First Post from TT!

Hey Family & Folks!

This is my first pass at the blog in more than 2 weeks! Crazy! I'm actually using a new friend's computer as ours is still a good 10 days away. Although it's at the airport,
things don't work very fast around here. And other things, like the A/C service men showing up at 7:30 am this morning, boggle my mind! All is well, girls are good, although
Sophia is having a challenging sleeping at night and since the sun comes up here before 6 am (and we don't have our blackout curtains yet) the girls are up well before 7 am!

We are starting to do more exploring, although there has been a lot of people out our house every day, mostly repair people as there have been some lingering issues.
It's a wonderful house--all tile, so it echoes. Can't wait to get some rugs on the floor! It's pretty easy to tell where the girls are though, especially Natalie. Our stairs are
made of teak (a very common wood here in the Caribbean) and a few of them are slightly loose (nothing dangerous!) so when you step on them, they make more noise
than others. Well, Natalie sounds like she weighs about 350 lbs when she comes down the stairs! She walks like her mother sits in chairs. Heavy!!

Dave is doing well, getting involved at the office and we've connected with a couple of families here. One of them has a boy (4) and a girl (3) and they are playing right now!
We went to the beach with them on Sunday--pictures forthcoming! The beach is awesome but you have to go through some pretty hairy driving to get there. Needless
to say, both Dave and I are quickly learning to drive on the left side of the road very quickly!

We are all getting to learn the ins and outs of Trinidad and hope (while every other expat wife and children go back to the States) go to Tobago and a few other places
before Mom gets here on August 15th.

The girls are sleeping in the same room so we have not one but 2 guest rooms, one with a full bed and one with a queen. The only bathroom shared is the girls and one
bedroom (for future reference and when our stuff gets here, it will be the playroom). If you do come, bring ear plugs! We found out our first night in the house that
there are quite a few frogs (tree and otherwise) and chirp ALL NIGHT LONG, starting the instant the sun goes down. THen when the dawn comes, they stop and the birds
start--so we are in no loss for wildlife! :))

It has been nothing less than interesting and certainly has been a great and not-too-bumpy start to our adventure.

I do have a housekeeper 2 days a week already (YES!) and the girls go to a morning day camp for 2 weeks in July and then start at that school twice a week in the fall
(ANOTHER YES!) which they greatly appreciate. They are more than tired of being around me all the time!!!

I will post soon and keep in touch!

TT here we come!

Work permit? Approved! House Packed? Yes Sir! 3 weeks worth of clothes to live off of? You bet! Flight scheduled? Shortly!

We are almost ready. Just think, in 13 days time, you will all know someone(s) who live in Trinidad!

The packers came today, more or less got done with just a few items remaining. In case anyone wants a full sized backyard swing set, we will be tearing it down and making Mom & Dad's condo our home till we leave for vaca on Friday!

Girls have no clue but Natalie wants to "get a pet in Trinidad." Told her didn't think that was possible but you never know!

We will have more pictures soon, and I will send all our contact information via email when we get down there and get online (and of course get it)!

Until then, keep in touch!

Almost ready

Well, this is the first entry, so I hope it means something to you! We are about to really begin our adventure. The movers come Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to pack up our home. We just completed our insurance forms and we will (with God's help) find out that all of Dave's paperwork has been approved. It's more than a little stressful getting everything ready and the girls are ready for us to pay attention to them and have some fun. There will be more of that when we arrive in Charleston/Myrtle Beach on Friday to start our vacation with the Indiana Vogels (which we are all very excited about!) but it looks to be a week of serious work. If I can just make it through Thursday.....I know God is keeping His Hand on this, He brought it to us, He will bring us through it.

It's more than a little daunting packing up all your worldly goods, but it's a good exercise. Makes you realize just how unimportant all this "stuff" is, but then again, I'm not a pack rat to start!

I will be posting pictures from our vacation and keep this updated while we are in Trinidad so you can see what is going on with us. I hope you will keep in touch with us as well at the start of our Great Life Adventure as a family!