~Some random pics and pics of our trip to Medellin.~

~This is a picture of Noah and Elijah wearing their outfits that Gram and Gramp got them for Christmas!~~For Christmas, My parents got me this new skirt and a year's subscription to Better Homes and Gardens magazine. =) My sweetheart got me this new coat for Christmas. =)~
~Last Sunday evening, I knew it was going to be the last time to use our Christmas China for awhile, so I made a special little "Tea party" snack for my family! I made these new cookies: Choc. candy canes cookies as part of our little tea, and we really liked them. (On Monday we all worked together and put all of the Christmas decorations away. So that when we got back from our trip to Medellin I wouldn't have that facing me too.=)~
~For our little Tea party last Sunday night I also made roll-ups using left-over turkey, cheese, a special sauce, and lettuce. They were yummy! And we had Fresh strawberries and powdered sugar too. My family enjoyed our little tea party.~
~Our kids love to help Elijah stand up. He does pretty good for awhile, then falls. =)~
~Elijah was playing with this toy and it ended up on his leg. =)~
~Last week, we decided to take a little break and go to Medellin, Colombia for a few days as a family. We wanted to leave early Monday morning, but Tuesday morning was the earliest we could get tickets. Medellin is a 9-11 hour bus ride with LOTS OF CURVES and we ALWAYS GET SICK, making it a miserable trip. Well, this time, Thanks to my dear Moma buying us some dramamine medicine, we had a GREAT trip. We weren't sick and slept most of the way. Phillip and I took turns holding Elijah. I thought this was cute of all 3 of my "men" sleeping.~
We also got smart and bought a portable DVD and earphones so that when the bus put on their very violent horrible movies (which one cannot avoid seeing and hearing!!), our kids could watch one of our DVDs. One time one of the bus movies was about a women stalker and was full of blood shed, etc...and it was sooo Scary and it was in ENGLISH. We tried to plug our ears and look out the window, but we still heard and saw WAY more than we ever wanted to see!! So...We figured that our kids seeing "Bro. Sheffey" was a lot better than the blood shed, horrible language, etc. that the bus movies contain. ~Elijah and Mommy in the bus.~
~On the way there we were praying that God would guide us to the right hotel to stay in. (Phillip usually stays at a men's dorm of a Bible College when he is there, so we needed a hotel room for our family.) When we got there the kids and I stood with the stuff while Phillip talked to the info desk and they recommended a nice and pretty inexpensive hotel. Here in this picture Elijah decided to "teeth" on the suitcase handle. Yuck! (I didn't let him do it much after the picture. =)~
~One thing that Medellin is known for is their Christmas lights. I took this picture from the taxi as we were heading to our hotel.~
~We had not been in that hotel about 5 mins. when in walked another American man and asked us in English where we were from. You can imagine our surprise to find out he was from Cooksville, Tennessee. He found it interesting that I had been raised near Marysville, Tenn. about 30 mins. from the Great Smokey Mountains. He lives in Panama, but was in Medellin to find something to buy, for he plans on moving there very soon. It was so neat to meet him, and we visited with him several times in the 3 1/2 days that we were there and exchanged email and phone numbers. It's a small world.~

~After getting our hotel room, we ran out to get a bite of supper.~Poor Noah woke up having a fever. Later we discovered that he had an ear infection. Thank the Lord for medicine that helped him survive the days there. We felt badly that he was so sick. He rode in Elijah's stroller a lot of the time.
~A complementary breakfast was provided with the hotel room. This wasn't any little bowl of cereal, it was a real meal. Each morning, they offered 2 or 3 kinds of fresh fruit, 2 kinds of fresh fruit juice, rolls, butter and jelly, arepas (sort of like a thick tortilla) sliced ham and cheese, scrambled eggs, coffee or hot choc. and one morning they offered rice to go with all of that. It was nice, for with that breakfast we would go all day with just little snacks every once in a while and then nearer evening we would eat a nice supper.~
~Elijah fell asleep in the stroller while we ate breakfast.~
~Phillip took this picture of the kids and I eating breakfast.~
~We took our kids to this park where all the kids play in the water in their clothes. They had a blast. Medellin is MUCH WARMER than Bogota, so the water felt really good to them. Medellin is known for it's "Spring Like" weather all year around.~
~"Elijah the tourist!" We bought this hat for Elijah and he cracked us for with his little sandals and his hat he looked like a TOURIST!! All he lacked was a camera bigger than himself, and he would have fit the picture perfectly. =)~
~More Christmas lights~

~Phillip took this pic of the kids and I by the river. They string Christmas lights all above the main river in Medellin. Since December/January is more like Spring here in Colombia they use a lot of flowers and butterflies, etc. to decorate for Christmas.~~Someone took this pic of our family with the lights from the river behind us.~
~Across the river is Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus all lit up, and then the train lights of the electric train that runs through Medellin is behind them.~
~Later I will post more pics from the last 2 days we were in Medellin.~