Finally, Papa's here!

Havin' fun and killin' time until papa's arrival...the splash park in Highland, Utah is WAY fun.

Jay arrived for a visit on June 22nd. Of course, we were very happy and relieved to see him after 76 days. Emily and James met him at the airport and the scene was like something out of a Hallmark movie. All of us were more than a little verklempt. Apparently, the longer we are apart, the sappier we get.

We stuck around Utah for two days after Jay’s arrival, long enough to get some sushi, go to the dinosaur museum, play in sprinklers at the Biddulph house, and pack for the Biddulph Family Reunion. We’ll save that topic for another blog entry though.

Male bonding + looking for dinosaur bones, is there anything better?

Abidjan Re-Entry Window Closes

Au revoir!

On June 14th, our 6 month-re-entry window ended and the State Department issued an official cable which formalized what we had suspected for a few weeks: that only individuals 18 and older would be allowed to return to Abidjan.

Our family is very disappointed that we will not be returning to Cote d’Ivoire. When we tell people, most of them are completely baffled by this admission. After all, our assignment to Cote d’Ivoire has resulted in a fair amount of difficulty for our family during the past year. However, it is true that we are all more than a little heartbroken about moving from Abidjan. We felt very strongly about our decision to move there and (political conflict aside) it has been an especially rewarding work environment for Jay. Nearly everyone we met in Abidjan was very kind and welcoming to our family and it will be difficult to leave coworkers, church members, friends, and our nounou behind, especially during such a difficult time in Cote d’Ivoire.

That said, we are grateful that the State Department has our family’s best interests in mind. It appears that the situation in Cote d’Ivoire is stabilizing slowly but surely, but it is still far from predictable. If the environment and circumstances in Abidjan don't appear conducive to good mental/emotional health for kids, then we should move.

Jay applied to curtail his assignment and thankfully, his request was approved. He had the foresight to begin inquiring about new posts several weeks ago. We were concerned about what would be available, since “curtailers” usually get the leftovers, but our options were surprisingly good: Dublin, Ireland; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Madrid, Spain; and Tel Aviv, Israel.

Madrid and Tel Aviv expressed interest in Jay very early-on and easily became the front-runners because they are both warm and because we have friends posted to both cities. After a few weeks of agonizing over the decision, we finally settled on Madrid. Jay has accepted a "handshake" from Madrid but the matter still has to "be paneled". (Don't you just love State Department lingo?) This just means that he wants Madrid and Madrid wants him, but the State Department has to okay the assignment...and then the final paperwork and scheduling must be completed.

We are optimistic that in about a month's time, we will be able to post the exciting news about where and when we will be moving next. So stay tuned!

Hola?

California Trip - Spring 2011

Simon working intensely on his Chuck E Cheese gaming skills.

Emily and the boys visited California from May 10th until June 8th. They spent the majority of that time in Suisun City with Em's sister, Ange, and her kids. It was a lot of fun even though the atmosphere was a bit crazy at times (2 moms, 6 kids, 0 dads). With all the activities going on (3 kids in school, 2 moms working on classes in the evening, 1 potty-training toddler) the time flew by. James, Simon, and Benny spent a lot of time playing in the backyard and tracked an inch of sand into the house nearly every day.

The reasons Ange and I spent every evening cleaning up sand and wood chips.

They also spent many hours playing with their Thomas trains. It was a great trip and we were all sad to say goodbye. James started negotiating a return trip as soon as we arrived at Grandma’s house. He somehow got the idea into his head that Benny was coming to Grandma’s house too and was not pleased when he didn’t show up.

Racing in a muddy ditch. You'll notice that James is mostly clean. Benny and Simon are filthy. Pretty typical.

While in CA, Emily and the boys took advantage of the opportunity to visit one of Em’s freshman year BYU roommates (Stephanie Huang Porter) and also drove down to visit the Urmstons (Jay’s sister’s family). The 4 hour drive to and from Bakersfield was surprisingly uneventful. James and Simon had a great time playing and wrestling with their “big boy cousins”: Porter, Tanner, Garrett, and Talmage. Porter even managed to squeeze in a few swim lessons with James…with mixed results. James loved playing in the water but he found it too chilly and resisted any attempts at submersion. In spite of the whining and bargaining, Porter was very patient. Emily had the opportunity to attend Tanner’s graduation on June 2nd which was fun because he gave one of the speeches.

Staying at Steph's house was like one giant food-fest. She completely spoiled us and we didn't argue. Yummy! How could we not have a great time at a house with a trampoline in the livingroom.