Goodbye Sushi

Since we are moving to Indonesia, we had to find a new home for our dog Sushi. Sushi has been a huge part of our lives for the past 3 years. She was always there...always eager to greet us and to shower us with affection. We probably took her for granted. Now that she has gone to a new home, we are left with an obvious void in our family.

The kids have asked about Sushi almost daily. They are wanting to look at pictures or view videos of her. Even our little Nu-Nu asks to see pictures of Sushi. She says, "Sushi went bye bye".

Mommy worried alot about finding Sushi a new home. Through the help of some friends, we found a lovely family to take Sushi. Sushi now has 5 little ones to play with and a new Mommy and Daddy. She seems to have adjusted well. We are all so happy that Sushi has a loving new home.

Mommy put together a slideshow of our time with Sushi. It's our little tribute to a part of our family. Mommy will leave Sushi's picture up on the blog. She'll always be one of Barker's Babies.

Taste of Indonesia

This morning we decided to head out to the Houston Indonesian Consulate. Daddy had heard that on saturdays there are vendors that sell Indonesian food at the Consulate. We got a variety of food to try. It was all very good although the kids thought the food was a little bit too spicy for their tastes. We even got to try some dessert. The people were all so very friendly. Daddy even spoke some Indonesian with the vendors. We also went to Chinatown and looked around for a bit. Joseph said he really liked Chinatown. Mommy thinks the kids will enjoy living in S.E. Asia.

Here are some pics from our little cultural adventure:

New Toys

Daddy bought Mommy a new camera and laptop since we are about to embark on a new adventure overseas. Apparently electronics such as laptops are 30-40% more expensive in Indonesia. Mommy thought they would be less expensive since many electronics are manufactured in S.E. Asia. But, since that is not the case, we decided that we had better make the purchases here in the U.S. Mommy has been wanting a digital slr for a very long time. After looking at a lot of cameras and reading a lot of reviews, Mommy decided on the Nikon d3100. Mommy likes it because 1) it is very light compared to a lot of other digital slr cameras so it would be good for travel 2) the menus and buttons are easy to navigate and very intuitive and 3) the camera records video in HD at 1080p.

The new computer makes uploading the pictures a breeze. Mommy is too spoiled with her new toys. Mommy has snapped one too many pictures over the last few days since our little Nu-Nu told Mommy to "leave her alone" when she saw the camera today...ha ha.

Here are some fun pictures that Mommy took with the new camera.

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish all our friends and family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Haircut

Audrey got her first haircut today! Mommy made a scrapbook page to commemorate the event. Mommy and Daddy were very sad to see the long hair go, but Audrey was very insistent on getting her hair cut. She sat very still and let Mommy cut her hair. Mommy was going to cut just a little, but Audrey insisted that she wanted her hair "on her neck." Now she says she has a "Dora" haircut. Before bed she told Mommy that "she really liked it." Mommy probably should have taken her to a professional, but hey, at least Audrey is happy with the result. The short haircut will be good considering we will soon be moving to Jakarta, Indonesia where it will be nice and warm year-round.

The move is our big news of the day. Daddy was offered a relocation package to Indonesia which he accepted. It will be a huge change for the entire family. Hopefully, it will be a great experience for the family. The move will likely occur in early January...as soon as our visas are approved. There is so much to do and so little time, especially with Christmas around the corner. Mommy sure hopes that everything will go smoothly with the move. Guess we'll be celebrating our next Christmas in Indonesia!

Halloween Fun

Mommy was not very prepared for Halloween this year. Katelyn refused to wear any of the costumes we had from before...Minnie Mouse, Disney princesses, etc. She also refused all the costumes at the stores. Audrey insisted on being a "hot" pink and blue mermaid. Mommy could not find a hot pink and blue mermaid costume anywhere. Joseph thankfully just wanted a store bought costume so he was Clone Trooper Rex this year.

Mommy hurriedly put together a pink and blue mermaid costume for Audrey friday afternoon before the trunk-or-treat on saturday. Katelyn was really cranky saturday evening so Mommy stayed home with her while Daddy took the other kids to the bi-ward trunk-or-treat.

Sunday, Daddy took all 3 kids to Aunt Neva and Uncle Robert's house for a Halloween gathering. Katelyn wore a leopard print outfit and Mommy drew whiskers on her face. She was our little leopard cat. Mommy stayed home to get a few things done.

We have discovered that out of the 3 kids, Katelyn is the one with a major sweet tooth. She can't get enough candy. Daddy brought her home sunday night literally shaking from the sugar high. Silly little girl.

Here are some photos from Halloween weekend.

Fall Pictures

Mommy put together a photo collage of some recent photos from this fall. The kids are enjoying the fall weather. We are all adjusting to being back in Texas and are starting to feel settled.

Today was a parent-teacher conference day (no school) so Mommy took the kids to Chuck E Cheese. We played for awhile, had lunch, and then went to a park. The fun never ends. The kids didn't want to leave the park. All the kids were cranky by later in the afternoon because of all the activities. Mommy has made a mental note to herself that there is such a thing as too much fun and it makes for a long afternoon and evening. It was nice to spend time with all 3 kids doing fun things though. Mommy misses Joseph when he is in school all day long. The girls miss him too.