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

Jacob is 10. I know I mentioned that in a previous post, but I still can't believe it. On Sunday, his actual birthday, he chose to go to El Torito with a friend. Here are a few pictures from that day.


Jacob and Josh


After our meal our waiter brought out two of these yummy desserts for free. He didn't even know it was Jacob's birthday so it was a nice surprise. Basically it was fried apples with fried torilla strips on top. Lots of cinnamon and ice cream and cherries...delish!


Then on Monday after school he came home to find his present from us. He was happy as you can see from the look on his face above...when he first got a glimpse at what it was.

Now that he has the guitar we need to sign him up for lessons.

Then today...today was nothing short of chaos. We had 18 kids at our house to celebrate his birthday with a party and cake and ice cream. After the house portion of the party Brian took the kids to a soccer field where they had a rousing game of America football. 5 more kids joined us for that. It was crazy fun! It had gotten really foggy and was below freezing outside. It didn't seem to stop the boys though. They were all sweating by the time the game was over!


The cake


Jacob and his friend, Daks, who is also turning 10 this month.



This video doesn't quite capture the amount of noise that was going through our house. The boys almost seem tame compared to how it really went. You can tell from the brief glance at Brian in the video that he thinks we are all crazy...especially me for allowing something like this to go on. I told him that this year all the kids had big birthdays, but next year...next year we are only doing family parties. I don't think I could handle anything else. It will take me more than a year to recover!

Update!!!!!!

The airport called, and they have our bag!!!! I can't believe it. After 11 days our bag showed up. I feel like I am dreaming. Now...we just have to get it. They said they would deliver it tomorrow, but I don't want it to even leave the airport unless it is leaving with us. We can't go get it until tonight. Stay tuned for an update on whether or not all my dreams have come true...

Lane Stricklin

In the past three days I have gotten quite a few hits on my blog from people who are googling "Lane Stricklin". I decided that I should put the information I have about the arrangements for him on here just in case that is what people are looking for.

Funeral Arrangements

Visitation - Friday 1/18 4-8pm Klein Funeral Home - Champion Forest

Service - Saturday 1/19 11am Champion Forest Baptist Church Chapel

Burial to follow at Klein Memorial Park on 249

Return to the church for lunch reception

Video by Anna Grace

When you are bored and grounded from watching tv I guess you make your own tv. I can't even tell you how many videos Anna Grace took of me today. Here is one.

A list

Pancakes
Sufjan
Corrie
Daxflame
Alaska
Coconut Cream Pie
Life Aquatic
Manhattan
Fuqua
Honey, I'm home.
Shotguns
Roadtrip
Eggy in a basket
Feel the Illinoise
John (make me feel bad) Piper
Waterfalls
Mandolin
Overnights
Laundry
Housekeys

You only think you know!

Frustration

We have been back in Turkey now for one week and two days. When we arrived at the airport last Monday we realized that one of our pieces of luggage was missing. We waited for all 12 bags to come down the conveyor belt that would deliver them to us. 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.....wait. One of our bags didn't show up. We took a quick inventory and determined it to be one of the new duffle bags we had purchased while we were in the states. We were told by a nice lady at the airport that more than likely it would arrive the next day on the same flight we had just come in on. She took our number and told us that she would give us a call when they had our bag. Tuesday came and went without a call from the nice lady or anyone else who might have information on the whereabouts of our bag. On Wednesday Brian decided to call them. Nothing. It has now been one week and two days. Brian has called the airport and checked with the airline several times. Nothing. As we unpacked our 11 other bags we tried to figure out what we were missing. Books...probably 10, Arrested Development Seasons 1 and 3, a brand new dress I bought for Erica to wear to the winter dance, the outside layer of Brian's winter coat, pictures that I had printed and then deleted from my computer, my favorite pair of sweats, my new jacket, half of Brian's wardrobe...most of it new, 2 brand new playstation games being brought in for a friend, and probably even more that we haven't missed yet. So frustrating. A week and 2 days. When should I give up hope that our stuff will be found? Hmmmm...

Smiling

Some things that made me smile today...in no particular order...

1. Jacob giving me a hug and saying, "mmmm...you smell good."
2. MiChoKo's
3. the laundry being done
4. bulgur pilav
5. Arrested Development (even though I had to start at Season 2)
6. a phone call
7. wireless internet
8. email
9. the yellow roller thingy story
10. (removed because of Adam's comment when he showed up at our house this morning)

Lane

Yesterday our friend, Lane Stricklin, passed away. Lane was an encouragement to all who knew him. Everyone who witnessed the way he and Deana faced his illness was blessed by the example of faith they exhibited. It was truly a gift from God to know him.

PS...Brian had the opportunity to play on the same softball team as Lane before we moved to Turkey. He said that Lane was the only guy on the team who didn't make fun of him...but that he probably wanted to.

Dixon

The kids and their cousin, Connor. He looks like Brian to me!


The Dixon women

For the Kirk girls...

Our last meal in Waco was at Bush's Chicken...recommended by Lindsey, Bethany, and Aubrey. As we were walking in the door...before she had even tasted it...Anna Grace said, "Bush's Chicken is the best chicken ever...or so I've been told." Afterwards she decided she agreed. It was good!

Words

amazing, incredible, awesome, great, so good, unbelievable, extraordinary, spectacular, staggering, wonderful, moving, overwhelming, thrilling, stunning, magnificent, exceptional, fantastic, special, surprising, phenomenal, outstanding, marvelous, fabulous, remarkable, stupendous, groovy, gone, unreal, startling, superb, unthinkable, terrific

eye-opening, breathtaking, heart-stirring, mind-blowing, spine-tingling, out-of-this-world

Kids

Today is Jacob's birthday. He is 10. It hit me today that I now have three kids in double digits as far as their ages go. Erica turned 15 on Jan. 8. Will turned 12 on Dec. 5. And now Jacob is 10. How did that happen?

Anna Grace is 8. Only 8. I remember being a little worried when Erica turned 8. In college I was an early childhood education major. That was defined as birth through age 8. I remember thinking that Erica was almost out of my area of expertise. It was scary. And now I have a 15, 12, 10, and 8 year old. I am in trouble!

Old stuff

I discovered an old memory stick in my camera bag so I thought I would share a few pictures from it.


Christmas 2002. And before anyone says anything about how short my hair is let me just say this...it had been growing out for almost 3 months by the time this picture was taken. Seriously...since Sept. 30...a day I will never forget. During one of my language lessons I learned how to say "I would like you to cut off three centimeters of my hair please." What I said to the hairdresser must have been, "I would like you to cut off all of my hair but three centimeters please." He used a razor comb and just kept combing until that's all I had left...3 centimeters. Erica was with me and kept saying, "Mom, tell him to stop." I didn't want to tell him to stop, because I didn't know what I would end up with if he did. On my way home from the 'kuafor' I called Brian to warn him that we now sported the same haircut. His reply, "come on home, Larry"...and I was known as Larry for quite awhile after that.


Our kids attended a Turkish school for the first two years we lived in Turkey. The preschool program had an end of year performance where the kids dressed up in costumes and did dances and sang songs. Here is Jacob in his finery. He looks so sweet I can hardly stand it. He was quite concerned about having to wear a pink shirt, but since all the boys were wearing them and not thinking a thing about it he decided he could do it too. He also had a red one with a ruffle down the front to wear for a Spanish dance that the kids did. This didn't seem to be so bad in his eyes. Red is his favorite color.


Anna Grace. Look at how cute she is!



Will...again too cute for words.


And finally...the cake I made for Will's 8th birthday. Not very symetrical, but it tasted good!

I had one picture of Erica, but it was too dark. She was cute, too. Trust me.

hmmm...

Go Karting Weekend - Amsterdam

Enjoy a fast-paced session on one of the best tracks in Europe.

Included

• 2 Nights Accommodation
• Airport Transfers
• Go karting session with transfers
  
• Free Personalised Website
  

There are various nightclubs in Amsterdam but we think you might find it easier to find your own entertainment as Amsterdam has endless possibilities to be entertained in the evening.

Guide price £152.00 per person

the old way

Our last Saturday in Texas we went to Pappadeaux's one more time. This time I was determined to have a shrimp poboy the old way. Our first full day in Texas we went and I was a little disappointed with my shrimp poboy. The shrimp was the same, but everything else had changed. They no longer put tartar sauce or cocktail sauce on it. No pickles. No lettuce. And even the bread was different. While good in it's own way it just wasn't the same. It didn't satisfy. So here I am...sitting at Pappadeaux's waiting for my turn to order. It's my last chance for satisfaction. I have already warned the others at the table that I am going to assert my Americanness and ask for my order to be different than the menu suggests. Everyone is prepared. The waiter looks at me when it is my turn and I say, "I would like to have the shrimp poboy...but I would like it to be prepared the old way." I am ready to explain what that means. I am ready to fight for my right to food my way. I am even prepared to beg. The waiter responds to my request by saying, "sure thing". That was it. That was all it took. I love America!


The old way...yummy.


The new way. Notice the different bread and underneath the shrimp is coleslaw. The coleslaw was pretty good...but not on my shrimp poboy. (the onion rings were a special order...they didn't come with the new way.)

1998

Look closely at this picture from 1998. My dad is the second man from the left. Do you recognize the man standing next to my dad on the end? It was almost 10 years ago. This man is Dick Cheney.

While in America I saw this picture on my dad's bookshelf in his office. I had seen it before, but I never really thought that much about it. He asked me if I knew who it was. I didn't. When he told me I had a brief recollection of hearing that he had been hunting with Dick Cheney and others, but I didn't realize it was documented with picture evidence.

Side note...Dad also beat him in a game of pool, went hunting with him afterwards and lived to tell about it. Of course I don't really think Dick Cheney shot the guy he was hunting with several years ago on purpose. Just thought it was funny that Dad had been hunting with him before he became our VP.

The occassion

Mentanna's comment to my Roomies - 2 post reminded me of the occassion for the picture in that post. I happened to have a picture of those gangsters. But, why did they dress up as gangsters...really...that is the question. But why did they do any of the things they did? Really.

Roomies - Part 2

Another picture of Kristen and yep, you guessed it, Mentanna. I really don't remember what the occassion was, but it was picture worthy then and today...well, it is blog worthy today. I laugh every time I see it.

Roomies

While in America 3 of my college roommates and I got to have a roommate reunion. It was so fun seeing everyone again. It had been 6 years since we had been together. Of course Mentanna was in France so she couldn't be there to complete the reunion, but we found a way around that. I brought my new computer which has a built in video camera, and Mentanna's husband, Scott, set up his computer which also has a camera so we got to see each other and chat for a few minutes. It was so fun seeing her on camera and getting to be "together". Here are some pictures of all of us from then and now.

The four of us in college. We look so young!


The four of us at Mentanna's wedding in Oct. 1997.


Lauren, Kristen, and I in 1990

And again on Dec. 30, 2007...16 years later!