T.I.A.

 Let's start with the most important news of the weekend . . . Tom and Kohler returned home safely from Africa!  Yeah!!!!  We made these signs and drove through the airport.  People would look at our car and just smile - then when we pulled up to Tom's terminal, we saw Jennette, one of the women in their group.  She said, "We all saw your posters and started cheering so I had to run out and get a picture of it!"  It really made Tom and Kohler happy to see us- and it was SO good to see them!

 Yep - just as promised, the "welcome home dinner" was pizza and bbq wings.  I decided not to make our famous wings for this dinner because I had too many questions and wanted to see all of their pictures and not be stuck doing dishes!  We all sat and talked for a long time.  Both Kohler and Tom said it was one of the most incredible experiences they've ever had.  When I would ask about the bathrooms or food there, they would just say, "Well, it was so run down and dirty and the food was not good--- but we just kept saying T.I.A."  I asked them what that meant and they said, "This Is Africa!"   That would help them get through the tough parts.

I am just one happy mom to have my son back home and my husband here by my side. I will post more pictures of their trip as I download them from Tom's camera.


On to the pumpkin patch!!!

 We met my sister Mary Kay and her kids at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek.  They have such a great set up with the farm animals, carnival rides, hay and train rides, great treats and of course, pumpkins.  We dressed way to warmly though and got so hot!  It was 99 degrees on my car when we got back in.  That's just too hot for October---but T.I.A. - "This Is Arizona!"  ha ha!!!

 We even got to watch a BMX bike show.  Spencer and Nate loved that!

 This is Mary Kay's youngest son, Will.  He still is the most photogenic kid I've ever seen.  You say "smile" and he stops what he is doing and tilts his head to the side and SMILES!

 Hailey especially loved the goats at the farm but we all agreed it was super STINKY!!

Here's most of the gang - Eden, Maya, Hailey, Spencer and Nate.  It's so much fun to be able to hang out with cousins!

Ice Skating Fun

Yesterday my car thermometer read 100 degrees - really??  We are getting sick of this hot weather!  So, the kids and I decided to "pretend" to be cold and we went ice skating!  ha ha

 This was Hailey's first time ever to go ice-skating.  It was crazy!  She was all over the place.  My arms were so tired just trying to hold her up.  But, she was determined and didn't give up.  

 After a while, I noticed that when I would let her go off and try by herself, even though she fell more, she was getting better much faster.  She didn't have my arm to rely on and it made her stronger.  She had to find her balance and figure it out on her own.  By the end of the skating session, she could go pretty far on her own and she felt like she was on top of the world!  Click play to watch this hilarious video of the kids making a skate train!

Kelsey, Spencer, Hailee Hoover (friend), Kelsey

 If you're gonna fall, it helps to be REALLY flexible!  She is doing the splits on the ice!  Whoa . . . .

 Afterwards, we stuck with the "cold" theme and went to "Swirl It" for frozen yogurt.  I tried to get Spencer to play a game of old-fashioned checkers with me.  He was a good sport and lasted about 6 minutes with me but then kept wanting to go play with the other kids on the more "interesting" game------

 They had an x-box Kinect game there and it was really fun.  It was the sports game so the kids actually had to run, throw a pretend javelin, do hurdles, etc.  I think they put it there so you can burn off more calories and eat more frozen yogurt!!!  ha ha

Last Email from Africa

Hey Family -

I finally heard from Tom this morning.  It's been over a day now without any news so I was super happy to see the text and photos on my phone!  They leave for the U.S. in one hour (9 a.m. AZ time), then will make a short 2 hour stop in Dubai, then change planes in Houston, then back home to AZ.  

These are some of my most favorite photos yet.  My absolute favorite one is Kohler holding hand with two little boys.  Tom called them "his new little friends."  Every picture so far that has been sent home of Kohler has him smiling!  That just warms my heart.  The other one of Tom and Kohler (wearing their "got braces" shirt) was in front of the dental clinic where they saw over 400 patients total and pulled over 1,100 teeth!  Tom said even little children were able to have some infected teeth pulled.  What an difference that will make in their lives.

The other pictures are of the town marketplace and the school in Dera.  Some of the money that they all raised went to purchase a computer for their school.  Pretty awesome----

The only other thing I heard is that Tom and Kohler are requesting BBQ wings for their "welcome home" dinner!  ha ha  (just as I thought!)  We have missed them terribly but are so happy for the life-changing experiences they are having!

Love you all-----

Tamara

Best Wings in the World

OK - so back during Conference Weekend, our family made (what we thought) were the best wings in the world!  Seriously - they were really really good!  So, here is how we did it:

We took 8 lbs. of chicken wings that I cut into drumettes and wings (cut wing tips off).  Then, I sprinkled them with garlic powder, salt, and pepper and baked them at 350 for 20 minutes.  

For the sauce, we sauteed 4 T. minced garlic in 4 T. veg. oil then added the rest:


1 bottle (or 2 cups) of Head Country BBQ sauce (thanks Lisa!) or you can use any bbq sauce you like


1/2 cup reduced pomegranate juice (reduced from 1 cup on stove)


1 cup honey


You can add some heat by adding red chili flakes, but we decided we just wanted it sweet!

 Then, you fry the wings in small batches in oil for about 7-8 minutes until golden brown.  We used canola oil but I've heard peanut oil is better.  I just couldn't find peanut oil.

Take the wings out and let them rest on a paper towel to absorb the excess grease.  Then, toss the wings in the bbq sauce.  These are really so delicious.  I think I'm going to make these for when Kohler and Tom come home from Africa on Saturday.  I'm thinking they are going to be really hungry!!

Fall Break Fun!

After a Monday filled with cleaning out closets and re-organizing our toy room, we decided that Tuesday should be a PLAY DAY!  

So, off we headed to the AZ Science Center which is in dowtown Phoenix.  At the entrance of the museum, there is this gigantic telescope that you can look through and then it projects your EYE way up high through a camera for everyone to see.  It's so fun!

See if you can guess who's eye this is?

Who is this?

Who is this?

If you answered, Spencer, Kelsey, then Hailey, you are right! 

 Kelsey had to pedal super hard to keep that ball floating!  I tried it and got the ball to the top, but my heart was racing!!

 Spencer tried the suspended cycle this year.  We also watched an IMAX movie about surfing in Tahiti (very cool!) and went to the planetarium to learn about the planets.  My kids knew all the answers and I couldn't remember much from my school days.  But, some things have changed - for example, Pluto is NOT a planet anymore.  :(

 This is our favorite part of the science center - the bed of nails.  You lay down on the bed then push a button and the spikes (not sharp) raise you up.  It is such a wierd feeling!  It teaches the kids about displacement of weight.

 This is Kelsey and Spencer having fun in "digital world."

 Here are all three kids showing off their muscles to everyone!  ha ha

 Hailey and I found a map of the world and saw where Kohler and Tom are.  It's very far away.  btw - I got a text from Kohler last night and he said that he misses us but really misses my cooking! :)

 Can you tell that I am having a ball with my three kids today??

 Of course, on the way out, one of my kids had to try putting their NOSE in the telescope!  Can you guess which one is this?  Yes . . . it's Spencer!!!

Kelsey held this little pig in the gift shop for about 30 minutes.  I had to get it for her!  It won't be very long until stuffed animals don't find their way into her heart like they used to.  Spencer got a lego set of the Empire State Building which he has already put together, and Hailey wanted a stuffed animal horse.  


We laughed, ate way too many french fries, and had a blast just being together!

It's "Squishee" Land and Cookie Monster!

Hailey and Spencer are collecting these tiny toys called, "Squishees."  They sell them at their school for a quarter each and it's a fund raiser for their school.  Brilliant idea - because they are cheap and kids love to collect them.  Hailey is up to about 19 of them and Spencer not far behind.  Here is the castle they made for their beloved squishees!

Then, I just had to post these next pictures because they are so "Spencer!"  He absolutely LOVES chocolate chip cookies.  Seriously . . . he can't seem to get enough of them.  I call him the "Cookie Monster" and when I found this shirt at Target----it was a "must purchase item!"

Yeah, that's our son . . . the Cookie Monster!

Eat up kids - it's GOAT for dinner!

I just received two texts from Tom.  This first one was from Tuesday morning:

"We are heading out to Dera on the bus.  I'm going to give away a bunch of candy and t-shirts and waterbottles today.  This bus is a bit uncomfortable . . . no legroom.  I wish I could send some video but it doesn't work on the computer.  Apparently photos don't work on the phone either.  So I'm going to try to send some via email tonight.  I love you like crazy--Wish you were here with me.  You would love/hate it (know what I mean)." 

The second text was from Tuesday night:  

"I finished my first day at work.  Pulled lots of teeth.  Took an hour or so before it started coming back to me again.  Hard work and a lot of sweat and blood.  Fun and fulfilling though.  Love ya!" 

Here is the latest email last night from Tom.  I did some research about his Ethiopian Celebration dinner (goat and angerra) and found out that it should be spelled, "injera" and it is a type of bread that they use as a utensil for eating.  However you spell it, the food doesn't look all that appetizing.  I'm sure they had to muscle through it with a smile.  :) 

Hi love and kids!   I miss you guys so much.  Thanks for sending the photos of your painting and telling me about the walk.  It sounds like you guys are having a great time.  That makes me so happy.  We are doing well too.  I just woke up and raced down to use the computer, skipping breakfast cause there is only one computer for the whole hotel and it's hard to get.  I'll try to download more pix today. It's a slow computer and so it's slow to download pix.  I start doing dentistry today.  Kohler is either going to be helping build a kitchen for a 14 and 10 year old who's parents both died of aids and the kids are living in their little house (one room, no bathroom, no kitchen) all alone.  there are no orphanages there.  Really sad story so we are helping them to at least have a kitchen so they can cook inside (right now they have to cook over a fire outside).  He will also be helping with some irrigation in a community garden with the new water that is in the town.  Either one sounds like it will be awesome.

One photo was of kohler at the ceremony where they fed us traditional ethiopian fare...goat and angerra.  I gagged a little but did it with a smile.  It was really gross!  The other is of a typical girl on the road going to get water.  The third is a part of the new pipeline at a runoff higher up in the mountains.  go ahead a put these on facebook under Chamberlain orthodontics if you can.  Thanks love.

Talk soon.  They are loading the bus.  Gotta go!

Tom