Three Peas in a Pod

Our crates just arrived (taken by pickup truck across China, through Chinese customs, carried by ship, through Turkish customs, and put onto a moving truck here) with all of our personal items from China. As the movers were unloading all of the boxes from the truck into our apartment, the kids all lined up at the boys' bedroom door and watched as the men brought boxes into our home. They were too cute, all laying in a row-- I just had to snap a few pictures; that top one is a silly, completely over-the-top picture, and here's a cute one of all of them:

Computer time for Ethan (math games, phonics, etc., but WAY more amazing than anything any of us had as kids) has now become an "event" that all three kids want to watch, even if they're not the ones "doing" it. They will just sit and watch, so engrossed in everything he does.
A couple days ago, Ethan was asking about computers when we were kids. We each told him about when our families first got computers (around early junior high age) and how we didn't have computers, when we were his age. He got a confused look on his face, and asked, incredulously, "Well, then HOW did you do e-mail?"

Thanksgiving Day Celebration

We had a group of friends come over for Thanksgiving, to celebrate and eat together, last night. The meal was delicious (I forgot to take a picture)... with turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans (my favorite kind-- cooked Chinese style), rolls, several delicious desserts, and sweet tea! YUM! We felt right at home.

After dinner, all the young people started playing cards, and they patiently let Ethan play with them. Maranatha thought she was playing too, but she just had the extra cards. :)

Then the girls started learning a line dance, and Maranatha was completely fascinated.
She watched carefully and took good notes...
I have a feeling she'll be watching those girls a LOT!
This is what our entryway looks like when we have groups in our home. We've had times when the floor was completely covered in shoes, with more than 35 people in our home. Last night was just about 20 people. Much less than "normal"... but still, a lot of shoes! :)
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, wherever you are!

Baby Fascination

We've had the opportunity to be around lots of small babies lately, as many foreigners come to Istanbul to have their babies, because of the excellent health care available here. It's been fun to see our kids (particularly the little ones, Baxter & Maranatha, who have never really been around or seen newborns) admire the little babies... It's a new experience for them, and good preparation for the impending arrival of their new little brother or sister, due Easter Sunday.

Whole Lotta Dancin' Goin On

I turned on some fun music the other day,

and Baxter & Maranatha had a complete blast dancing together.

Twirly Girl

Here's a funny video from about 30 minutes ago... Maranatha has started twirling and dancing... and all the kids have a blast dancing to music, whether it's a CD or mama playing the guitar. She gets all embarrassed part way through when she realizes she's being videoed... but then she forgets all about that and joins back in the fun, until she gets knocked down by her brothers! :)

Isn't She Lovely?

Wanted to share some pictures of our growing little girl...

My little kitchen helpers:

With Daddy, all bundled up, ready to head out the door...

"Uh-Oh!" The diaper didn't fasten right, mom!


She's growing up and saying all kinds of new things... "Bye", "Night-night", names like our whole family, Nana, Papa, and Jesus, and knows different parts of her face and body too! :)

We're enjoying our precious little girl!