We're Back...

Chicago

On our way to Utah, we stopped in Chicago and stayed with our good friends, the Mladineos. Here is a picture of Samantha with Elijah Mladineo ready to go out in the FREEZING cold! We only ventured out one time in the three days we were there because it was sooo cold. We also saw my brother, David. Abby and Sammy loved their Uncle David (for some reason, I do not have pictures of him with the girls).

Utah

Auntie Pat and the girls

Grandpa Stuart helps Sammy figure out her shoe

Grandpa Stuart and the girls

Grandpa Farnsworth (or "Tappa" as Abby and Sammy call him) with Sammy

Sammy and Abby absolutely loved all their uncles.

Auntie Cindy and the girls

Haircuts

Sammy got her first haircut on March 19th, 2008 from Scott

Sammy was so good. She did whatever Scott told her. The book helped too...

Pretty!

Abby got her haircut as well.

Here is Bethy and the pretty girls that night at the wedding dinner

Bethy's Wedding

Abby and I went to a salon the morning of the wedding and got "up-do's" done. It was a lot of fun to get really dressed up and go all out for the wedding. Abby was so excited to get her hair done and felt like a little princess. I called around to salons the morning of the wedding and was very lucky to find one that would take both of us immediately and make sure we were finished in time to make it to the wedding.

Here's her Marilyn Monroe pose as the vent was blowing up her dress

Abby and Sammy with the vent blowing up their dresses waiting for Bethy to make her appearance.

Abby was so excited to hold Beth's dress. She was fascinated by Beth and her beautiful dress. She wanted to hold it for her all night long at the reception as well. She just stood up by Beth and stared at her the whole time. Beth was a real LIVE princess. Since we have been home, Abby loves to play that Abby, Sammy or I are getting married but we must wear a pretty dress in order to make it legitimate.

Here is Beth and Mark. What a cute couple! We are so happy for them.

Bethy with all her nieces

Easter

Abby helped Grandma (Nama) get all the eggs ready for the Easter egg hunt

Counting all the eggs Sammy found with Bethy

Basket-heads

Nama and all her grand-babies

Homeward Bound

It has been TWO YEARS since we have been home. That's a long time! We really look forward to seeing our family. This will be Sammy's first trip to the motherland even though she has already been to eight other countries in her short life time besides England. She will also be meeting many of our family members for the FIRST time. Crazy! We will be gone for a month so I thought I would download and post some random pictures that have been on my camera....

I think what I am most excited about when we go home is (the same thing I am always excited about when we go to Utah) to get my hair cut. In London, there have been times when I have paid as much as $260 to get my hair cut and colored. Therefore, I figure that when I go to Utah, I can go to THE most expensive salon and still pay WAY less than that. So that is what I do. I must say, I am somewhat of a haircut-aholic (is that a word?). I love getting my haircut and I especially like going to a nice salon where they give those great head-massages after washing your hair. I guess haircuts for me is my indulgence. It is ME time and I feel so pampered. I love it! So here's to top of the line haircuts for cheap in Utah!!!! Yippppeee!

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Sammy always plays this game in the bath tub or after where she puts her hair in her face and asks "where's Sammy?" Kind of funny....

Playing "airplane" on the couch with the "airplane pillows." I guess you could say they are practicing for the real thing.

Abby and Sammy's new found entertainment - making a bed and sleeping in the hall closet.

No Time for Blogging, Must Read...

So, I have not really been interested in blogging lately because I am into this incredibly good book. If you are at all interested in Egyptian culture, and in particular the role of women within Egyptian society then this is the book for you. Otherwise, I would not recommend it, its 600 pages long. It is called "Virgins of Paradise" by Barbara Wood. It has taken me a few months to really get into it, but now that I am I can't put it down. It follows this Egyptian family through several decades and explores the different eras through the changes in society effecting women (the so-called lesser sex). Its great because it is also an excellent reminder of historical events in Egypt from the time of King Farouk and the British in 1945 to the 1980s and Mubarak. The family that is the focus of the book all struggle against the various times, the old ways, a newer thinking and what they intrinsically know is morally correct. It's fascinating!

Half-Term
Otherwise, we have just been going about life as normal here. Abby has been on what is called "half-term," where the entire country (it seems) is out of school at the same time. Therefore, you can basically go nowhere because you will deal with massive crowds and chaos. Even traveling during these periods when school is out is significantly more expensive. I think it is absurd that they do it this way but what can I do about it. So we have spent the whole week having friends over at our house or planning outings to safe or less crowded places like the park. We have had some good weather even. Tomorrow we are going to the little circus that they have set up in the parking lot of our mall just for this very occasion. Hopefully, it is not a let-down.

Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day was uneventful really. Some friends and I got together and brought valentine treats to people who don't have a significant other or who may be lonely. That was nice of us. I got a nice bouquet of flowers but neither of us wanted to go out and fight the Valentine crowds.

Other News
Abby and Sammy haven't watched tv for probably about two months now. I had nothing to do with this. They would just rather play than watch any of the shows that they used to. My house is always much messier but I try never to complain because I would rather have them play with each other.

We are looking forward to our holiday home to Utah for the month of March. I can't believe we leave in two weeks from today! We haven't been home in two years.

Below are a few pictures from the past week or two. There are more pictures of Abby because I have more videos of Sammy right now. I will try and download a good video in the next few days.

Abby's pretend bath tub

Abby and Sammy playing dress-up and dancing. They are obsessed with the song "Let's Dance" from the 1960s. They both try to do the "twist" and the "potato."

Abby's blanket dresses have become quite popular. I have made them for both her and Sammy. They love them.

Sammy

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Does Hot Sauce Really Work??

Last night Abby was saying an inappropriate word over and over, so I put hot sauce (really just BBQ sauce) on her tongue. Now, before you start thinking - hmmmm, potty-mouth Farnsworth - I must say, the word wasn't that bad but bad enough that I felt something must be done. I did not have any Tabasco sauce so I opted for BBQ sauce which seemed to do the trick just as well without being so harsh. She is only three after all. She did stop saying the word and was devastated that I actually did what I have been warning her I would do for days. She cried for about five minutes and then all was forgotten after I held her and loved her for a few minutes. However, I just wonder if I should save the whole "sauce-on-the-tongue solution" until she says some really hard-core four letter words or should I use them on the not-so-bad words? Or should I even use this method at all? Maybe soap is better. I am just not sure and would love to hear others' experiences. Let me know if you have an opinion. I would be very interested.

Best Friends and Their Babies

Since we were gone for three weeks beginning Christmas Day, the girls came home and had Christmas all over again. They reunited with all their toys they either forgot they had received or were dying to see again. Abby's baby Bazissa (pronounced "buh-zissa") was one of the toys Abby missed for the entire three weeks we were gone. She named her only an hour or so after we got her out of her box and was completely attached to her.

Abby puts Bazissa in Sammy's high chair daily to feed her a bowl of water. Bazissa then wees it all out into her little nappy. She even came with a potty which kind of freaks Abby out. However, she insists we store the potty in the bathroom which is kind of annoying.

Sammy now has to have a baby as well. She has adopted Abby's old baby, Jessica (I named her). She must do everything with her baby that Abby does with hers.




Just since Christmas, Abby has shown this most unusual "talent" (I guess you'd call it) of coming up with the most interesting and unheard of names for her dolls and animals. I am so amused by everyone she has come up with. We started with Gazilla (pronounced "guh-zilla"), Avery (named after her friend at school) and their dog Jumpy-okey just before Christmas. Then came Bazissa and now we have a pink stuffed cat named Kalinda (pronounced "kuh-linda") and a doll named Rhondiya. Abby is very particular about the pronunciation of the names too.











































Abby ready for school

Abby and Sammy play really well together now. It is so nice. They can also communicate quite well with one another because Sammy is speaking quite a lot these days. They follow each other everywhere i.e. under the table after every meal, driving the pretend-car under Sammy's high chair, feeding their babies, reading books, twirling to their favorite music and much more. They love their heart pull-overs from Auntie Gertrud and wear them everyday, even when they are in their pajamas. Also, Sammy loves to "cheese" for the camera now too.

After Sammy's nap one day, Abby was laying on the floor. When I came out of the room with Sammy, I asked her if she wanted to cuddle Abby. She said "yum" (her word for yes). She laid on top of Abby and they cuddle for quite a while. Abby loved it. It was so cute I had to take a picture.

South African Hooligans

This year we got to spend our Christmas and New Year holidays in South Africa with our good friends the Hodgskins (Clinton, Bronwen, Bella and Emily). This is our second visit to see them this year! This visit however we were also privileged to see other friends Martin and Kate Clark and Braeden and Sam Clark. It was like a big reunion. We first flew down to George (on the southern coast about two hours or so outside Capetown) and stayed with Bronwen's parents in Knysna along the garden route. It was such a gorgeous area of the country. We really enjoyed it. The picture above is the view from Bronwen's parents' back porch. This is what we woke up to for a week - complete silence except for an occasional baboon...


Later on in the week, the nearby horse farm brought up seventeen horses to graze on their land. It was definitely a highlight for all the kids.



Sammy feeding the horses with Grandpa Jeff


New Year's Eve




We had several opportunities to relax at the beach. Sammy was always covered the second her feet touched the sand. She ate sand covered crisps and biscuits the whole time and didn't complain.

New Year's eve we had a BBQ (the first time I have ever done that this time of year) with some neighbors.


Abby and Bella after a day at the beach


New Year's Day



On New Year's day we went on a hike with Sam and Braeden Clark (along with the Hodgskins). We hiked the most beautiful route right along the coast. On the way back we even saw a school of dolphins jumping out in the ocean. It couldn't have been more perfect!









It started out as an easy leisurely walk...


but it soon turned into quite a difficult hike especially with two infants and two toddles on board.



We hiked for an hour and a half or two hours and ended up at a cave. This is a photo with Braeden and Sam Clark and their family when we all reached the cave.



This is the sign we saw AFTER we finished the hike...




The following day, we met up with Martin and Kate Clark who stayed with us for a few days. Above is (from left to right): Bella, Emily, Hailey, Abby, Sammy, and Payton - six girls!


We went on a boat the next day with them. (Martin is in the foreground, Kate is in the jean shorts)



Here are the three friends all born in London



typical Africa





After a week at Bronwen's parents' house Charles and Clinton took off on a "guys only" or a"manly" roadtrip (really they had to drive all of Hodgskins stuff back to Jo'burg). Bronwen, I and the girls all flew back a few days later. As compensation for leaving us with the kids for several days, Clinton and Charles surprised us with a visit to a spa (pictured above). I got several hours of a body scrub and steam capsule treatment as well as a head massage, and full body massage. It was heaven!

Emily and Samantha

When we got back to Ermelo where Hodgskins live (two hours outside Johannesburg) we went on another trip up north to the Mpumalanga region. We stayed at a resort in Sabie.

a picture taken from the car while driving around the mpumalanga area

shanty town

Pilgrim's Rest - a recreated mining town

monkeys in Pilgrim's Rest

God's Window in Blyde's River Canyon Nature Reserve

Charles and Clinton with all the girls at God's window

We went on a hike in Blyde River Canyon and while hiking we went through a rain forest. It was amazing upon entering the forest how the temperature dropped by at least 20 degrees. It felt so good.

This is about the time when our camera batteries died. We continued on and explored a cave but it was too dark for pictures anyway. We had a great three weeks. Charles and Clinton are already talking about what we will do next time...