Much needed date night!

We are so thankful for some friends in our city that are willing to trade off date nights while the other watches the kiddos.  I know the kiddos enjoy it as much as the parents do!  

We have a steak house in town but have never been and were saving it for a special occasion.  We were thrilled to get to try it out and it even felt like we were out of the city for a night.  It was great!

Sunet party

There is a cultural tradition in our country that is very different than anything that we are familiar with in our part of the world.  When a boy is 8 or 9 that is when he has his circumcision done and then has a party that signifies he is becoming a man and it is quite a celebration (think wedding reception).  We had not been to one yet until Brayden's best friend here in the city had his party.  I went with a sweet neighbor of mine and she was sweet to explain all the traditional things that they were doing throughout the night.

Lucy dressed herself for this occasion.  Sometimes you just have to gulp and let it be ha!  We pick our battles around here.

Old friends and new friends

We are getting used to a new city and making new friends while we are missing some of our old friends in our new city.  However life goes on and we are making the best out of it!

Lucy lost her first top tooth and looking adorable and toofless!

Celebration with my big girl celebrating the little achievements of living overseas...

We went back to k-town for some sad circumstances but got to see some old friends while there.  It was a sweet reunion!

While there we got to meet a friends' new baby and everybody got a chance to hold sweet Nico!

My helper in the kitchen….

Chai with some new friends….

Lucy had saved up for this for weeks and finally had enough money to buy it.

A new Starbucks opened in town…cause for celebration!!!!

Waiting for our Lu girl to get out of school...

We also had some friends from out of town come visit…great to see "family!"

The kids spoiled him rotten!

A dear friend brought me these from her nearby city…I was soooo excited.  It definitely helps with culture shock days!

Karis' 11th bday!

For Karis' birthday since we couldn't really have a party with friends (we just moved to a new city a short time ago) we decided to surprise Karis with a surprise to the beach for a weekend!  So the day before we let her open her first present which said to look in the kitchen for 12 puzzle pieces.

On our way the next morning and stopped to get breakfast…this is on the go breakfast in our country.  This is the most beautiful one I have ever seen.

In just a little less than 2 hours we are at the beach!!!

We are missing mexican for sure!

Sadly this is as close as it gets….

We celebrated this sweet ELEVEN year old all weekend.  And it was a birthday to remember.  To her surprise, one of her friends and her family were at the hotel to surprise her and stay the weekend with us!

They got to swim even though it was a bit chilly!

This was our "sushi" one night...

This was our "sushi" the second night...

Homemade coffee ice cream…Karis gives it a thumbs up!!!

She bought this guitar with her money from Lolli…she was so excited and has already started practicing!

It was a great birthday for Karis!  Loved celebrating our sweet girl!  We are so proud of her!