The elevator is coming, The elevator is coming!! Part 4

A little hammering, some drilling, maybe a little welding sparks, some more hammering on stone and VOILA....We have doors! Of course at this point you don't want to walk through these doors or you'll fall down and go boom.....or poof like the coyote on bugs bunny. By the way, for us to see the frame of the elevator in place doesn't give us a whole lot of confidence to ride it in the future. :)

Cute Pics

One of our friends took these great pictures the other night and we just had to share them. Enjoy!

Kinzy's first meal

I think the video speaks for itself.

The elevator is coming, The elevator is coming!! Part 3

The banging started last Thursday night around 11:00. When we opened our door to see what was going on we saw a couple of guys with sledge hammers pounding away at the stairwell. It was quite a site. Rocks and metal were falling and bouncing all the way down....most of them would hit our door and bounce off. Then they brought out the metal skill saws to cut the railings. This lasted 'till probably 2:00 am. For a few days now we've been walking down the stairs over piles of rubble and keeping the kids as far away from the edge as possible. Stay tuned next time when you'll see elevator doors....same Inman time, same Inman channel...

The elevator is coming, The elevator is coming!! Part 2

About two weeks ago, a few men came by our building and dropped off about 50 wooden posts that looked like they were taken from the Pilgram's Mayflower. A few days later more men showed up around 11:30 at night and built what you see here out of some old rope and the wooden posts. It's quite a circus to get down the stairs with posts here and there that you have to duck under. We have now realized that what they have built is scaffolding.

Reflections from the past

I thought this was a great picture of Lydia and Alia. This was taken on our roof. We are slowly fixing it up....as you can see we've added some plants and of course the swimming pool. What's funny about this picture is that we posted a similar one last year September. It was taken in the same swimming pool at our old house. Check it out! You can find it in the September 2006 archives of our blog.

The elevator is coming, The elevator is coming!!

Nine months ago, when we moved into our new flat we were told that an elevator would be installed in about 3 months. Because our flat is on the fourth floor (fifth floor American), an elevator became pretty important. However, it wasn't until one month ago that we saw any progress toward the elevator/lift/no stairs project. The progress was a hole....yes....a hole. Which actually made climbing down the stairs a little more adventurous; because once you got down five flights of stairs you had a large pit to walk around. We will keep you updated on the current elevator project in our building. Stay tuned for more!

Happy Birthday, Lydia!

Two days ago on the sixth of September Lydia turned six years old. It was really hard for us to believe. We had a great family time together on the day of her birthday. She opened presents and then we all went to an indoor (hot outside) playground nearby. Then we had Lydia's favorite meal, tacos that night. Yesterday, we had a party with friends at the water park here. It was quite hot and crowded but Lydia had a great time.

Modified Self

After catching up on some friends, I (Jill) realized a while ago I had been tagged to share about the changes in myself. These are just a few ways I can think of in which I have been modified, refined, remodeled....in no particular order:

1. I now have two sets of clothes: House clothes and Street clothes. House clothes consist of t-shirts, shorts, and just plain comfortable things where street clothes always cover as much skin as possible, not tight, not revealing and dressier. I now understand that clothes are not truly dirty until you have worn them consistently for 6 days.

2. Being on time for an appointment is overrated. Remove the stress from life and when I get there or they get there, the appointment will happen.

3. I am now a clean freak in my house. When Cal and I were first married, I would clean whenever we couldn't walk across the floor. Now I can't go a few hours without cleaning or organizing the house. I know it is a sub-conscious effort of regaining the feeling of control in my life. The rest of my world here is so out of control, that I try and make a little part controllable.

4. The horn is one of the most useful mechanisms on a car. When I drive, I use it at least once a minute. It is great to announce you are coming into an intersection, warn others of your presence, going by someones blind spot, or to tell someone to go faster to name a few.

5. Like my friend Brin, I once intensely resisted the idea of being a homeschool mom - now it is one of the highlights of my day.

6. Most days I am the one being changed by God more than I am being used to change anyone or anything here.

7. Everyday things like water, electricity and gas are no longer something I think that I deserve, but a privilege. Each day I wake up and think, "Wow! We have water this morning. Thank you!"

8. 20 million people is actually kinda cozy feeling. I feel very uncomfortable in quiet, calm areas now.

9. I didn't know the deep pain that would go through my heart when I see my children confused (why don't I have grandparents here?), ostracized (I can't understand what they are saying), or understanding they must say good-bye to people they love on both continents, and I know all of this is because of the choice that we made. There are no regrets.......it just hurts more than I thought.

10. I used to be a "To Do" list person. I still enjoy writing lists, but it is just a mental exercise for me and not a measure of success like before. If I get one thing done a day, like getting vegetables, it's a good day. And now my definition of success is if I listened to His voice today.


Now I tag....Laura Mudd, Stacey D, and Beth D