Julian racing the other boys. He wasn't able to ride the quads, so he got to ride these. He had fun and we loved watching him!!!

DJ and Evan racing....

Evan was determined to win. He loves games, racing, and winning. The boys had a lot of fun and it was fun watching them!

More pictures from our day, celebrating one year being here!

More pictures from our fun family day! Our little one year celebration!

We've made it a year!

Julian riding the big boy motorcycle!

We have survived our first year here in Morocco. Not only have we just survived, but in many ways we have thrived. It has been a good year. There have been many ups and many downs. We have grown, we have changed, we have matured, we have been stretched, we have learned so much and continue to learn, we have faced trials, we have made mistakes, we have seen the Lord provide for us in amazing ways, and our family is closer than it ever has been. Our boys, are amazing little warriors. They are learning so much. They have faced so many chages over this last year, they have had to say so many goodbyes that have been a little heart breaking. But, inspite of it all, they are doing well in school, learning the language and making their own little friends here. We are still trying to figure many things out and there is still much to learn, but we have made it to our 1 year mark. We don't know exactly what the future holds for us. We just know that for right now, we are were He wants us. The business that Dom works for has undergone a lot of change as well. It isn't doing the best and really if sales stop we could be facing it shutting down completely. We are pushing through, Dom is working really hard and if it does close, well, we knew we didn't go down without a fight. And, if the Lord chooses to keep it going, then we will continue to live life here. We don't know what is to come, but this past year, has truly been a blessing from the Lord. He has really been close to our hearts and drawn us nearer to Him.

"The passed is history. The future is a mystery. All we have now is the present; and that is why they call it a gift."-Kungfu Panda ;)

We are thankful for each day we have here. It is an adventure that is not always easy. We miss family and friends more than we can describe. But we are thankful for this time. Yesterday we took the boys into Tangier and spent the afternoon playing at an amusement type park. It was kind of like a little anniversary treat for us all making it to the one year mark. It was the first time we got to do something like that, and they had a blast. We love it and we're thankful we were able to do it. Here are some pictures of our day. We had so much fun!

We've been under the weather...

Well, it has been a very cold and rainy month. It reminds me so much of the Northwest! Most days have a glimmer of sun but that is about it. The fields are flooded with water. It is the most rain they have seen in quite some time from what I have heard. We have all seemed to catch some kind of bug that has been hard to get rid of. We have all had fevers, terrible coughs, and yucky noses. The kids haven't been to school this week and I am recovering, but the cough won't seem to go away. Hopefully soon.

We are almost to our one year mark. March 6Th will be the exact date of when we left Portland. So much has happened this year. There have been many highs and many lows and we have grown so much. It has been a good year. I will be working on my one year update to post on here soon, we are one month away from it, and boy has it gone fast! This journey has been amazing. It is so hard being away from family and friends, but I am so thankful that with today's technology it makes it easier to keep in touch!!!

Some Pictures from our trip...

We had a nice Christmas. It wasn't the same, but it was nice. We decided to treat the boys to a special night of Mcee D's for Christmas Eve! They loved it! We had no where else to go, so that was their special night. Christmas Day we had some friends get together and did a nice Christmas dinner that consisted of WAY to much food. We had a good time though. It was actually kind of relaxing not having to do the run around from place to place that we are normally used to. I wasn't able to cook/bake ALL the holiday goodies that I am used to, but we managed to make a few. I decorated the house as much as I could. Thanks mom for all the little decoations you sent. We used everything and it gave it all the more "Christmassy feeling."

The day after Christmas we embarked on our first outing as a family out of the country, to mainland Spain. Our three month tourist visa was up, so we had to leave. (We are currently just a couple of weeks away from getting residency though, and that will make things much easier for us.) We had a really great time. We were blessed to be able to stay in an apartment that a friend of ours owns. We traveled up to Malaga, got to go to an aquarium, eat lots of "american" type foods, see a huge mega mall, and lots of other little things. The highlight of our trip though was going to Gibraltar. We visited there and spent New Years Eve there. It was a blast. We had monkeys climb on our backs! It was aweseome, the boys loved it and we got to see fireworks, like the fourth of July fly overhead. We even had a huge ball of fire fall out of the sky and land literally about 10 feet from us! That was a bit scary, but we were ok, no one was hurt thankfully!

Now, we are just trying to get back into some routine. With the New Year comes new goals, new dreams, new challenges, but we feel that we are ready to face them! It will be a great year! I turn 30! Wooohooo! and It's our 10 year anniversary! So, we are hoping and praying that 2009 will be an awesome year for our family.