Only one final stands in our way!

Hey everyone! Just a little quick note today before we finally get to head home TOMORROW!!! Josh is studying now for one more hour and then he'll head to campus to take his LAST FINAL of the 1st semester. He is so ready to just be done with his exams and get a break for a few weeks and we're both so excited to bring Isaiah home for Christmas! I wanted to post our flight info. just incase people wanted to check online about our flights or anything like that, so that's the main reason for my post today.

Like I said, Josh has his last final this afternoon (Physiology) and I will be home with Isaiah trying to clean up around here, so we can come back to a clean house in January! When Josh is finished this afternoon, he is going to come home and help me pack/organize a bit to make tomorrow less hectic and then the three of us are going out to a family dinner together to celebrate the completion of Josh's first semester at Ross! I'm so proud of him and I hope you all realize how incredibly dedicated he has been and how hard he has worked the past few months. I'm just praying now that his grades will reflect all the hard work and time spent away from his family because he truly deserves to do amazing this semester!

In the morning, we will finish packing, do a little last minute cleaning, and run a few errands before taking our car to campus to park it for break. They have security on campus and we want to make sure that our lovely island car is secure while we're gone....we don't want anything to happen to Dorothy! Our good friend, Autum, is going to pick us up on campus and drive us to the airport tomorrow around lunchtime. We have a pretty long layover in San Juan tomorrow (4 hours) and are just hoping that Isaiah behaves himself on our way home. If he's half as good as he was coming here in August, we should be fine!

Kevin and Sara are going to pick us up at the airport in Philly tomorrow night around 11:30ish and then drive us home to Everett. We're all figuring we'll be so excited and happy to see each other that we won't have any trouble staying awake and chatting the entire way home! Then either Saturday or Sunday we'll get to see all the people we've really been missing the past few months!!! We can't wait to see everyone and show you what an adorable little man we've been watching grow and learn and change over the past 4 months!

Here is our itinerary for tomorrow:

American Airlines (operated by American Eagle)

Flight # 4859

Departs St. Kitts: 3:25 pm (our time, which is one hour ahead of PA)

Arrives San Juan: 4:35 pm (our time)

American Airlines

Flight #1738

Departs San Juan: 8:20 pm (our time)

Arrives Philadelphia, PA: 11:30 pm (your time)

We hope everything goes quickly and smoothly tomorrow and look forward to seeing you all in person VERY SOON! Love to all from the Henry family! :)

Our last week of our 1st semester!

Isaiah relaxing at the beach

(with the Atlantic Ocean and views of St. Kitts behind)

So....now we're at only 5 days until we get on a plane to head home to good 'ol PA and I don't think we could be more excited! Josh isn't too excited yet because he's too busy stressing about his 4 finals yet to take this week, but I have complete confidence that he's going to do great! He's convinced himself that he needs to get all A's this semester and that's why he's so worried about his exams. He definitely will pass for the semester and that is what I think is most important, although he won't listen to me at this point! I'm just ready for his exams to be over, so that he can finally relax and recharge a bit over Christmas! I think his brain and his nerves just need some time off!!!

Big Brown Eyes

Enjoying some lobster

We've been doing well the past few days. I'm not even sure when I last got to post something, but I know it's been a while! We've been trying to keep busy and I've been trying to start packing a little each day, although now I'm to the point where I can't do much else until we're ready to leave. This week though I think I'll try to keep busy with getting all the laundry done (so we have enough undergarments to bring home!) and cleaning this place up....I don't want to come home to a dirty house when we get back here after break! I'm just hoping that I can occupy my time while still getting Isaiah out and about a little bit. With only taking one nap a day now most days, I think he gets a little bored just being stuck at home with Mom!

At the Beach at the Marriott Sunday afternoon

Some of the pictures I took one day this week when I thought Isaiah was just looking so cute and the others I took earlier today. We went to the pool with Jakki yesterday and had a nice time, although not much relaxing for me! Isaiah was walking everywhere and wanted to explore, so I basically followed him around everywhere the whole time! Today, we went to the beach at the Marriott with Jakki while both of the husbands were busy studying. Jakki's husband, Josiah, will have his last set of block exams (where he has exams for all classes the same day) tomorrow and then be finished with his vet prep semester and Josh was of course studying for all of his finals ahead this week! We had a nice time at the beach and were joined by Jake and Long (2 fellow VIP's whose wives are in Josh's vet class). It was nice to spend some time with them and I think everyone is excited for a trip home for the holidays, as well as some relaxing time to spend with our respective spouses!

Putting on my bathing suit all by himself!

Things are going well here. I finally feel like we're settling into our "new life" here in St. Kitts. It's still very different from home, but it's getting easier to live here each week! That doesn't mean we want to stay....we're very ready for some time at home with friends and family and can't wait to celebrate the holidays (as well as a belated birthday for Isaiah) when we get home! I'll try to post again later this week. We leave here at 3:20 pm on Friday, go to San Juan and are there for a 4 hour layover, then head to Philadelphia where we are supposed to arrive at 11:30pm and Kevin and Sara will be picking us up and driving us to Everett after we make it through customs! We can't wait to have a nice Christmas at home with all of you and this year we will truly realize what a blessed Christmas it is to spend it with the ones we love! Hope you all enjoy the video I took of Isaiah one day last week....he's so smart and we're amazed how he knows what we're talking about even though he doesn't have the words to talk about it himself yet! See you soon! :)

Babbling Baby Boy

8 DAYS until the plane ride home! :)

Isaiah ready to head to Shipwreck's beach on Sunday afternoon

Hey everyone! Hope the week is going well for you so far! We're now at only 8 days until we leave St. Kitts for home and I'm getting so excited! I'm hoping next week flies by for a couple of reasons....I want Josh's finals to be done with quickly, so he'll have less time to stress out and I also want it to go quickly, so that we'll be on a plane headed for PA before we know it! I'm hoping that organizing to go home and packing will keep me somewhat occupied next week, so that the days go fast and I don't drive myself crazy! None of us have ever been away from home this long and while it's been positive in giving us a true sense of independence, I think Josh and I both agree that we never want to live this far away from our families once vet school is over!

Melissa, Isaiah, and Me at Shipwreck's

We've been busy the past few days. Isaiah and I have been running around with Jakki quite a bit. She came here to hang out for a little while on Monday, we went shopping and to lunch with her in town on Tuesday, and yesterday we met her on campus for lunch and then went to her place to hang out for a bit. It's nice when Isaiah and I have a reason to leave the house. Especially now with him only taking one nap I feel like by 3 or 4:00 when we stay home all day that he's looking at me like, "Seriously? Is this all we're going to do today?" He's so smart and getting into everything now. He walks everywhere...even stands up from the floor when he decides he wants to go check out something new. He started kicking his little foot yesterday when Josh said "kick" and showed him how to do it and it's so ADORABLE! He's also started giving hugs which is the sweetest thing! Sometimes if we're really lucky we get a kiss and a hug!

My little man and me enjoying some sun!

Josh is done with classes now and has been studying at home a lot more since the school library has gotten really crazy with everyone studying for finals. It's nice to have him home, even if he stays in Isaiah's room 98% of the time. For some reason, I like knowing that he's here in case I need him or just want to give him a kiss! He has his last anatomy exam tomorrow and then has a final everyday next week. Monday is his anatomy final, Tuesday is microanatomy, Wednesday is nutrition, and Thursday is Physiology, and then Friday we get to COME HOME! If you think about, please be keeping Josh in your prayers through the next week for finals and travel safety prayers for the 3 of us next Friday would be appreciated too!

Nice face...I think I caught him mid-blink!

Last evening, Isaiah and I met Josh at school after he studied on campus for a bit and we went to a free dinner in the dorms last evening. It was a celebratory dinner for first semesters for the end of the semester. It was good and we got to see some friends there. After our dinner we went to the prep school to see the little kids (pre-K through 2nd grade) do their Christmas program that our friend Jakki (the school's music teacher) directed. The kids were so cute and Isaiah had a good time watching them sing, although he kept wanting down, so he could go get them in the front of the room! It was a really cute program and the kids did a nice job!

My little cutie

I think that's all for now. Our lives are going to be pretty boring for the next week consisting of studying and taking exams for Josh and hopefully packing for me here at home! I'm sure Isaiah will make packing and organizing for the trip home a little more complicated, but I plan to start getting things ready Monday, so hopefully he'll let me do at least a little each day! I can't say enough how much we miss you guys and how much we miss being at home with all of you! We definitely took for granted how nice it was to have all of you just a few minute car ride away and it will be so wonderful to be able to see you all and spend time with you while we're home!!! The pictures I'm posting this week are from the past several days. The ones with my friend, Melissa, who I used to work with at FCMC were taken on Sunday when she was here on a cruise. Some of the other ones were taken on Monday afternoon when Isaiah and I went out to play for a bit in the backyard. Hope you all are having a good week and keeping warm! It's still stinkin' hot here, so we're actually looking forward to a little cold weather! We love you all so much and can't wait to see you in 8 DAYS!!! :)

Isaiah is 1!!!

Playing peek-a-boo with Mommy from inside the closet!

Isaiah at Caribelle Batik on Friday

Sorry it's taken me a few days to get pictures from Isaiah's party pictures posted. I was having a little issue yesterday getting the pictures to post and again with Isaiah only taking one short nap per day, it's been a little tricky to get things uploaded and setup! We had a wonderful time at Isaiah's 1st birthday party on Saturday afternoon! Josh stayed home on Saturday and just studied at our place for a few hours, but was a HUGE help to me getting things ready. We had a cookout in our backyard with friends for Isaiah's birthday. We had about 25 people all together and I think it turned out to be really nice. It was cooling down after a warm day with a cool breeze and I think everyone enjoyed the chance to relax and hangout. We had some food and everybody brought something to throw on the grill and of course, a birthday cake for the special day! Josh made a vegan 2 layer cake from scratch for Isaiah and it was delicious!!! It was so nice to know that we have so many people here who care about us and love our son! Isaiah of course had a wonderful time chasing Ava and Damon around the yard and I think all the kids had a good time! Isaiah even got a few presents, which were very much appreciated, and has been enjoying them for the past couple of days!

Family Photo with Isaiah's cake

"What's the catch? You're not just going to let me make a mess are you Mom?"

Not so shy about digging in anymore!

Yesterday, we went to church as usual in the morning and then Josh headed off to school to study from about 10:30am-6pm. Isaiah, Jakki, and I went to Shipwreck's beach and met Melissa, who I used to work with at the medical center. She was with her parents on a cruise and we decided to meet up when they stopped in St. Kitts yesterday! It was nice to see a familiar face from home and the beach and cool water was wonderful and refreshing! I'll post some pictures from our beach trip on my next post! Then before we left, we met up with Keith (who sang in our quartet with us last week) and he and Jakki had a little lunch at the restaurant there before we headed home. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon which was much needed after a busy week! I know I don't have any exams to take, but I feel like I'm stressed out from worrying about Josh's stress! I have complete confidence in him though...he's going to rock finals!

Damon and Isaiah making each other laugh

Isaiah with Jakki and Kori

This morning when I woke up, I was so excited. Now we are less than 2 weeks from leaving the island to come home for Christmas and that seems SO much more exciting than 2 or 3 weeks like the past couple of weeks! Now I can say that we'll be flying out NEXT FRIDAY! I'm really excited to come home and also excited to have some time to relax with my husband again! I know once we get back he'll be right back into the swing of things and studying again and we'll feel like we barely get any quality time together, so I'm hoping we can really enjoy the few weeks we have at home, not only getting to spend time together with family and friends, but getting to spend time together as well!

Isaiah playing ball with Kori and Emily

Opening his present from the Chins and Mortons with a little help from Daddy

I hope everyone is doing well at home! We are really missing everyone and are so excited for you all to see Isaiah and the little man he's becoming! We'll see you all soon....11 days! :)

Isaiah and Ottley watching it rain outside

Caroling in the Caribbean

Couldn't get him to keep the Santa hat on, but still cute!

Sorry it's been a few days since my last post! Isaiah has only been taking one nap during the day the past few days, which has been great in that he's been sleeping SO MUCH better at night and later in the morning, but it also means that I have less free time during the day to do my posting! I don't have too much to report other than what we've been up to the past few days. Josh's classes are winding down and next week he has time in most classes for review or doesn't have some classes and just extra time to study, which will be nice for him to have some more time during the day to concentrate on studying for finals. I'm pretty much planning on not seeing him very much the next 2 weeks, but then after finals we can have 3 weeks to spend all the time together we want and we can both actually RELAX a little bit for a change!

Daddy was making him laugh!

On Tuesday, Isaiah and I went to the pool at the Marriott with Jakki for a couple of hours and had a really nice time! It's funny now that Isaiah is walking everywhere...he'd crawl down off my lounge chair and start walking straight toward the water, which was a little frightening! At least he's not too fast yet and easy to catch! We got to sip a strawberry banana smoothie, which Isaiah loved and he's still SO CUTE when he drinks them!

My boys

Yesterday, Isaiah and I went downtown with Jakki to do a little Christmas shopping for our families. It was fun finding gifts for people back home and helped to get me in the Christmas spirit! Isaiah was very well behaved through all the shopping and we got to enjoy lunch at Ballahoo Restaurant downtown at 'the Circus' which is the main circle downtown. I ordered the special which was chicken with pasta in a basil cream sauce. I didn't realize Isaiah was so hungry, but he started taking noodles right off my plate as soon as they set it on the table and in total he probably ate almost HALF of my lunch!

Keith, Jakki, Me, & Josh

Last night they had a Christmas celebration on campus at Ross for the 1st semester and vet prep students. They had hot apple cider and hot chocolate with cookies and cupcakes for refreshment. They had asked Jakki to get a group together to sing carols for the event earlier this semester and she had asked Josh and I to sing along with her and Keith, who sings in the community choir here with her and is also the on campus housing director at Ross. We had fun rehearsing the carols the past few weeks and overall I think we did well last night. It was a little crazy and really loud with people talking to one another, but we got through all of our songs and impressed some of our friends and I really had a nice time singing! I miss my choir peeps from home!

The Quartet in action!

That pretty much brings you all up to speed. Isaiah and I spent the day at home today and are going to Caribel Batik and lunch with Jakki and Kori tomorrow to finish our Christmas shopping hopefully! Our car got fixed and Josh picked it up at the garage on Tuesday afternoon and Dorothy is running well now! Hope everyone is having a good week and at least the weekend is close! We're having a birthday party for Isaiah on Saturday (his real birthday) here at our place. We are having a cookout and going to have cake and ice cream too so it should be fun! We'll be leaving the island 2 weeks from tomorrow to head home for Christmas and are so excited to be coming home so soon! We love you all so much! I'll leave you with a video of our caroling last night singing Joy to the World. Sorry it's really dark, but it was dark outside and only a few Christmas lights hanging up, but hope you enjoy!

Christmas Quartet

Car Troubles :(

Beautiful Boy

Yesterday, Isaiah and I had a wonderful afternoon at the beach with Jakki, Jason, Jen, Ava, Harley, and Damon. I'm not sure if it's because Isaiah is walking now, but it was so much more relaxing for me at the beach than usual. There were also quite a few of us there too, so I could let him wonder a few chairs away from me and still see him because he's moving upright now! We took a few dips in the ocean which was cool enough to be refreshing, but warm enough for Isaiah to like it! The waves at Reggae beach are pretty small, so it's a nice place to take the kids.

Isaiah walking ready to head to the beach!

Isaiah also got to have some fun playing in the sand with Damon and Ava's sand toys! He is definitely not like Josh or I when it comes to the sand! Josh and I absolutely hate sand and would love it if a there was a beach made of mattresses or something soft that didn't get stuck all over you and make you quiver! Isaiah, on the other hand, loves it! He loves to roll in it, stick his hands in it, and yes....even eat it sometimes! With the sand, he reminds me of how my little cousin Alex used to be at Ocean City licking his crackers and then dipping them in the sand!

Eating sand off the rake

Isaiah is walking all over the place now! It's crazy that in just a few short days he is almost like a new person! He did great walking on the sand for the first time and kept wondering around, so we took quite a few walks together yesterday too. It was nice to spend time with Jakki while both our husbands were studying and she too felt like she really got a nice chance to relax, so it was a great afternoon!

Ava, Jen, and Isaiah

I think I mentioned it before, but our car shut off on Joshua on Saturday morning, so Josh called a garage this morning and they came out to look at it and get it back to their garage this afternoon. Apparently Dorothy (our car) needs a new radiator! We also knew that we needed to get new brakes, a new A/C belt, and an oil change, so with all that it's going to be a nice chunk of change, but hopefully it'll keep the car in good running condition for the next couple of years and pay off in the end with saving us from having to get a new one! The guy from the garage was really nice when he came to look at it, so I feel like Dorothy is in very capable hands. They aren't sure though how long it is going to take to get a new radiator, so please pray that they can get the car back up and running in the next day or so. It's a busy time for Josh with finals and I feel bad relying on Jakki to take Isaiah and I everywhere, so it would be so nice to get the car back quickly!

Isaiah giving Ava a hug and kiss...she wasn't so sure about it though!

Today, since we were waiting on the mechanic to come look at the car, Isaiah and I just stayed here at home. We were hoping to go to the pool and lunch with Jakki, but instead she brought over some leftovers they had for lunch and we watched a couple episodes of the TV show, Glee, which I really like! Isaiah took a 3 1/2 hour nap this morning and over lunch, so it was nice to hang out with Jakki and watch some TV without constantly running after Isaiah when he gets into something!

Big man sitting in the beach chair

Isaiah has been in a good mood since he woke up and hopefully that will continue into this evening. Since he took such a long nap I'll probably try to keep him up the rest of the day and pray that will help him sleep at night! We haven't been sleeping well since Isaiah hasn't the last several weeks and Josh needs his rest the next couple weeks to study for finals, so Isaiah (and maybe me too if I need to) is probably moving into his room tonight. We might try letting him cry it out a bit and see if he'll learn to sleep through the night, but we'll have to see how it goes. I feel like we've tried a bunch of things and nothing seems to get him to sleep all night and we're running out of ideas and don't want him to be miserable when we come home!

SO CUTE: Homeboys Damon and Isaiah at Reggae!

I got to talk to my Pap McCahan when I called Mom at work today and he sounds GREAT! I was so excited to get to talk to him and he sounds really happy with their new apartment and is doing so well. I feel like maybe this hospitalization was a blessing to get him back on his feet. He and Nana have been getting out of the house to eat out everyday again and got out to two different Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday, so I'm really happy that he's doing better and they're getting to be more active again! I'm sure he loved getting to visit the girls at the store and I bet they loved getting to catch up with him too and I'm sure it was good for him to be out of the apartment for a few hours! Thanks to all who have been praying for him.....God is good!

Too much fun at the beach...he fell asleep on the way home and slept for over 2 hours!

I hope everyone has a good start to this new week. Now we're at less than 3 weeks...only 18 more days until we head home. I know I say this all the time, but I really can't wait to see everyone and get to spend some time relaxing at home!!! XOXO

Sunday at Reggae with friends!

Busy Boy

The kids had fun playing and running around!

Yesterday we got to attend our second (and final) Thanksgiving dinner of 2009. This dinner was hosted by Jen and Jason Chin at their apartment on the street above ours. All of our friends from orientation week were there as well as a few people Jen works with at the school and a couple of Jason's friends from class. It was a perfect afternoon/evening spent with our newly formed family here on the island. Everyone brought something with them and we really had a feast of great food! I made Mom's broccoli rice casserole and turtle pumpkin pies for dessert and Josh made a HUGE mocha devastation cake that was totally vegan and tasted AMAZING! It was really big though, so I think everybody took some of it home with them!

BFF's (Jakki and me)

Isaiah was on the move the entire time except when he sat and ate in his high chair for me. It was later in the afternoon, so we kind of had a combined lunch and dinner and Isaiah was getting a little fussy, so Josh went ahead and fixed Isaiah a plate and we had to ask Josh to go back for seconds of Harley's mashed potatoes and Mimi's broccoli rice casserole that I made! Isaiah had a great time playing with different toys and chasing Ava and Damon around the apartment. There were also a couple of dogs there....Kristen brought her puppy Ottley along and after that, Elena brought her dog Torpedo for a while. Isaiah really enjoyed that! He didn't even take an afternoon nap and didn't really get fussy until around 8:00. We left just before 8:30 to head home and get him ready for bed. He was really tired, but still wasn't totally ready for bed until he fell asleep around 9:30.

Long, Liz, Alex (sitting), and Jake

For church today, we had another beach service at Angeles Beach since we got bumped from our usual spot at Frigate Bay resort and also another resort we had booked too! Isaiah didn't do so well at the last beach service with wanted to get down and be in the sand and not sit still, so Josh stayed home with him this morning while I went to church and sang with the worship team. It really is nice to have church at the beach every once in a while. It makes it really easy to praise God and see how incredible he is when you have amazing mountains, clear ocean water, and gorgeous blue sky right in front of you!

Autum, Kristen, and Erin

Isaiah fell asleep a little after 10 this morning for his nap. He hasn't been sleeping well again, but has been taking pretty good naps for me the past few days, so at least that helps me get a little break and sometimes a nap too when I haven't gotten a great night's sleep! Josh went to school with Autum when I got home from church to study for the day. He's not sure when he'll be home and since our car is out of commission for now, we're at the mercy of others. Isaiah and I are planning on going to Reggae beach this afternoon with Jakki and hopefully meeting Jen and Ava and Harley and Damon there too! It'll be nice to get out for a couple of hours and see some other people.

Joe and Jakki Moses

We are now at less than 3 weeks until we come home and I think I get more anxious by the minute! I think it's 19 days now!!! I feel like we've done well here this first semester and are settled in and we're liking it okay. It just hit me that Thanksgiving, although we had a great time with friends here, just wasn't the same being away from home and I don't really think it'll feel like Christmastime until it's cold and snowy and we're home with all our family! This is my favorite time of year too and it just doesn't feel the same when I look out my window and it's blazing hot and everything's green and there won't ever be any snow! I know all of you at home that have been griping about it being cold might think we're lucky, but Josh and I have decided we need to live someplace that has seasons! Eternal summer isn't as great as some might think!

Josh and Taylor

I think that's all for now. Hope you enjoy the pictures from our dinner yesterday. Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures at the beach today and can post some tomorrow. Love you all....see you in 19 days! :)

Another day to be thankful for!

Our first Thanksgiving as a family!

I wanted to be sure to post pictures of our Thanksgiving Day meal today, so you all could see. It was a nice time, but I have to say that for my first Thanksgiving away from home, I really missed all of you! I was doing okay in the morning until I started watching the parade on TV and that made me feel like I should be sitting in Grandma's kitchen with my Mom, Aunt Karen, Jen, Grandma, and probably Aunt Linda, and Aunt Donna helping chop and peel things and get ready while watching the parade on the small kitchen TV set! I had a few short bouts of tears in the morning, but felt better once we got to Skype with the Hanns in the morning and then most of the Henry/Bussard clan in the afternoon! We also got to Skype with some of the Fix family after we got home from dinner too, so it was nice to still see a lot of familiar faces even if we weren't there to share the day with you in person!

Harley, Erin, and Damon

Our dinner at the Frigate Bay Resort with our church group (CCF) was great! There was tons of food and a really good turnout...probably close to 50 people! Isaiah was getting kind of tired though and didn't want to sit in his high chair, so it wasn't quite the nice relaxing holiday meal that Josh and I had imagined! Although...I'm not sure that nice, relaxing holiday meal will exist for quite a few years again in the future, so we should probably get used to it! It was nice to spend time with our friends and nice for all the students to get away from campus and be able to talk about things NOT having to do with school for a while!

The right half of the room

Isaiah decided about halfway through Thanksgiving Day that he was an ace at this walking thing and hasn't really slowed down since! I think he's really proud of himself and we are too! Yesterday he walked almost everywhere....I told Josh he only crawled about 2% of the time yesterday! He's getting so big and looking more grown up everyday! He continues to improve his language skills as well.....I think he's up to 13 or 14 words he can say now! What's even more crazy that he can say that many words is that he knows what they mean! Yesterday he was flipping through a book he has that's about a family of ducks. I was doing something in the kitchen not really paying attention and he just started saying, "Duck, duck, duck" and I turned around and sure enough he was pointing to all the little ducks in the book! When he wants a drink now too, he'll come over to my cup and say, "wawa" for water. I'm just amazed that he's putting it all together in his head already!

The left half of the room

Yesterday was a regular day at home except Jakki came over and we ate lunch together here at our place and watched Angels and Demons together. We had a good time and it's always nice to spend time with her! Isaiah calls her "Jak" and even put the "K" sound on the end of it yesterday for the first time! In the evening, we ran out to the store to get some ingredients for Josh to make a vegan dessert for our dinner this afternoon and realized we are having some car issues, so Josh decided to take it to the garage this morning. He returned to ask if I wanted to hear the bad news or the really bad news first! EEK! The garage was closed because the owner is out of town until tomorrow apparantly, so Josh turned around to come home and as he was pulling into our driveway, the car shut off! We're going to see if some friends that are good with cars will take a look at it sometime this weekend and see about getting it to the garage on Monday....prayers would be appreciated that we can get everything taken care of quickly and affordably, so Josh can get back to studying for finals!

Josh and Isaiah chatting with some friends in the back of the room

This afternoon, we are headed to Jason and Jen (and Ava too) Chin's apartment for Thanksgiving dinner with our family away from home of our great friends here. Everyone is bringing a dish or two to share and Jen and Jakki are both making turkeys and I'm really looking forward to it. Things are usually crazy here with all the student spouses needing to study, so it's really nice when we can all relax and spend some time together. Isaiah is napping now, so hopefully he'll be in a good mood and be a little more cooperative this time around too! I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings with your family and friends. We missed being home with you, but we have also really realized what a great support system we have here in our friends and church family, which has been a blessing too. We're excited though to spend the next holiday at home with all of you who we love so much! Have a great weekend!

A different kind of Thanksgiving...

Definitely NOT the Thanksgiving weather or scenery we're used to!

This year, Thanksgiving is different for us than it has ever been and I find myself having time and space to reflect on the past year and all we have to be thankful for! The thing we're most thankful for is having our son, Isaiah here with us for our first Henry FAMILY Thanksgiving! He is such a wonderful blessing and we are so lucky to have him as our son. He is growing and learning and changing all the time and we are so looking forward to all the future has to offer him and us as we watch him grow!

Josh also got accepted to vet school this year, which was really a dream come true! With that acceptance, we also made our big move here, to St. Kitts, which was a huge change and very scary for us to be so far away from home and our families! While we definitely miss being home, God has really provided so well for us here. We have amazing friends, who have become our family away from home, we have a wonderful church family who God is working through to help Josh and I both become closer in our relationship with Jesus Christ, and he's provided a great home, a working car, and good health while we've been here! We are very thankful that he is working in our lives and so blessed that Josh is getting to pursue his career in what he feels he has been called to do.

Lastly, and still very importantly, we want to thank our family and friends back home! Your support over the past year as we prepared for our move out of the country has been incredible! I don't know if we could've done it without knowing you were all behind us and praying for us the whole time! We miss you everyday and can't wait to see you again for Isaiah's big birthday bash in just a few more weeks! We know we are SO lucky to have so many people loving us, praying for us, and supporting us on this somewhat unconventional journey we are on! You all mean so much to us...I don't think we can thank you enough!

So...I hope you all are as lucky as we are to have so many things to be thankful for. Please take time today to tell those you love that you do. Maybe it's that whole 'you don't know what you got 'til it's gone' thing, but being away from those we love really puts things into perspective that a loving family makes a huge difference in our lives! We are wishing we could be sharing the turkey (at least I am) with you and can't wait to spend Christmas at home with those we love. Only 22 more days until we fly home, so we're getting there, slowly but surely! Thank you all again so much for your love and support and know we're thinking of you today!

Cutest Little Actor!

Chilling in his hat

I wasn't going to post anything today because I hadn't taken any pictures since the ones I posted yesterday. Then Isaiah just looked so darn cute relaxing and watching his baby DVD in his diaper that I changed my mind! After he nursed (and I planned on him falling right to sleep for his afternoon nap, which still has yet to occur!) he just started chatting away, so I decided to try to get some of it on video and he turned out the best performance ever! He said things when I asked him to and walked when I asked him too and as always, was just so darn cute all the while! So...I hope you enjoy the photos and videos today because they are the main reason for my post!

I love it when he puts his little hand on his hip while he's watching his DVD!

Isaiah and I have had a quiet day here at home today. We are going to pick Josh up at school a little after six and headed to Jakki and Joe's to rehearse Christmas carols. Josh and I are singing in a quartet for a Christmas celebration on Ross' campus with Jakki and Keith, who is the director of on campus housing at Ross and sings with Jakki in the community choir on the island. We practiced last week and (without trying to sound arrogant) I think we sounded pretty darn good! Jakki was pleasantly surprised at how nicely Josh sounded and I was proud that we as a couple make up half of the quartet! I'm really hoping that Isaiah got the singing genes and isn't tone deaf! So that should be enjoyable again this evening. Nothing gets me in the Christmas spirit quite like Christmas music, so it's been nice to be singing it and thinking about the holidays coming up!

Big beautiful eyes

Tomorrow for turkey day we are headed to the Frigate Bay Resort where we usually have church and instead tomorrow will be sharing a Thanksgiving dinner with our new church family here. Josh and I both feel so blessed to have found this church group and a new support system while we are so far away from home! I'm making pies (Turtle pumpkin pie) and we're taking some vegan stuffing for Josh and might take another vegetable for Josh too if we find something good at the supermarket!

Isaiah's video: Take 1

That's about it for us I think! We're pretty boring right now with nothing too interesting going on. Josh has started studying up for his upcoming finals even though they are still a few weeks away. I have full confidence that he will do a fantastic job and be able to celebrate a more than successful semester when we come home! It's now only 23 days away and I continue to grow more anxious by the day. I also feel like my resolve is weakening...I was better at being this far away when we first came and now I just can't wait to come home for a nice long visit! Your thoughts and prayers for the next few weeks to go as quickly as possible are welcomed and we can't wait to see you all! Love to all and have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Regular Tuesday

Mismatched pj's, but so cute!

It's now only about 24 days until we head home and it's starting to feel like it's finally getting closer. Josh is now done with all of his exams until finals, but has already started the studying process to keep up with all the material he is learning to be ready for finals. Let me correct that...I guess he does have one more exam before finals. He has an anatomy exam on Friday and then the following week is when he has a final each day including his anatomy final on Monday. Seems kind of redundant to me to have an exam on Friday and again on Monday in the same subject, but I'm sure the faculty here know better than I do! Josh did well on an anatomy quiz he took Friday and also did well on his microanatomy exam he took yesterday. He's now putting the pressure on himself to do very well on all of his finals with the hopes of getting a 4.0 for this 1st semester! I'm just hoping that he relaxes a little bit and doesn't drive himself nuts in the next few weeks!

Looking out the door to the yard

(hoping to catch a glimpse of Shelby, the neighbor's dog)

Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday, but Isaiah decided that he didn't need a nap in the morning, so I didn't get any time for the blog! He finally gave in and fell asleep at 2:15 in the afternoon and slept until 5. He is taking a morning nap today though, so I'm hoping that we can have a nice day together! He's still working on his 2 front teeth and they seem to be bothering him quite a bit the last week or so. The one on the left looks like it could come through anyday, so we keep hoping! He did, at least, sleep a little bit better for us last night, although I would've liked to sleep past 6:15 this morning! At least he was in a good mood for me until he went down for his nap.

Reading "The Foot Book" to himself in baby gibberish

Josh, Isaiah, and I all went to the grocery store last evening to get some things for the week and mainly to get supplies for the food we are going to make for our 2 Thanksgiving dinners. We are having the first dinner with our church group on Thursday evening and the 2nd with friends on Saturday afternoon. I'm making Turtle pumpkin pie for both (which I'm hoping is as delicious as it sounds/looks) and Josh is making a vegan chocolate/espresso cake for Saturday, so we had quite a bit of items to get at the store for those things. It was a successful trip though and it's so nice to have Josh along at the grocery store! We did have a few things we didn't find at the store though, so Isaiah and I are going to head to the other main store on the island when he gets up from his nap to try to find the couple other things we are missing.

Reaching for the closet doorknobs (Josh loves it when he does this!)

Isaiah and I will then be headed to the prep school for our weekly gymnastics/cheerleading groups this afternoon. Josh is then going to take Isaiah for me while I go to praise band practice and grab some pizza at Jakki and Joe's for supper. It's a lot easier to sing and learn new songs when I'm not chasing Isaiah around, especially in a house that's not child proofed for him! I think it's also good for Josh and Isaiah to get some "guy time." Isaiah definitely favors me more since I'm the one he sees all the time, so it's good for him to see that Daddy still knows how to take care of him every once in a while!

Dimple

Now I feel like we're just trying to make it through the next couple of weeks until finals (when I'm assuming I won't see Josh for about the last 2 weeks we're here!). Although I keep telling myself that while those couple of weeks won't be very enjoyable, I'll know that I'm SO close to getting to come home, so I'm hoping that will get me through! I'm getting so excited for Isaiah's 1st Bday party once we get home and the chance to visit with everyone again! It's still so surreal for me that we're living this far away and I'll be so glad to at least have 1 semester done and out of the way!

Sleeping on our bed for the second half of his nap

I guess that's all for now. I hope you enjoy the pictures (I think there are some really cute ones here today) and we will see you all in just over 3 weeks! Love you!

Sleepy Boy

(This reminds me of his birth announcement photo)