December Catch Up!

Welcome December 2016 and back to my blog!

I have taken a few weeks off, so I will be throwing this back a few weeks to our last weekend in Bogota and our transition to the USA so far.

I wasn't feeling so great on my 46th birthday, but was able to get out that evening for dinner with Avery in one of my favorite areas of Bogota while the girls were at youth groups.

We hung out in the executive lounge of the Hilton Bogota afterwards where we stayed for the night.

Our view from the hotel

I had lunch Saturday with my dear friend Sarah.

Sunday morning was filled with packing then lunch with some of my favorite people.

This crew helped to see us off and I was in tears saying goodbye to them.  

The next morning, Brook and I checked 20 bags for our flight to Memphis.

Our ride back to the USA!  We did it!  We spent almost 3 years living in another country!!

Yes, we were Sky Priority for one glorious day :)

First Classing

Sky Clubbing

Taking control of Atlanta airport!

Welcomed home by family!

Some of my friends 

And Brook's friends, who hosted a welcome back party for her.

It was a great last weekend in Bogota and great welcome home back to the USA!

Friday Favorites

 

Yep, today is my birthday. So thankful for 46 years of life!  I am not feeling 100% though, so I hope get some energy so I can pack this afternoon.  Time is ticking until Monday!

I am honored to share a birthday with Veteran's Day.  Thank you Veterans!

I have loved our times with friends this week.

We spent Monday afternoon with Edwin and his brother, John. who flew to Bogota to see us before we leave.

We sure will miss Edwin.

Tuesday, I met with this friend I met through our previous church.  I haven't seen her since March, so it was good to reconnect with her.

 

We went to Juan Valdez.

I have also spent some time with others who  have come to say goodbye, which has been meaningful.

My girls playing with the Snapchat app from a friend.

We have been packing and getting rid of furniture.  As of now, Brook has no furniture in her room, we have no sofa or kitchen table. 

Brook found candy while packing and gave it away :) 

We also had to complete 2 of these forms to have notarized giving Avery and I permission to leave the country with just one daughter.

Much to our surprise, we witnessed history for Donald Trump to become our next president.  It was fun to stay up until 3am to see the activities live. 

I will spend my birthday at home until Isabella gets back from her LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!! Yep, that's today too.  Then we have family plans for the evening.  I would say more on that Monday, but wait.....I will be on a plane to the USA Monday morning!!  

Show and Tell Tuesday ~ Lottery Editioin

Today's Show and Tell is what we would do if we won the lottery, hmmmm...

When the Powerball was so huge in January, I saw this funny saying:

Now, what would I do???? 

1.  Hire someone to pack, send all my bags to Memphis, and pay them to come back to Bogota and finish all our paperwork to leave our apartment.  This is worth gold to me right now!!!

2.  Dream house ~ I am not sure exactly what this would look like, but I would figure it out!  Right now a garage and a dishwasher would qualify!!

3.  Travel ~ Alaskan cruise: I would love to do this one day and have a room with a balcony.

Take the girls back to Disney, New York City, a cruise and splurge!

A trip for Avery and I on the California coast

4.  Buy cars for our family.

5.  Save money for college, weddings and retirement.

6.  Buy Avery a boat.

7.  Shopping spree at Nordstrom & gifts for my extended family

8.  Pick a missionary once a year, go visit them and spoil them.

9.  Give to a family adopting

10.  Lifetime membership to a gym

Weekend Wrap Up ~ All the Despedidas

This weekend was spent with many mini despedidas (farewells).  The goodbyes have begun and more of those coming this week.  Here are some photos from the weekend.....

Friday night, Isabella wasn't feeling so great, so she stayed home with Avery and Brook while I went out with friends from my bible study group.  I told them I think this was the first time in 2 1/2 years I have done something at night with girlfriends and it was so fun.  We went to an Italian restaurant which had a very pretty interior.

Our group of ladies ~ 3 Americans, 1 Colombian, 1 New Zealander, 1 South African

Dessert we shared 

This is my friend from South Africa.  She is so sweet and has the cutest 3 year old girl too!

Saturday, we spent the day packing.  I added in a dose of stress.  Then we ordered pizza, because it was Saturday.  Saturday evening, Jaime, Monica, and their kids came over.  These were our first friends we met in Bogota so we wanted to see them before we leave.  It had been a while since we have seen them, but it was good to be together again.

Sunday, we went to church, which was the last time for Brook and I here. We were invited over to Mariale's house for lunch.  Her mom made Ajiaco soup for us, along with marayuca and lulo juice.  It was all so delicious. About 3 hours into the visit, I began to shut down from a Spanish standpoint and also physically.  I actually laid down on Mariale's bed for about 15 minutes.

It was a great weekend seeing friends and I look forward to some more visits this week in addition to more packing.  

Oh, and also, it is another holiday in Colombia, so you know what that means.....NO SCHOOL FOR ISABELLA!! Today we are spending the afternoon with Edwin and his brother, John.

Happy Monday!

Despedida

despedida ~ farewell

Wednesday, we had our monthly team meeting.  We spent some time in devotion together, sharing updates and praying for one another. The team allowed us to take some extra time to share what is going with us from the logistics of preparing to leave here for an international move, finishing well with goodbyes, emotions the girls are going through and unknowns for our future in Memphis. It is a lot and we are grateful for the prayers.  We are grateful to call each of these people teammates. They all said some very kind parting words to us today and prayed for our family.

Our team, minus 3 ladies, and the kids

Our beautiful basket the team gave us as a gift. They also gave us a sweet card.

After the meeting, we shared lunch with the Floyds and Peter.  Avery Ubered back to work at the church and I walked to a local artisan market where I did some shopping for my great nephew and niece, then taxied home to our girls.  It was a good day.

Halloween Senses

And just like that, it is November 1, 2016....

Welcome to November!

Here are some sights, sounds, and tastes from our Halloween in Bogota

I heard this Monday morning.  It was a group of kids walking down the street apparently looking for some morning candy! Most trick or treating takes place in gated neighborhoods or at the mall.  Kids go store to store there and receive candy.  Kids don't trick or treat in apartment buildings, but our building did have an event for the kids last Saturday.

 Brook and I baked some cookies Monday afternoon.  Oh high altitude baking, I will not miss you.

The cookies looked better once I put them on a plate!  I brought back fall colored M&M's from the states that we used in these cookies. They did taste good though!

Thankfully, my cornbread turned out great.  

This is our tradtiional Halloween meal.....chili and cornbread. 

We (I) wanted us to watch The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, but our computer decided to shut down for the night, so sad that didn't work out. 

And for your Tuesday pleasure, this picture popped up on my Facebook from 8 years ago.

Headed to bible study this morning.  And if you're reading this, I hope you also received a copy of our most recent newsletter via email this morning.

 Have a great day!