Happenings

So, blogging has obviously not been a priority of mine lately.  Just so much going on.  I think that is usually how summer is.  Its supposed to be this relaxing time, but you end up going on vacations (Dan calls them trips because they are not relaxing) and are just always on the go, that summer is a hurried blur....

Dan and Harry, our contractor/soon to be renter/built in pseudo-grandfather have been building a garden house (Harry said we can no longer call it a garden shed because the plans I came up with are too grandiose for a shed ;) to store our stuff (and to be used as a futureplay house for the girls) so that Harry can remodel our garage/backhouse and live in it.  Here are the first stages of the garden house.  Finished product hopefully to come soon:

Sayed came back to the US (hopefully for good) this week and Dan, Annie and I just got back from my company trip in Lexington, KY where we had our 5 years anniversary and got to stay with my mom's sister and family.

June and Annie are great as usual.  June flew to the lake with my parents while we were in Kentucky and Annie had some sleep deprivation on all our Southwest flights to and from Lexington.

Meanwhile, this is now what a typical morning looks like over coffee in the SuDan household.  Just add baby girl #3 and we will be full for the time being. :)

Sayed APPROVED!!

Sayed's visa got approved one month ago, apparently, and the US Embassy forgot to inform him until yesterday, but none the less, he is approved and will be arriving here in the US, Sunday June 24th!!!!

We are so excited and have a room all prepared for him (Annie and the new baby will share a room).  He will start his senior year of high school in August and be here to stay with June and Annie when I go into labor in September- yay!  Free babysitting :)

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who wrote letters for him and prayed for his return.  His family is so happy for him and his mom even told him to tell us that she might have enough in her savings account to pay for his flight.  (We did not make her do that!)

A new chapter starts again in the SuDan life- adding two to the family in a three month span- Sayed and this new little lady munchkin.  It never ends....  But we love it ;)

So, here is what he left:

And here is what he will return to :)  Alot has changed!

Sayed Update

Just wanted to update everyone real quick.

Thank you to all that prayed for Sayed's interview.  He thinks it went really well.  He had everything he needed and the interviewer lady said that the letter stating he had a job when he got back was very helpful.  (Thank you supermarket Turkish guys!!!)  Unfortunately, he probably won't know for a month or so.  He is not requesting to come until July because that looks better (like he is specifically coming for school only).  So, the interviewer said it might be awhile before he heard back.  (hopefully he hears soon so we can get a cheaper plane ticket!!)

He thought his chances were 70/30 when we pushed him to give us more details ;)  So, keep him and his process in your prayers.  This would be such a great thing for him and his family....

Sayed in the US?

Many of you were on my original email blast to write support letters for getting Sayed back here in the US.  Its gotten dangerous where he is and his mom doesn't want him to leave the house much for fear of all the stuff going on, so we thought this would be a good time to get him back here to finish high school and then hopefully go to college.

Thankfully, we received 24 letters from friends and family - his program director said that was unheard of!!  Then, I got through a month's worth of paperwork to get him accepted into a private school here (foreign students may only attend public school once), get all our sponsorship paperwork done, and sent it all to him in a tiny fedex envelope costing $100 to Kabul, Afghanistan.  For some reason, Sayed gave me the wrong address to the US Consul (its not published) and then FedEx could not find the US Consul (it must be hidden?!), so Sayed had to walk across Kabul and pick up the package.  (Oh and we had to send it to FedEx because stuff gets stolen from post offices and there is no mail system to houses, hence the $100 guarantee).  They required no ID to pick the package up so once he had it, he scheduled his interview.  It all comes down to the interview.  If the people interviewing him (Americans) think he will run away or stay in the US, they will not ok him, but if they are confident in his return (and don't think he is a terrorist), they will let him come.

So, that is why I am writing this post.  His interview is this Sunday, March 4th.  I am not sure at what time, but I will try to find out.  Apparently, there are no Sundays off in Kabul.  He does have a letter from a company there saying he can work there when he comes back.  (I stalked some Turkish guys in the supermarket here and asked them how they were able to get visas approved and that is what they told me, so I got Sayed to do the same.) So, hopefully that is convincing proof that he will return and the 24 letters are proof that he is a good guy.

Well, that is where things are right now.  Hopefully, he will get approved and will come in July and then we will have another baby in September and have four children!  Yikes!  Sayed will be a good babysitter, I'm sure ;)

Oh yeah, reason for writing this post- please pray for Sayed's interview on Sunday.  Its all up to these random people. Let's pray they don't have a bad day and that Sayed gets approved.  This would be so wonderful for him and his family and such a great opportunity, not to mention that Dan super misses him and I miss him too ;)

Goodbye Sayed :(

This morning, Sayed left on his three day flight back to Afghanistan.

I cannot even put into words how sad we are. He was really like our son (after lots of adjusting on my part!) after only six months and we miss him so much already. Today, at the airport, I told him that he was just going on vacation and would be back in a year or two for college and I really hope that is true.

He is literally one in a million. Every other one of the 34 kids from his program ran away to Canada for a better life except him (and they have now cancelled the Afghanistan program!). But he knew what the right course was and he decided to go that way. Others might see temporary relief but Sayed will win the eventual prize with all his hard work. We will miss him dearly and will be doing everything we can to get him back here in the next two years.

Skating

The other night, (ok, a few weeks ago, I am way behind!) one of our friends had a going away party at a skating rink. She does roller derby so her and her friends are super amazing skaters. She is going to the peace corps, so we went to wish her well and get in a little skating action, remembering some good 'ole times from Junior High.

Well, apparently, Sayed missed the roller skating rink in Junior High, and if you don't remember his interesting demonstration of agility on the trampoline, you may not understand his attempt to skate. But let me just say, we were not short on laughter! Here is June's reaction to Sayed's inability to stay standing:

Our friend Rachel, pulled him around, but it was very difficult to get him to skate on his own. LOTS of falling....

This is the only picture I got of him (before all his falls with optimism), because after this, he was constantly on the ground, poor guy.

June, on the other hand, was a pro. She loved skating, what little she could do with her daddy and our friend, Chad. Fun times.

Hen house finished!

Well, the outside is. Dan is still working on nest boxes and their sleeping arrangements.... Plus, he has to grind off all the nails sticking into the inside of the house from construction... But, isn't it fancy? I love it and the hens don't even know the palatial palace they will soon be laying their eggs in.

He painted it and put it outside friday and the chickens will move outside once I get back from a week long trip with my mom starting Tuesday. Oh yes, and that is dorky Dan with his rice patty hat on- I am NOT a fan. It will be burned pretty soon (when he least expects it!)

Pretty soon, the chickens will start laying eggs, well, maybe in about four months. But, we are ready for them- I'm brushing up on my egg recipes in the mean time :)

So, I leave you with the latest of Sayed's talents- photography, as well as his first time on a trampoline!

June's birthday surprise

This past Sunday, we decided to have a little birthday get-together at my parents' house when Dan's parents and sister came in town for a visit. June had lots of fun with her Noni and Pap Pap and Aunt Beanie.

And we finished it off with a nice birthday lunch. June was not too sure about blowing out candles or eating cake.

And she didn't even care about her gift. But everyone else did! It was a big surprise!

That's right- June is going to be a big sister on September 30th (or somewhere around there). I am 10 weeks along and we heard the heartbeat, so we are anxious to meet our next little munchkin and hope he/she is as easy as the first!

And in case you forgot Dan's reaction to the first baby, it was exactly the same this time around.... :)

Afternoon Soccer

These past few days have been beautiful! I am not sure, but I am guessing the groundhog didn't see his shadow, or did- whichever is supposed to mean no more winter.... Anyway, Sayed got a soccer ball for his sixteenth birthday from my parents and Tom, so we decided to go try it out! The only soccer field is where Sayed is the manager of the Lubbock High team, so we had to do a little fence-climbing/breaking and entering, of which Sayed was terrified. But it was all ok and June got her first lesson in breaking the rules!

June is running all over the place and has been for the last three weeks. She keeps going faster and faster. The whole downstairs of our house is pretty much baby-proofed, so I can do my work and she can run around and get into little things that I have strategically placed around for her. Perfect for both of us!

But anyway, soccer this afternoon was super fun. It was really nice. Sayed and Dan played while June tried to steal the ball...

Dan, of course, is the sweetest dad and let June play a little bit before he scored more goals than Sayed!

Nice afternoon in the sun- there is nothing like living somewhere where it is cold to appreciate the warmth when it comes!

The art of playing the piano

I am sad to say that I am just not really one of those people who has the "knack" for playing the piano. On a good day, I can play 2-4 songs, and that is after 10 years of lessons. Suffice to say, it does not come naturally to me. I have to really work on it and learn a song.

Anyway, the other day, I was playing one of my 4 songs (which is very good, I might add, after 15 years of practice!) and June wanted to play with me. She had so much fun sitting at the piano with me, pointing at things, and occasionally hitting a note that, in her head, went along with the song I was playing.

Fun times.

Oh yes, Sayed was watching and Dan was taking pictures. Since I am the only one who knows how to play at all, I was considered an expert musician. I like it when things work out that way :)

Do we look at ALL alike?

Goat herders?

Sayed finally got to talk to his mom and brothers the other day- he was SO excited! He has been trying to call them for a week and we couldn't figure out the number correctly... Anyway, when he spoke to his mom, she reminded him that he has gifts for us. Maybe he forgot to give them to us (like he said) or maybe he secretly doesn't like us and was saving them for his next, cooler family... Regardless, here they are in all their glory.

Dan thinking he is part of the Taliban:

Me wearing some of the clothes brought for Dan- I got all of the jewelry:

Dan enjoying his wares:

June and the jewelry:

One of the MANY pictures Sayed has taken of himself. In Afghanistan, the internet speed is so slow, they cannot upload pictures. I think he keeps taking these so I will upload to his facebook profile- we have about 50 to choose from (the other 150 were deleted because he didn't like them :)

Church with Mimi and Papa

We got to dress up and go to church last weekend with Mimi and Papa. Our usual church is super casual, so it was really fun to get all dressed up and take Sayed to a beautiful church (where we got married), as well as show June off in her cute little dress that I have been saving for some such occasion.

Ok, so I only managed to take pictures at home before we left, but at least we got some!

And here is our current family plus one: