Park Fun

We go to the park everyday. The kids love getting out of the house in the late afternoon when it's not as hot. Riley's favorite thing is the seesaw. She climbed on all by herself but had no one to play with. So sad!


A little later Owen climbed on and I helped them seesaw together. They love playing together! Here are more pictures of my cuties!



Owen encounter a mean little boy as we were leaving. I told Owen it was time to leave because we had to cook dinner. Owen sometimes, wait no, typically always prepares for battle when we have to transition from something he wants to do. The mean little boy started laughing and calling Owen a baby. Owen started yelling at me and huffing and puffing around the park, kicking dirty, fighting the tree. I could tell he was really upset. I wanted to clobber the mean little boy. But as he was probably 5, I thought I'd better not. Plus as much as you as a parent want to protect your kids from everything, nothing would ever happen to them. "Let's see how little Squirt does flying solo." (Thank you Disney's Finding Nemo for the helpful parenting tip.) However I could not help myself and asked the mean little boy to please talk nice. Then started walking home with Riley. Owen was very quick to follow. Half way home I asked Owen if the mean little boy hurt his feelings. (Note: I didn't call him that to Owen.) He said "Yea" really bummed out. Bless his heart! We talked a little more and it seemed to lift his spirits. Then had lots of fun at dinner and Pirate Veggie Tales!

Ciao!

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A Wonderful Start to 29

Celebrating my 29th birthday was an adventure! Some of our new friends and one of Nathan's colleagues ventured to the island of Mussulu for the day. Immediately upon entering the parking lot to the port our car was surrounded with men. They all wanted to be paid to watch our car for the day. I thought our driver Aires was going to run them over! Haha! Fortunately he did not but he did roll down the window and tell them off in Portuguese. Nathan and our driver haggled prices with the guys running the boats and then we loaded up. Owen didn't want to get on but once we got going fast, he thought it was a load of fun!

We had the boat drivers take us to a calm, peaceful area. There was a good 75 yards to the next groups on both sides of us. Perfect for the kids to run around and us to relax. We didn't let the kids get too far into the water. 1. None of them are actual swimmers. 2. The current was quite strong and fast. 3. The jet skiers and boats got way too close to our swim area. But they had a blast nonetheless! We found tons of African sand dollars and shells. The sand dollars were really interesting and different from the ones we find in the Gulf of Mexico. They look almost identical except for one half has tentacle looking arms and the other half smooth. and of course sticks are swords! En guard!

Nathan bought the kids two sets of sand toys which proved to be a huge hit! Especially for Riley who sat and shoveled sand into the buckets for hours. Our new friends made me a cake which was delicious! Their last assignment landed them in the UK so both the girls have lovely accents. It is so fun listening to them talk. Adorable!

Nathan got me a yummy chocolate cake which the kids were more than happy to help eat it. They love blowing out candles so they helped with the too. Owen sang me Happy Birthday which was spectacular! Sweet Riley kept saying "Happy Day!" I'm very blessed to have my loving family with me on my birthday.

Overall a really wonderful way to celebrate the start of year 29. Birthdays can only get better and better when surrounded by my family and friends!
Ciao!
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Compound Living

Our new home is starting to feel like home. We are as settled as we can be until our air shipment arrives. Here are pictures of the house for anyone interested.



This is an iron cross I brought from our old house that is just outside the front gate. The top right picture is our house plus a little glimpse down the street. We are house 38! And the bottom right picture is of our backyard. We have a really large porch and brushes lining the fence.



The top two pictures are our dining room and living room. It's one giant room nicely divided into the two living spaces. The bottom two pictures are of our kitchen. It's been nice having so much cabinet space! But we'll see if that changes once we load them with all our kitchen stuff.


These three pictures are Owen, Riley and Nathan & my room. I took them with a pano app so they aren't perfect. But you get the gist. We all have mosquito nets to help not get bitten at night. It feels a lot like camping under it! Riley is perfecting her zipper skills so the nets are pretty beneficial.


Modern bathrooms. The great thing about our shower/tub is we can close the doors and the kids get to splash as much as they like. It's hilarious and they love it!


We have an office which will be really great once we get all of our stuff. Our closet is fantastic! All built-in with lots of storage. (The kids have cabinet. Lots which have tons of space too.) Our washer and dryer are in a small room just off the kitchen. Nathan moved the dryer to plug in on the side. Otherwise we have to switch the power back and forth meaning only 1 load at a time. NOT efficient with all the dirty laundry kids produce.


On the top left to right, our front yard, the car port, & one of the pretty hibiscus plants. The bottom picture is of the backyard again.

Love to all our family and friends from Angola!

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Location:Rua Centro Convenções S8,Luanda Sul,Angola

Luanda Life

We met several families right away. The ladies are really lovely. There are lots of kids close to Owen's age. He's had so much running around with his new friends.

The washing machine has yet worked properly. Nathan and I opened it and a rank smelling water was sitting in the bottom. Super gross. All attempts to get it running failed so we called to main compound guy. This one guy keeps coming over but nothing he's tried so far has fixed it. One neighbor washed our sheets for us and another let me do a load today.

We have a market that is a short walk. We ventured out with the kids who were still exhausted. We loaded our cart with food and water and a new broom. Getting home was pretty tricky! Nathan and I should have biceps like the Gods with all the carrying of kids and groceries! Haha!

There are 2 parks. The park up the street is perfect for little kids so we make the walk up there. I've met a few other moms there which is nice.

The kids I made it through our first day without Nathan. The kids slept in until 9 which is the first time ever in their lives. I got an hour to myself which is also a first. We headed to the park before lunch but it was already really hot. I learning when it's a good time to go out. 11am-3pm it is petty hot since it's summer here. We finally headed to the pool, tired of waiting for repair guys to come. I was supposed to meet one of the welcome ladies at 4, but read the international clock wrong... I thought we had an hour at the pool. Then Sylvie showed up AT the pool. I was so embarrassed. Owen threw one of the biggest tantrums ever about leaving the pool. It was terrible! I had to meet her 1. in my swimsuit, 2. with both of my kids yelling and screaming. I carried Owen home all the while he yelled the whole way home, when we got home and while in his room. She carried our swim bag and Riley. Sylvie was so sweet and understanding while my kids lots it. Then to make matters worse, she almost got doused with the washing machine water! She may never come over again.

While our handyman was over, two ladies came by to get one of them a job as our maid. As I speak no Portuguese and they speak no English, we had to get one of the drivers who speaks a little English. I'm not sure how we got there, but she's starting Friday. She'll come Mondays and Fridays. Most of the ladies have told me to lock up this and keep any eye on our food. Makes me want to clean my own house. I'm skeptical about it but We'll see how it goes.

Last night two little girls showed up at our door. I'd met their mom Tracy a few days earlier. They wanted to "meet the new family" as the 7-year old calls us. Sophie (7), Nicole (4), and Owen ran circles around our house. At least 10 times! Riley kept trying to keep up but ended up stopping and saying "are you?" This is her new thing and Nathan and I think it's adorable!

I ventured out to another new store today with Trish. She has 2 daughters and her youngest is Eleanor who is about Owen's age. Owen stayed with Eleanor and her dad while Riley and I went to the store with Trish. I'm learning it's always an adventure when you leave the compound. Kero looks the most like a large supermarket so far. Or maybe Target or Walmart since you can get furniture, school supplies, cooking tools, toys (side note: Barbie costs $60 here!!!!), swim gear, some clothing, house decorations, etc.

So our mattress feels like cement... Terrible for circulation and sleeping. Next week Rich is coming to visit for an article for his magazine. He is supposed to bring us a pillow top cover! I can't wait! We recruited him to bring a few other immediate need things. We thought we packed properly but there are SO many things we should have packed. Lesson learned and we've started a list for our next assignment. Next time (hopefully) we will be prepared!

There are 2 things about the new house I really love, our shower and our closet. They sound minor, but they are so good, they are blog worthy. =)

Owen shaving with Daddy!



Riley eating rice crispier just like her big brother!


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From Houston to Luanda - Part 2

We were looking at an 8 hour flight with no bassinet. We were not as lucky to get that row and paid for it... Well everyone did really. Bless her heart, Riley was exhausted and couldn't fall asleep. She did not want to sit still, watch a movie, color, nothing but walking circles up and down the aisles. When we tried to keep her in our row, she cried, whined and screamed. Finally after 6 1/2 hours she shut her eyes laying on me. Anytime I moved she would start to flail and cry without opening her eyes. Poor baby was so tired and wanted to lay down.

Owen was the complete opposite. He vegged out watching Happy Feet Two and Puss in Boots (twice). He didn't want to eat dinner but ate some snacks I brought from home. We made him only down and he slept until we were landing.

We managed to get off the plane with the help of a flight attendant. He sorta threw us on an already crammed bus where a kind nun helped with a few of our bags. We got in line at immigration and thought for sure it would take us hours. An officer came over and motioned for us to come to the front of the line. Hallelujah! And get this... ALL our luggage arrived! Crazy! I'm praying our air shipment comes as smoothly and sooner than later.

It took 2 SUV's to get us and our loot to our house. Owen hadn't eaten and takes after me apparently. He got really car sick and threw up a few times. Then asked that we not tell anyone. Posting it on our blog probably classifies as pretty terrible, but he was so sweet and it topped off all our exhaustion.

We got to the house and had to wait for someone to bring us keys. The kids were so happy to run around! Owen threw up again... Bless his heart. We got in and they still had to clean and fix things like light bulbs. So we headed to the market for food. We were all so tired and just bought stuff. It was enough to get a PB&J in all of us before we all crashed.

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From Houston to Luanda - Part 1

Well we made it to the airport, are checked in, and made it through security. No easy feat if you ask me! We had a party bus pick us up. Haha! With Ll our luggage a suburban would be enough room. Our luggage included: 3 LARGE Action Packers, 2 large suitcases, 3 medium suitcases, 1 small suitcase, 1 pack-n-play, 2 car seats, 1 hiking backpack, 1 weekender bag, my purse, 2 Trunki's.... Plus 2 kids. Holy cow! You'd think we were moving.... Oh wait, we ARE!


The kids did awesome on the flight to Frankfurt. We were able to sit in the row with bassinet. Riley mostly liked to lounge and snack in it. She was able to sleep for a while which meant Nathan and I could sleep. Owen semi-stretched out across 2 seats. This boy is getting tall!

9 hours later and we were in Frankfurt. There was snow on the ground and really cold. Owen was really excited and wanted to build a snowman. We were not really prepared clothing-wise for playing in the snow. We got some dirty looks about not properly dressing our kids in the cold weather. I got really dirty looks for having on sandals because of my toe. (side note... A few days before we left home, I got a pedi with Mom. At some point my left big toe got infected. I ended up at the ER just as the Super Bowl started. After getting a painful procedure, we were heading home with 2 antibiotic prescriptions. Yeah! Soooo painful and I could barely walk.) Back to the story...

Owen got to stomp in the snow a little when we got to the hotel. We all took naps and showered. When we were kind of waking up, Owen went to the window and said he saw snowflakes. Nathan and I were oh yeah snowflakes. But when we went to the window, it was really snowing hard! By then it was time for an early dinner. While we waited for our food, Nathan and Owen went outside to play in the snow. They didn't last long because it was really cold. But Owen had lots of fun!

We were off to the airport again. Feeling tired and lost in German. There was a cool toy store with a life-size Iron Man. Owen thought he was awesome and we took a picture with him. We were able to get oriented and headed to our gate and the Lufthansa Senator Lounge. A few more hours and we were boarding again.



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To Africa and back.... And back again!

A lot has happened since my last blog post. Nathan was in Africa during Christmas so it was that was hard. Owen, Riley, and I spent the week before Christmas in Austin with our family! We had so much fun! Owen and Riley got ton see the Zilker Christmas tree where Uncle Moomoo and Lala got O a surprise... A light saber!!! Needless to say he was super excited. He cleared out a good 10' radius around himself swinging it! Great fun!

Then we were back in Richmond for Christmas day. Nathan got to see the kids open their gifts from Santa using FaceTime. It was awesome! My parents, Grammi and Cody joined us at the house. Next stop was my parents' lake house on Lake Livingston. Lee, Ashley and Kara met us there where we all had a blast!
December 28th I headed to Luanda. I had never been and wasn't too sure of what to expect. The city was overwhelming. Our drive to the hotel seemed dangerous for all the people walking dodging traffic selling their goods. I came to realize that the people do this everywhere. The women are amazing! Most carry a baby on their back with a huge load on their heads. It is phenomenal the different things they can carry!

The poverty in the city versus the wealthy is extreme. There are so many people literally surviving everyday in hopes of clean water and food. But you see these same adults and children laughing and playing. There's quite a lesson to be learned from them. Here's an interesting article from BBC. It explains Luanda.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16815605

We were unable to visit the Schlumberger compound in Luanda Sul until day 6 of my visit. Days 1-5 were spent crying unable to imagine our life here. It just couldn't picture how we would even call the city home for our family. Once we got to the compound and saw our house, every negative feeling about moving settled. I knew we would get a little taste of home with a big backyard and community pool.
So with us actually moving, January became crunch time. Nathan and I had list upon list of things to get done. It has been a crazy busy month.

We were able to squeeze in a Going Away Party. It was fantastic! So many family members and friends were able to come and send us off with smiles and tears. We love you all! I painted a baobab tree with 4 monkeys in it. Our family and friends added all the leaves with their thumb prints. I can't wait to hang it in our new home!

We also got to have a mini birthday party for Mom and me. Grammi, Clair, Misty, Owen, Riley and Nathan helped us celebrate early. It was so fun!

Our flight date is upon us. I got a pedicure a few days ago and my big toe got infected.... Mom and I went to the emergency room right as the Super Bowl started. The doctor did a procedure.... Skipping on the details. It's hard to walk and hurts a ton. Talk about terrible timing!

We fly to Frankfurt, Germany tomorrow and land Thursday morning. Late Thursday we fly to Luanda and land on the 10th. I'll post pictures and an update as soon as I can!