Adah's going to be a big sister!!

Adah is so excited!  She tells everyone she meets that she is a "big sister and mommy has a baby in her tummy."   We are both excited as well, we just don't go around telling complete strangers!!
Of course it happens this way.....  We had been trying quite a bit longer than we did when we wanted to have our first baby, so our intention was not for them to be this far apart in age but God had other plans.  We decided in May that we would be starting our journey to go back to Morroco and then in the next few weeks we find out that I am finally pregnant.  I am due in early February so we will definitely be around until after that. 

(Trace DiCocco took these for us on the morning of our 12th year Anniversary, which was so appropriate because she was the one who took our wedding pics also.  She does amazing work!)


We have been also dealing with the fact that our car is not working and Shawn has done everything in his power to try to fix it but he is a lost for what is wrong.  It has been our of commission since Memorial weekend.  Our friends the Beasley's have so generously let us use there car that they don't need anymore, otherwise I have no idea what we would do!  This week we are breaking down and bringing it to someone who can hopefully figure it out.... 
We haven't had much time to focus on our support raising because of this, the enemy really is cleaver in his ways. 
Hopefully you all are enjoying your summer and getting out in this beautiful sun shine!  Boy, it's been HOT! 
Stay cool until next time :)

Shawn, Jamie and Adah

Deep Breath.....

Deep Breath.....  that's what I do a lot lately!!

It's Spring!!  Shawn and I are in awe every day with all the beautiful flowers and trees we see and smell every day.  It's been a while since we have been around so many different trees with awesome flowers,  Bozeman just doesn't have the amount of flowering trees. 
We can't wait for our favorite time of the year, SUMMER!!!  Adah wants to be outside every moment of the day.

Now for the reason for this post.  As some of you have seen we are doing a kick off on June 1st to start raising money for our Adventure to Morocco.  Some of you have said to us that they had no idea we were thinking of this and why we didn't mention it to them before.  There are many reasons for this....

First, we have been talking about this for over a year now.  When we left Africa a year ago, we knew we would go back it was just a matter of when.  We left before we were planning on it and things didn't go the way we wanted.  Opportunities came up for us to stay but I needed to go home for a while and clear my head.  We have some very good friends over in Fes that have been doing some great things over there and need our help. 

Second, I wasn't ready until now.  I have been praying for the right time and what we should do and it has become apparent that the time is now.   Shawn would have stayed in Morocco if it wasn't for me wanting to be in Grand Rapids.  We both felt Adah needed to be around her family for a while and it has been wonderful being around Grandparents and her cousins. (her aunts and uncles too :) )

Thirdly, I didn't want negative responses.  I realize we don't live like others would want us to (house, steady job we hate but brings in some money, 2.2 kids, living around family).  We have had the awesome opportunity to live in some great places (and not so many, Galena).   We love our lives, the opportunities we have and will give to Adah is priceless.  We believe we are not on this earth to live in our little houses on a hill side (a little side joke) but to go OUT into the WORLD and help others.  There are some people in our lives that don't agree with our decisions and I am truly sorry for that.  This decision was both of ours and we are just doing what God is telling us to do.

This was not a quick decision or an easy one.  We had a lot of people praying for us and our decision.  This kick off isn't saying we are moving tomorrow, we truly have no idea when it will be, it could be 6 months it could be closer to 12.  We have a certain amount of money we have to raise and we are not going to move unless we have that amount.

The kick off we are having on June 1st is just the beginning of this long and crazy trip.....
We would love for each and every one of you to join us in this adventure of ours, either praying for us and the people of Morocco or giving financially.  We will be going over all of our needs at the kick off but we will have more info on details later to come on this blog so check back soon!

Deep breath, it really does help....

Jamie, Shawn and Adah 

Home for now!!

It's been almost a year that Shawn, Adah and I stepped foot in the U.S again.  These last 11 months have been hard, overwhelming, comfortable, boring, beautiful, exciting, emotional and did I mention hard!
I started teaching cosmetology at Douglas J Aveda Institute in downtown Grand Rapids 5 days after we got back, our boxes weren't even unpacked.  Shawn got to spend the whole summer with Adah and loved every minute of it.  He even potty trained her by himself!  We lived with Shawn's mom for 10 months and moved to our own place at the beginning of March!!!
Our little Adah had to have heart surgery back in October.  When she was about 9 months old we were told she had a coarctation of the aorta, but it wasn't serious enough to have surgery right away.  Her yearly appointment was in September and her doctor said we should do it sooner than later so a week later she was at the Helen Devos Children's Hospital having surgery!  She did great and is back to her old self again :)




 Shawn got a job with a temp service at Amway in a food lab.  I went back to doing hair at the Grand Salon in Ada.  (Side note: when we named Adah we weren't living in Michigan and didn't even think about her name that way and now both Shawn and I are working in Ada, weird!)
There was/is definitely reverse culture shock coming back to the U.S, even after only 9 months away.  Shawn and I are not convinced we are suppose to be in Michigan but for now we are here for Adah and we are seeing our families all the time.   We see our families way more than we use to (I would hope so since we are like 2000 + miles closer!)  We also see my sister and her three kids as much as possible, with them living in Lansing it's not as much as I would like.  So we are doing what we are meant to do right now, surround Adah with her family as much as possible!  We still haven't figured out what we are doing but I am trying to be patient and content and not do anything except living day by day.

 I am going to try and blog a little more often than previously (which shouldn't be hard to beat once a year!) 

ADAH'S 2nd Birthday!!

March 31, 2012 Adah's second birthday!!  

The day before I made cupcakes for her party and I let her lick the bowl, she really took me seriously.

Adah's finished cupcakes!

 We just had a few people over but Adah had a blast!  Her friend Beckett was the only boy with 8 girls...

 I wonder what Alethia and Adah are looking at?

 Adah's favorite person TaTa (Touria). 

Monkey Time!!!!

Shawn, Adah and I went up to Fes to visit our friends for the weekend.  We had a great time...
On Saturday we drove up to Ifrane and saw the monkeys.  You just get out of your car and there they are, it is kind of weird.  We fed them peanuts and some follow you around being kind of aggressive about those peanuts!  Adah loved it.

Shawn also had an interview to work at the American school in Fes, so this may be our new home, we will know more hopefully at the end of the week.

 Adah is getting so big, wanting to walk everywhere herself.

Grandma Squared in Casablanca!!

After our week long trip to Spain with our mom's we had a few days left in Casablanca.  It was great to show them where we grocery shop, live, our friends and the beach.
Adah loved having them around for so long....
Adah playing with her grandmas in the morning.

 Adah hates to get her picture taken!  This is our beach just down the road from us...

Where else do you go if your in Casablanca, Rick's Cafe of course!  Our mom's took us here for a wonderful dinner one night.

 Adah is the center of attention as usual!!

 This was probably the best meal we have had since living here! 

 Shawn and Barb at the bar. 

We of course had to celebrate Adah's 2nd birthday early (she will never know the difference).  She really enjoyed her cake more this year.

 She got two dolls for Christmas so she of course needed a bed for them.  She also got some pots and pans and some play food.  She loves them!!

 She likes the bed for herself much better....

It was sad to see them go but so wonderful they got to spend so much time with us here!
 Over the last month we have decided to not return to GWA next year.  As I write this Shawn is talking to our friends in Fes about a possible job opportunity there.  If not I guess it is back to Michigan and start over....  again!  Please pray that God shows us where he wants us to be, not where we want to be.  Another journey, another adventure......

Grandma's in Spain

Sorry I kind of flaked on the end of the visit with our Mom's.  It has been a little crazy the past month here in Morocco.  I am sitting at our friends house up in Fes with some time on my hands so I thought I would finish this post.....  I hope!

 The castle/ palace in Granada Spain was very cool.  The grounds of the palace would have been beautiful in the spring and summer but we were there in the winter so not so much to look at.  Granada is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Spain. 

ALHAMBRA

Our next stop was Cordoba Spain where we went to another famous attraction. 

 CATHEDRAL-MOSQUE of CORDOBA

 I can't even begin to add all the pictures Shawn took of this cathedral.  It was amazing.
This is the ceiling in one of the rooms...

 another ceiling....

It is was huge, it went on forever....

 My mom and Adah.  Adah is in her new wool jacket and hat that Grandma and Grandpa Garver got for her 2nd birthday.  We went shopping the day before and got some good deals.  Barb got me a wool jacket for my birthday, hopefully we can use them someday :)

 The streets of Cordoba...

 Random ancient pillars in the middle of the city.  It is so amazing living in the United States we just don't see OLD stuff like this.

 WE LOVE YOU GRANDMA'S!!!!

 Trying to get Adah to pose in front of our hotel we stayed at, no such luck!!

 Next post, Grandma's in Casablanca!!