The Hil and the Hard Drive

Well, everyone has been in a tizzy around here for two weeks because of our esteemed visitor this weekend.  Even I was pulled in to help out at an event! In the end, everything went great and all are breathing a sigh of relief while having a late start this morning.

My girlfriend took this pic- it looks like I had a clear shot at her but I promise you I didn't.  I was up pretty close but her staffers were all standing in front of me.  And c'mon, you guys see her everyday!

She gave what I thought was a touching speech- this was at the family Meet and Greet at the embassy and all the children were gathered. I think she's talking to them during this picture.  And no, not my children-if we can't handle a family party at a home we certainly can't handle the Sec. of State.

And yes, I realize that it is an extremely flattering picture of me and I have NO idea why I am squinting even with my Rx sunglasses on.

In other news, our hard drive crashed last week and so we are pretty pumped to be shelling out big bucks to buy a new laptop.  Why is this news to you?  Well, it's almost impossible to blog from the ol' iPad so it may be a couple of weeks until you hear from us again.

Until then, keep it real ya'll.

Savor Morocco

After hearing about a great Moroccan cooking school recently, my girlfriends and I decided to make a day trip to Meknes to enjoy good food, no kids, and each other.  Savor Morocco is a guesthouse and cooking school catering mainly to tourists, but also to embassies and other ex-pats.  Meknes, a little over an hour away, is a medieval city that was once the capital of Morocco and is full of beautiful gates and palaces.

Giddy to have the day to ourselves, we loaded up the car and took off for our adventure. Of course not even a short road trip in Africa would be complete without a little drama.  A couple of miles out of town we came to a detour as they had closed down the road for who knows what.  We asked the guy "directing" traffic which way to Meknes and he pointed and we turned...blindly.

My friends, next time you are taking a detour in the States, following all the "detour" signs that are posted every few hundred yards directing you in the right way, please be thankful.

That aside, we took the road that looked most like the "main" road through the next town, still going in the general direction of our destination.  After a few miles and a couple of tries off the main road, said road turned into a forest with a dirt path (not to be confused with a dirt road).  Because we could still see the highway and were in an SUV, our driver Jess bravely continued through the woods.  After passing a couple of tent communities of shepherds (?) we met up with some other detour-ers, followed them, and once the ditch between forest and highway ran out we were able to officially end our detour:

Thankfully that was the end of the trouble and we arrived on time for our class.  We knew the school was run by an American couple and looked forward to meeting them and swapping ex-pat tales.  What I didn't realize is that they are TEXANS. And oh dear me, she had me at, "Hah, Ah'm Aaamy".  Beautiful.

We were joined by three retired ladies from Georgia that were touring Morocco (go girls!).  They were such a hoot and I could fill up page after page of their funny comments.  However, I will leave you with just one that really sums it up: Upon seeing a picture of the King of Morocco in the hallway of the guesthouse, one of the ladies said (and please imagine it with the deep southern accent),"Amy, honey, is this your husband?"

The class consisted of learning how to make and taking Moroccan mint tea in the salon with biscuits, and then we moved to our cooking stations.  Some of us have more experience in the kitchen than others (don't worry, I'm not naming any names Denise) so it was a treat to be together and laugh (spill everything- me), make someone else light your stove because you're afraid of the gas (also me), add too much Cayenne making your dish almost uneatable (you guessed it, me) and most of all, have a gentleman there to CLEAN EVERYTHING UP.

We made chicken tajine and a hot vegetable dish called Tk'touka.  And then we gobbled it up.  Oh, and bonus, also learned how to make a rose out of a tomato skin.

And that's about it.  The Moroccan girl that instructed the cooking did a fantastic job, spoke great English and was willing to answer any questions about Morocco.  She even showed us how to put on a head scarf at the end!

And then we drove home with very full and satisfied bellies.

As we would say in Texas, Savor Morocco is a mighty fine establishment!  We had a great time and hope to share it soon with our visitors.  Thanks Amy and Chris!


P.S.  Thanks for the photos, Denise.  WISH I could take photos like you!!!

ER: Morocco

Well, G and our stairs got into a little tussle last night.  The stairs won.  You can see why:



Just in case you're wondering, marble is not very forgiving to little boys' heads.  We have envisioned this day ever since moving into this house.  Thankfully, it could have been much worse.

Anyhow,  it was time to take our inaugural trip to an African hospital.  I guess I shouldn't say "our", because it was bedtime for the baby Woo (and really, who wants to take a crawler to the hospital?) and I got a get out of jail free card.  So really, all of this info is coming from Joe, the real hero in this story.

Our embassy health unit always directs emergencies with children to the Clinique Nations Unies (United Nations clinic, not affiliated with THE United Nations) because they have a pediatrician and I guess it is supposed to be better than others.

An RN from the embassy called ahead and informed us a doctor was there and waiting for G.  This wasn't entirely true; the doctor had yet to arrive, but it definitely seemed they received preferential treatment as Americans.  Joe felt a little guilty about that, but there wasn't anyone in the waiting room that was in major distress so he went with it.  

When they were called back to see the doctor they walked past all sorts of beds with patients being seen...out in the open. Obviously HIPAA is not a factor in Morocco, but Joe could have been spared the mounds of blood-soaked gauze next to someone else getting sewn up.  Also, there was no door or barrier between the waiting room and the examining area.  Pretty much just come and go as you please- which of course now in the States it requires all sorts of key cards and codes to get past the waiting room in the ER.

G's examination bed had a sheet over it that was either dirty or stained.  They were busy preparing the stitches before even looking at his head.  Joe piped up with, "I'm not sure he will even need stitches. We couldn't see his head clearly."  So then they looked, and yes, he needed stitches. The nurses didn't feel the need to use gloves with G, but the doctor did.  As we suspected, the gash in the back of his head, though small (about an inch) was DEEP.

Right after the accident happened and he had calmed down, we had given G free reign with the iPod to distract him from the poking and prodding to his head.  It worked like a charm and he only fussed during the first shot of lidocaine.   They used the bandage we had put on G at home to re-bandage his head after they put in the stitches (albeit with a new piece of gauze) because it was much better than anything they had at the hospital.  (Daniel- can you imagine doing that at Children's?)

And that was it.  Other than some "keeping the bandage on" wrestling before bedtime, he is good as new.  The stitches will fall out on their own and we can do his check-up at the embassy.

We have since heard from a French Moroccan that the doctors here are generally good- they are trained mostly in France and a few in the U.S.  It's the facilities and nurses that are often lacking.  All in all, our experience was much better than many of our friends (wrong medicines, DEAD BODIES IN THE HALLWAY, and possible re-use of bloody rags) and we are so thankful.

Now as Americans we can't say that we have healthcare totally figured out, but most of us have access to great facilities and doctors that adhere to the highest standards.  And yet we are thankful because the quality of care that we received last night in Rabat is probably much better than most of the world has access to.

Our champ of a patient.  (With iPod)

P.S. FYI, the bill was just under $100. Of course you have to pay that in cash on the spot.  Not bad. In the states our copay would probably have been $100 and the insurance company would've paid $1200 for gauze, sutures, and an anesthesiologist on call.

P.P.S. Happy Valentine's Day!

Azrou

We spend the majority of our days during the winter with a high of 60 degrees and mostly sunny.  (I know, some of you are cursing me under your breath right now.  Sorry.)  So when we heard the rumors that snow had come to the Middle Atlas mountains in Morocco we grabbed some friends and headed that way for a long weekend.  

We were going to Azrou, a town of 50,000, in a valley of the Middle Atlas mountains.  It is just south of Ifrane, a more popular European-ish town/resort area.  The day before we went, Joe's bible study leader mentioned that Azrou is the same size Jerusalem was in Jesus's day.  As we approached the valley from above, it was easy to see how any important news (like the triumphant entry of Jesus, Palm Sunday) could spread so quickly: the town is laid out with buildings close together, a few stories high, and barely room for cars in-between.  Random tangent but interesting nonetheless.

About 1.5 hours into the drive we came to the mountains and after cresting one hill and then another, us adults started sweating: there was no snow.  The kids had been promised snow and sledding, packed their gear, and had been in anticipation all week.  As the miles went by and we were 2 hours into the 2.5 hour drive and still no white, they were downright panicking.  About 15 minutes from the hotel we finally spotted snow on a distant peak and knew we were saved!  

Mountains on one side....

...and the other.  Amazing. 

We pulled into the hotel parking lot and there was one small pile of ice/snow that hadn't melted.  All the kids (that could walk) pounced on it like it was the last snow on earth.  The freezing temperatures were quite a shock- especially since we had only been in the car for 2.5 hours.

We stayed at Le Palais de Cerisiers (Cherry Tree Palace), a small family-run lodge with nice rooms and a great restaurant.  Our families were assigned rooms that opened onto the same landing allowing the kids to run back and forth.  The food was good and they catered to the kids' tastes (spaghetti and french fries instead of roasted duck and asparagus) and schedule (6:30 dinner instead of 8:00).  

The daytime was spent playing in the snow, sledding, and hunting for wild monkeys.

G soaking it in. "Go see snow?!  Go see snow?!" (hint of desperation in voice)

The first day we went sledding at an actual "ski area" that had lifts and everything.  They didn't work, probably hadn't since '93, but they were there.  In front of the hill many enterprising Moroccans are ready to rent you all manner of equipment for snow sports.  Skis and sleds, of course, but also snow boots, rubber rain boots, etc.  We rented a sled for $3 for the day.  Not too shabby.

Just like Aspen!

The best picture we could get of the 4 of us.  J is screaming at the top of his lungs at this point.  

G and I taking off down the hill.  You will notice that I am not wearing my coat- and not because it wasn't freezing.  The walk up the hill was pretty treacherous for G's little legs and Joe had warned me that after taking 5 steps back up the hill with G and sled in tow, I would be burning up.  And I was.  Good call.  Our friend Brent is in the background trying to take a video with his iPad.  They didn't turn out.

A Barbary monkey.  A troop of these live just 5 minutes from the hotel.

The second day we took an easier route and headed just up the hill from the hotel...or Palace, I should say.  Anyhow, out on the side of the highway if there is a good sledding hill, there are men waiting to rent you a sled.  They just perch all the sleds/skis up in the snow and are open for business!

This is right on a major autoroute.

You can tell how large the hill is by the size of the people in the background.  We ran into problems as the day went on and more Moroccans showed up. First of all, they CANNOT stay on their sleds.  So they climb to the top, start down, fall off, and then the sled continues on down the hill like a missile running over anything (little children) in its way.  Also, did you know that a great place to play soccer is in the middle of a sledding hill?  Oh yes, especially for GROWN MEN.  Might anyone get hit with the ball while sledding?  Um, yes, that would be me.  Did said players acknowledge that someone had been nailed with the soccer ball?  I bet you can answer that one on your own by now!

Before dinner the kids would cuddle up and watch a movie while the adults had a little wine across the hall.  This was the first time G had ever sat and watched a movie with a group- so cute.  And love K's little hand resting on his leg.  We hear about K every day now!

On Sunday, out of desperation,  our little family ended up at the Michlifen Resort for lunch.  Remember how I went on and on about how nice the Sofitel Rabat is?  Well, it PALES in comparison to this place.  So there we were with toddlers in an expensive restaurant.  Thankfully, we had the place to ourselves AND they found some french fries for G.  ALSO, do you see what J is sitting in??!!  An actual high chair!!!  That alone was worth the exorbitant cost of the meal.

Although he looks happy here, I can't say the weekend was a success for J.  We didn't have proper clothing for him to crawl around in the snow AND we were in many places with floors that I was unwilling to let him crawl on.  So he was pretty mad.  However, I finally figured out how to sled with him and that was a big hit.  

I should also mention that the biggest single factor of this trip, as far as Joe and I were concerned, was the fact that we would all be sleeping in one (small) hotel room together.  We had been worried about this for some time, and had even tried to do a practice slumber party the weekend before the trip, which was a DISASTER.  Thankfully, the boys rose to the occasion, and while none of us slept as deeply as usual, they did sleep pretty solid from about 9 pm to 5 am both nights.  Not bad for the first time out.

All in all, a good trip.  Enjoyed the snow, but nice to get back to 60 degrees.  And to the Bs and Es, we  loved every minute with ya'll.  Thanks for a great time!

Within These Walls

Much of Moroccan life is very private and takes place behind closed doors, especially if you are a woman.  Therefore, every house in our city is surrounded by walls with a locking gate.  These days the walls serve a dual purpose in hiding the women and providing security.  Some are higher than others, and most have foliage that grows even taller than the wall.  If there is a window in the wall or an opening it is usually covered by a tree or bush.  Obviously, this is very foreign to Americans who are used to walking right up to a house's front door and spending time playing in the yard while enjoying their neighbors up and down the street.  Sadly, this means we have never actually laid eyes on our neighbors.  (However, their gardeners are quite nice!)  

This is a great example of the street view of a house in Rabat.  (And all you ever see unless you know the people inside)  This is not my house.  I repeat, this is not my house.  

                        

All this to say that we have a pretty sweet yard.  We can't take credit for it in any form or fashion.  It was like this when we showed up and is lovingly maintained by M'Barek.  (More on Barek in another post)  It is such a blessing to have a huge yard after not having one for 6 years.  The boys absolutely love it and we spend lots of time racing, digging and throwing balls. (And telling J "no"!)  I don't feel comfortable broadcasting all the specs of our yard on the internet, but I did go around and take pics of all the flora.  I think I know the names of approximately 2 plants.  

This is our tangerine tree.  The word "tangerine" got it's origin from growing in the Tangier (Morocco) region.  However, according to Wikipedia, it also is native to China, so who knows where it is really from.  This is only our second tangerine.  We ate the first one.  Still a baby...tree that is.

No clue what this is but it's the only plant that "turned" color in the fall/winter.

This is a rare plant, indigenous to Morocco whose leaves are speckled white.  Just kidding.  When the painters were repainting after the large HOLE was repaired on our house they didn't bother to use any drop cloths on the plants or tiles.  

Cute boy, orange flowers

I guess this is some kind of daisy.  I just love that blue!!

?

The picture on this doesn't do it justice.  This is a tree in our yard that has upside down white flowers once in a while.  And oh dear me, they put off a fragrance that will make you slap your mama.  (Sorry, Mom)  Does anyone have a clue what this is?  

A flowering viney- thing that crawls up a column of our pergola. 

Other pergola column

These line our front walkway.

My mom says this is a succulent, which means nothing to me, but apparently is in the aloe vera /cactus family.  

OK, I think this is a hibiscus.  This covers the entire perimeter of the yard and grows  a good 6 feet higher than our wall in some places.  Ridiculously pretty.

The great thing is that when Joe's Mom and Aunt come this summer we will learn all the names of the plants.  Yay for people that know these things!  And yay for a climate that lets us enjoy our yard year round.

Observations

We've been absent.  Since we returned from London there have been birthdays (me), sickness (Joe), and our favorite, potty training, which just about sent us all into the depths of despair.  All you really need to know is that the diaper is BACK ON.  

As always, though, I go through my days in Morocco constantly writing blog posts in my head because there is just that much crazy.  For today, some observations in a nice little list.

1. Between our house and the embassy there is a street with traffic blocked off and lots-o-guards because a princess (we think) lives there.  Side note: we need to remember that this isn't necessarily a "Jasmine" from Aladdin; a princess is still called a "princess" when she is 80.  Anyhow, this blockade causes quite the detour and adds several minutes to the drive.  Or at least it feels that way.  A few of my friends with diplomatic plates drive straight through the blockade all the time without getting stopped.  After a couple of months here, and after we had our diplomatic ID cards,  Joe and I would do it together once in a blue moon. Well, after what seemed my hundredth drive to the embassy this week (French class 3x week, doctor appts, fuel, meeting up with Joe, commissary, etc) I got a little cocky.  I started driving brazenly through the blockade MULTIPLE times a day.  And it kind of changed my world.  This is my trick- I smile and wave at the guards every time and they EAT IT UP.  My license plate indicates that I am an American woman and since I'm waving at them, they most likely think I am something akin to a prostitute, but as long as I have a straight shot to the embassy, I'm OK with that.  (Walking on the street I would never look a man in the eye, much less smile or wave)

2. Moroccans love them some Rhianna.  (Which is actually refreshing considering most of the stuff on the radio.  I swear they pick the nastiest American songs (explicit versions) to play, which is the exact opposite of what I thought would be going on)  Anyhow, just about every other song is Rhianna, always doing giveaways involving her, etc.  So much so, that when I am 78 years old and hear “We Found Love” on the oldies station, I will instantly be transported to Morocco.

3. Here’s the thing- most of us posted in Africa have big beautiful houses.  It is a perk of living in  a third world country.  The houses are usually big, open, and full of light.  And coming from a small townhouse in DC we surely appreciate the space.  However, I think sometimes outsiders can get the wrong idea of how we actually live.  For one thing, the landlords don’t take good care of the houses and in turn my girlfriends and I all have a long list of things broken, missing, or leaking.  And once someone is sent to fix it you have to watch them use some bizarre method of repair that most often doesn’t end up solving the problem.  Currently, we have a hole in the front of our house with mildew growing from water coming from the master bathtub.  Something is big time wrong, and the tub won’t even drain now.  The landlord’s solution?  Re-caulk the tub.  That’s right, that will absolutely help the stopped up drain.  Let your eyes travel over to Joe’s pedestal sink.  Behind it you will find the largest bowl that will fit between the pedestal and wall to catch water leaking.  For the first couple of weeks we had to empty the bowl every few hours to prevent overflow.  If one of us didn’t wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night we woke up to a flooded bathroom floor.  Thankfully the drip has considerably slowed.  And why hasn’t Joe just turned off the water to the sink?  Well, as soon as we can locate the cut-off we’ll get right on that.  We actually have it pretty good right now.  One of our friends had their kitchen tiles buckle up out of the floor before their eyes (reminiscent of tremors) while simultaneously water started shooting out of a hole in their house.  Thankfully it is shooting out of the house, but still.  (I should mention that if the maintenance issue is something for the embassy to fix, it generally is done quickly and correctly.)  Also, Africans have never heard of weather stripping or sealing their homes.  Sitting on my couch right now, I can see about half an inch of light coming in under my front door.  When the windows are “shut tight” and it is windy outside you will still see our curtains billowing in as if a fan was blowing on them.  It isn’t even necessary to go into the ant issue, you can put all that together.  I’m just thankful snakes aren’t a problem here.  I would never sleep. Thankfully, most of us can laugh about it while we swap stories of housing woes, and of course, it is a free house, so we'll keep it.

4. We have a good number of bikes and motorcycles in our city.  Someone thought it would be a good idea if they had their own lanes, but the execution has been POOR.  This is the result:

Instead of widening the road they just painted a line down the middle of the right hand lane.  All this does is push that lane of cars halfway into the next lane.  And though not shown in the picture, 2 lanes of traffic drive down a lane and a half.  To add insult to injury, half the bikes and motorcycles don’t even use the lanes.  It is all so safe and logical. P.S. Not all the streets are this beautiful, but this one is because it's right outside the palace.

5. A few years back, after nearly 100 animals died and animal rights activists made a big enough stink,  the Rabat National Zoo was closed down.  This past week a new location opened to much accolade from those concerned and anticipation from the public.  On Thursday my friend Denise and I accompanied our boys’ pre-school on a field trip to the zoo.  We had already heard from friends that it was pretty sharp, and after pulling into parking lot that was actually paved and had equidistant lines drawn and everything, we were pretty excited.  Seriously, I almost took a picture of the lot for you guys.  Upon entering the zoo we felt we had been transported out of Morocco.  Everything is brand new and beautiful.  There are restrooms, wide paths, concessions, and actual tickets.  The park is groomed and clean.  We saw lots of healthy animals in habitats that could’ve been in the San Diego zoo.  Of course, upon closer look, you notice that it is still in Morocco.  First of all, there are 2 huge infinity pools near the entrance.  No step or anything to slow any child down from running straight into it.  Then, the fences keeping the animals in are solid wood- not chain link or some kind of wire.  They are only about 3 ft high, but just high enough to block a toddler’s entire view.  For a place that is largely geared towards children, that is a major fail.  However, as a community of moms, we are thrilled to have a place to take our kids and largely impressed overall with the zoo.  P.S.  There is a petting zoo and Grayson can now add Shetland Pony to the list of animals he has kissed on the lips.  (As my friend says, better the pony than a Thai prostitute, and she speaks from experience.)

6. As much as you want to be totally exotic and on board with a foreign culture, especially a Muslim one, some days it just gets old and annoying.  So Joe and I have taken to talking about the pros of living here and one thing we didn’t expect is all the quality time we get with our friends.  Unlike DC, everyone lives, works, and plays within a 20 minute drive.  At home it is difficult to adjust schedules, pay for babysitters, and then get to where you want to go.  In Rabat it is not uncommon to have girls’ or guys’ night out in the middle of the week.  You can help your spouse put the kids to bed and still have plenty of time to go anywhere in the city with your friends.  Also, child care is cheap and usually done by your regular housekeeper/nanny so it’s not a big production of instructions/planning to leave the kids at home.  Because we are a medium-sized embassy, there isn’t a huge expat community in Rabat, and it’s considered to be a “quiet” city, everyone is built-in family and we entertain each other.  It seems this differs from other posts, especially Europe, where there are so many other outlets for friends and activities.  I am sure not everyone loves this aspect of Rabat, but it works for us and really helps morale.

7. This is not Morocco related at all, but two weeks ago our dear friend Jason had his esophagus removed and a new one fashioned from part of his stomach.  It has been a really rough road and yet he and his wife Megan have stayed so positive and shown what graciousness really looks like.  Ya'll are both champions and we love you so much!!!

I suppose that's enough random-y bits for now.  I need to go see if I have time to wash my hair before half the city's water supply is turned off  for an UNDETERMINED AMOUNT OF TIME to repair a water main.  Thank you and goodnight.  

Sara

This is Sara- the cute one on the left.

She's one of my dearest, dearest friends.  Besides being a great friend, Sara is a super-duper Mom, wife, runner, cook, encourager, you name it.  But today I need to tell you about her hostessing skills.  I'm serious.  She learned from the best (love you, Mrs. O!) and goes above and beyond in taking care of her guests.  Our trip to their house went so smoothly because of her fore-thought and planning.  It absolutely could have been a disaster having 4 boys under the age of 3 in one small house, everyone with different needs and expectations.  But it wasn't and I was IMPRESSED.  I learned so much from Sara this past week that I thought I would pass it on to you.  You know, just in case. (This post especially applies to folks with young-ish children)

1. Eating

In a perfect world all of our children would eat anything you put in front of them at anytime because they have sophisticated palettes and understand that their parents know what is best for them.  But let's face it, in most families if one kid does eat great, the other doesn't.  Especially in our family.  Ahem, G.  This can become even more stressful when you are away from your own kitchen.  Two weeks before our arrival Sara and I spoke about food, likes and dislikes of our kids, and veggies/fruit/snacks that my kids were used to that she might not have on hand.  She put together a flexible menu schedule (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) for each day of our trip, with times added when we would eat out.   I usually do this in my head when company is coming, but have never thought to run it by my guests...the people I want to enjoy the meals.  Anyhow, we agreed on the menu and she still had plenty of time to shop for groceries and organize her kitchen.  The meal schedule was hung in the kitchen so that there was no guesswork during the trip.  Also, she picked up some extras that I needed for my kiddos ahead of time so I wasn't running to the store once I got there- and I paid her later.  This also helped us estimate how much we would be spending on meals out, which is an expense that can sneak up on you if you're not aware.

2. Activities:

Joe and I always make the mistake of going on vacation and once we get there not sure what we want to do.  We know there is lots to do in a specific place but we haven't researched it well enough or don't know what the hours are, etc.  And then we are disappointed at the end of the trip when we realize all that we missed out on.  Close to a month before our arrival Sara asked us what we would like to do/see in London.  She gave us some options and then after we gave her feedback her and Allen looked into the different activities: best days, times, and cost.  Again, she made a tentative schedule and sent it to me.  We planned which days we would take the boys into London, when we would stay near the house, and even hired her baby-sitters ahead of time so that we could have adult-only time.  I realized how important it was (especially with young children) to have plenty of down time.  If you are going non-stop every day everyone will be miserable.  We still had plenty of fun on quiet days by getting outside and exploring their neighborhood and town.

3. Sleeping:

Someday our boys will be big enough to throw in one room with a bunch of sleeping bags...but not today.  If you and your children aren't getting any sleep on a trip, there will be an overload of tantrums, and the kids won't be happy either.  Sleeping arrangements was another thing that Sara and I communicated in-depth on.  Where?  who?  In what?  We had a Plan A and a Plan B.  We ended up going with Plan B after the first night, which was fine, because there was a Plan B.  Joe and I didn't have to be stressed out over who was going to sleep where, which is certainly was a blessing!  Did our kids ever wake up early from being in a strange bed?  Sure.  But they slept great for the most part.  And in turn, so did we.

Sara Joy-  I can't say enough how much fun we had on this trip.  Joe and I were both amazed with your forethought,  organization, and care.  You taught me so much about what it means to be a gracious host and I am very grateful! You do your Mama proud.  Love you so much!

Enjoying a girls' afternoon at the cutest tea shop you ever saw.