Agren Family Adventures

Camping in Oman

2011-12-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

Carl's scout troop was doing a camping trip to Oman and we decided to make it a family trip. We had a lot of fun and we are excited to do a lot more camping in this area.

We had to do a clean up when we arrived as the people here don't tend to pick up after themselves. I was really saddened by the amount of trash just left out in the dessert.

There was an incredible sunset. Carl and I sat out under the stars and I have never seen them so clearly. Looking up at the starry night I could see why people made up stories about the stars. We saw some falling stars and the North Star has never been so beautiful and bright in my remembrance.

I saw the biggest coolest beetle ever and the girls and I captured it. He may not seem big but just imagine that he is as big as this bowl bottom. We saw snake, scorpion, fox, gazelle, beetle, and of course camel tracks. In the morning when we woke up there were camel droppings all around our tents and tracks. Carl says he remembered hearing something in the night, I wish we had woken up and gotten some pictures.

In the morning he went up with the girls and climbed the mountain and they saw Camels in the distance.

Indoor ski park

2011-09-14T02:39:00.000-07:00

When we arrived at the mall (yes the snowpark is in a mall) we were starving, on the way to the food court we saw a sign for the Shake Shack. I had been at the one in New York and it was sooo good so we had to try it in Dubai. It was delicious, the burgers were super yummy. The fries and shake were only ok but to get a good burger in the ME is something to celebrate. We had to see where you can see snow in the dessert. We showed up in shorts and got suited up and went in. There were ice sculptures, tubing and rides in large plastic "snowballs". It was a lot of fun although it felt more like an ice park with shaved ice on top. The kids had a blast but they finally started to complain about the freezing toes and hands.

Iftar Dinner during Ramadan

2011-09-14T01:47:00.000-07:00

Ramadan is a time of fasting during the day for the Muslims, it lasts for a full moon cycle. At sundown they break their fast at Iftar. We have to remember not to eat or drink anything in public. Lil' Carl has two muslim friends form Jordan who would come over and we would try to be respectful of their fast. Carl shared with them that he understood what it was like to fast since we fast the first Sabath of each month. Similar to when we fast they use this time to do service and charity. We took the kids to an Iftar tent and had a great time. The food was unremarkable but the experience was fun. The girls and I got our hands decorated with Henna.

Aquarium in the mall

2011-09-14T00:03:00.000-07:00

We went to Dubai for the day and had a great time in the Aquarium at the mall. It is the largest viewing window in the world. On the way there we also saw the tallest building in the world. When it cools down we look forward to going to the fastest roller coaster in the world. It was a lot of fun! Apparently the Mall that it is in is the largest mall in the world also. That made me even more excited to exit it once we were done with the aquarium, way to many people. It took us an hour and a half just to exit the parking garage which is frustrating since we only live an hour and half away.

Landed and getting settled

2011-08-08T03:33:00.000-07:00

Our trip here was full of tears, excitement, exhaustion, throw up, more exhaustion, relief and joy. Leaving my parents was very sad, knowing it will be some time before we see them again (I am hoping they come for Madison's baptism in a year) it was very hard to leave them. The kids were having such a great time there but it was time to leave. We were also sad to leave our sweet Aussie Yoshi but we are looking forward to him joining us soon. Then there was the long plane ride, I mean really, really long. We arrived though and we were happy to be reunited with Carl and start the transition to our new home. It has been quite a bit of work but we have unpacked and there are only a few boxes left (I am staying out of the study, the room where all random boxes and items have gone). We had a great first week of spending our days at the pool and relaxing. The kids met the other children in the compound and there seems to be someone for everyone. Church is great, our ward reminds me of the branch in Bahrain, diverse, loving, caring and friendly, I am looking forward to getting to know everyone better. Carl is really happy with his job and we love our new place. We have hit up IKEA quite a bit and still need to get some things.

This last week we went to go to the pool and it was green, I mean slimy green. We were all very dissapointed and were even more so a couple of days later when the problem still wasn't fixed. Apparently the part that is needed is coming from Saudi and seeing how it is Ramadan where everything has odd hours and goes slower here I am not sure when the pool will be up and running again so this week we have been a little more stir crazy. I have not yet ventured out on my own, that is something I am looking forward to doing without the kids in tow. I think they are looking forward to school starting more than I am, they are ready to meet some new friends. The kids also talked us into getting two kittens which I was surprised that I actually kind of like as long as they stay out of my couches. They found a tear in the lining under one of the sections of my couch and climbed up in it to nap, I am not ok with this. Carl bought fabric and we will be fixing it tonight.

For the first time we have actually bought curtains! I am so excited! Carl had picked out the ones for the bedrooms but he left the living room for me and I had so much fun picking out the fabric and style. I will post pictures when they are finished.

Other than that we are hanging out and enjoying being together shile trying to arrange things in the villa and really hoping the pool gets fixed soon! The plan is to post once a week and I will include pictures and videow of all the crazy, fun adventures of the agren family....

The things kids say

2010-06-07T05:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at church a lovely sister stopped me in the hall and said she just had to tell me something that happened last year.

She said "It was a day when it was raining really hard and you were taking Ha-Na out to the car with the umbrella and left the other two in the church to wait for you to take them out. After you left the little one (Madison) began screaming. Carl turned to her and asked her why she was doing that. She replied, looking at me "I am scared of old people." Carl then replied "well, so am I but you don't need to make that noise""

This sweet sister then says, with laughter in her eyes, that she hadn't realized she had reached the age where she was so old that she was scary to children.

My first reaction was mortification. I was speechless (and you know for me that is something). All I could do was thank her for sharing it with me so I could put this story in the journal.

I later told Carl this story and he was in tears laughing. I am going to have a talk with the kids to try to figure out what is so scary about old people and especially this sister who is the sweet and definitely not at all scary!

Summer is here!!!

2010-06-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

I am so happy that the kids are out of school. Lately I have been feeling that the kids are growing up so fast that I am missing out on really being with them. Life has become about day to day and week to week as we fly through the madness. Madison is going to school next year and it is breaking my heart. I am haunted by the fear that I haven't done all that I could have with my time at home with her. I am looking forward to having this summer with them, enjoying who they are and relishing in their uniqueness.

Three months in one Post

2010-01-05T05:43:00.000-08:00

After the kids started school I thought "wow, I will have time to do so many things with just Madison home." Yeah, not so much. We have been running and going like crazy. Doing what you ask? Hmm, just life I guess. I have been selling my baked goods which keeps me busy during the day when I am not entertaining Madison and trying to keep the house kept up.
Madison is having a great time doing Ballet although she has been asking to do gymnastics also. She loves to climb and jump off things. As soon as we live near mountains again we can definitely take her climbing and repelling with us. She loves to paint and dress up. She is so independent, if she wants something she figures out how to get it. Madison just turned five and had a super time at her first friend birthday party. I am panicking that she will be leaving me for school next year, I will miss my buddy during the day!
Ha-Na has seemed to grow up in the past three months. She is really maturing and it breaks my heart a little, I want my kids to stay as they are forever. I am enjoying her being able to have discussions with me. She really enjoys reading and she is doing great in school. She is in ballet and she is so beautiful dancing. She has an incredible teacher and she is so graceful when dancing. Until she looses concentration and then she starts to laugh hysterically and makes silly faces. She also started piano and she is learning super fast. She gets very tired and gets lots of headaches so she gets home from school and sleeps for a couple of hours some days but I think some kids just need more rest than others.
Carl is great, he is learning everyday and is a constant source of random facts. He is playing piano and has improved so much, he can outplay me now (which isn't hard for anyone). He and Ha-Na have a great teacher and had a Holiday recital. They did awesome and all the kids there were soo talented. He is also in chorus at school which he really loves. He loves to belt out and sing, at church I can hear him above everyone.
We have continued to have a steady stream of guests. It is so much fun to have company. Carl's sister Stacy and her family came for Thanksgiving, it is becoming a tradition and we love for them to come. Carl's little brother CJ came for Christmas break and while he was here my brother came with his kids. We had such a great time!
The new year has started and I am already starting new projects. I still have rooms which need to be painted in the house so I started taping off yesterday and I think I will jump in and start with a bathroom today and move on from there. I hate unfinished things.

Company

2009-09-03T07:17:00.001-07:00

We had a really busy summer which ended with having a steady stream of company. My brother Andy and his kids came fora weekend and we had a great time playing games and going to the beach. I love it when we get together!
Then, Carls brothers Austin and CJ came, we had such a good time that they extended their stay and ended up being here for over two weeks. They were so helpful while I was finishing up school and the kids had a blast with them. We also went diving with them. It definitely was not the best diving in fact some of the worst (we went out of Myrtle Beach) but we enjoyed being together. I told the boys that if they can dive in those conditions they can dive anywhere. I hope we can do a dive trip with them some time with pristine conditions. We were sad to see them go, we look forward to their coming back.
The boys left in the morning and my parents came that night. It really helped to keep the kids from being too distraught about the boys leaving. They have a really hard time when people leave. We had a lot of fun! Mom and Dad took the kids for us so we could go away for the weekend. We had thought about going to a resort of the beach but the both Carl and I decided we would rather take the opportunity to go to the temple. We went to Columbia and had much needed time together and at the temple. I had fun going to the beach with mom and dad and playing games with them and the kids. We took them crabbing and that was a blast. We played cards and had to even fish a card out of the water with a net.
School started, my parents left and now life is back to normal. Well, as normal as it gets.

Supposed to be studying

2009-07-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

I find that when I have something I really need to do I coast around on the computer finding things to read and posts that I need to do since it has been a few months. Really I am just being lazy and procrastinating. Today is what I call a free day which means that I have no scheduled lessons or activities for the kids and I don't have class. It is the perfect time to study, take tests, write papers that are due this Sunday but I am finding other things that I just need to do first. Things like laundry which I hate more than anything and really can wait, everyone has enough clean underwear to last them a few more days at least, but because I should use this time to study I find myself thinking that the laundry is really needing to get done and that I will start my schoolwork as soon as I get that done. Of course the house will get clean and the laundry will get done but I will then stay up all night doing what I should have just buckled down and done today. Then my impending migraine that started last night, was subdued but I can feel the dull ache of its slow return coming back will be in full force while I am in class tomorrow. At least if I am going to blow off school it should be for something of value like playing and reading to the kids, not laundry.

We had a fun fourth although our fireworks were quite piddly the kids did enjoy them (Madison was scared of everything because of the sparks but she wanted to be involved so she would come over to help and then run crying back to Kathy). Nothing compares to what Joe does at my parents house. Most major cities shows would be in awe of what they put in the skies there. We grilled and had our friends over for dinner and then played Rook all night. The kids asked me all week if we could make apple pie for the fourth of July, something from a commercial I am sure. They walked around singing it. I get the apples out and all the stuff, they begged to help, peeled one apple each (I have an easy peeler where you just turn the handle so it isn't any work at all) and they were done. Of course they kept running back and picking up the peels and eating them, my kids are super. Then Carl had this idea that if the kids liked eating them raw he could cook them and what better way to do that then fry them. He put together some flour spices and sugar and a flavored egg wash and began frying them. I was really dubious and thought it unnecessary since we were trying to get everything else ready for our guests. He fried them up served them with whip cream with our appetizers and it was a HUGE hit. They were so good, who would've thought fried apple peel. We are thinking of plating and application of what they would be good on although by themselves they were great. I had to admit to Carl that I was wrong in doubting him (which I think made his day, maybe even his week), I was also really proud of having such a creative husband who thinks outside the box.

We also went on a camping trip before the fourth but I will tell more about that in another post with pictures.

Now I will procrastinate more by hanging out with the kids, at least that has value.

Thank goodness for Childrens Hospital (MUSC)

2009-05-22T06:07:00.000-07:00

We had an eventful week starting Monday. After Carl swam in cold water at his swim team practice he came out early and began coughing. Around 11 that night he came in with a bad croup cough. We did all the stuff we could at home but it wasn't getting better. We took him to the pediatrician in the morning, when she saw his oxygen levels she called 911 and he was taken to the nearest ER (across the street). After he had been hooked up the doctor came to check on him and while listening to him breath he told lil Carl to "stop making that noise" to which my husband responded that he couldn't, that is why we brought him here. We were told his chest x-rays looked fine. They wouldn't believe he had croup because he is too old at 9 to have it. They began treating him for asthma. That went on for 5 hours and when the treatments did not make a difference they finally decided to take x-rays of his throat and discovered that he did have croup (what we had said all along) and that their treatment for the last five hours had been useless. They began treating for the croup at that point as he had improved very little. At this point they decided to admit him into the hospital, when they called our pediatrician they insisted on his going to the children's hospital in Charleston. I had been watching his breathing as he lay there and I was convinced that his right side was doing all the work breathing. I am always nervous bring up things to doctors. I mentioned it to the nurse who said she hadn't noticed any difference in the sounds from the lungs. She listened again and stated that she might hear a little difference and that next time I take him in for a checkup i should tell his doctor about it. I then stated that was the reason we were there not to wait til his next appt. Anyway, we then went to the children's hospital (Lil Carl's second ambulance ride of the day) where they were amazing and awesome. They listened to his chest and back and knew instantly that his left lung sounded worse than the right. From the x-rays they said that he had croup although they also said it was really rare for a child his age which concerns them and they also were able to tell from his chest x-rays that he had pneumonia in his left lung. That was all in the first hour of being there. I can't imagine what excuse the other hospital could give for not seeing it, they showed me the x-rays and I could see it. They also showed that his right lung was over extended and the left was really small. They say that all these things together are really concerning. It was also apparent to them that his asthma had not been treated well and needs more attention. He continued to improve now that he was getting the right treatment and his pneumonia broke up and his left lung cleared. Our respiration therapist Anita was so great, I am in awe of her. She taught us so much about managing his asthma and I feel like we can be proactive now and maybe he can enjoy his time outside without fear. Everyone at the hospital was enchanted by him, when the interns had their rounds they were in our room for a while, not just because he is such an interesting case but he held them captive telling them stories and asking them questions. After three days in the hospital we got to bring him home. He still has to go back so we can meet with the pediatric pulmonary doctors so they can do further investigation and maybe we can have more of an idea of why he is having all these problems. We have a few outstanding tests that we are waiting on the results for also. I am hoping everything is negative but I also want answers for him. We are grateful for everyone's prayers and we want everyone to know that he is doing well and seems as chipper as ever even when he is having problems breathing (which indicates that he is comfortable with difficult breathing, poor guy!) He is super happy to be home and we are all happy to be home as well!

New Furniture

2009-05-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

We took two days and went up to Hickory NC to shop for furniture. For the first day we found nothing, well there was a lot of great stuff but not in our price range. Then the next morning frustrated and disappointed we headed out. Both Carl and I kept being prompted to go back to a Bernhardt where we had already been the day before. The likeliness of there being anything new there that we liked was slim but finally we both stated the feelings we had been having and seeing as they matched up we decided to go back. As we got to the store we saw that there was another store on the other side. We went there and found what we were looking for. Yeah! After two days of looking and with the kids in tow we were finished. The kids were really great though. Here are some pictures of our finds.

These are for our front room which has been empty for the last four and a half years.

We got these chests for the girls room. Other than the finishing touches their room is done.

This couch is for the kids playroom. It is really, really comfy!

Now we have to wait for the delivery to come. I am hoping it is before Mom and Dad Agren come at the end of the month.

Back to the books

2009-05-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

Just when the kids are getting out of school I will be starting again. I am so excited to return to the Culinary Institute of Charleston. I am going to be majoring in Culinary arts and working on my bakeshop certificates.

We had another Iron Chef party last night. It was a lot of fun. We did not know when we scheduled it that it was on the same night as the father son camp out and then with people getting sick and other things it ended up being smaller than usual. Our secret ingredient was cheese.

Carl and I made 5 cheese macaroni, Manicotti with sun dried tomato and balsamic vinegar sauce, micro greens topped with fried goat cheese and toasted pecan vinaigrette. For dessert I made a White chocolate cheesecake with Oreo cookie crust topped with chocolate raspberry ganache and fresh raspberries served with raspberry coulis. The macaroni and cheese was a biggest hit as was the cheesecake. Since the group was so small we decided to to play rock band and had a really great time.

Catch up

2009-03-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

Since the kids birthdays we have been really busy. Not only are both the girls on different soccer teams but Carl was also doing basketball. It made for a really hectic schedule especially on Saturdays when they all three had games.

At the end of February we went to Vegas for our friends wedding. We went a couple of days early and Carl's parents met us. We were all so excited to go on this trip and just as we are getting ready to go lil Carl starts complaining he doesn't feel well. It took us a whole day to get there and he just got worse and worse. He is such a good sport though, went everywhere during the week and the first few days he was really feeling miserable but he was really great about it. The kids highlight was when Grandma and Grandpa Agren got there and we always have so much fun with them. They are super! Carl had not been feeling great since he got back from Bahrain, he was really exhausted all the time and it was getting worse. At first we thought that it was what lil Carl had but it was much worse and different. He said his throat hurt worse than it had ever before. Mom and Dad took the kids for us for the day so we could get ready for and go to Don and Ohms wedding. It was a lovely ceremony and the reception was a lot of fun. We danced and the dinner was great. I felt so bad for Carl though, he was miserable but really trying to hang in there with the dancing. He was happy to have somewhere to wear his tux he had made in Bahrain. In true Carl fashion he bought black converse to wear with his tux (I think he had the most happy feet of anyone).

When we got home Carl left immediately for a business trip and when he got back he was feeling worse than ever. He spent the weekend in bed. He had another trip and again came back feeling awful. He started to feel a little better just as I started feeling bad. I had begun to suspect mono and I knew there was really nothing that would work but rest. Then Ha-Na started complaining about being really tired. She got worse, I took her to the doctor and yup it's Mono. Carl was scheduled for a trip to Bahrain for a couple of weeks so he has gone and is feeling better. I have Ha-Na home with me and I am praying the other kids don't get it. We spend our days hanging around the house and ordering take out for dinner. She has to drop out of soccer for the rest of the season, she seemed fine with it although I think it is because she had such a miserable time at her last game and practice since she felt so miserable from being tired and sick before we caught on. We will try again next season if she wants.

That is pretty much it for now. I will huddle up on the couch at home and entertain the kids best I can til I get better or Carl comes home.

Holy Cake Batman!!!

2009-02-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

Carl's birthday is today and I made a cake to bring to school. He wanted a batman cake so Carl and I came up with the design. It was a lot of fun and everyone at school was excited about it.

I did three layers, the bottom has bricks with scallop impressions. The second is a marbled darker grey and the third is a medium grey with windows. The banner is made of fondant and designed to look as if it is falling off the building as it topples. The windows are orange to imply there is a fire going on inside the building.

Here it is all put together with the bat signal on top. Behind that you can see the smoke of the building being destroyed (it is actually dry ice in a container placed in the top). Batman is climbing up the side of the building to save it (sorry Katie, we did not have a bat girl toy :))

Here is a closeup with whisps of smoke behind the signal.

We then took Carl and Ha-Na out of school and to the aquarium where Carl had asked to go. It was fun and we even saw dolphins swimming in the bay.

Carl asked to go to AW Shucks to dinner, he really loves seafood. He ordered the seafood bucket which had crab, shrimp, oysters, clams, and muscles. When it arrived the girls suddenly decided that their children meals were not sufficient and began mooching. Big Carl thought he was going to get at least one of little Carl's oysters but the girls and he ate them all and my husband went home oysterless. It was so fun to see them enjoying the seafood, I love that my kids are adventurous eaters, I don't think there are many kids 4, 6 and 9 who would fight over shellfish.

Ha-Na's castle cake

2009-01-31T16:25:00.000-08:00

We decided to have family parties for the kids this year so I told the kids I would make any cake they wanted for their classes. Ha-Na asked for a castle and this is what I came up with.

Here are the three layers with fondant and the brick imprints.

Here is the the cake with the turrets put on and the fondant banner in front. The turrets are made from Rice Crispy Treats that I colored while making and sugar gum paste.

Here it is all finished with Belle and the Beast. These were one of her birthday presents.

I was really proud of this cake, it was my first time making and using fondant and I was really pleased with the outcome. I learned a lot in the process and it was a fun challenge and everyone at school was really excited when I brought it in the lunchroom. There were lots of oohs and ahhs but the best was how excited and happy Ha-Na was to see it, I had kept it hidden from her so it would be a surprise when she saw it. The kids ate almost the whole thing in like ten minutes.

Now I will take a couple of days rest before I need to get started on Carl's cake.

Painting Handprints

2009-01-29T03:37:00.000-08:00

I have been promising the girls that I would paint their room for a long time now. We had talked about colors but I have put it off for other things that seem more urgent. Then, Madison comes to me one day and says "I painted my room purple" with great excitement. I didn't worry too much because I knew we did not have purple paint in the house so I went on with the day. Later Ha-Na came home from school and asked me if I had seen the walls in her room. I knew instantly it was going to be bad. I went up to look and saw that there was purple paste all over the the wall. Apparently she had taken the Aquafresh that has three colors and mixed it together which turned into purple so she then used it as paint. Resourceful, yes but man what a mess. She got in big trouble, then went on to do it again a few days later with the bathroom wall.

Sunday morning Carl went downstairs to find that she had dumped out the hot cocoa mix to pick out all of the dried marshmallows, when she was done she left the powder on the floor for the dog to lick into a paste. It was a mess.

After the toothpaste incident I decided I should get to painting the girls room so Madison would not feel the need to do the walls herself again. We went and picked out the color and I spent a day taping off and painting the first coat. I let it dry for the day and had wrapped up the roller and the brushes in plastic so I would not have to clean them out between painting. The kids were told the room was off limits and I went down to make dinner. The kids were playing so well upstairs and I was so proud of them since I was busy cooking. We called the kids down for dinner and sat down to eat. As Madison sat down Carl asked her what was in her hair, as we stared at her it dawned on us both what it was and then I realized it was on her hands and feet also. Carl ran upstairs and I heard him exclaim loudly. I ran up and was stopped in my tracks as I got to the girls room. First I saw the window which was covered in paint, next that there was paint on their dresser that I had painted for Ha-Na just before she was born, then I saw the painto on the floor. As I was cleaning that up first I looked over and saw that on Ha-Na's quilt that my mom made for her also had paint on it as did the door. I was in shock and then I just started to cry. I got it out of the carpet saw hat she had also painted a birdhouse that we have in the room, I went to work cleaning that the whole time crying in frustration. I looked at the window and saw that amont the rolls of paint (she had gotten the roller out of the plastic and used that as her weapon) there were also tiny handprints. I walked arround and saw the back of the dresser was also covered in the handprints. Now that I am not crying anymore I think I will keep the handprints on the back of the dresser just to keep the memory of this stage that she is in and be so happy when she is out of it!!!!

She continues each day to get into trouble, I am not sure what is going on with her but if it is quiet I am terrified. I have been keeping her with me continually to keep her leashed in. I will post one of the pictures I took of it (I had to have evidence)

Tomorrow, Tomorrow!!!!

2009-01-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

I am sooo happy tonight, Carl is on a plane coming home right now. Well, actually he is on his way to Paris right now but tomorrow he will be here.

Everyone has been asking for pictures so I did another slide show. I am giving a warning though, there are a lot of pictures. I should have cut it down but I didn't want to leave any out so I didn't. If you make it through them all give yourself a little cheer.

So what is this enormous slide show? It has the kids in their Christmas pajamas on Christmas eve. Then it has Christmas, Madison's birthday in Florida including Jessica's marching band and then some from New Years Eve.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Madison had a great time on her Birthday although she is dissapointed that turning four did not make it so that she could suddenly do all sorts of new things. She chose to go to cheesecake factory for her birthday dinner and when we got there and asked her what she wanted she looked at us like "duh" and replied "lots of cheesecake." We ordered her some dinner but she did not eat anything til the cake came. She also insisted on wearing her knit cap that Grandpa Shull made for her, she wears it everywhere. I think she is going to love it to it's death.

We also have pictures of our new house project, we want to use the space under the stairs for more storage so we cut down the wall, removed a few beams and with some more boards and shelves I will have lots of much needed storage.

We have really loved the new member of our family Yoshi. Carl kept asking me if he could have a little brother and he has decided that Yoshi is even better. I love that he is already housebroken, no three years of waiting to potty train!

Summing up

2009-01-10T06:33:00.000-08:00

We have been settling in at home. Carl was not able to come home for Thanksgiving we went to my brother Andy's house in Ohio and had a blast. The kids had a great time with their cousins and it was nice to be around adults for a change. Madison and I are having fun with our outings during the day. She is really enjoying her mom time. We go to the YMCA each day she likes playing with the kids and I like riding the stationary bike. I get an hour to read without interruption while I am doing something good for my health.

Carl arranged to come home for Christmas break so I got all my cookies for my plates done before he gets home so it didn't take up our time with him. We drove to Virginia to pick him up. It was so great when he came to the hotel, I started to cry. The kids were so thrilled and it was really great to be all together again.

We took goodies around and even sang to a few of the people. We just had a really great time getting ready for Christmas and hanging out.

I think Carl and I were more excited for Christmas than the kids were. We had the inside scoop and knew that Santa was going to be dropping off a puppy.

That morning the kids came down and saw the puppy and presents and were over the moon. The puppy took most the attention for a while but then they got to opening presents. We settled on Yoshi for his name, we had an Australian Shepherd before and we wanted to keep the tradition of using Russian words that describe them. Our previous dog was Lapka which means paw because he had such big paws. Yoshi means Hedgehog, he is all fluffy and he is soo cute. Carl had pet hedgehogs when he was on his mission and so we thought it was fitting. Sometimes he reminds us so much of Lapka, we slip and call him Lapka. He and Carl have bonded really well and the girls love to chase him and be chased by him.

We played with all our games and really, really love Rock Band. We started a family band and we have one with our friends here. Their teenage daughter says we are too old to be playing that game. I asked her what she thought she would be doing at our age. I find it so funny cause I can look back when I thought back when I was her age and I probably thought the same thing.

We went to Florida on Madison's birthday to see Carl's sister Jessica and her school marching band compete to play at the football game half time. It was a lot of fun and we loved seeing her, we only wish we had more time to visit.

Shortly after Carl had to go back Bahrain but he should be back by the 14th. We will be really happy to have it all settled and be together again.

Christmas Tag

2008-11-22T07:33:00.000-08:00

Ok, I guess I have been tagged which means I am supposedto do this questioneer thing, thanks Julie. I was going to totally ignore it but since it is sort of like a game and I am a stickler about rules of games I feel I must comply. So, here it is.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both, I like to mix it up.

2. Real tree or artificial? Hmm, by choice would always do real but to be practical we have artificial.

3. When do you put up the tree? After Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? Right after the 1st of the year.

5. Do you like egg nog? Yep, but not the fat free kind they sell in the store, it scares me. If it is fat free then it can't really be egg nog, it is just nog and that is wrong.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I don't really know. I do remember when I got my Cabage Patch Doll. I had seen it on my moms bed before Christmas and told my sis and she told my mom who then bought this really ugly doll (I know Cabage patch dolls are really ugly but at the time I loved them). When we opened the gifts I could not understand where the CPdoll was and everyone said I must have seen this ugly one and mistaken it for a CPdoll. Then after I sat and moped and even cried a little the brought it out. I still say it was a very cruel trick but my dark side can see the amusement in it.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Carl, he always says he doesn't need anything.

8. Easiest person to buy for? My kids, they are even excited when I buy them new socks at the store so Christmas is the best thing in the world. Does that indicate they are deprived? I am just happy they are so appreciative.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Not yet.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I have done both.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Lets see, my mom used to wrap everything she bought arround Cristmas so I think I got tightts or socks one year. She also used to wrap parts to present seperatly like the batteries and stuff so we would have more to open. I guess I am not as appreciative as my kids. We always got other great stuff though.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Elf

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Ocotober or November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No. I did get a recycled present for our wedding though. When we opened the gift there was another card inside the box with someone else's name. I don't know who gave it to us but I still remember the gift.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Hmmm, what must be at every Holiday dinner are my dads rolls, they are awesome and it isn't a Shull holiday without them.

16. Lights on the tree? Yes, but white only. I cannot stand colored lights!!! (Keeping Julie's answer for this one)

17. Favorite Christmas song? There are so many.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open one in the evening from a family member, it is our tradition. Santa comes at night so how could we open presents before Christmas morning? duh!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Commercials they try to be all sentimental and it really bugs me. Especially the car commercials. Who is seriously buying a car for someone for Christmas. I know it happens but it seems really unlikely.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? My tree is green, gold and red.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Crown roast, it is so pretty and festive looking. I also like Prime rib.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Carl to be home and to know where we are going to be for the next couple of years. Yes, it was supposed to be set but now some things are up in the air again. Also I think I want Wii fit, anyone have a review of it for me?

26. Who I tag: I wouldn't do this except it is here so I feel it is part of the rules and therefore I am required to comply. So I tag Ally and Katie.

Djibouti

2008-11-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

Carl wrote a letter about his trip and I thought I would post it for everyone.

Hi all, Well I am in the Horn of Africa, have been for the last week or so. It is really interesting. I flew in on a military flight from Bahrain. From the air I saw the water looked really nice, which with a diving addiction like mine really is a good sign. Then we hit land, I have never seen so much trash in my life. The people here live in squaller, actually I think that they live in a level below squaller. In order to keep the inhabitants in line they condone the use of cot, which is a fairly powerful cross between meth and weed. It comes in the form of green leaves that they much on like a huge dip of chewing tobacco. Lovely I know. The government uses this as a form of crowd suppression since they have around 60% unemployment. The American base is pretty interesting in and of itself. It had been raining for several days before I arrived so everything was muddy, there are not roads on the base, just dirt paths that are purely suggestions. The whole base is on the flight line that is shared with the french and us. So we get twice the number of jets, and the French Mirage is really loud. I am living in a shipping container with a bed and an A/C, the conditions are only slightly better than Eric's. When I got to the first container (CLU) there was a sign on the window that said "Military Working Dog", I thought that was weird and I went in, and sure enough there was a crate and someone else's stuff. I close the door and head back to the housing office and get a new CLU (Yes you can insert any pun you want here). This CLU was full of water there was about 1-2 inches on the floor. Apparently the Navy overlooked the fact that there is a rainy season here. We got busy working, I have a new employee working here and I came to train her. I was able to go out into town to the Bizarre. That was a lot of fun. I picked up some African goods. Kraus you are right, if you have been to one bizarre, you have been to them all. Kraus you would be super proud of me, I bartered with people and got it so low that they called me a Russian, because the Americans would have payed higher prices. I got a chess set for little Carl, he is learning it in school and has taken a keen liking to it. I got the girls some figurines, and for us a carved Rhino. Since the place closes down on Veteran Day, I signed up to feed my addiction and go diving. We did two exceptional dives, who would have know there was such good diving here. After the dives we went snorkeling with whale sharks, that is right whale sharks. They migrate through this time of year. I was able to swim with a juvenile only about 12 feet in length and another about 20 feet in length. It was truly amazing to be so close to such a large fish. They are completely docile, one even got kicked in the head by and unsuspecting swimmer. I have some not so good pics of the whale shark that I will be posting to the blog when I get back to civilization. I am heading back to Bahrain in the morning and hoping to be home by Thanksgiving. I love you all, Carl

Election Day

2008-11-04T17:19:00.001-08:00

One of the reasons I came home when I did was so that I could be able to vote. We got in late last night and with the time difference and the excitement of seeing their toys again I gave in and let the kids stay up a little late. I had a whole list of things to do today, most importantly vote but I also kind of needed to get groceries since the only thing in my cupboard was grey poupon (which expired in 2006), beans and some teddy grahams. Okay, there was some other stuff but it is two years old. When I woke up the kids were still sleeping so I thought I could have the sitter come, I would run and vote and then get a few groceries and come home to feed the kids. I arrive at the school and go to the line, which is the middle of the real line, it goes down the hall and starts on the other side of the school. When I get to the end of the line a sweet man is giving a speech about how it will probably be three hours and there is nothing that can be done about it so please do not get angry while waiting. So I start the day there. Since as aforementioned there were no groceries in the house I only grabbed a coke that Carl had left when he was here last and that was my breakfast. I was still in line when lunch came and still in line four hours after arriving, I could smell McDonald's from down the street and my stomach actually craved it, I know almost as bad as just a coke for breakfast. There was a woman a few spots ahead of me who had potato chips and I had to keep myself from pouncing on them, and I really don't like potato chips. In line I was with two other women from our subdivision so it was nice to meet neighbors. I was really impressed with how calm everyone was, there was grumbling but I was also a grumbler and felt it was understandable as four and a half hours in line crept upon us. There were women in line with their children, I was so impressed with them. My children would have been running around in circles after the first ten minutes and these kids behind me were so good for their mom, I really must be doing something wrong. I felt bad for some who came and saw the line, heard how long it would take and said they could not do it and chose to leave. But mostly I was impressed by those who felt it was important enough to call work and just let them know that they were going to be longer than planned because they had to vote. I finally got to vote and left almost five hours after getting into line. Lightheaded from nothing to eat and stressed to return my rental car I had driven from the Jacksonville airport to Charleston I went to Cathy's house and she came with me and gave me a ride home where I then got into the van to drive to the grocery store and finally pick up some much needed groceries and pizza for the kids for dinner. Thankfully they had eaten while I was gone since my awesome sitter Shelby realized when I did not come home (I don't have a cellphone or any phone for that matter yet) she should get food for them and had her sister walk over cereal and milk for breakfast and then Cathy who finished voting before me brought over popcorn and apple juice for them. I get in the van and back up , hearing some strange noises and feeling the car is driving funny I stop to investigate. Now, this is a car Carl bought while here, a month ago, this is the first time I am driving it.....ever. I get out and look around and see that the back tire is completely flat. I park it and take Carl's truck instead. I get to the pizza place to order and realize I don't have my wallet....back to home get the wallet back to pizza and groceries. It is now six thirty and up til now I still have only had one coke all day so I started getting light headed and dizzy. Deciding it was time to get home and eat I picked up just the essentials and went home with pizza. Shelby, my sitter had called her dad and he filled up my tire so now I just have to see if it was a fluke or if it will be flat again tomorrow when I have to take them to school to register. The kids ate, I ate and now they are showered and in bed and I am now debating whether I should start the daunting task of unpacking and laundry or just fall into bed and pass out leaving these mundane tasks to tomorrow.

Carl at his best

2008-10-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

I came across these pictures and I just had to share them. A little back story is necessary though. Carl's mother likes roosters, they are evident all through her kitchen, there are a lot of them everywhere. There is one rooster in particular that sits on the middle of the island in the kitchen and Carl swears that they were told that if they broke it they had better head to Mexico to hide. Well, of course this encourages him to make a joke of it, good thing his mom has a really great sense of humor. I think his vandalising the rooster started before I even met him but in the course of our marriage I have seen cheese whiz hanging from, dolls sitting on, hats added to this rooster. When we would go to his parents house he would always be planning something and then he would wait and see how long it took for mom to notice, I think that was the most fun for him. One time he even tried to plan to move the rooster off of the island into another room and put a really tacky ugly one up and then "accidentally" smash it. I put the kibosh on that one, I didn't want to risk something really happening to it if it was moved, I don't know how much I would like hiding in Mexico. On our last visit Carl arrived before us and when I came in the rooster was already trussed up, here are the results.

Leaves all arround

2008-10-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

Madison spent the day outside helping Grandpa with the leaves. He would make the piles to take to the goats and she would disperse them. She had the best time. She tried to share the fun with the cat but he just would not appreciate it.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Then the kids came home from school and seeing the leaves they all ran and played in them.

Fall Festival

2008-10-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

The next Holiday outing was the kids Fall Festival at school. It was in the gym which was really crowded. After doing Ha-Na's hair Madison begged me to make hers curly. I worked with a curling iron and got it all done which lasted all of an hour before it fell straight again. She always cries about her straight hair while I always hated my curls. I guess we always want what we don't have. We first went to the cake walk and were informed that the kids cake was one of the first that was taken. They won 2nd place in the 3rd grade entry for the cake. They had so much fun playing the games and especially liked the hayride around Kamiah. At the end we took them through the haunted house (which was actually the stage). Madison said it was her favorite part of the festival (I think it was actually the fact that Grandpa was holding her as she went through). They all had a great time and especially liked showing off their costumes.

Halloween contd.

2008-10-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

The kids school had a cake decorating contest. They were both really excited about it so I said I would make one cake and they could decorate it together. My mom and I Macgyvered (sp?) together a pan out of a colander parchment paper and nonstick spray since they don't bake and had nothing to do it in. It worked and I gave the kids supplies and let them go crazy.

I did have to tie my hands up so I would not take over, I did give verbal suggestions but in reply received eye rolling. OK, they did take some of them. The buckle at the front was Carl's idea, he said it was a must.

We will find out tomorrow if it won anything, it will be added to the cake walk they are having at the fall festival for the school tomorrow. The kids get to wear their finished (yeah) costumes to the festival. I am going to try to keep them away from the cake walk though, we leave next week and there is no way I want the pressure of finishing a cake before Wednesday.

OK, I could probably eat it in one sitting but I really shouldn't. We already have two half gallons of ice cream that have to be eaten, the kids are so excited, dessert every night until we go.

I finally figured out how to do the whole video thing, here is the kids dancing at the Halloween square dance.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Halloween has begun!!!!

2008-10-20T22:19:00.000-07:00

This is probably my most favorite holiday. I think because it is the start of the holiday season and I have so many childhood memories of decorating our house and getting our costumes ready. The season really starts to feel like fall which is my favorite time of the year. Then when we would get home from trick or treating my mom would make homemade doughnuts and read us scary stories while we sip apple cider in front of the fireplace.

Being in Bahrain I was not able to do much for Halloween, there are no pumpkins for an affordable price and very few decorations and of course no trick or treating or parties for the kids, until I decided to throw one last year. I love the holidays and especially decorating but with moving around like we have we have had not really been able to do that because we are not in a place long enough, we live in a hotel or are out of the country. So, this year I was determined my kids were going to experience the holiday season in full force. I started first by deciding to make their costumes, the girls are princesses and Carl was going to be a knight but changed his mind at the last minute when he saw a cape that grandma has and wants to be Dracula. That is less work for me so I said sure.

For Halloween itself we will actually be in Seattle where we will try to go to a farm and do a corn maze and a hay ride at the pumpkin patch, trunk or treat at my friends ward party, stop by my brothers party at his house and then take the kids trick or treating. We are sooo looking forward to all this fun but we even got to start it early. My parents have been square dancing for years (they are really disappointed none of their kids took it up but there seems to be a chance for the grand kids) and they were having one for Halloween. My mom decorates for all the dances and she did a great job for this one. As aforementioned I have been making the girls costumes, I wasn't quite finished but they were done enough and mom and dad wanted to show of their grand kids to their friends. They danced and had the best time showing off their costumes.

Tonight for Family Home Evening we decided to carve pumpkins that a friend of my parents gave us, decorate the house and decorate Halloween cupcakes. I was so sad that Carl was missing everything. My mom read fun Halloween stories and we sang songs. When it was winding down Carl called on Skype from Kuwait and the kids sang him Halloween songs and we walked around with the computer so he could see all the decorations and the pumpkins they carved, it really made the night great. Hooray for Skype!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going home

2008-10-13T00:54:00.000-07:00

We have decided it is time to go home to South Carolina and wait for Carl to join us there. We will be heading back at the beginning of November. We have had such a great time with my mom and dad and we will really miss them. I am excited to be at my own house and see my new car that Carl bought for me while he was there.

We went to Seattle a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. I was able to see my family and hang out with Julie. Brad and Kim were so nice to let us stay with them and feed us all week. We enjoyed it so much that we are going again at the end of the month to spend Halloween with them before we fly out. I am really excited to see them and see their spooky decorations, they really go all out.

While there I hurt my back somehow and it keeps getting worse. We had my dads sister come with her husband, sons, and grand kids this weekend and I cooked for them which increasingly stressed my back. I had so much fun seeing my cousins, it had been years , and especially visiting with my aunt and uncle. Right now I am working on relaxing and letting my back heal. Laying down is the only way that it does not cause intense pain but I am not capable of just laying down all the time. I find myself getting fidgety and try to get up which is the most painful of movements. Once I finally get up it gets worse and worse til I have to lay down and take medication again. I have had consistent back pain for years but usually that was in my neck, shoulders, upper back area. This is in my lower back although I think the stress and tension in my upper back may be contributing to the lower back pain.

Other than the above pain I am doing well. I love that the weather has cooled and I get to wear fall clothes, those are my favorites, I love layers. I have been working on the kids Halloween costumes, I am almost finished with Ha-Na's and will do Madison's this week. I am looking forward to going home and I am already thinking about what I will do in the house. I am especially anxious to have a date of when Carl will join us, he is working really hard at getting finished in Bahrain and getting his orders back to Charleston finished.

Lumberjack Days

2008-09-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

I took the kids, Laurel and Mathew to Lumberjack days in Orifino today and they had a blast. There was a parade in the morning and I think that anyone who had a truck and a sign in the tiny city was in the parade. The kids loved it since they threw candy to the kids. When the Obama/Biden float came through an awkward silence and then it seemed that collectively the crowd refused to acknowledge the floats exhistance. Later the McCain/Palin float arrived to shouts and cheers, it is obvious where this area stands.

Ha-Na was particularly fierce about racing for and obtaining the candy. One time she got a candy and from a distance I saw her look at it, consider for a moment then pop it in her mouth.....there was no wrapper, I cringed.

Carl was very sweet and after getting one for himself he made sure his sisters were getting some and then when he saw they had some he started giving what he picked up to others.

Madison was using her wiles and when she did not get any would put a really sad look on her face and scan the crowd with it. People would quickly scrounge and get her a piece. After that we had a greasy carnival lunch and then took the kids on rides.

They had a blast and especially liked the Ferris wheel much to my annoyance. It is my least favorite ride and I had to go on to accompany Madison. I let them play one game that was a for sure win so they each got a prize and we went home.

Laurel and Mathew were troopers, Mathew stayed in his stroller the whole time and Laurel was a great sport as we walked around.

Who could abandon this?

2008-09-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

In true April at her parents style I found a dog. As a kid I was always bringing home dogs I found on my paper route and then we would find their home or find them a new home. This morning when I was running out of the garage with Madison to catch up with the kids who had already started down to meet the bus I step out of the garage and there is the cutest little beagle. She walks right up to Madison and lets her pet her. She then follows us down to the road. My parents place is on six acres out of town, not really close to anything. We called the rescue places and vets in the area and apparently they said that so far no one has reported her missing and that it is very normal here for people to just abandon dogs when they move and that they very rarely have a home. We are falling in love with her already. She is so well behaved and just lets Madison and Mathew pet her all over, I think the cats may even give her a chance. Her ribs are sticking out pretty well so we don't think she hasn't eaten for a while and when dad went and got food for her she gobbled it super fast. Her snout and belly look really red like a rash or scratches or something so we are trying to figure out what that is. I gave her a bath because as much as I love dogs I will not touch them if they reek. She is all shiny now and we will keep her here while we wait for someone to claim her. If I knew we were going to live in Charleston I would take her in a heartbeat, she is soooo sweet and just the right size. I really can't imagine anyone abandoning such a dog but it happens which breaks my heart. I am trying not to fall too much in love with the dog but my dad and mom are taken to her so I think if she needs a home for true they will keep her for their own, although I think they would rather I take her and then they could just see her when they visit. I am going out now to take pictures and I will post them so you can all see her. We are trying to find something to call her since we don't want to refer to her just as the dog, we are all going to weigh in but would appreciate any suggestions.

Your my Huckleberry

2008-09-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

Mom bought a gallon of Huckleberries and I was so excited. We planned to make huckleberry pie which I had always heard of but never thought I would be able to make (where to you get huckleberries from ?) They have a really strong flavor so we combined them with some wild apples growing on their property that are really awesome. Wow! That pie was tasty. Ha-Na was licking her plate clean and I didn't even try to stop her. Mom says they grow in the mountains so they can't grow them, but for a woman who found a variety of peach, kiwi, grapes, pecans ect that will grow in northern Idaho I bet she can find a Huckleberry that can grow in the valley of the mountains here.

The smartest kids in class

2008-09-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

The kids had their first day and they really were thrilled to be back in school.

Carl came home to let us know he was dubbed the smartest in class by the other students. It has something to do with his talking about stalagmites and the other kids not knowing what those were. He got a project assignment right away, we were to collect ten bugs and mount them. Everyone in the house got in on the collecting and even Madison came running upstairs with a tissue in her hand so excited about catching a spider for Carl's collection. My mom and I helped him put it together and it looked really good. His teacher said she would pick the best three to present at the county fair and Carl's was picked. He was so excited. They also were picking a student counsel and they had to give a one minute speech about why they would be good. Carl came home and told me about it and told me about his speech. He stood up and said that they should vote for him because the scriptures are by his side and he makes his decisions based on them and they are his favorite thing. He did not get picked though showing that religion apparently has no place in politics at any level. I told him he would be my pick though every day. He has also started teaching himself to play piano. I went downstairs and he was clinking on it and reading my old piano book from when I was a kid. Today he came running to me to let me know that he can now read the notes with out the letters on them. I have him set up for piano lessons now since I think I better take advantage of his enthusiasm. He practices all the time on his own.

Ha-Na started school and it came out they felt she should go to kindergarten because of the the large age difference between her and the other kids. She came home and told me what they were doing in kindergarten and I asked her what she thought of it and she said it is all "Easy, peasy, lemon easy." I sure hope this teacher keeps her active for her own sake. She does like that they have a rest time and wants to take her blankie to school with her. The first grade teacher gave me their workbook to do at home with her and is sending work to Ha-Na's teacher to send home for her to do also. She is very busy with all the work but she loves a challenge.

Madison is having a great time at home with us and she loves walking the goats with me. She gave a talk in church today and did a great job, she loves being in front of the people. We saw some mice outside and in the garage and in the grain for the goats so we decided it would be good to get some cats. We took Madison and she helped pick out two farm kittens. They have been hours of entertainment for the girls and they are actually really great cats and that is saying a lot coming from me. I just hope they get to be good mousers so they can earn their keep.

Uncertainty

2008-09-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

When we arrived at my parents we could see there was a lot to do. My mom is an incredible gardener and the people that stayed at their house while they were gone pretty much did nothing and her beautiful gardens were overtaken with weeds and grass. It was heartbreaking. Carl got right to work helping my dad with stuff around their yard.

We planned a camping trip on the river and had a blast. We fished and tubed on the river. The kids were really great, I was so worried about how they would be for a four day camping trip. I was thrilled to do dutch oven cooking again and mom and dad said they never ate so well outside the house. I was really happy that Carl had such a great time, he was always a little reticent when I would suggest camping. Carl, Dad and I went fly fishing and had fun doing catch and release for trout.

We got out the guns and Lil' Carl had his first shooting lesson and did really well, he takes after his dad, what a crack shot. Carl only had two weeks here he left far too early. While he was here he called work and was informed that they don't want him to stay in Bahrain, he had set it all up and the need him elsewhere. Of course we don't yet know where elsewhere is.

After Carl left Brad and Kim came with Corrie and her cousin Haley. We went camping with the girls and had some fun cookouts. It was a lot of fun tubing down the river with them. I got to spend a couple of days with Brad which was really awesome.

I went down to pick up James and Alice's kids in Pocatello, I told them a story about James about an hour into the ride and the rest of the time they begged me for more. They came to spend the week with us. We took them fishing, to the water park, had cookouts and just had a lot of fun. Carl and Jake really had a great time. Dad made all the kids wooden swords and shields and the kids decorated them and then had great battles. Alissa, Ha-Na and Madison really loved doing all the girl stuff together. Ashley played games with us when the little ones went to sleep and we looked for pictures and things of her dads we could share with her. I had a great time cooking with Ashley, she really loves to cook and we have so much fun experimenting in the kitchen. While the kids were here I saw so much of James in each of them, Jake has his smile and stubbornness, Alissa is his spitting image and has his energy and Ashley his kindness and sense of adventure.

I went to Arizona and got to see Carl for a few days which was really great after a month apart. When I got there we started really considering moving back to the west and maybe even Arizona. We would really like to be close to family again. We went to the temple which was wonderful to return after two years (for me) since there is no temple in Bahrain. We went to see Carl's grandmother and it was really special. Her memory has been increasingly failing and we did not know if she would recognize us but she did Carl and loved seeing the kids. She did not know who I was, I sure miss Grammy. She and I used to go shopping together and then out to lunch at least once a week after Lil' Carl was born. Carl's parents planned a really fun activity for all the family focused around the Olympics, we had a blast and the kids were in heaven. Carl left too soon and I spent the rest of my time shopping and visiting with his sisters. Stacy took us to her water park, Katie took us to her outlets and amazed me with her canning.

I returned back to my parents because I decided to stay here while Carl travels and finishes in Bahrain. The day after I arrive the kids are starting school and my niece Laurel and her son Mathew are coming to stay for a month.

So, we are in flux once again and have no idea of what is to happen but as I taught the sunbeams today in church "Home is where you are loved." I guess I should feel very blessed because by that sentiment our family has many homes.

On the road again

2008-08-19T02:22:00.000-07:00

We went to see Joe and Krissy for one more night and had a fun time going out to an adults only dinner. We traveled the next day to Pocatello ID and were lucky enough that Carl's cousin we having her baby blessed and we were able to see most of his Aunt Carolin's kids and Carl could spend time catching up with his cousins. It was especially nice for me to meet Allie, I had spoken to her on the phone and communicated through blogs. We then drove that evening to Alice's and were able to meet her husband Sherman. I was thrilled to see Alice smile so much and the kids truly love him. I hope to get to know him better as he becomes part of our family. It was wonderful to see Alice and James' kids, our kids were so sad when we left that night. We got to see them for a couple of hours the next day before we hit the road again. I was disappointed not to see Alice for longer, I love hanging out with her.

We then hit the road and I had been going back and forth about whether to go to Arco to James' grave. Many of you know I am still in denial, I pretend he is just out of the country stationed somewhere, not really gone at all. I kid myself that it hurts less that way. I kept telling myself that it didn't matter if I went by his grave, he isn't really there and he wont care. Carl was so supportive and said whatever I wanted to do was fine. Finally I knew that I needed to go, mostly for myself, this is my chance (who knows when I will be this close to Arco again?) and it is a step to acceptance. We went to the store and picked out flowers, which was strange, how to you pick out flowers for a man. Frankly James would rather have a half gallon of ice cream over flowers any day but I did not think they would appreciate melted ice cream all over his headstone. We drove and as we went I could feel that detestable knot tightening and growing, it feels as if it climbs in my chest and up my throat. I found it quickly when we got there and I bawled. It has been five years almost and I could not control the flow of tears. The kids helped me put the flowers there and then Carl took them to the car and gave me time alone. I don't know if it will ever get easier, I really miss him. I am grateful for the gospel, I know he is busy and is truly on a new mission but I miss him.

We left from there and drove to my parents house, it was a beautiful drive and no one threw up which for us makes a very successful road trip. We saw beautiful deer all along the way, I am still shocked we did not hit any as the sun set but Carl was careful and he has a talent of spotting wildlife.

When we arrived we were so happy to know we were at the spot we would stay for a whole six weeks (at least the kids and I. I was especially happy to see my parents, it has been two years.

Family, family, and more family

2008-08-12T00:48:00.000-07:00

We arrived in SLC and were met by April's brother Joe and two of his kids. He was so nice to bring a picnic lunch and we went to Temple Square ate and enjoyed our visit there. I was really excited to see all the changes since I was a missionary there. There are so many that I can't begin to list them, all for the good though. We stayed at his house that night and had fun playing games with the family and enjoying Diana's brownies.

The next morning we were up and off to the eagerly anticipated Agren Reunion. It was so great to see everyone when we arrived and were busy catching up after being apart for so long. We were given a tour and best of all visited with the Agren Clan. Later that night everyone went swimming and then we dumped the kids in bed. lil Carl was so excited to be with all his boy cousins, he has so many famales arround him that he took every opportunity to hang out with the boys.

We had family pictures, I don't know why but this is always a cause of great stress for me. I am much happier being behind the camera. We had a great time going to the Oympic Park and I was in heaven with all the excitement there. Eric (my bro in law) and I went down the bobsled run and it was really fun. I think my favorate thing were the ziplines. I was really impressed at lil Carl's bravery, he went on everything he was heavy enough to do. Ha-Na and Madison also went on the one ride they could do twice and wanted to go more, I love that my kids like thrills.

Other events included Thanksgiving point, 4th of July pancake breakfast, and Hiking. The girls had a great party with everything including a merry go round and the boys went jet skiing.

We of course went diving in Utah, how could it be an Agren holiday without diving? Carl loved that his sisters and his Dad joined him and I loved working with Jess.

Helga was so great to provide most of the meals for us and I was so amazed at her ability to put together meals for that many people and it looked so effortless. I am always impressed when the Agrens get together and everyone gets along and has so much fun, what a family.

Back to DC

2008-08-05T00:58:00.000-07:00

We were sad to leave our great friends in Charleston but off we must go to our next stop. Carl had meetings in DC so we decided to tag along and have some fun while he was holed up in meetings.

We had learned from the trip down and bought a dvd/tv player for the kids in the car, thus having less bathroom stops from a bored Madison.

During the week the kids and I saw the Museum of natural history, one of the favorate things there was the butterfly room. They were facinated by all the different species and they kept landing on Ha-Na (I am sure she gave them some encouragment).

We had a lot of fun at the National zoo. It was quite the endevor to do that zoo alone with three kids. If you have been you know that the zoo is spread out so walking from one exhibit to another is a ways. Add to that the hills and I got quite the workout. madison had one of her famous falls in which she scraped her knee and blood was dribbling down her leg and she was shrieking not to be touched (she does not want comforting when hurt, she wants to be left alone in her dramatic performance). I stood by as she shrieked and ran arround in circles as other zoo patrons watched on horrified by the terrible mother (thats me) stood by while her poor child was hurt. Of course any who tried to give the comfort that I was so callously withholding was met with angry shrieks of "don't look at me, go away." When we came out of the bird area I saw a large animal moving in the bushes with no gate. As I looked closer I saw that it was a deer, the kids were so excited. It was maybe ten feet from us munching on the bushes. Apparently they feel very safe there and the zoo allows them to come and go from there, later we saw a little fawn.

We met with Carl at night after his meetings and went to eat. It was a lot of fun. We all went together to see the National Documents, and the Museum of air and space (although it closed soon after we were there). On Saturday we went to the Baltimore Aquarium. It was fun although we were not overly impressed, they seemed to have more lizards, frogs and snakes than fish. The kids really loved the dolphin show though, especially Ha-Na.

Next stop: SLC Utah

South Calackylacky

2008-06-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know the title of the blog was chosen by Carl, he has always refered to South Carolina that way, my husband is a hoot.

We are a family who likes our space. I love my Tahoe, not just love but adore (and not just because it only costs me $19 to fill up in Bahrain. I love the tahoe because my kids can sit in the third row and I don't really feel like there are kids in the car with me when I am driving because I really can't make out what they are arguing about back there. When Carl arrived with the Kia Sportage I was thrilled that our luggage would fit. As we made our way from DC to SC I was overwhelmed by the beuty of the drive. The trees have never looked so lush and alive, every stream and lake stunned me. The kids were just as excited about the trees and flowers. Carl being the pesimist (which is soooo unlike him) stated that he would give it an hour before we got bored of the scenery. For me it still is not old but he was about right for the kids. It soon became he is touching me, she is looking at me, I want what he has, she smells like throw up (granted that was carl talking about Ha-Na and I had only been able to wash her blankie in the tub with a bar of soap and let it drip dry in the hotel since the airplane upchuck so she probably did). The car literally began to feel like it was shrinking around me, the sides were compressing every moment and with every obnoxious utterance from the children. We tried the license plate game but they were too young for that. Then we tried singing songs but each one (the hams that they are) wanted to sing the song all by themselves at the same time (I know even as I type this it makes no sense). To make it all the better since Madison was bored and wanted out of the car, every 30-45 minutes she had to go to the bathroom. It was an 8 hour drive and we stopped at least 6 times. I really missed my car, especially the tv for the kids entertainment, I really don't know how my parents did it with seven kids in a car from Washington to Utah so often.

We made it to our house and it looked so inviting. Entering I really felt like we had come home and I could not bear that we were going to be leaving in a week. All my furniture and things we had left, my kitchen and my pans. And most of all our books, the kids books, my books I wanted to take everything back with me. I went to the backyard to look at the grass I had put in the month before we left (I did not know we were leaving till 3 weeks before we did) it was so green and plush and beautiful. I went out and walked arround the yard we had lanscaped and put so much into, it was lovely. Carl then reminded me that we had a plan. I thought about it and decided I would enjoy it for the week and then continue on with the adventure of life. They are just things and I have lived without it for two years so I don't really need any of it and it will be there if and when we come back or want to ship it.

We called our friends and stopped by the Gomez's to say hello and let Carl see Aidan. They still totally clicked. We then went to the Wiley's (Cathy's yard is still amazing, wow can she get flowers to grow) and set up for them to come over and play rook (we used to play with them every weekend night for hours).

During the week we worked on getting all of us used to the time difference, it pretty much took the whole week. We had doctors appointments for the kids and I and just had a lot of fun with our friends. It was really nice to reconect, we have such great friends and we have really, really missed them. It was great to catch up with Jen and to see Cathy's new art. We shared pictures of our diving trips with Cathy and hope she can use some of them for her art, she is soooo incredible. Carl had a great time catching up with Todd and was sorry not to be able to go fishing with him, next time. The kids were thrilled to see Samantha and Shelby and Madison even seemed to remember them.

I was thrilled that my brother Andy came to see us. He had to leave late Friday, got caught up in traffic because of an accident and finally got to us on Saturday. We had a blast, he brought Lauren, Micheal and Anne with him. The kids loved seeing their cousins, they especially liked it when it started to rain and they moved pinestraw to make mud and slid down the hill, I was not as thrilled when they started to come in the house. I had a lot of fun playing DDR with Andy and Lauren. We also played a lot of nertz with them (much to Carls dismay). I really appreciatted him coming all that way and he even brought me Graters ice cream (it is soooo awesome). I missed being able to see Leslie and Andrew, I hope on our next trip.

We spent a day at the beach with the Gomez family, it was a blast. I love South Carolina beaches the water the sand everything is so beautiful. The kids had a great time building sand castles, more so after I stopped trying to "help". My helping entails telling them just how it should be and then when it doesn't look right I take it over and let them watch me do it the way that I think is just right. I know I am a control freak but admitting it is the first step to recovery. I laid back on my towel and just relaxed while listening to to the kids having a great time. We left after a few hours as we had to get the house ready to be vacated and pack up for the next day's drive back to DC. Little Carl was distraught not to be able to destroy the sand castle (the gomez's were staying and Aidan was still working on it) since he thinks that is the only good thing about building it.

Coming to America

2008-06-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

We have been planning this trip to the States for so long that I can't really believe it is here. We got the kids up at three in the morning (they were actually pretty excited for the hour) and went to the airport. I was flying alone with the kids as Carl was not leaving til the next day.

The flight from Bahrain to Qatar went really well and then we had a short layover. I was really happy at the airport when little Carl found there was a kids area and they entertained themselves most of the time there. Our flight was at 10:45 and boarding was supposed to be at 10:00. Arround 9:30 I thought it would be a good idea to get in line and get through early. When I got to the gate I was surprised to see huge lines. First we had to get into a line to get our passports checked, then get into another line to pick up checked passports then to go through a security check and last to get our tickets checked before boarding the flight. With three kids who are very active this was a hectic process. Once I gave my tickets I was informed that I could not take Madisons carseat on the plane even though they had let me have it on the previous flight. With having all three kids I was depending on her being strapped in so as not to be running after her during the 14 hour flight. As sad as it sounds as I argued with the attendent and she insisted I could not have it I had to hold back tears of frustration.

The flight started out as usual, when we got to our seats of course there was a whole family sitting where the girls and I were supposed to be. I then had to be the shrew and insist they move seats rather than I taking theirs (which is what they were insisiting on) since carl was sitting accross the isle from the seats we were supposed to be in and I wanted to be close to him. Once we were in the air the kids were loving the on demand (madison refuses to wear headphones so she was watching with no sound).

For the first half of the flight things were going really well, excepting Madison running all over and taking off her seat belt every two minutes. The flight attendants were irritated by this but I was not apoligetic since it was their decision not to have her seat on the plane. After 9 hours and a few times closing her eyes she finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. Ha-Na had a great time and then started saying her stomach was not feeling well, my anxiety shot through the roof. Ha-Na is our puker, and I imediately began grasping at ways to waylay what was to happen. After sipping some water she closed her eyes and I thought all was well. With the two girls asleep I looked accross the isle at Carl and saw that he too had drifted off. I decided I would give them a few minutes and then try to get some sleep myself since I had been up more than 24 hours. Just as I was gettting comfortable Ha-Na opens her eyes and begins to puke. Not just a little urp but full on puking over and over. All I could do was put my hand in front of her to guide the puke to stay on her and not all over the seat since she is washable and the seat was to be with us the rest of the flight. We then cleaned her up and changed clothes. She felt a little better but now she was up so I also was required to be awake. Madison soon woke up and decided that she definately was not supposed to be in her seat, most especially did not need a seatbelt on and that if she were required to stay in the seat the only acceptable position was her legs hanging out in the isle. Of course thirty minutes before landing the kids all fell fast asleep again and when it was time to leave the plane had no intention of using their own legs. I then carried our bags on one arm, had Madison draped over the other and had a childs hand in each of mine. And entered America in Washington DC.

It took an hour and a half to get our luggage and then we went out to meet the shuttle to the hotel. I must prefice this with the following: I was now going on being awake for 30 hours, frazzled from above experiences and ok, I have to admit I am not the most observent person in the best of situations. I see a shuttle come up that I thought read Dulles Embassy Suites. I get on the shuttle happy to be finally coming to the end of the day and looking forward to lying down on a bed and letting the kids go crazy in the hotel room. The first thing that I noticed was that there were a lot of people on the shuttle with airport ID. Then after 20 minutes we entered a large parking area. As I reaad the signs I see that we are in the Dulles Employee Parking lot. What was really written on the shuttle was "Dulles Employee Shuttle." I had to do the walk of shame to the front of the shuttle and explain to the driver my mistake and let him know that we would be returning to the airport with him. I could not tell whether he was ammused or annoyed and frankly at that moment I did not have the energy to care. After at least 30 minutes of stopping at every letter in the parking lot we were on our way back to the airport. Another 20 minute drive we get off, wait at least 30 minutes and finally we get onto the right shuttle. (I made sure to tell Carl which shuttle we were looking for so that he would help me from making that mistake again.) We got to the hotel, to the room, ordered pizza and then we all four collapsed into bed.

At 3:00 am all three kids come into my room to annouce that it is morning and they are awake. I do understand that in Bahrain time it was 10:00am so it was understandable but in my exhaustion I did not have the patience to be considerate of this. I ordered them all back to bed and then was able to sleep till about 4:30am at which point my body decided it too was awake. I hung out with the kids til breakfast and then took them swimming in the pool. We came back to the room and I was determined to keep the kids and myself awake so that we could get used to the time as quickly as possible. Carl was to arrive that evening and I thought I should keep them up til then. The kids wanted to watch tv and were doing so till about four when Madison came in and wanted to be in bed with me and watch me play computer games (this was my attempt at keeping myself awake)within minutes she was out and no ammount of tickling and nudging would get even an eye flicker out of her. Carl then came in and asked if he could watch me play my game, he also informed me that Ha-Na had fallen asleep watching tv. Carl lasted another 20 minutes and he too was lost to fairy dust and dreams. I was able to stay awake til Carl arrived at seven and we moved the kids to their bed and then gladly allowed ourselves to fall asleep.

The kids again woke up at three in the morning and this time excited to see daddy would not return to bed. We finally admited there was no use to holding onto the belief that we could ink out a bit more shut eye and got up to start packing. We got the bags ready packed into the car and as soon as breakfast was available we ate and set out on our way to Charleston.......

Kasab Diving

2008-06-01T21:25:00.000-07:00

For Carls birthday I bought him tickets to Dubai. We went this last week and had an awesome time. We left late at night and got in arround midnight then got a car and started to drive to Kasab, Oman. We arrived arround three in the morning, got a couple of hours sleep and then woke up at eight to go diving.

Our first dive of the day was to a place Cat Eye Island. We both forgot our skins but did not think it a big deal at first because the water was so warm. Soon after entering the water my skin started to feel irritated. Carl was signaling to me that there were jelly fish and I kept looking for them, until my eyes adjusted. There were jellies all right, millions of little tiny ones everywhere and they were stinging every part of exposed sking including our lips. There were a few times when the water cleared of them but then they would come again in swarms. Carl got stung really bad on his knee and my lips were really burning by the end of the dive. The dive itself was definitely not worth the sacrifice of comfort, there was a lot of sand between anything else. We did spot a green sea turtle though which is always nice.

Our next dive was at Eagle bay, this was by far a better dive. First of all there were not the hordes of jellies previously experienced but best of all we saw a leopard shark. We were so excited, it came swimming by and then was gone. Sharks always swim by us so fast we can't get a picture. Really I think it is that we are so excited that we forget about the cameral altogether until it is too late. This dive was much better for coral and animal life also.

We went into town to find something to eat and found that town consists of one block. We decided on a restraunt once it opened and discovered we like chicken makboos, it was really good. It was also very economical, with that came a salad, water and we also ordered some curry and it came with bread all for the great price of 2 OMR.

We decided to do a night dive Kosmi wreck which ended up being really great. The wreck was small but there were lots of holes and openings to look in. There was an enormous lion fish, it was beautiful. There were also smaller ones that really liked our flashlights, they used the light to see fish to atack, the large one went after a fish from our light while we were there. Then one of the smaller fish decided he liked the light so followed us and got a little too close for comfort. In fact, Carl was using his light for some pictures, when I came upon him I saw that a lion fish was poised right at his head but he was looking elsewhere so he did not see it. I pulled him away and we decided to stay clear of the lion fish. Something else that really liked our light were some neon worms, that is the only way to explain them, they were twirling all arround the light. The ship was small so after an hour and seeing everything we thought there was to see, we ended the dive.

After a good nights sleep we woke and headed off for our second day of diving. Our first dive was not our favorate, a lot of sand again between coral. Our next dive at Pee Pee beach was really great, we loved it. It was quite shallow but the coral was really beautiful and neverending. We came upon some area where the coral were like walls fallen against each other, it was really cool, we could swim through and arround. There were really large pufferfish, eels and sea urchins everywhere. At one point we saw another green turtle and swam with it for a while, as that one left we turned and saw one twice as big, it swim near us and then took off.

The next morning we went to Dubai, we had heard how great it was but we were not so impressed, it pretty much looked like any big city you would see anywhere and the airport that was said to be so nice was really lacking to us. My reccomendation of the places we have been thus far would be to visit Oman, it is lovely, keeps their culture and the people are really friendly.

Returning (for the summer at least)

2008-05-18T22:53:00.001-07:00

We are making a summer long visit to the states. We are going to be in a few places so we wanted to list them out so that if any our friends and family are in those same places we can see you. We are going to be in Washington D.C., Charleston SC, SLC Utah, Idaho, and Mesa AZ. Carl will be with us everywhere except for Arizona. We look forward to seeing as many of you as we can.

I guess it is apparent from the above that Carl's work wants him in Bahrain for a while longer, at least that is the plan for right now. It gives us the opportunity to travel to be with him and see other areas of the Middle East that we have not yet explored. We are also thrilled to stay in our branch, we have the best branch. We are even getting a new family from Kuwait with six kids, our primary will almost double.

It seems everything in life is constantly changing, I pray everyday that our changes will be to our benefit and to those arround us. There is a childrens book about chameleons and the chameleon is sad because he keeps changing color so he sets out to find somewhere to stay that will keep him the same color. He then finds another chameleon and expresses his sadness about always changing and they decide that they could stay together and change together and then at least they will have a companion in their change. I look at our little family that way. Our situation is always in flux but we are in flux together which makes it great. Finding wisdom in childrens stories, very motherly but childrens book are my main source of reading these days.

Khor Rori, Last day in Salalah

2008-05-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

In the morning April was treated to the spa and Carl took the kids to the room. Of course a morning with dad intales cartoons, funny faces and lots of tickling.

We then went to Khor Rori and had an awesome experience seeing the likely place Lehi and his family came to and showed great faith by setting off accross the ocean to follow the Lords commandments. On some of the walls they had ancient script that had no translation there. I was curious to know what it said.

On the way back to the Hotel we drove up to Wadi Durbat and again we were in awe seeing what they saw when entering the land through the mountains.

Afterwards we went to the hotel and swam for the last time and sadly prepared to leave.

Carl and I went out to dinner at one of the Chineese restraunts we had seen in the area and no, the pluthera of Chinese restraunts did not indicate that there was actually good Chinese food in the area. At least not at that place, we miss good Chinese food.

Mirbat Oman (north of Salalah) Diving

2008-05-17T12:03:00.001-07:00

We decided to leave the kids at the hotel for this dive (they were really tired out) and we went to Mirbat to do some shore diving. The view was incredible and we felt like we were in pareadise, probably because we were. We went to one called the Aquarium reef and it was just as it's name states, fish were everywhere and we even spotted the critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle and swam with it for a while.

The second dive was fun but we did not see as many fish. We did get to see a lion fish and a scorpion fish, Carl thankfully kept his distance as he has a tendency to get close to the aquatic life. He did not stay as far away from the spiny lobster we saw later.

This day's dive was our best to date. Lets see if Musandam can compare next week.

Ancient ruins and fruit stands

2008-05-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

One of the kids favorate things about the trip was the hotel. They especially liked the breakfast at the hotel, all you can eat is a favorate for them, especially lil Carl. On this day we went to the Frankincense museum and saw the Maritime museum (there were no pictures allowed but you will have to take our word for it that it was awesome). The ruins of Al-Baleed are there on the shore. It correlates with the time of the brother of Jared's group.

We then went by one of the fruit stands. There were all kinds of varietys of coconuts and bannanas. We all tried the coconut juice (no one liked it) and then we really loved the small coconuts they had, they were really sweet. The kids especially like the mini bananas and the green ones (they are ripe, really, I was shocked).

Snorkeling and Diving

2008-05-12T05:19:00.001-07:00

We brought the kids to the beach on the next day and set them up to snorkel while we went diving. Our pictures were quite green that day but we saw some really cool eels. After we took them to get some grilled camel which they gobbled up.

A day in the water

2008-04-29T01:09:00.000-07:00

We spent a whole day in the water. We hung out at the hotel during the morning and afternoon having a great time at the beach and in the pool. Carl loves body surfing and the girls had a great time finding snails in the sand.

Carl and I then did a late dive from a boat. It was a great dive although the visibility was not the best. We really loved seeing the octopus. After the dive we enjoyed some grilled camel meat from a vendor by the boats.

Camels camels everywhere

2008-04-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

We decided to drive up the mountains to see Job's tomb and thought a good way to entertain the kids was to offer a prize for the first person to spot a camel. Carl ended up being the first one. We then went on to see many, many camels. For the rest of the trip we continued to see camels everywhere. They put on their hazards when the camels are on the road and stop traffic. It happens a lot.

On the way up to Jobs tomb we saw some baby camels on the side of the road and of course not realizing we would be seeing many, many more had to get pictures. There were some guys in a car and I could not figure out what they were doing on the side of the road watching the camels since they were locals. We then realized they were herding the camels from their car, just sitting there talking on their cell phone and drinking sodas. I'm not kidding they were following the camels in their car and if the camels got into the road they would get out and urge them off with a stick.

We then saw more camels off the side later and wanted pictures with them. As we were posing the kids for pictures some women in the distance started yelling at us so I figure they were the camels keepers and we were bothering them so off we went again.

We finally made it to Job's tomb. Inside the mausoleum is a big square on the ground covered by cloth which is where he lies. On the wall were different pages from the koran. Through a window we could see his praying grounds. At the entrance was a box where you took off the top and inside are the impressions of his footprint. He had very large feet.

We had to do a car switch (our rental decided that it did not need to go into any specific gear) and then we were on our way again. The blowholes are by caves that aren't really caves but an over hang, it was fun and we saw a sea turtle swimming in the bay. Since we were not in the Karif season (which is in the summer) it was dry and there was just a little mist coming out the blowholes. The best part was the beach in that area. It was really beautiful We had fun body surfing since there were better waves than at the hotel beach. Carl and I kept going out a little further to get the best rush on the wave. We got caught up by a big wave which flipped me arround and I hit my head and shoulder (the skin on my shoulder is just now starting to look a little normal and is still a little painful to touch. The first thing I thought was "Crap I better not be hurt and mess up diving." I was fine, just banged up and we went back to the hotel soon after.

Salalah

2008-04-18T05:14:00.000-07:00

On our way.....

We had been looking forward to this trip for so long, and now we were finally going. At airports here they make us wrap the carseat and they did such an excessivly thorough job we had to take a picture.

We arrived in Salalah in the afternoon. It was really lovely. Here is the view from our rooms, I love the coconut palms. This first day we hung out at the hotel with the kids, played at the beautiful beach and enjoyed the slide at the pool. After the kids went to bed we drove arround a little and were surprised at the number of Chinese restraunts in the area. If there are that many maybe one of them would be good (we really miss good chinese food).

We had the most fun........

2008-04-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

I know many of you just had your spring breaks and vacations but the Agrens feel confident in declaring that we had the most fun of anyone on any vacation. In fact, our trip to Oman was so incredible that instead of giving one huge blog I will break it up into several blogs. We just got home tonight so once I get the pictures off the camera I will add them to the posts, please be patient, I will probably overshare but I want to get all the info down before I lose the details in memory.

Our first day was our flight to Sharjah(UAE), followed by a six hour layover.

We then flew to Muscat(Oman). The first thing we noticed were the mountains, we have really missed mountains in Bahrain. At night they light up some of them with colored lights whichs goes along with the arabic tendency to bedazzle everything, really, seriously. We then went to the hotel that we had booked sight unseen, there is a reason there were no pictures of the rooms on the internet.

Yes it really was that bad, even little Carl made comments about it as being a junkyard (our kids are really spoiled with hotels). But since we were just sleeping there that night then getting up in the morning and going to Salalah it worked fine. (To be continued)

Too much of a good thing

2008-03-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

Lately Carl has been complaining to us after he eats that his stomach hurts. He groans and mopes arround the house then dramatically lays on the couch holding his stomach. We ask him all sorts of questions as to why ect and he always says he doesn't know. Today I gave each of the kids a hot dog for lunch with celery sticks, which is a treat for them, and went upstairs to finish my workout while Missy watched over them for lunch. A while later Carl comes upstairs moaning and groaning about his belly. I asked him what was wrong and he again said he did not know. Ha-Na came running in asking if they could eat a piece of their easter candy (after easter it gets put away and rationed). I asked them if they had eaten all their lunch and Carl says "I tried but I could not finish." I thought this to be odd considering he eats more than anyone in the house. Then he says "I just couldn't finish the fourth one". "Fourth what?" I asked. He then goes on to tell me that after he had finished his lunch I had given him he asked and received more hot dogs from missy and finally stopped at four. Carl does eat a lot, well after each of us finishes dinner he continues. I had to then have a talk with him that the purpose of eating is to be satisfied not stuffed till we burst or in his case moan and groan for an hour. It amazes me that all that food fits in his little body. Again tonight he was his usual self, he had two helping of chicken, three helpings of pasta and four helpings of salad, and that was where I stopped him. If he is eating this much now I am scared to see him as a teenager.

Sweetening our horizons

2008-03-16T04:44:00.000-07:00

When we first came to Bahrain we had the goal of trying some new fruit each time we bought produce. That lasted a couple of months and we did add Lychees to our palate (especially Ha-Na) but then we stopped trying new things. With our time here coming to an end (probably, maybe) we decided we ought to take the opportunity to expose ourselves to some more new flavors. Today we brought home Mangosteens and Rambutans. They are both from Southeast Asia. The mangosteens have a hard deep red rind and look like something I would have stepped on before we tried it. When you open the shell there is a segmented white fruit inside. It is very sweet and we all liked it very much. Rambutans are more fun to say and look at than exciting to eat. They are good but they are pretty much the same as Lychees if you have had the chance to eat them. The difference is that the Rambutans are covered with long soft spines and are red so they look like something you would see in a sci-fi movie which makes them more fun to eat than lychees because you can let your imagination run with the experience.

Sharm El Sheikh July 2007

2008-02-27T00:55:00.000-08:00

We are planning our trip for this spring and we were talking a lot about the trip we took last summer so I decided to share some (ok, a lot) of the pictures we took while we were in Egypt. It was really an awesome trip, one we would take again and maybe will if Oman does not work out for us.

Al Areen

2008-02-27T00:29:00.000-08:00

We had a primary activity at the Al Areen Animal Park. The kids love it there. I especially enjoy the variety of birds they have there although this trip I did not get as many pictures of them as I have so many from previous times there. Here are a few pictures of our visit this time.

Princess

2008-02-26T23:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Ha-Na's birthday.

She had cupcakes at School.

She was very excited about her gifts. She was also very specific about her cake, it was a white chocolate cake with white chocolate buttercream and Rasberry cream between the layers.

Madison then had to have a turn and the girls insisted Carl wear the crown, much to his obvious displeasure.

She did it.......

2008-02-15T03:27:00.001-08:00

I should have realized a porta potty was the best idea.....

Madison is now toilet trained and we are done with diapers YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!

She is thrilled about it also but she is not very happy reagarding now that she is doing well with it the candy incentives are going away. I can tell by the way she looks at me when I tell her that she does not get candy for going that she thinks she has been duped somehow.

Carl's Baptism

2008-02-15T01:47:00.001-08:00

What an event to remember. Throughout the week before Carl's baptism he was barely able to contain himself he was so excited.

In the morning when I came downstairs Carl said "mom I would like pancakes, it is my birthday and since it is my birthday I should have what I want." I am going to have to remember the last part of the phrase come my birthday.

Carl and I are getting certified to be dive masters and our usual pool that we go to which is heated is closed for renovations so we had to do a class that morning in our unheated pool at our villa. We were in wetsuits but it was still shockingly cold (57 degrees). By the end of two and a half hours we were really frozen. Carl was really nervous for the baptism for the evening.

Once done with our class we started getting ready for our event. It is always hectic no matter how much preperation we have done prior to it.

Carl had chosen all the particulars for his program. We had about 50 people come to witness his baptism. At the start I felt the spirit so strongly that I could not keep tears out of my eyes. When he went into the water in only his white pants and shirt for protection he showed no reaction even though Carl said when he went in it felt breathtakingly cold.

During the time when he was getting dried off we showed Finding faith in Christ. He then came down for his conformation. I felt the love of my family arround me as he was being confirmed even though none were able to be there.

After we had put together a light dinner for everyone. Carl had requested Tres Leches cake for his birthday so I was able to learn something new.

It was a wonderful event and we had many who asked questions about the baptism and the church (there were several guests who are not memebers). One friend even requested a copy of Finding Faith in Christ. It was really, really awesome.

When she is good she is really really good........

2008-01-31T11:53:00.000-08:00

We have had quite the day. Since Ha-Na's birthday is tomorrow I made cupcakes for her class last night (school goes Sunday through Thursday). Today was also he 30th anniversary of their school so they were having a big celebration which was great, Ha-Na was convinced it was all for her. Well, they bring out the kids for the presentation and the cake and start to sit them down. I had given Ha-Na a cup of water and she proceeded to go with her class to sit. One of the teachers decides that she shouldn't have the water (I know, I don't get it either) so she attemps to take the cup from Ha-Na. Any person whom has worked with kids ought to know that it is not best to just grab something from a child, it just becomes more valuble to them. So, with the entire school waiting for the program to start Ha-Na keeps hold of the cup with all her might. The water spills out and that is it. She proceeds to scratch, kick and shriek at the top of her lungs that she wants her water. She flings her legs and kicks her crocs at the kids who are watching. I tried to get involved to help. It is never a sure thing whether the teachers want you to intervene or stay out of it. Her teacher got her to sit down by dragging her to her spot. Every time she sees me she starts again so her teacher asks me to stay out of visibility. I had to watch the whole thing kneeling down in the sandbox hiding behind two of my friends. When the PTA gathered for a photo after it was done and the kids were walking out Ha-Na sees me and starts again. Her teacher has her by the hand and Ha-Na drops and proceeds to be dragged off to class. As this last episode was occuring I hear several of the ladies in the PTA ask "who's child is that?" And you know what? After all of that I could smile and say proudly that she belongs to me. I have really come to appreciate and love her for her independence and determination. She is a hoot. I just wish I had brought my cameral with me to capture it all.

When I went to pick up Ha-Na from school Carl's teacher met me and asked me to take Carl home (he gets out after the girls). He was complaining of a bad headache and he was pale and droopy. I brought him home and watched him get continually worse. I search the house for childrens tylenol or the like since he was burning up and of course we are out. I am so thankful for good friends. I called my friend and she picked up some for me and brought it over. Carl asked for a blessing and luckily when she came her husband and another friend from church were with her so Carl got his blessing. He said it helped him feel better and he is finally sleeping. He keeps muttering in his sleep but at least he is sleeping.

Sick Day

2008-01-29T23:08:00.001-08:00

It amazes me that when my kids are home I seem to have more time than when they are at school. Without the driving to and from to pick up, especially since my kids get out at three different times.

Ha-Na woke up in the middle of the night last night sobbing about her throat hurting (of course this happens while Carl is away in Germany) so the girls are staying home with me today thus giving me time to give attention to our blog. We have been looking through pictures picking out which ones they would like to add to past posts (they of course think every picture is great and should be included.) In doing so I came accross these pictures from last easter and it reminded me of something Carls sister was lamenting about, children posing for pictures. If you have more than one child the chances are slim (or less than looking at my childrens record) that they will all look at you and smile at the same time. As soon as one child smiles one of the others look away. It makes for a frustrating time for the parent and for desperate looks and increasingly bizarre faces from the children. Sometimes I think they do it on purpose for their great ammusement, children are more clever than we think. In trying to find the perfect picture with all the children I am thankful for photoshop. Carl and I have become quite adept at moving heads arround to create a passable photo.

We have added some new photos, as soon as I figure out how to do the slideshow then I will add one but I would not reccomend holding your breath.

I will get back to our lazy day of wearing pajamas, watching Dora and giving lots of comfort and love to my little sickie Ha-Na.

Swike or Bim?

2008-01-20T23:23:00.000-08:00

We have been enjoying the cooler weather by playing outside quite a bit now. Carl set up cones and the kids have been having fun being timed on the obstacle course. He has been teaching little carl how to throw a football and catch it correctly. Little Carl has been working on learning to ride a bike although we don't have much room for him to practice. Carl had the idea that the tile around the pool gave a nice track for him to practice on. All was going well until he tried to get arround the hose that Carl was working with, one of the training wheels went over the pool and that was it, he went right in the deep end bike and all. He swam right up and we had a good laugh over it (once he was dried and warm) and decided we could make it a new sport, but what to call it? Swike or Bim? After we figured we better get the bike out. Carl decided he would make the sacrifice and got into his suit and stood by the cold (really, really cold) pool. I thought he ought to be spared that so I used the pool net to bring up the bike. We later thought we should have taken a picture for rememberance but little Carl was not amiable to the idea of recreating the situation. He did say that he now knows he will be able to handle the cold water for his baptism.

Our little boy is growing up

2008-01-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

Madison started off the Birthday season for our Family on the 30th of December. Next is
Ha-Na on the first of February and then Carl's is on the 9th of February. This will be his eighth and he is sooooo excited. Eight is his favorite number he says it is holy because it is when he will be baptised. We met with the Branch president today and started planning all the details. We are doing it on his birthday in the evening per Carl's request (he was quite insistent that it should occur on his birthday). We will be having it at our villa in our pool outside, which is not heated, brrrrrrrrr. We spoke in church today, including Carl and it really hit me how grown he is getting, my heart swells.

In other news we have been DDR fanatics at the house, at least the kids and I. The girls love to mimic the dancers and Carl is dedicated to the Lessons with the DJ. I challenge you all to a DDR dance off when we are blessed to be together again (Yes Andy, I think I can take you, better start practicing hard).

Dolls and booby traps

2008-01-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

Carl came into the room yesterday laughing and told me I had to go speak to Madison and see what she had done. I panicked in memory of coloring on the walls, painting the floor, even eating the contents of her diaper and I was surprised to find her standing over a star shaped box quite protectively. She was really excited about this box and what was inside. Madison proceeded to enthusiastically tell me about the booby trap (a star shaped box) and the captive (her sisters new barbie she got from Santa). I guess this comes from having a brother who loves to play all the boy games and a sister who loves dolls. Madison is quite in the middle. She loves to battle Carl (he is generally not aware of her game and finds it most annoying but she thinks it is great) and play tea with Ha-Na. At this exact moment there is intense high pitch screaming (Madison) and maniacal laughter (Ha-Na) as Ha-Na is trying to release the prisoner from the trap (The prisoner today is light up poo bear). As the dispute ended in a slap from Madison to Ha-Na she was then sent to time out declaring "It's not fair" our three year olds' favorite new statement. Madison sure is starting out her third year with gusto.

For new years eve we played (Wii of course) with the kids all day and after their healthy lunch told them we were having a junk food night. They declared that New Years Eve is the best day ever. They got to play games and have chips with dip and soda. We did not give them naps so we could put them down early and at 6:30 proceeded to toast in the new year with them and put them to bed. Carl and I then made fondue and played games the rest of the evening (yes Julie, I know we are old and boring) and had the best time.

New Years day was another day of games and we made Carls favorate dinner, RIBS (he sure does miss Sticky Fingers in SC).

We really had a great holiday season and we are looking forward to the new year.

Wii-nerful Christmas

2007-12-30T20:55:00.000-08:00

A wonderful Christmas has come and gone in the Agren family, which was not too bad for being in a Muslim country. We also found out that it looks like more presents if your tree is only 2 feet tall. As the title suggests the family got a Wii, which has been the hit for all. April enjoys the DDR, Carl loves Mario Galaxy, and Ha-Na and Madison like bowling and DDR. Madison loves to shake and boogy to the DDR, although has yet to hit any arrows. Yesturday was Madison's big third birthday! She had a great one. We went and saw Alvin and the Chipmunks, which was suprisingly amusing. Then we came home to cake, ice cream, and presents. The picture is the cake the Carl baked for Madison. Carl did the whole thing, with a little help from April. April deserved a baking break after creating a ton of other creations throughout the holiday season.

Chirstmas Caroling and Tear Gas

2007-12-23T21:05:00.000-08:00

I have come to understand that the blog is only useful if we use it (thanks Julie), so we are back, and hopefully in full swing. If there are any excuses it is that we have been crazy busy, and when I say crazy busy I mean partying like a rock star in Bahrain. We have had a bazillion little parties for the kids and for the branch. The kids, who are beating each other up at the moment (Ha-Na and Madison), have had more Christmas excitement than ever.

Since the last post we had a visit from Carl's sister Stacy and her lovely family, who came from Germany (insert Leiderhousen joke here). They came for a week and we had a tooten blast. We ran all over the island. One of the ladies from the branch took all of us around to different historical sites on the island. We also found out how wussy we are since their kids were swimming everyday in the pool that we refuse to go in because of the cold, brrrr. It was a brisk 80 degrees (brrr, break out the down coats).

After they left we broke into a fit of sickness, which we passed around the family like a Christmas fruitcake.

During that time all of the kids had a holiday concert. Madison was a rock star dancing and jamming to Rocking Around the Christmas Tree, she can really move and shake.

Then Ha-Na was a fairy princess, and despite the 103 temperature, was truly amazing for about the first half of the dance and slowly slipped and the energy went away. She was brave, but really sick. Carl's presentation was a Halloween presentation for Christmas (Brits never did get everything 100 percent correct).

We went from concert to class parties, the next week all of the kids had different parties on different days. Each class required a different food creation. There was also the obligatory class presents for each member. April went truly over-the-top creating Snowman cakes and Christmas Tree cakes. She also created gifts for the teachers and other friends, which was a teapot with Hot Chocolate Mix and Biscotti.

After that off to more parties. The kids have not been to sleep before 11PM all week. Which has lead to some rather nasty behavior --- turd sized piece of coal might be coming to one if they do not shape up.

Now to the title, most of you were probably wondering what Christmas Carols and tear gas have to do with each other? Well we would have thought the same thing until this year. Here is how this shook down:
We made these fantastic plates of cookies and then headed out for an exciting night of caroling. It got much more exciting when we went to a friend that told us to go another route, besides the normal because "there is something going on". Something going on to us might mean an accident or a small chipmunk in the street. In Bahrain, apparently this means a violent protest. We drive up to a street by their house and the police had blocked off the street and there is a gaggle of riot police, well-equipped. We finally make it to our friends house and go inside. The entire time there we can hear the sounds of a helicopters flying overhead. As we go out to get in the car I notice a burning pain in my eye, April too. Turns out that a copious amount of tear gas was being dispersed in the village next to our friend's compound. I am not big on tear gas, it hurts. So we left that area for more peaceful areas.
**** MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL ***********************

Bloggin ain't easy

2007-11-15T09:39:00.000-08:00

We have created this blog to keep our friends and family up to date on our families adventures as we continue to live accross the world. We love you all and we will update this as events happen.