Morris Family in Mexico: Back to America

This was the aerial view as we flew out of Monterrey. The top picture is of the "Sierra de la Silla," or the Saddleback mountain. In the bottom picture there are two sets of mountains; our house sits between the two in the non-cloudy section.

We've been back in Monterrey for three weeks now and I cannot express how much I value the time we had back home in Scappoose. It was a welcome break, a breath of fresh air (literally), a mental reprieve, and blessed time with friends and family. It was so special.

The trip home was pretty good. We were all so excited to be back in America that even the L.A. airport seemed welcoming. It was amazing to read English on all the signs and at one point while waiting in line at customs, one of the twins whispered to me, "Mom, look: other blonde people." I was astounded by the ease in which I could order a gluten free lunch for my whole family; I even asked for two extra cups with some ice in it, and the lady understood me and complied...go figure...the perks of speaking the language in a country!

Playing paper, rock, scissors in the airport. Josh just likes smashing the rock (that's why he's laughing).

When we landed, Ben's parents and brother were there to greet us. It was so nice to see their faces and to give hugs all around! Then we all headed out to much missed pizza! Would you believe that I saw an old friend from my hometown at Mississippi Pizza? Go figure...it was good to be home!

Caleb is such a great uncle to the boys; they are playing "finger chess" while waiting for pizza

Afterwards, we drove to our home in Scappoose at the perfect time of early evening, when the sun begins to go down over the fields. Everything looked green and beautiful, just as we left it. Our house--oh it felt so good to be home! The furniture and the decorations are all things that I hand-picked because I love them. Everything is to our style and taste. There is carpet and there is a cozy-warmth that I had taken for granted before. And the yard: it is so stinking beautiful, so green, and so quiet. The kids immediately took off for the back yard and before we knew it, they were in the sand pit, in the fort, and riding bikes. It truly was a magical evening. My favorite memory includes Josh accidentally peeing on his pants (stellar parenting moment: we're pretty sure he hadn't peed since LA airport, so he had an emergency outside), so he was running around stark naked gathering grass clippings and making them into hay bales. It was hilarious. After putting the boys to bed, Ben and I sat in chairs in the front yard, listening to the quiet and watching the stars come out. It was perfect.

We will never tire of the this view across the street or the peace of our front yard

Truth be told, those first 24 hours I was pretty weepy. I had missed home so much it hurt. My head and emotions were all jumbled up: why are we living in Mexico when we love it here so much? I want to be here, not there! Why, why, why? The first morning I was up early (two hour time difference), so I headed to Beaverton and was at Trader Joes by the time the doors opened at 8. The time in the car alone gave me a lot of quiet to process and pray through my grieving. I really felt the Lord saying to me, "If your family grows in character while living in Mexico, isn't that enough?" It is, Lord, it is. Also, I knew that I'd rather deal with the roller coaster emotions of coming home and having to leave again, then not getting to come home at all. From then on, I purposed to just cherish each moment and person while we were in Scappoose, instead of spending the time moping that we don't always get to live there.

Shopping in Trader Joe's was awesome. So familiar, so easy. In fact, one of the things Ben and I noticed most about coming home was the ease of life somewhere that you can speak the language. Other things we really appreciated about being home were: the clean air, the quietness, the true darkness of night, the green trees and grass, the blooming flowers, drinking water from the tap, a bedside lamp, a comfortable mattress, a bathtub for Josh, hashbrowns from Trader Joes, a dishwasher, and decent lunch meat. Both Ben and I noticed how wonderful it is to converse freely with people in store, like a cashier, and to be able to banter with some humor to lighten situations. I also feel that I had taken for granted how much freedom my children had to play on their own and be adventurous on our property. In Monterrey, the four of us spend our days kind of top of each other in the apartment, confined by four walls on the third floor. If the boys want to play outside in Mexico, we all walk to a park or we all head down to the pool. In Scappoose, they are able to run outside and do their own thing for hours at a time.

From the first full day on, our schedule was filled with the people we love. It was awesome. We went to church that first morning and saw our church family, then when we returned to the house, we immediately walked down to visit much missed neighbors. Nate and Holly came to spend the night later that afternoon and Ben's parents came over as well. The next day we celebrated the twins' birthday with Ben's family and my sister's family came over as well. It was such a great day for all of us! Joshy had his two best friends at the house: Edmund and Ellie. It was pretty sweet.

Little kids table

Adult table

Big kids eating pizza on the bench

Katie's kids all made Seth and Sam's cards...which the boys thought were awesome and took a long time lingering over. That's something sweet about the twins, they really value homemade gifts!

The Plato's gave them the game of Clue

Now it's time to teach to Seth and Sam how to play clue!

Diane wanted a picture with the grandkids, and Edmund really wanted "in." So, we took an Edmund and the grandkids picture and Diane showed it to him. She's so great with kids!

Jeff and Diane with their grandbabies: Josh (3), Seth (8), Haley (1), Ellie (almost 3), Sam (8)

Haley and Henry: two of the cutest babies around!

Isn't this the cutest!

(Side note: Josh was so thrilled to be able to wear his long-sleeved Snoopy shirt again...it's too hot to wear it in Monterrey and he's been upset about it!)

Playing on the tree swing

Josh and Ellie got lots of quality time together over the weekend

We had so many special times with special people while we were home. One afternoon was spent with over 20 kids from our homeschool group playing in the backyard, while us moms all got to chat and catch up. Ben got to play golf and have dinner with his buddy, Mike. The next day was spent driving to Estacada and swimming and playing with cousins.

That's a whole lotta boy cousins!

The next day was my birthday, and my parents came into town to visit and celebrate with us. We had a great time with my parents, just hanging out and even doing a little adventuring: we all visited Multnomah Falls together. On their last day with us, my parents graciously watched the kids all morning for Ben and I so that we could go on a date...our first date since moving!

Such a great picture!

Our family

Just with Grandma. I love this picture!

It's always good to have Grandma read! She's the best reader!

Josh and Grandma

On their final night with us, we did a fire pit.

It was so peaceful and our yard looked so beautiful

The boys are learning their s'mores roasting from the masters

I got a new camera and was trying it out

Seth

I feel like Sam is starting to look more and more like his daddy

And just like that, our first week at home was over, and I woke up Sunday morning with the stomach flu. Blah! That was quite miserable, but did allow us just to have some down time at home together. Thankfully, no one else got the flu the entire time that we were home.

The second week that we were home, Ben actually worked. That allowed us to be creative with our vehicle usage, as Ben would have the only car 25 minutes away at work. This was one of those great moments where we saw tangible character growth in our lives, because instead of getting frustrated that we only had one vehicle, Ben and I were truly able to calmly figure out a bunch of different solutions. Living in Mexico is all about creativity and flexibility. So, in the end, there were days where I would borrow a car from a neighbor or a friend, and there were days that Ben carpooled to work with a friend, and it all worked out.

That week was filled with lots of great moments at home with the kids and I, gardening and playing in the yard. It was also filled with lots of fellowship: park afternoon with friends, Wilsonville splash park with my sister, walks down to the neighbors, book club for me, the boys' babysitter coming over and playing, Ben's parents over for dinner, coffee morning with my girlfriends, playing with neighbor boys after school, coffee date and walk with another great friend, another play morning with my sister and her kids, and even getting to have Rosey at our home for two nights.

We really enjoyed seeing Rosey again and are thankful that she went to such a nice family!

Josh and Rosey having a moment

I love this picture of Sam and his friend Matthew: hanging out in Coonskin caps playing music

Our final two days were spent celebrating Ben's brother's high school graduation. We spent Friday afternoon helping to decorate for the open house on Friday. We had pizza together for dinner and then all headed to the school to watch the graduation ceremony. Graduation ceremonies are never fun with small kids, but we made it through and are all very proud of Levi for graduating.

The twins were great helpers; the littles were not.

These two were into everything

Balloon blowing (or trying to at least)

Such a rascal

We didn't arrive at the church for graduation incredibly early, which meant that there were barely any seats left, and definitely no seats all together. Jeff, Diane and Caleb grabbed one spot and Holly and I sent Ben and Nathan off to the other. We ended up in the back of the church with the kids, which was really for the best. Josh, Ellie and Haley were too young to sit through a very long ceremony anyways.

Poor Haley girl was so tired...but she did look cute in her dress!

There goes Levi!

Way to go! (this one and the next few picture are taken by Ben's brother, Nate)

Morris family (sans Holly, Haley and I)

It's weird to think that we used to called Caleb and Levi the "little boys"

Family picture taken by Nathan

Holly and the girls spent the night that evening, which allowed for some great play time for best friends Josh and Ellie on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon was the open house for Levi and it was great to celebrate Levi and for Ben and I to catch up with extended family.