Our little community

One of difficult parts of living here is being away from our families. But one of the neat aspects of living overseas is the relationships we are able to build with other foreigners here. They are like our family in many ways. Julianna and Lydia are like cousins to Emma Grace and we parents are able to really enter each other's lives and serve as family to one another since we are so far from our real families. They are the ones we share the ups and downs of everyday life with, who I call when my child is sick, who I celebrate birthdays and holidays with, who I go out to each lunch with on Sunday afternoons and of course who we watch UNC games with! We are thankful for each unique family God has placed around us and we truly believe the community we have here is so special. We are all learning to live away from our families, in a culture so different from our own, and we lean on each other in more ways than I can count. For example-When Andy was out of town and my power got cut off...(we won't mention who forgot to pay that power bill and left their poor wife alone for 8 days with no power-check my previous post for how much I really do love my hubby) anyway, when that happened I moved in with John and Alisa and John made me pancakes in the morning. Alisa gets me bread every time she goes to the grocery store near her house because it's really inconvenient for me to go there. Kayleigh is wearing some of EG's clothes that are too big for her right now. Laura and I have ongoing text conversations throughout the day about how things are going and I we have a running tab of who owes who money for all the things we help each other purchase-I am pretty sure I owe her 4 kaui for the the snickers she bought me the other day on our walk! Marianne and David come out sometimes on Sundays for what we call "Dean Day"-they just spend the day out here with us and we get a chance to play and share the things that are really going on in our hearts. We have murder mystery parties, we carve pumpkins, we cheer for each other's kids on their way to their first day of preschool! I love these friends and I feel so grateful that God has given them to us as our second family. These guys are the ones we are living life alongside and I couldn't have picked a better bunch myself-of course Sheryl and Andy, if you guys want to join us over here, I'd be tickled pink! And also Tim and Kathi and Dan and Lynnette-we could help you find an apartment right here in our complex if you're interesting in moving.

Along those lines, we have a moms group that meets every other week. What might you ask is a moms group? Well, it's just 6 moms who get together to eat chocolate, laugh and talk, pray and discuss things about our lives, our kids and our relationships with Christ. So, I thought you might find it interesting to learn a little more about our group by the numbers. A few weeks ago we had our kick off moms group for the year and I did a little calculating. Here are a few numbers and facts about our group:

13

number of years of combined experience we have as moms

7 1/2

number of years we've spent pregnant

Constant throwing up, nausea, dizzy headaches, varicose veins, pregnancy brain, leg cramps, kidney problems, sciatic nerve pain, indigestion, fatigue, dizziness, inability to drink diet coke, swollen feet, inability to sleep in our favorite positions, passing out, fainting, stretch marks, and bad complexion.

All the symptoms our pregnancies have brought along with them!

61/2

number of years we've spent nursing children

35, 430

number of diapers we've changed so far (give or take a few)

4,745

number of days we've spent knowing and loving our kids and being blessed to be moms!

And just think-all our kids are 3 and under! What will these numbers be in ten years?!!!

So there's our moms group in a spreadsheet. I am thankful for God' s love shown to us through these precious people.