In the USA

We are here!  Aden did a good job on the plane, but the flights were long and he wanted to move.  We flew in on Dec. 15 and spent a little bit of time with Katie (Tara's best friend) and Mike Verlee and their 2 year old son Asher in Chicago to start off our trip.  On Dec. 16th we met up with Grandma and Grandpa and have been doing a lot of relaxing ever since.  However, Aden did get a little ear infection, which made for an unhappy camper, but we got it cleared up pretty quickly after an urgent care visit.

Here are some pictures of the early Christmas and our time home so far.  There will be more Christmas post(s) to follow.

Jamie

The family in front of one of the Macy's windows in Chicago

The Chicago Bean

You look pretty short in the bean Tara

Aden playing at Lion's Park in Mauston

Look at that big boy!

Here comes Santa!

Aden's Turn!  He's so excited . . . or not.

A White Christmas and Next Year

Here's the scoop, after a lot of prayer and thought and indecision, we have signed another one year contract with our school.  The thought is that next year will be our last year in Saudi, but we won't be able to say for sure until this time next year.  We are excited about our decision and the outlook of being able to take steps to futher settle in to our roles here and our awesome house. 

As for Christmas plans, here they are.  We will be flying into Chicago on Dec. 15th.  Sometime on the 16th we will make our way back to Mauston.  On the 18th, we will be in Eau Claire for the day to go to church.  the rest of the week before Christmas will mainly be spent with Grandpa Brian and Grandma Wendy, this is the calm before the storm of Christmas.  Seth and Kelly we come into Mauston on the 25th it looks like.  There is also talk of a short trip up north while Seth and Kelly are here.  We'll be at McGuire Christmas on Dec. 31st (very exciting) and the Gillaspie Christmas is TBA as of yesterday.

We are a little busy, but since we are not back in the states all that often we would love to see anybody whose schedule might fit ours.  Everyone will be amazed with how much Aden has grown since summer.  Check out the videos I posted.

We are very excited to be finishing our last Master's class of the semester next week and to enjoy some good family and friend time.

Jamie

O.K. a good walking video finally

A unique laugh for a baby and it is contagious