I'm baaaack...

I've been without internet for about 2 months, but today, I'm happy to say that I am back online! So, what to do with my new freedom to roam the world wide web? Do I catch up on emails? Do I dig around in Facebook to see all I've missed? Do I watch the hours pass as I roam through blogs? Do I upload and edit pictures? I've decided tonight to simply write an update. No pictures. No deep thoughts. Just whatever comes to my mind in these last minutes before I head to bed -

- We've moved into our new house. It was a whirlwind, but we're really glad to be here. It is much, much bigger than any place we've lived before. There are both positives and negatives to such a relatively big place, but we're learning to feel at home here. The best parts of being at the new place are that it is much cooler than our other place due to the placement on the island and our 1 air conditioned room. We're not sweating all the time now, which is great! It is also awesome to be on campus, for Luke to have a 3 minute walk to work and for us to be part of this community. I'd say a few things on the negative side would be the bats (lots of them, possibly in our attic), the much-in-need-of-replacing flooring that we spend a lot of time crawling around on, and the oven which creates perfectly burnt on the bottom and raw on the top cookies (I'm working on adjusting my meathods of baking).
- We had visitors! For my 30th birthday, my dear hubby gave me a friend :) He flew my dear friend, Adriel, down to spend a week with me. I SO loved having her and her daughter (my goddaughter) here. Pictures to come.
- We also had our first cruise ship visitor. We loved seeing Kim and were so encouraged by another familiar face.
- We've found a church! It is just what we wanted/needed in many ways and we're excited to plug in there for a few years.
- Isaiah's loving star gazing at night. Tonight he taught me the names of at least 5 stars. He lays on Luke's lap while Luke consults the astronomy book and points out constellations, stars, and planets.
- My first interaction with my sweet son the other morning was with him on the potty and me standing in the doorway of the bathroom. "Mom, I had an accident. And, Mom, you're standing in my accident."
- Noelle is sprouting teeth, battling diaper rash, and l-o-v-e-s walking/climbing up our very non-child-friendly staircase. If I try to carry her up the stairs, she usually squirms and says "awk, awk!" She isn't really walking yet, though she can easily go from sitting to standing in the middle of a room with no help. She's taking about 8 steps at a time now, but hasn't taken the leap to full walking.
- I got the worst sunburn I've had in a long time the other day. It is amazing how intense the sun is here!
- Apparently the biggest lizard Luke's seen in Barbados is somewhere in this room.
- I'm really needing to get to bed. I'm hoping to start getting to bed early so I can get up before the kids in the morning. Noelle is dropping her morning nap, so I don't have that "free" hour in the morning when she slept and Isaiah watched a movie. I'm still drinking hot coffee in the morning, but I usually switch to iced coffee in the afternoon, and our front porch is a lovely place to start the day. I hope I can resist the snooze button and enjoy it tomorrow.
- Much more to come in the days ahead. I'm back!