Leaving the US

We packed to leave home for 6 weeks, spent a week in Charlotte, then re-packed for the next 5 weeks.

Packing takes a lot of a girl!

The morning of the flight for me included compression hose & an injection of blood thinner.

Space saver bags!

About 60 cliff bars, crackers, applesauce, and Ramen noodles made the trip with us.

This is our luggage collection

A little blurry, but Brussels, here we come!

The girls on a 777 from Newark, NJ to Brussels, Belgium

The girls were watching Good Luck Charlie & the One Direction movie (just like home!).

They had so much inflight entertainment to help the trip go by fast.  I watched 2 movies, Avery watched 3!

Food option #1:  BBQ chicken, rice, veggies, salad & roll

Food option #2:  pasta, salad, & roll

We were just 2 hours or so into our flight at this point & you still see Memphis on the map!

We made it to Brussels 30 minutes early.  We were thankful because there were so many delays & cancellations of flights from the east coast.  We checked 4 bags & only 1 made it on our flight with us.  We did receive the 3 other bags the next day. Regarding jet lag, Avery took a few naps on the day we arrived. I told the girls our goal for the day was to stay awake.  Brook met friends & spent the afternoon playing. Isabella & I hung out with the other missionaries here.  We met our goal & stayed awake until 9pm!  (That is 2pm Memphis time...we are 7 hours ahead.).  It has been great re-connecting with friends here.  When we landed, we actually saw 3 sets of friends in the airport !  It was great feeling we are surrounded with friends here. There are 21 of us here & we had met all but 7 people. We are thankful for our community here so far from home.  

Friends & Family

We enjoyed spending time with family & friends in Charlotte last week.  We had fun family time & I also was able to spend time with some friends. Avery & I lived in the Charlotte area for 5 years, so it is great to still maintain friendships there.

Me & Cindy

Cindy & I worked together & were pregnant with our first child at the same time.  

Isabella, Brook, Kate & Eric

Eric is 2 weeks older than Isabella.  They went to each others 1st & 2nd birthday parties.

The Reckard family

I love this family.  Heidi has been a mentor/friend to me for 12 years.  Her kids are pretty amazing too.  

Lunch at McAlisters

Our kids, Reckards, Ashley

This is my dear friend Stacey.  She has been a source of encouragement & prayers to me.  She & her daughter, Ashley also joined us for lunch after church Sunday.

The Bridges/Bennett cousins

Last yogurt run before we left the states with Scott, Stacy, Gavin, & Sara

Avery's sister, Stacy, & her son Gavin

Avery's sister, Sara, with the girls

Isabella, Faith, Felicity, Brook, & Freddie

This concludes our post Christmas trip. Next up.......Belgium!

New Years Eve 2013

In the midst of our Charlotte trip, we took a side trip to see our friends in Greenville, SC.  It was fun to ring in the new year with great friends.

We went with the Greens to their friends house for an early NYE party.

Then we came home & there was some nail painting...

waiting on midnight,

and sparkling cider!

Here's to a great new year ahead & great friends!

Brook & Lillian had their store again.  I love visiting this salon!

I had a fancy foot bath, massage, & a manicure.

Happy Wednesday!  I think it is Wednesday....I'm in Brussels, still adjusting to time :)

Post Christmas Travel & Celebration

The day after Christmas was a busy one for us as we began packing for a trip to North Carolina, oh, and to Brussels!  We got some new luggage for Christmas & Brook tried it out to see if she could pass as carry on luggage!

In the midst of my to-do list, crazy me cooked a 14lb. turkey!

It was fun to receive cards this Christmas season & display them.  We covered clothes pins with washi tape & hung them on our kitchen blinds.  It actually made for a good display of them!

We came to Charlotte, NC to spend a week with Avery's family.  We went to church Sunday & sat in on their spanish speaking service.  We understood the worship songs, but the sermon, not so much.  But, it was still a good service.

We had a family dinner & Christmas celebration that night.  Here are some pictures from the fun:

Isabella & Faith

Me with my youngest niece, Fiona

The dining room table

Avery, his grandad, & Gavin

New books

Brook's gift to Mammie

And Brook's new book :)