Last visa run!

Wow! I was gone for 2 days having some fun last time with friends, and our hits sored past 20,000! I didn't even have time to celebrate (not that it's that big of a deal)! How exciting though. I'm so thankful that you all are so interested in visiting Carnesville :o) You're always welcome!

We will leave what we have called home for 3 years in just 7 days! It's hard to believe all those things we've missed and longed for will be in our reach in just a week. Packing is going well, and there's not much left. We're just trying to get everything in order and enjoy our last goodbyes for a while. I'm also trying to play catch up (what's new?!) on here. In the middle of this month, we took a 1 day visa trip. We flew out of the country, crossed the border, went right back across the border, and flew back to our city. It was quite the day, but at least we got it done. AND it was the LAST one!! Now, only 3 more flights to go (total to 59 flights in 3 years!), and we'll be home!

Grady looks gigantic here. I really like this airport because they just got luggage carriers with these awesome baby seats on the front. Grady loved it and so did I since you have to walk a mile to get out of the airport. I also love this awesome tree as you're walking out.

Stopped by Burger King to grab lunch before crossing the border. Grady had to go potty. Everyone loves a good poop face :o)

We crossed the border twice then headed right back to the airport. Fun day! Again, love this airport! They have more awesome luggage carts with a helicopter on the front. A kid's dream...a parent's break ;)

I love translations. "Use as Necessary." Isn't this always necessary?! Not here!

Grady practiced his ABC's on our plane ride.

Yet another reason I love this airport. I think it's my favorite airport. Can you tell?! They have an awesome playground, Subway, and Starbucks. Britton got me 2 more mugs for my collection, and Caden enjoyed his giant cookie! We also had an awesome view of the sunset on the way home. I really don't like all the flights, but I sure love being in the clouds. Feels heavenly! All-in-all...a good last crazy day trip!

We have the greatest friends who left us snacks for all of us, a sweet note, and this wonderful Starbucks mocha that I got to enjoy with my chocolate chip pumpkin muffins the next morning :o)

The next morning Britton was sick, so I was with the boys. Thankfully my Starbucks drink and this sweet moment made the morning not-so-bad.

Yay for last visa runs!!! America, here we come!

Friends

The next few weeks we stayed very busy with friends and with other friends coming in. Though tiring it was a good kind of exhaustion because we enjoyed our time together.

I'm so glad that Caden and Grady are at an age where they are playing together. Grady wants to do everything Caden does...everything! My favorite game they play is hide and seek. Caden tells Grady where to hide then leaves the room and comes back 2 seconds later saying, "I found you Gray-Gray!" Haha. I also love when they play with stickers books because they both stay quiet for sooooooo long.

The kid is obsessed with stickers...kept him quiet for a whole hour!

still obsessed....i find stickers everywhere if you can imagine!

I've been packing for close to 2 months now because of our unknown situation. When I started pulling all the kids' stuff out they wanted to keep playing. Guess we're packing them too :o)

We had a spend the night party at our friend's house while our husbands were away. This is Caden's little spot in his buddy's room. He loves it.

And us girls had the best time we had in a long time. Manicures. Pedicures. Fun Dip (ordered online). Father of the Bride II. Doesn't get much better!

Caden and Grady are the best of buddies at the table. Grady copies everything Caden does and vice versa. Today it was balance your bowl on your head day.

Once our husbands got back we went over to our friend's house again for a pool party. The kids loved it!

Grady slid down the slide all day.

They really did have so much fun!

happy baby

And of course he had to put his friend's sunglasses on. I already packed their bathing suits, so I improvised with shorts for Caden and just a swimmy diaper for Grady.

silly kids

still being silly

this is what happens when your best friend is a girl...you get a princess towel!

Baby H opted out of the pool, but she still looked super cute in her bathing suit and loved talking to me :o)

Popsicle time!

Here's several videos of their fun in the pool along with a video of them singing to Frozen after they got all dry. The last video is a funny one of Grady jumping into a ball pit. I love the lady's reaction next to him.

We had some people visiting us and made us a Brazilian Bar-B-Q...best meat eeeevvvvveeeeerrrr!!!

It didn't hurt that we sipped on our Starbucks drinks at HOME while waiting on dinner to get done. What?!

The finished product...doesn't look nearly as good as it all tasted. Ohhhh, I really want to eat this again!!!

They were all so sweet to our kids. Grady loved playing games with them.

My sweet buddy.

Saying goodbye

Saying goodbye is a normal thing around here...doesn't mean it's easy, but it happens often. This time it was some of our closest friends. They traveled here with us and went through all the newness with us being in a new culture. We tried to make the most of it and not focus on the goodbye.

Our last night we went out to one of our favorite places to eat. I just love that Grady insisted on eating with his friend's sunglasses on, and he ate with a milkshake spoon because the spoon part was smaller. Ha.

Grady was really cranky that night because he didn't get a good nap. So, his friend who was leaving comforted him. Ha again.

This has nothing to do with our friends, but Grady got a hold of my phone and had a little fun. I love his big blue eyes.

At the airport saying goodbye. *Tear*

All the kiddos (minus one). It was funny watching all the foreign kids run around the airport. Everyone else thought it was funny too.

After our friends left, we all wanted to get our minds off of it, so we went with our other close friends to our favorite amusement park. Love that Grady and P's hands are interlocked.

Us girls had some fun and enjoyed the spinning roller coaster :o)

The couples each got to ride some rides too. This one was a lot of fun and you get to see the city.

Grady also had his first experience riding bumper cars. It was funny watching his "I'm-not-sure-what's-going-on" face.

Our last ride was to humor Grady. You had to catch as many balls as you could. He loved it.

That afternoon it poured down rain harder than I've ever seen. The streets were starting to flood. Usually you can see the highway and a bunch of buildings from this view but you could barely see the road. Glad we stayed in the rest of the day! It was nature's way of being sad our friends left :o(

We will miss you but hope to see you soon!!

Last minute quick trip

Some of our local friends invited us to a summer camp not too far from our house. We spent two nights and had a good time with all the kids there. It was a beautiful campsite and nice to see a different side of the big city we live in!

We started out in a taxi, and the boys were actually in good moods! The sun was actually out too!

Then he pulled his sunglasses up and looked like the cutest little girl. Ha.

The day before we left, I cut Caden's hair. As I kept cutting, I felt like it just looked bad! So, I shaved it all off! Enough with trying to shape it up...just buzz! What a little man!

I think he looks rather handsome :o)

My tough guy.

The view from our room. Such a pretty place. Funny story. We had a gigantic spider in our bathroom, and Britton was so scared of it that he went down the hall to the public restroom to go to the bathroom and brush his teeth. Silly kid.

The guys enjoyed a little bball. Poor Grady desperately wanted to play.

Just walking around.

Caden took another boy's hat while he was playing basketball and had a little fun with it. No worries. He returned it :o)

Family shot in the mountains.

The boys and I wondered around a bunch and stumbled on this beautiful bridge/lake/waterfall.

Beautiful place to be.

Brother shot.

Always humoring me.

one more for fun

pretty place

on the way home...couldn't take it anymore