Our arrival in Cairo, Egypt

When we got to Egypt, our friend that we're visiting, Aliaa's, mother had prepared a huge feast for us for lunch!  It was SOOOO delicious!
We drove around Cairo and Aliaa told us that Fridays are the best days because there's no traffic since nobody goes to work or school on Fridays.  Here's a picture that shows an example of what NO TRAFFIC means to them.  I really don't want to see what traffic looks like!
Here's another example of NO TRAFFIC.  I kept saying, "So this is NO traffic?"  And she would say, "Oh goodness yes!  This is NOTHING!"
Here are some kids playing soccer in the street!
Lots of kids were drawing with chalk in the streets too and shooting confetti in the air!  Apparently they do this every Friday!
Here are all of us in front of a palace!
The palace was decorated with elephants around the walls because the person who built the palace was from India.  
This is the palace.  It was built by the person who designed New Cairo.
Here's a 3,000 year old statue in the middle of the road outside of the airport!  These statues and monuments are all over the place!
This is Cairo from the air.
Here's Cairo and the Nile River from the airplane.
And one more of Cairo and the Nile River as our plane was about to land.

And the trip begins...

Here's Zorro, ready to go with his new travel backpack, sweater, and his very own passport!
Me waiting in the airport, talking to my hermanigos on myspace!
Kathryn playing her new Nintendo DS while she's waiting for the plane in Richmond Airport!  She's playing a cooking game and currently making a dish of spaghetti neopolitan with fried octopus dumplings.  She just got 87 points on her sandwich making!  Her game just told her "Too bad.  You set a new record."  Apparently record setting is a bad thing in this game!
Here's Zorro waiting excitedly at the window of the airport for the airplane to arrive!  He's SO READY!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Here's Georgia Roo on Christmas morning!  
Calabaza chillin on Mike's lap while he opens his presents.
Georgia opening presents!
My mom and Calabaza!
Georgia and Baxter playing with their new Christmas monkey!
Ivan shooting me with Miguel's new nerf dart gun.
Edith with her first present to open!

Christmas pictures

Leland seeing his new stuffed Mickey Mouse for the first time.  Can you see his excitement?
My brother Ryan with his daughter Payton and my nephew Leland.
Happy Grandmom with little Payton!
Leland and Mickey
Leland and me playing with Mickey!  I didn't even know that Leland's favorite thing to watch on TV is Mickey Mouse!  He loves that Mickey!
Giving Mickey a hug!
Meeting Mickey for the first time!  Look at Leland's hands and face!
Eating ice cream!
The Adams, Miguel, Brian, and I went to see Christmas lights around town.  This was our favorite house because it's just so beautiful with all the white lights!
Here are all the kids at the hugely decorated house in Ruckersville!  We picked the perfect night to go because there was a band playing, food, homemade apple butter, Santa Claus, and tons of people!  We had so much fun!
For Christmas, the Adams gave me two mooses from Build-a-Bear named Hal and Holly!  Zorro was really excited because he came to Build-a-Bear too and we gave him a sweater for Christmas!  His very own sweater!  He told me a month ago that it was the only thing he wanted for Christmas - a sweater!  He is so very happy and proud now!
We visited Santa at the mall and the kids had their picture taken!  Two Zorros came too!  See them sitting on the back of Santa's chair?
Here are the two Zorros in the snow, waiting to see Santa!
Here's Marryn with Zorro!

it's almost here!

1 day 13 hours and 20 minutes until CHRISTMAS!!!  

CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS!

where has the time gone????

Wow it's been a fast 3 weeks since Thanksgiving! I can't believe it's only 7 days and 50 minutes until Christmas! I am so ready! My trip to Egypt is coming up as well - we leave at 10:00 AM Christmas Day. I'm totally excited - I mean it's EGYPT for goodness sake! I can't quite believe that in 8 days I'm going to be walking around by the pyramids and standing next to the Nile River. I'm sad too though because it means I won't be able to see my "second family" for 12 days. This past weekend, on the way to church, Miguel said that he didn't want Christmas to come this year because it meant that I'd be leaving. And then tonight Ivan asked me when I was leaving and I told him Christmas Day. He said, "Can I come? PLEASE??????" I was like, "Hermano, you have no idea how much I'd love for you to come and see Egypt!" It's going to be a great trip - an amazing experience!

Ivan's been having the week of exams and we've been studying for them for over 2 weeks now. It's hard for us to concentrate at home though with the tv, computers, little brother named Miguel who likes to do everything possible to distract us, etc. So tonight Ivan and I went to the Panera Bread restaurant to study. We set the cellphone alarm for one hour and we did nothing but study for one whole hour. That's been unheard of before today. Before that, we were lucky to get 10 minutes of uninterrupted time. I was so proud of Ivan for studying the entire time without being distracted or bored.

Okay I have to go to bed now...my head, eyes, and throat kind of hurt - NOT because I'm sick, but because I blew a bunch of dusty sandy stuff into the air at school by mistake. Okay so I did it on purpose, but while I was doing it I realized it was a bad idea. We're making these project display things and I was scraping away sand from the kids' Egypt display to make the Nile River. I was trying to clear the table, so I blew the loose sandy dust stuff and that was a TERRIBLE idea. I cannot express to you how terrible that idea was. I immediately felt it in my eyes and throat and it's been there ever since. I hope it's gone by tomorrow. Hasta manana!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here's our family picture from Thanksgiving! We're missing Cameron, Leland, and Jacob, but we have almost everybody!

Here's Kathryn and me with our baby niece, Payton! She's 10 months old but she's walking already and just laughs and smiles the whole time!
Here's baby Payton posing with Kathryn's dog Georgia!
I found Calabaza!!!! My mom took my kitty from me and won't give him back. She was cat-sitting back in the summer when I went on a trip and then when I got back, she said she liked him too much so she was keeping him. It makes me sad because I really like Calabaza, but I think he is happier at my mom's. There, he has 6 cats, 2 dogs, and 2 people to keep him company, but at my house he only had me and most of the time I'm not at home. He's still a good kitty and he's especially happy right now because I fed him turkey from Thanksgiving!
Grandpa and his granddaughter, in Santa hats:

Baby Kisses and Olive Fingers

Last night, my sisters and I went to Ragazzi's for our annual "Girls' Dinner" on the day after Thanksgiving. The food was amazing, everyone was in a good mood, and we had constant dinner entertainment compliments of my little nephew, Leland! He was full of kisses and laughs and kept us all laughing by his crazy antics with olives. He would stick the olives on his finger and then make himself laugh when he looked at it. It was so funny! Here are two of the pictures - one of a big smooch that he gave Kathryn and the other of his olive finger!

Christmas info

I received this as an email from my cousin and thought it was funny and cool, so I'm sharing my Christmas information with everyone! Change the answers if you want and tell me YOUR Christmas info:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I like to give presents in gift bags because wrapping presents drives me absolutely insane, but I like receiving presents with wrapping paper because it takes longer to open them.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Articficial - it lasts longer and you can leave it up ALL YEAR

4. When do you take the tree down? um who said anything about taking the tree down? I don't ever take my tree down. It makes it much easier the next year to decorate for Christmas if you just leave everything up.

5. Do you like eggnog? NO NOT AT ALL, but Chic Fil A's new peppermint chocolate chip milkshake ROCKS!!!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? geez, I don't know...maybe my first digital camera from my dad, or pirate Legos from my grandparents, or my bike, or my basketball goal, or the Lego house from my mom, or baseball cards, I liked all of my gifts. I know what gift I have asked for EVERY CHRISTMAS AND BIRTHDAY SINCE I WAS 6 YEARS OLD and I have still never gotten it...the Lego monorail.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My stepdad, Mike

8. Easiest person to buy for? Mom

9. Do you have a nativity scene? yes, a really big one that has cool decorations and details and a sheep. I have a Playmobil one too but that one's to play with

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail, definitely mail them. And I especially like ones with photos!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I never receive any bad gifts. I love everything!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I'll Be Home For Christmas! I think that movie is hilarious.

13. When do you start shopping? I'm almost done already!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? only to give something to a kid who sees it and wants it

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? COOKIES!!!!!

16. Lights on the tree? Yes - white

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Come Let Us Adore Him or The First Noel or I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day or maybe all of them.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? home then um...on a plane to Egypt at noon on Christmas Day

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes - dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donner, blitzen and Rudolph ;)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? a moose I believe, big surprise

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Usually Christmas morning at home, but this year I don't know since I'm going to Egypt on Christmas Day...maybe we'll open them on Christmas Eve. That will be weird.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Seeing so many kids and families forget what Christmas is really about and just talk about everything they want to get from Santa.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? all of my moose ones! All of my tree has moose ornaments on it!

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? chicken, turkey, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green beans, stuffing, cranberry sauce...lots of cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, cookies, mmmmm I'm so hungry now

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? if you really must know, I would like my garbage disposal to be installed, a new light for the dining room because the yellowish one in there is so very ugly, and a new hot water heater. I would also like the money to pay to get someone to come check out the heating/cooling central air system in my house since it doesn't work right and I haven't used the heat or air conditioning in my house in two years. Beyond that, I want Ivan and Miguel to be able to have every dream realized, and have lives of trust, respect, and love for our God, family, and friends.

Oh and I do realize that number 3 is missing, but I didn't feel like going through and changing all the colors...

The Coolest Kids on the Planet

So I just spent another weekend with the coolest kids on the planet. Ivan and Miguel had a soccer tournament so they played in EIGHT games in two days. EIGHT. Ivan's team lost in the finals game but Miguel's team won their finals game. But my weekend started by going to see Bolt at the movie theater with Miguel and the Adams'! That movie is hilarious! Bolt is so cute! Everyone should see it!

After the movie, we went to eat at Chili's where I learned about the latest thing that Collin is doing. He has a friend who is from a rough family. This friend is in his reading group and is having trouble reading and being motivated to make an effort. Collin has decided to try to help him by encouraging him and working with him. When his teacher asked everyone in the class what they were thankful for, he said a lot of kids said things like, "I'm thankful for presents" or "I'm thankful for my Nintendo Wii." Collin told me how he was upset with kids who say things like that because they are spoiled. He said what he told his class he was thankful for was that he was in a family who helps people. What an amazing kid, to realize so young what really matters and then to take the initiative to try to help another kid his own age.

This weekend, at the soccer games, some kids walked past me as I was watching Ivan (a.k.a. Ronaldinho) score goals. They were both young, maybe 6 years old. They were brothers apparently and they were having a conversation that made me feel very sad. One said to the other, "You're the worst brother in the world." The second responded, "No I'm not." The first, "Yes you are. You're the worst." The second said, "I'm telling mom you said that." The first, "Mom already knows. She thinks you are too because you don't do anything good."

Then I turned my attention back to the game and thought about how awesome the kids are that I've surrounded myself with. Collin, Ivan, and Miguel are truly extraordinary kids. Saturday night, after 4 soccer games, Miguel and I were running errands around town and we came across a bunch of Salvation Army people collecting money for needy families. Miguel had a couple of dollars in his pocket to buy snacks at the soccer games the next day, but when he found out why the Salvation Army guys were there, he immediately pulled the money out of his pocket and put it in their basket. There's no desire inside of him to keep things for himself.

At one of his games, he won a penalty kick and the game was close (2-1). It was a critical game and he could easily have scored that penalty goal. He was set up to kick and then, at the last minute, one of his teammates asked him if HE could take the kick. This kid was not one of the best on the team and did not score the goal with the penalty kick either. But Miguel immediately said, "Okay," and stepped aside. At the end of the game, Miguel went right up to the referees to thank them and to the players on the other team to tell them that they played well. And after Ivan lost his game, Miguel asked why he was sad. I told him that it was because his team lost. Miguel asked if Ivan was still going to win a medal. The answer: no. Miguel's response: "Well, then I don't want a medal either. If Ivan can't have one, I don't want one."

And Ivan's the same way. At his game, he was supposed to be captain (a treasured honor) but when it was his turn to go meet the ref, he pretended to give one of his teammates five, and then spun him around and sent him running towards the ref to be captain instead. I am so blessed to have these kids in my "family". I'm not saying they never argue or fight...I'm just saying they are some amazing kids that change the lives of people who cross their paths. People ask me all the time why I spend so much time with them and every time I just shrug and say, "If you knew them, you'd already know the answer to that." God has truly blessed me and them. I am proud to include them in my family and have them trust me and count on me as a sister who will do anything for them.

(Here's Miguel and his team dancing after they won the tournament!)

Zorro Makes a Canoe

This is a video that has absolutely nothing to do with anything that has happened recently. It is however a delightful clip of Zorro making a canoe the way the Powhatan Indians did. He uses a shell to scrape away the burnt top of a log to help dig out a canoe. He finds it incredibly difficult, due to the lack of thumbs with which to grasp the shell. I think that quite possibly it was easier for the Indians since they actually had 5 moveable fingers that helped speed the process along.

IT'S GONNA SNOW!!!

NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!!! NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!!! HAHAHA! NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!!! HA

Ha

ha.

it's gonna snow.

The Misadventures of the Hermanigos, Part 4

Here's episode 4: Hunting for Frogs. Kathryn, Miguel, Peter, GEORGIA THE TOTALLY COOL BUT FEELING LEFT OUT DOGGIE and I found lots of frogs at my mom's farm. We saw them swimming and croaking!

The Misadventures of the Hermanigos, Part 3

Part 3 of exciting new series, The Misadventures of the Hermanigos, consists of a chopped up witch, peanut butter, and a confused Ivan.

The Misadventures of the Hermanigos, Part 2

Welcome to the second installment of The Misadventures of the Hermanigos. In this episode, you will travel with us to Luray Caverns, where dizzying fun took place.

The Misadventures of the Hermanigos, Part 1

Here is Part 1 of the new series, The Misadventures of the Hermanigos. In this first episode, we are attempting to rescue 3 stuck balls from under a bridge.

SEVENTY-TWO!!!

Yesterday I did 72 dominadas with the soccer ball!!! WOO HOO!!!

NO MORE LEAVES!

I love my tree. I love it. It's big and beautiful and provides a marvelous amount of shady coolness during the hot days of summer. I have possibly the most beautiful tree on my street. HOWEVER, when all the leaves fall off of it in the fall, I HATE my tree. Okay, maybe "hate" is too strong of a word. I should use the words "have strong feelings of disaffection for" instead. My yard gets covered, and I mean COVERED, in leaves. There are places where I step down and the leaves come up to my knees, and by knees I mean ankles. But that's still a lot of leaves. I was complaining about the sheer quantity of leaves in my yard last night, so this morning Ivan woke me up at 9:30 and said, "LET'S GO MISS TICE!" I was like, "mmmm....leave me alone...." Finally I got up and we went to rake up all the leaves. Not only did we get them all, but we also trimmed a bunch of my bushes that were crazy overgrown, we cut down all the briars that had formed from months of summer neglect, and we cleaned up the garden area. Then some neighbors came over and asked if we could rake up their leaves too. We worked for about 4 hours and we made a ton of money! Now we're really tired but we have to get ready to go to soccer games. It's a beautiful day, perfect temperature, sunny, there's no more leaves, we have money, we're about to go play soccer for 2-3 hours, it's hard to imagine life any better... :)

Another long day

We had more conferences tonight until 7:30 again. It took a long time, but it was very helpful to talk to each of the parents! Once when I was out of the room, Lucero snuck in, hid Zorro, and left a series of clues hidden all over the room for me to follow to find him again! The clues were very well done and finally I found my little fox. When I got home, Miguel and Ivan and I went to Best Buy to play video games. We played Rock Band, Ivan on the drums, me on the guitar, and Miguel singing Eye of the Tiger! We discovered that Rock Band set on level "HARD" is very difficult indeed. It's a very cool game Rock Band, and I think I will ask for it for Christmas. Somehow I doubt I'll get it, but it's worth trying. I either want Rock Band or an iPod Touch. Or a Blu-Ray disc player. Or a new car. Or sleep. Hmmm...time to cash in on that one...

Cave Exploring

We didn't have school on Monday or Tuesday this week so the Adams' and I were going to take all the kids to the Richmond Zoo, however the forecast of rain made us change our mind. Disappointed, we realized that going to the zoo wasn't going to happen and then Mary Adams thought of a most brilliant idea. She suggested taking the kids to Luray Caverns to explore the cave instead! So we hauled the whole crew of Miguel, Ivan, Edith, Lucero, Collin, and Marryn over the mountain to descend below the surface of the Earth into the biggest cave on the east coast (at least I think it is). Here's a picture of Ivan in the middle of the cave's pathways:
The kids thought the cave was totally cool and Ivan and I took hundreds of pictures. Seriously hundreds. Here's Ivan and Edith:
And Ivan in the creepy darkness of the cave (I really like the lighting of this picture):
Here a couple of the cave itself (I really, REALLY like the lighting of this picture):

The tour guide said that the rocks continue to grow, but incredibly slowly. He said they grow about an inch every 120 years. That's crazy. Here are Ivan, Lucero, and Edith:
And all 6 kids in the cave:
It was the best way I could think of to spend a rainy day off of school! Thanks to Mary for the great idea!

Happy Halloween!

Here's what our Halloween looked like!

Zorro gets kissed by his African queen

Here's a video of Esther giving Zorro kisses!