Fleece

This is another little short thing without pictures that will probably only be interesting to some family members. :-)

In October Gary asked me if Sienna needed a coat for us to go out to the car, and I said that I thought she would be fine. Gary said, “I’m going to wear what’s it called?” (not thinking of the name of it) and Ethan said, “Fleece.”

In October I blogged about something similar that happened in CA with Ethan saying the word that I was trying to think of.  It’s pretty bad when your 2 year old child has to keep helping his parents complete their sentences. :-)

Going to Church?

This entry was done a while back, but I just never posted it. 

The conversation below started in CA but has continued during the rest of our furlough.  In CA every time we got in the car this was what was said.  Now, it’s not when we get in the car, but when we are getting ready to go somewhere.  It has settled down some since we sometimes get in the car to go to the grocery store.

Ethan:  “Going to church?”

Gary or me:  “No”

Ethan:  “Going to someone’s house?”

Gary or me:  “Yes”

Ethan:  “Toys there?”

(I don’t know how to get this to single space when I hit enter.  Julie, if you’re reading this and there is a way, can you e-mail me and tell me how?)

A Visit to Chattanooga

We had a wonderful time seeing people in Chattanooga.  We haven’t been there since we had children.

We don’t have pictures of Calvin and Margaret, with whom we stayed, but we do have pictures of their turkeys.Ethan actually got to play with someone during our time there, which was nice.  He enjoyed the tire swing with Jonathan.  Sienna also enjoyed the swing in the front of the house.We’re excited for Drew and Amy, who will be traveling to the East in a week or two to adopt a little girl.  They’ve been waiting on her for years.

When we got to the Barbers’ house, it wasn’t too long before Ethan noticed some guitars in a bedroom.  And, of course, he knew exactly what kind each guitar was.Katy Beth and Ethan jamming together.

Say “Cheese!”I just love this family!!!  Jim and Tammy were my Sunday School teachers in Boone.  They moved to Chattanooga the same month that I moved to Hungary.  It’s still hard for me to see their “kids” all grown up now.  One of them was missing in this picture due to being at college.  When we left, Gary commented about how Katy Beth and Hamilton hung out with us the whole time we were there.  Most people in high school and college wouldn’t be doing that, especially when they have rarely seen me over the last 13 years.

Sienna’s Dedication

Sienna was dedicated at Mt. Vernon at the end of October.  This was the first time that she wore a dress, and it was the only dress she had in this size.  I really wanted her to wear a dress, so I was thankful that a friend in Budapest gave it to us.Sienna talked the whole time the pastor was speaking.  Thankfully she sucked her thumb during the prayer.  It was my associate pastor’s first time to do a baby dedication.My dear friends, Teresa and Lori, came up from the next county to see her being dedicated.  They came over for lunch afterward.Ethan was glad to have some playmates again.

President Coming to Town

This is so cute, I just had to post it even if it’s not that big of a deal.  Obama came through Boone on his way to Millers Creek.  He actually spoke at my former high school, which was a shock for me.  There are 4 high schools in the county, and two of them are all white, including the one he spoke at. It’s also pretty rural.  Gary and I spoke at a church in Millers Creek the day before he came to town, and we spent that night with my mom (who lives about 7 minutes from the high school).  But, we didn’t want to wait in line to get the tickets, even though they were free.  We did try to get back up the mountain, to Boone, before he came down.  We’ve never seen so many highway patrolmen in one area in our lives.  They were all up and down the highway that Obama was going to travel.  Sienna is also in shock that the president came to town!

9 Months Old

Next week Sienna will turn 10 months old.  I’ve been working for some time on several different posts at the same time, including this one.  I thought I’d still post something for 9 months, especially since I skipped a few months while we were in the States.One interesting thing is that Sienna doesn’t have any teeth yet.  It seems like she’s been teething since she was about 4 months old, but we’re still waiting for one to pop through.  Ethan got his first tooth around 7 months, but my mom said that I didn’t get mine until I was 11 months old.As you can see, she’s still working on getting that first tooth! A friend in CA sent us a package of these headbands and clips.  There are lots of different and fun colors.  Thanks Beth!

Since we’ve been in the States, Sienna has gotten to where she does not like having a poopy diaper (unlike Ethan, who never cared).  She enjoys playing peek-a-boo, and she is totally fascinated by her brother.  She laughs at Ethan more than anything or anyone else (even when he’s being rough with her).This picture is actually closer to her being 8 months, but since I’m so behind on blogging, I wanted to post it to show how she held her leg in the air.  She did this for a while, but doesn’t do it anymore.I’ve been so thankful to be in the States during this stage of her trying new foods.  I’ve loved having access to almost every kind of fruit and vegetable for her to try.  She has eaten everything I’ve given her, but didn’t seem to care much for eggplant or cantaloupe.  Gary, Ethan, and I don’t like cantaloupe either, but I try to give the kids foods even if Gary and I don’t like them.  Like Ethan, she has really enjoyed asparagus, sweet potatoes, avocado, pineapple, and mango.  I’m disappointed that we can only get asparagus for a few months during the year in Hungary,and sweet potatoes cost around $2.50/pound.  Her hair is so long that we have to keep it pulled back so it’s not in her eyes.  She does not like anyone messing with her hair, though you can’t tell by this picture of her grandma putting her hair up.    My mom is so happy to have a grand-daughter.

Back in Budapest

We are back in Hungary and with all of our luggage!  The flight seemed shorter than Gary and I expected.  This is especially good considering that Ethan only slept one hour on the flight (and he didn’t have a nap the day we left).  Gary slept 4.5 hours, and I slept 5.5 hours out of 55 hours.Sienna did better than I could have imagined.  She went to bed (in the bassinet) at her normal bed time, which was not too long after we took off.  She was asleep while we ate dinner, so we didn’t have to figure out how to hold her while we ate.  She slept until about an hour before the plane landed.  I was also grateful that we all were able to sit next to each other in the bassinet aisle.  This made things MUCH better for us!Ethan didn’t pull his carry-on the entire time, but he did some.  He particularly enjoyed pulling it on and off of the moving walkways in Germany.Ethan in the Munich airport watching the planes and people working.  This occupied him during much of our layover.

So, now I need to post some of the blogs that I’ve started working on.  I’m sure I won’t do all of them, but hopefully I can at least do some from the rest of our time in the States.