November Update

Where did November go? So much to share…so little time!

CALL FROM GUATE!!!! The phone rang on Wednesday and what-do-you-know…it was Clara, our Mayan friend. What a wonderful surprise. We didn’t have a great connection, but it was really wonderful to hear her voice. She asked about our family and my parents and wanted to know that we were all well. She wanted to know when we were coming back to Guatemala. Claire spoke with her in Spanish and also to her niece Flory. It was just the best Thanksgiving gift!

Lots of Family: Last Sunday we traveled to IN for a 50th Wedding Anniversary party for Sharon’s Great Aunt and Uncle. It was nice to introduce AnnaMaria to family she hadn’t met yet. It was fun to learn that Uncle Leon sang “I Love You Truly” as Aunt Della walked down the isle at their wedding. Ahhhhh! They are sweet people.

We had a good visit with Jeff’s cousin Tim and his family as they were passing through for the holiday on Wednesday. It was great to catch up.

Thanksgiving was at our house. We had over 40 people here and it was wonderful. Ollie enjoyed cooking with Uncle Mike. We are just so blessed with good family!

The Daily Grind: I’m back at work a couple of days a week. AnnaMaria cries every time we drop her off or pick her up at the sitter’s house, but I think she likes playing with the other kids during the day. Our sitter only has availability on Mondays and Tuesdays, so it’s not the best schedule, but we are making it work.

We have a signed contract on the old house and had the inspection last week. Lord willing, we will close everything out by the end of the year. I had a Moving Sale last Saturday. It was actually really enjoyable. I met lots of sweet people and even better, they hauled out lots of stuff that we don’t have to deal with moving. Jeff’s parents were a big help! One nice grandparent couple bought Claire’s entire bedroom (decorated like the American Girl Molly), so they were there for a while hauling things out. As it turns out, they have a grandson from Guate. What a small world!

Physical therapy is ongoing. Claire was AnnaMaria’s partner on Wednesday. Claire reports that AnnaMaria is really good at “taking shortcuts”. We have “caught” her taking a few crawling moves and she continues to scoot with great skill. Today was a big milestone! AnnaMaria likes to play in the pantry closet and we’ve cleared out the bottom shelf so it’s safe for her. I heard her in there fussing and knew it was an “I’m stuck fuss”. When I went to investigate, I found that she had pulled herself up on the first shelf and got her head stuck under the second shelf. She’s been pulling up on her knees, but that is the first time she made it all the way up.

Cousin Eli….The Bryant family flew out today to meet Eli in Kazakhstan. Oh, it was sad to see them leave last night, but we are very excited for their journey. Please keep them in your prayers.