Our 4 year old and 6 year old celebrating the 4th of July! We had a big party on the 5th for Uncle Gary's birthday. It was really special. All of his friends came - a nice way to say good-bye. Our girls enjoyed helping take care of Aunt Mary's dogs during the party. 
Tucson, ArizonaMonty and I had planned a get-away to Tucson, AZ to attend a "Family Life Weekend to Remember" marriage retreat. Monty was not so excited to attend a conference but when I told him it was at the J.W. Marriott he suddenly became interested. We planned this for months in advance thinking it would be a nice treat before heading home to Asia. Then, with Monty's dad's stroke and my mom and Uncle Gary's health problems, we seriously considered canceling. But, Katie and Chris stepped in and saved the weekend. It was awesome to have so many friends pitch in and make the weekend possible for us. Monty's high school buddy Donnie and his wife Tracy came and took us to the airport and then drove our children from OKC to Tulsa to meet Katie. Then Katie and Chris kept them for 4 days! They did great although Judah missed us a bit. To help his insecurity he attached himself to Sam's "Diego" bicycle helmet. Judah wore the helmet the entire 4 days - even to church. Katie said she thought she had it all together taking 5 little ones to church on Sunday until the Sunday School teacher asked if Judah might be "special?" Since, he was wearing a helmet that he would not take off and did not have on underwear (his sisters were in charge of making sure he was dressed). Monty and I flew home Monday afternoon and Joe went and picked up our children from Tulsa so they would be home when we arrived. We are so grateful for such good friends!
The conference was great. It is just good to be reminded of all the things we should know but forget to put into practice. We enjoyed hikes in the desert among the giant cactus. Also, the resort was fabulous! Here we are below relaxing in the hot tub with little Ezra. Yes, Ezra did attend but we hired a nanny service out of Tucson to come to the hotel and babysit while we were in the conference. It worked out great for his nursing schedule and for Monty and I to get some time alone.
Here are my kiddo's relaxing in the tub at the house we were blessed with for our last month in the states. It was an amazing house with an awesome master bathroom! It seemed to be a normal type for most of my friends houses I visited but for us it was pure luxury! What an awesome blessing!!!!
The conference was great. It is just good to be reminded of all the things we should know but forget to put into practice. We enjoyed hikes in the desert among the giant cactus. Also, the resort was fabulous! Here we are below relaxing in the hot tub with little Ezra. Yes, Ezra did attend but we hired a nanny service out of Tucson to come to the hotel and babysit while we were in the conference. It worked out great for his nursing schedule and for Monty and I to get some time alone. 
A house to stay in!
Here are my kiddo's relaxing in the tub at the house we were blessed with for our last month in the states. It was an amazing house with an awesome master bathroom! It seemed to be a normal type for most of my friends houses I visited but for us it was pure luxury! What an awesome blessing!!!!The Gurrs Visit Oklahoma
The Gurrs came to visit us from Hong Kong!!!! Actually they were in the U.S. and just happened to be 6 hours away so they could not resist the road trip. I am so thankful they did.
Miranda (in the black tee-shirt) was my roommate at Golden Gate. We have remained great friends since then. She is like my Asian twin. Nigel and Monty always have so much to talk about and our children get along great. So, it is a perfect holiday to have them around.
The Gurrs came to visit us from Hong Kong!!!! Actually they were in the U.S. and just happened to be 6 hours away so they could not resist the road trip. I am so thankful they did. 
Miranda (in the black tee-shirt) was my roommate at Golden Gate. We have remained great friends since then. She is like my Asian twin. Nigel and Monty always have so much to talk about and our children get along great. So, it is a perfect holiday to have them around.The Moore Library
Here are Manon and Henna with their favorite liberian. We did not have internet at the house we stayed in the last month so Monty had to go to the library daily. Thankfully it was really "kid friendly" and easy to take the children and still get work done. We love the local library in the U.S.! We checked out movies, books, books and more books and were able to do all of our office type work there i.e. faxes, scans etc. Manon and Henna even participated in the summer reading program and won a medal for reading a huge stack of books (Manon completed it in one week but Henna took a bit longer).
Here Monty and the kids are outside of our local Chick Fil'et celebrating "military appreciation day". If you wore camo you got free food!
Here are Manon and Henna with their favorite liberian. We did not have internet at the house we stayed in the last month so Monty had to go to the library daily. Thankfully it was really "kid friendly" and easy to take the children and still get work done. We love the local library in the U.S.! We checked out movies, books, books and more books and were able to do all of our office type work there i.e. faxes, scans etc. Manon and Henna even participated in the summer reading program and won a medal for reading a huge stack of books (Manon completed it in one week but Henna took a bit longer). 
Here Monty and the kids are outside of our local Chick Fil'et celebrating "military appreciation day". If you wore camo you got free food! Freedom Fest in Sand Springs
Chris and Katie snuggling Ezra. We went to Tulsa to attend their church's Freedom Fest! It was great family fun!!! Especially having the Brocketts there.
Henna and Manon at the Freedom Fest.
OKC Red Hawks Game
Here the kids are with Rodney the Red Hawk at an OKC Red Hawk's game. Donnie got us tickets and all the fun free stuff they give away to children. It was a fun night. Although, I was a 'mother hen' every time a foul ball came our way. I was so paranoid of one of my kids getting hit on the head with a fast baseball!
Chris and Katie snuggling Ezra. We went to Tulsa to attend their church's Freedom Fest! It was great family fun!!! Especially having the Brocketts there.
Henna and Manon at the Freedom Fest. 
OKC Red Hawks Game
Here the kids are with Rodney the Red Hawk at an OKC Red Hawk's game. Donnie got us tickets and all the fun free stuff they give away to children. It was a fun night. Although, I was a 'mother hen' every time a foul ball came our way. I was so paranoid of one of my kids getting hit on the head with a fast baseball! Living with Joe and Wei Feng (Joe's little mut dog)
This is what our month with Joe looked like! He and Monty are rockin' out on the Wii. Also, Joe had a pool, hot tub, playground around the corner - everything you could want for a fun holiday. Actually during most of this month I was driving to Okmulgee or Tulsa on a daily basis so Joe's was a great place for Monty to babysit the older children when he was not at the hospital with his dad. We really appreciate Joe and how helpful he was with babysitting, checking in on Monty's dad or whatever we needed. He even gave Monty and I some advanced swim lessons in the midst of everything else. 
Judah learned to jump on the trampoline in the states!
He also attended a fire safety seminar at our local fire department.
Our time in the U.S. flew by! At the end of May we had to be out of the house where we had been living, so Joe kindly took in our family of 6! It was good to have the time with him. Everyday I went through our local phone book calling churches to ask if they might have a house we could rent for a month or so. Thankfully we found one really close to Monty's parents house. And, the timing worked out perfect because Joe was in the process of selling his house and we needed to move on at that point.
This is what our month with Joe looked like! He and Monty are rockin' out on the Wii. Also, Joe had a pool, hot tub, playground around the corner - everything you could want for a fun holiday. Actually during most of this month I was driving to Okmulgee or Tulsa on a daily basis so Joe's was a great place for Monty to babysit the older children when he was not at the hospital with his dad. We really appreciate Joe and how helpful he was with babysitting, checking in on Monty's dad or whatever we needed. He even gave Monty and I some advanced swim lessons in the midst of everything else. 
Judah learned to jump on the trampoline in the states! 
He also attended a fire safety seminar at our local fire department. 
Our time in the U.S. flew by! At the end of May we had to be out of the house where we had been living, so Joe kindly took in our family of 6! It was good to have the time with him. Everyday I went through our local phone book calling churches to ask if they might have a house we could rent for a month or so. Thankfully we found one really close to Monty's parents house. And, the timing worked out perfect because Joe was in the process of selling his house and we needed to move on at that point.
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