we have been here in casa three weeks and counting. our apartment feels like home and we are actually enjoying the small space. we all already have great friends (yes, even beckett) and we are excited to be living in community with them. so far, we are loving life in casa. we have had many adventures already. scott got pulled over by a police officer on the way to the beach for turning right on red, which is illegal here, but don't worry, he got out of it. the police officer only spoke french and scott played the dumb american so he pretty much just laughed at us and waved us on. going to the grocery store is culture shock enough. i was so proud of myself for knowing how to ask for turkey at the deli (in french) but i did not know the conversion for pounds to kilos so i ended up getting almost a kilo of turkey, which is over 2 pounds...needless to say we had ate a lot of turkey for the next couple of days. we ate dinner as a group at a restaurant where they have the cow carcases are hanging and you go select which part of the cow you want and they cut it and cook it for you. i did not take any part in picking out the meat or wouldn't have eaten it...and i have to admit that it was pretty good. scott has made a friend at the local grocery store who usually weasels scott into giving him more money for watching our car while we shop or for washing it. we are getting used to the fact that everything takes more time here...everything! for starters, we don't have a microwave so leftovers are pretty much a thing of the past. we buy our produce on the street or in the market and we have to let it soak in the sink with a some special cleaner before eating it. i am having to learn to make meals from scratch because the only prepped meals are pizza and chicken nuggets. i am thankful to be across the hall from a family who has lived overseas for years so she knows how to make lots of yummy meals.

now, about the kids...
ella is having so much fun. she has made friends with the little ones across the hall and they play together all day. it is so nice to be able to open our back door and let her run around and come and go as she wants. there are a lot of teenagers, too, so she is getting lots of attention. she is getting so big and is constantly amazing us with her adult words and phrases. she does miss the family back home and blows kisses to their pictures. beckett is awesome. i could not be more thankful for such a chill baby. he is so sweet and so precious. he adores ella and is usually looking at her or grabbing at her and laughing. he is getting so big (if you can even imagine him getting bigger) and he will be crawling before we know it. he also has a friend next door...a 5 month old baby girl who has almost as many rolls as he does. they are so cute together.

here are some pics so far...

pray with us.

we got a phone call late last night. it was one of those phone calls where you know something must be wrong, and something was. caleb's sweet father had suddenly passed away. please pray for caleb and aina, caleb's mom (kathy), and his brothers and sister (john, shane, and carrie). scott is trying to head back to the states to see his best friend but the kids and i will be staying here. check out aina's blog for more info and prayer requests.

we are here.

through much shopping, packing, unpacking, repacking, more shopping, more packing, and many tears...we are finally here. we had stayed monday night in ny and got to see my dad's sisters, do some last minute shopping, and eat ice cream at pinkberry. upon seeing pinkberry scott said, "there is light at the end of the tunnel." for those of you who don't know, pinkberry is the best frozen yogurt and they only sell in california and new york. anyways, we arrived wednesday morning at 8:45 am (time here) which would be 2:45 am texas time. the kids did great on the flight. beckett slept the whole way. he actually didn't wake up until we got to baggage claim. ella was another story. she did really great considering there were 3 7 year olds crammed into a seat for 2 across the aisle watching a movie without headphones while yelling and laughing and periodically running down the aisle pretending to be superman or spiderman. i couldn't sleep through that so i couldn't expect her to either. we were thankful that the man in front of them let them have it and then scott got a flight attendant who made them go back to their seats. after that, ella quickly fell asleep the rest of the flight (only 2 hours!)

we were picked up by a guy named charlie who works at the school. when i told ella that charlie was picking us up she said, "charlotte is picking us up? is aina here?" oh, it was so sad! we finally got all our 11 bags (we are quickly learning that people really take their time here), scott got searched at security (his stack of luggage that is) and made it to our apartment. it is nice to see familiar faces...friends we met at training in june. the kids are already getting used to the time change (praise God!) and we all slept in until almost 10 am! we are in orientation the next couple of days and enjoying some yummy meals! ella and scott are in town with another family running some errands right now...don't worry, aina, scott has a tight hand on her!

are we there yet?

no. we are not there yet. are we supposed to be...yes. here is how yesterday played out:

-wake up at 7 am to get our bags checked in at the airport by 8 am.
-come home to get the kids and our carry on and return to the airport at 10:15.
-sam (scott's dad) meets us to say goodbye.
-hang out with family until we are supposed to board (flight scheduled to leave at noon).
-flight gets delayed until 3:30. we convince my dad to fly with us to ny so he can help us make our connection (flight to morocco departs at 8:30).
-say our very sad goodbye to my family...lots of tears on the jet bridge and plane.
-wait on the runway for an hour then return to the gate because of weather in ny
-finally leave dfw at 6...definitely no way we are making our connection
-10 pm arrive in new york. go to ticket counter to get voucher for a hotel...very thankful we got one of the last rooms! oh, and ella still had not slept!
-at midnight we finally arrive at the hotel and all five of us crash in one room...scott and i on the king size bed, ella and beckett on pallets on the floor, and my dad on a cot.
-ella wakes us p at 8 am asking, "mom, is this morocco?"

we are almost there. we are sitting at our gate waiting to get on the plane. what an adventure we have already had!

Beckett's First Belly Laugh.

Beckett has had the silent laugh going for a while...today I caught his first real laugh on video. Funny.