The Gulleys

Summer Events 2010

2010-08-14T03:27:00.013-04:00

Hello from the Gulleys! We terribly miss our family and friends who are so far away from us and we pray that you are doing well and trying to stay cool in this hot summer heat! Please know that we think of you often as we continue our ministry here.

This is our second summer to be in Greece and it was yet another event filled summer! One of our greatest highlights this summer was that Matt's brother, Tanner 16, came to Greece to visit us and work alongside Matt with the refugees. It was so awesome to watch him interact with people from various nationalities, breaking through the language barrier by playing chess, using hand motions and even just a smile! From the time Tanner got off the plane he was running full force with Matt starting off the summer schedule.

The first camp on the calendar was the Refugee Men's Camp beginning the first week of June and lasting one week. Matt helped organize and plan the camp and I stayed in Athens with Ashtyn. Approximately 26 men participated in this camp and the guys had a relaxing time swimming, canoeing, playing ping pong, volleyball, archery, and rock climbing. Tanner had the opportunity to use his rock climbing knowledge and skills and he was in charge of setting up and teaching the guys how to use the rock climbing wall. This was a great way for him to connect with the guys. Every day there was a teaching and spiritual discussion time for the men to be a part of during camp. The guys watched The Jesus Film and then broke out in their small groups. Matt's group was from Iran and Afghanistan.

Here are some pictures from the Refugee Men's Camp:

Carving lemons

Fellowshipping

Riding the intertube

Hanging on the zip line

Canoeing

Enjoying archery!

Tanner manning the rock climbing wall

Matt having discussions with the men.

One week after Men's Camp was over we headed off for Family Refugee Camp. This included men, women and children from Afghanistan. There were a total of 88 refugees, 40 of them being children. This was a much different camp than the Men's Camp. Whenever you have refugee women and children it adds a whole other element. The families had so much fun and enjoyed some rest and relaxation time. The children were involved with crafts every day and a VBS time in the evening, while the parents broke out in their small group discussions after a message. The discussions ended at around 10 pm every night and we were up at 7 am in the morning. Everyone had swim time every day with men and women being separated. It's always interesting watching the women swim fully covered, even with their head coverings. They had the best time and some of our staff taught the women how to swim. From this camp, the women have asked to continue meeting on a weekly basis to study the Bible and the teenage boys (Matt's group) also asked to continue meeting once a week in Athens. Matt has met with the teenagers since and have begun to form a group. This camp was a big blessing to the families as well as to all of us involved in putting the camp together. We returned to Athens very blessed and very exhausted!! Thank you Muskogee Church for your generous contribution in making this camp possible!

Here are a few pictures from Refugee Family Camp - due to the political and legal situations of these families we are only allowed to publish pictures of the children:

Ages 3 and below playing while their parents are learning about the Bible

Beautiful face painting during craft time

Sweet children

Tanner and Ashtyn during a heat wave!

During VBS time

On July 20, we headed down to the Peloponnese to a town called Mystra which is near Sparti (or Sparta) for Operation Joshua 3. This is a major project where the goal is to take a modern Greek New Testament to every home in the area designated to cover. We gave out 60,000 bibles to 814 Greek villages. About 45 cars with groups of people drove out every morning and covered their designated villages for the day. They would return in the evening for dinner and worship time. Some amazing stories were shared every day about their experiences and interactions with the Greek villagers. Matt was one of the group leaders and I stayed at the campsite with Ashtyn during the day. It was hot, but quite cool in the evenings which was wonderful. Matt said that the people this year were much more receptive than last year and his group received several invitations for coffees and treats. They drove through some beautiful villages and ate some of the best salads and fruits! One night we were having worship in the big tent at the campsite and two ladies showed up, looked at Matt, and said, "Hi, you came to my home today!" They had received a Bible and then came to see where we were staying. We had a good conversation with them. This is one of many stories.

Here are some pictures from Operation Joshua 3:

Taking time out to see a castle in Sparta

We were pleasantly surprised to see my cousin, Michael, and his family from Canada come to help out with the distribution.

60,000 Bibles were prepared and packed to be distributed

Ashtyn, Caleb, and Rebecca kept each other company during this event

Packing bibles on a hot, summer day! :)

Villager reading the Bible Matt brought to him

This lady is holding a New Testament and then treated Matt and his group to juice, chocolates, and candy

Visiting with one of the villagers

I don't want to drag this post out anymore. So, just a quick family update: My pregnancy continues to go well. We are having a baby girl due October 17th. I like my doctor and he speaks English :) We are hoping everything goes smoothly and that the doctor and hospital respects our wishes for the care of the baby. C-sections are very common and sometimes routine here, and this is something I only want in case of complication. Please pray with us as we are in need of $2,600 to pay for the doctor and delivery (after insurance reimbursement). We believe that God is faithful and he will provide in ways we haven't thought possible. Ashtyn continues to grow and is becoming very independent. She wants to do EVERYTHING by herself. She loves to sing and everyone at camp heard her sing herself to sleep in our tent! She's pretty funny :) For more pictures of different events please visit my facebook page.

Lots of love to you all,

Matt, Nikki, Ashtyn & baby Eden

Birthday, Easter, Tournament, Conference

2010-04-26T15:05:00.008-04:00

Well, as most of you already know our big news the last few months is that I am pregnant! We are expecting our 2nd precious child in October. We are thrilled. I found out 2 days before Valentine's Day, so I thought it would be the perfect surprise and gift for Matt since I hadn't come up with anything else. Those two days were torturing for me as I had to keep this news a secret from Matt, but I kept reminding myself that it would be well worth it to see the look on his face. So we went to a restaurant and I was so antsy to exchange gifts I couldn't wait for the meal to come. So I opened Matt's gift first which was a shirt (perfect for maternity too) and then he opened mine. I had 2 gifts for him. The first was a journal to write in and the second was a gift bag with the pregnancy test inside and a note that read "Congratulations...#2 is on its way!" Oh, the look on his face was priceless! He said "Is this real?" I just started laughing and the rest of the night was spent discussing how we were going to arrange the rooms for the new baby. It was fun! :)

Ashtyn's second birthday (Feb 22) was celebrated at our house this year. We had Mimi, Pappou, and 3 other friends come over with their parents. She was so happy and played with everyone. It is so fun to see her grow up though sometimes I want to push the pause button. This is by far the cutest age and we enjoy her so much. She is like a parrot and will copy everything we say (we really have to watch ourselves now). She is funny, loves to color, read her Bible, go to Mimi & Pappou's house, go the park, jump on the trampoline at camp, eat strawberries, watch her movies....these are just some of her favorite things. She knows all her colors, shapes, numbers to 20, letters and sounds, and she can count to 10 in Greek. Her pediatrician thinks she will be tall which is so strange for me since I was always the smallest and shortest...ha! Good thing she takes after her daddy!

In March, our family went up to Northern Greece to a beach town called Leptokaria, not far from Thessaloniki. Matt attended a Christian Athletic tournament and competed in the volleyball competitions. He did awesome and his team walked away with a silver medal. It was nice to meet people from other Greek churches and Ashtyn had a great time playing on the beach with her friend, Kela.

The next week was Easter and my mom invited our family, another couple, and 3 single people from church to come to her house for lunch. She cooked amazing lamb and potatoes, salad, appetizers and desert. Everything was delicious. In Greece we dye the boiled eggs red and on Easter Day each person takes one egg and you hit it against your neighbors egg. Whoever has the egg that doesn't crack, wins. (which was mine!) So Matt, Ashtyn and I were up the night before dying eggs. We had fun!

In April, we had our HM Annual Family Conference at Porto Astro. The topic of the conference was HOPE - through the family. Our guest speakers were Virgil and Bonnie Adams. They reside in Georgia so it was neat to have that connection with them. They used to be missionaries in the jungles of Irian Jaya. They had plenty of experiences and stories to share. They spoke about marriage and how to protect your family and homes when you are on the mission field. The seminar was very valuable and encouraging to us. This year Ashtyn was at an age where she could go play with the other children while Matt and I attended the sessions. One of the missionary kids, Kiara 12, would take Ashtyn for us every day and jump with her on the trampoline, take her to the park and to do crafts. Ashtyn just loves her to say the least!

It was nice to devote my attention to the meetings and reports without being interrupted. Now next year will be a different story again with a 6 month old!

We are ecstatic that Matt's brother, Tanner 16, will be with us for the month of June. We have talked about him coming to Greece together for a long time and God has opened that door for him. He will be attending the refugee camps with us and learning about the ministry. He will also have a chance to see Greece and we will get to spend quality time with him. Matt said he hasn't spent 1 month with his brother since he was 5 years old. I'm sure this will be memorable for all of us!

Opening presents on Ashtyn's birthday

Easter Day - collecting eggs

Our beautiful red eggs :)

This is what happens when Matt gives Ashtyn a bath

At the Christian Athletic Tournament with her friend Kela

Matt is ready for a game of beach volleyball

I found Ashtyn sleeping like this on the couch one day...so sweet.

Loves Dora!

Painting is fun

Singing on stage on one of the Friday women's shower days.

Happy Birthday Ashtyn!

April 2010

2010-04-13T14:19:00.006-04:00

Well here we are in 2010 and it has already taken off so fast!! Since our trip to the States in January we have hit the road running and I can't believe it's already April. We had an incredible visit back to the States beginning on Christmas Day. We were supposed to leave a few days earlier, but due to all the snowstorms in New York our flight was cancelled and nothing was available until Christmas Day so we took it! We visited Texas, Oklahoma, and Georgia in 4 short weeks. We soaked in every moment with family as much as possible. Ashtyn had so many people to love on and so many cousins to play with throughout the time we were there. It was wonderful to see how much all the kids have grown. We also got to meet our new niece, Ellory Joy and she is truly a joy to be around and hold. Of course we spent a good portion of our trip visiting our home church, Muskogee Church of Christ. It is always fulfilling to be around our church family spending quality time with godly people who fill us with encouragement and love. Thank you Muskogee Church for being there for us and listening to our hearts during times of praise and difficult times as well.

A highlight of our trip was the opportunity to go back to our "home" in Atlanta, GA. Larry and Becky Campbell graciously opened up their home to us during our stay there. What a blessing it was to spend time with this couple full of wisdom and Christ-like characters. A group of our friends gathered one night and we were able to share about the work in Greece and show a slideshow. We visited Greater Atlanta Christian School where both of us had the opportunity to teach. Matt spoke in Elementary Chapel, but mostly, we tried to see as many of our friends in the short amount of time we had.

Jetlag hit Ashtyn pretty hard going and coming. It took a while to settle back in and get her back on schedule, but the trip was well worth it despite this challenge! A few weeks after arriving back, we found out I am pregnant with our second baby! Thank you God for this blessing! The baby is due October 17th. I have a whole new experience awaiting for me here in Greece. Ha!

While we were gone the love meals, showers, laundry, diapers, and the Wednesday spiritual discussions continued. The Friday showers (women & children) are completely full every week. We average about 40 children per week and we can already see a change in the behavior and respect from the children during coloring time. Unfortunately, there have been several instances where Matt has had to intervene to break up fights between fathers and one time our lives were even threatened. Due to these circumstances, men are not allowed to come with their family on Fridays. It is strictly for women and children. We sense that the women feel more safe and comfortable to come. Please pray that this will cut down on tension and things will begin to run more smoothly.

To keep this post from being too long I will end it here with some pictures. In the next post I will write about Ashtyn's 2nd birthday, a Christian athletic tournament we attended, Easter and our Hellenic Ministries Annual Family Conference.

Blessings,

Matt, Nikki, & Ashtyn

Cousins Jackson and Zoe

Gram and Ashtyn having fun!

The Roussos family

"It's all about the granddaughters" - Gram

Nikki's sister, Melody

Miranda and new niece, Ellory Joy!

Gigi and Ashtyn bonding time...

Love you Papa Rary!

Gotta love the long airplane rides

Family pic Jan 2010

Ashtyn - 23 months

Enjoying the fall weather

2009-11-25T16:21:00.005-05:00

November has been an exciting month full of events. First of all, our beautiful new niece Ellory Joy Schulte was born yesterday, November 24. Praise God Miranda and her are doing great. Ellory is healthy and is already eating and gaining weight. We can't wait to hold her and kiss her! Congratulations Doug, Miranda and Chloe on your new blessing.

We started a new ministry for women and children on Fridays from 1-4 at the hall. Every Friday refugee women and their children have the opportunity to come take a hot shower, have a hot meal, and do their laundry. The first Friday we had 5 families, the second Friday we had about 7 families and this past Friday our numbers significantly jumped to 22 families. We were running full force trying to get everyone's needs met and it went pretty well. Two bags of laundry didn't get done so they'll come back again this week. We also started handing out diaper cards where the mothers can receive one pack of diapers per month from Hellenic Ministries. We have enjoyed being a part of this and getting to know these families. Many of the children I recognize and remember from the family refugee camp. They remembered Ashtyn and they love to play with her.

At the AWOG Christmas Bazaar. Sitting on Santa's lap did not go so well again this year. We'll see what happens in 2010.

At the park with her friend, Rebekah

Ashtyn's first sleepover. She loved it!

October pics

2009-11-25T16:03:00.004-05:00

Ashtyn at the park by our house

Mom's birthday was on October 7th. We invited some close friends of hers to our house and ordered Chinese food for dinner. Mom turned 54! Love you mom!

Being silly!

Ashtyn loves to play in daddy's shoes.

Santorini in September

2009-10-19T16:24:00.007-04:00

It is October and everything is in full swing! The love meals are full, the spiritual discussion continues to be a blessing, Greek language class is in session, I have started back with tutoring, and I actually have started driving a stick shift by myself. Let me tell you this is one challenge in my life that I never thought I would break through. After a year of fear, shaking, car dying, stopping in the middle of the road with my hazard lights on and everyone having to go around me, and poor Matt as my teacher...I actually drove to my parents and back by myself for the first time today. For most of you who are reading this it may sound absurd that this is such an accomplishment. Well, let me explain...some people have different phobias. For example, bibliophobia...fear of books, ichthiophobia....fear of fish, xenophobia....fear of strangers....well, my phobia was (and still is somewhat) stick shift cars. Maybe I should invent a new name for this phobia. Okay, enough of that...
You won't believe this...Matt and I whitnessed a hailstorm in Greece. After 3 days of gloomy, rainy weather Matt, Ashtyn and I were all taking a nap. I all of a sudden heard a massive thunder so I got up and looked outside. Hail was coming down like crazy (ping pong ball size) over the mountain, down the street. I ran to wake up Matt, but he already heard what was going on out there. It lasted less than a minute but this was one thing I have never seen in my life! It was awesome....(except for all the little dents on our car).
September was a terrific month. My sister's family all came to Greece for a visit. Her and Andy have two precious children Jackson, 4, and Zoe, 2. Unfortunately Ashtyn was sick with a high fever so she missed the first week of their stay. The next week we went to Santorini and stayed for 5 days. We had the best time even though it was overcast most days. Ashtyn got to know her cousins and they had so much fun together at the beach. My parents just finished remodeling their house and it is beautiful. We all stayed together in the house except for my parents. They thought it would be too crowded. So they would leave at night and come back in the morning. At least they had their peace at night without three toddlers!

I have so many pictures to share so here is a link you can click on to view our album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/thegulleyfamily/BlogEntryPicsSantorini09?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXZ7Li5m_mqowE&feat=directlink

July Family Events

2009-08-03T15:40:00.012-04:00

Trying to put on Candy's toy shoe

Beautiful Santorini!

Our girly girl!

Having fun with Uncle Stephen

With daddy at Teenager Camp

Yummy cupcakes and smoothies:) The view from our tent

Naptime usually ended up with a ring of sweat on the sheets...nice!

At camp

Camp, Athens, camp, Athens, camp, Athens...that's how our summer has gone pretty much! Wow, we have been on the go!! Matt has been much more than I. I skipped out on this last camp due to the heat. I was afraid it would be too much for Ashtyn since I have been dragging her around all summer. However, we are going back to camp for clean up on Wednesday and we will be back on Sunday in order to prepare for the Love Meal on Monday. I am posting some pictures of Teenager camp. While we were there Ashtyn's friend, Kella, turned one and had a birthday party on the trampoline there. It was so much fun and a great way to keep the young toddlers contained in one area. Ashtyn loved the cake and smoothies. After teenager camp, Ashtyn and I went for a few days to Santorini with my mom. Stephen, my brother, was there with some friends and it was a chance for me to see him as well as relax a little and take a breath. It was gorgeous! Ashtyn swam in the baby pool everyday, we went to the beach once and she had a blast playing with the dog! I must say Santorini is a difficult place for a stroller because of all the stairs and no ramps...but I met some friendly people along the way and they helped with carrying the stroller up/down stairs for me!
Sorry but all the pics are out of order. I'm having a hard time moving them around.

Operation Joshua 2 and bday gifts!

2009-07-07T14:11:00.006-04:00

We are back from our trip to southern Greece in the Peloponese. Operation Joshua 2 was a big success! As a team 44,000 Bibles were distributed to the Greek villages in Messinia, Greece. We stayed in tents located on a wonderful campsite in Kiparisia. It was right on the ocean and the facilities were just what we needed. Every day the teams would work out their day and set off in the morning and come back at night. Some nights were very late. The teams experienced both receptiveness and rejection from the Greek people receiving the bibles. Some people invited them for icecream and coffee and some people, such as a Greek Orthodox priest kicked us out of the village and was beating on the car. This happened to Matt's team! Well the job got done and people have bibles in their hands that they didn't have before in their own modern language. That's exciting! Ashtyn and I spent much time on the beach together. Since the days were so long (6-8 hours of walking) it would be too difficult for Ashtyn. So we remained behind at the campsite with the other moms and children.
When we returned from our trip we checked our mail and we're delighted to receive a big box from Grandpa Gary, Gigi, Uncle Michael, Aunt Miranda, Uncle Doug, and cousin Chloe! Oh what fun! Clothes, cards, teapot set, fun pelican, bathtime toys, family picture flashcards, and a stroller. I have to say the picture cards are a brilliant idea. She has already learned some new names. I try to do a few everyday. Our family is growing and there are a lot of names to learn. Thank you so much for all the gifts. Here are some pictures of our most recent events. Love you guys and miss you!! Happy Birthday to our nephew Jackson who turned 4 on July 6th! What a big boy!! We are off to teenager camp tomorrow.

The beach at Kiparisia

Teams packing up the bibles to distribute

Boxes of bibles

Sweet Essie (Esther) helping...Ashtyn loves her!

The big work tent

Playing in the big tent

Sunset at the campsite

Matt playing beach volley at sunset after a hard day of work

Opening the big box of bday presents

Opening presents with Daddy

One pretty teapot...she loves this! She swings the teapot when it sings.

Learning the family flashcards

She has the best daddy in the whole world!

Catching up!

2009-06-21T16:37:00.010-04:00

It's been a while since I last posted on my blog. I know when I am long overdue because I start getting comments from family members about needing to update my pictures! :) Oops!
So here are a few pictures of what we have been up to the last couple of months/weeks. I tried to move the pics so they would be in order but for some reason it is not letting me move them....so they are out of order, sorry.
We were so excited to have Ken and Wanda come stay with us for a week. Wanda taught first grade with me. We had such a good time together and they were so helpful with Ashtyn. We already miss them! Some of the pictures below were taken in Delphi, Greece with Ken and Wanda. Soon after they left, Matt went to the Refugee Men's camp at Porto Astro. He was so encouraged and came back with so many positive reports. The men absolutely loved it out there. It was a wonderful escape for them and a time to hear about God's Word. A few days after that we went to the Family Refugee Camp. There were about 12 families present with an average of 4 kids per family. Matt led a teaching and discussion group of teenagers, and I was involved with the children's program while the men and women were involved in their own class and discussion. We had special crafts for the women and children. They were so grateful at the end of the camp and we were sad to see them go. On Tuesday we are off again to the Peloponese. Hellenic Ministries is distributing 40,000 New Testaments in modern Greek to the villages in a certain area of the Peloponese. The summer is going full force and time is going by very fast.
Ashtyn continues to bring so much joy to our lives. She is funny and is saying so many words. In church she will say "Amen" even if the prayer is not finished and then she will say it again at the end of the prayer. It makes for some good laughs. She knows lots of animal sounds, loves going to Mimi and Pappou's house, and she loves going to the beach and the park. Her hair is really light from the sun. She is a sweet little girl and quite a handful!

At the ruins in Delphi

Refugee Men's Camp...fun on the trampoline!

Playing soccer at the Men's camp

Canoeing in the Aegean Sea

Archery

Rock Wall climbing

Matt with two of the refugee men

Arriving at the Men's camp

Ashtyn loved this slushie in Delphi...it was so hot!

Walking with daddy

Downtown Athens

We thought this lady's costume was very pretty. She moves only if you drop some coins in her bucket.

Swinging at a park outside of Athens

At Sounion visiting the temple of Poseidon with Ken and Wanda

At mimi and pappou's house on my birthday

Sounion again

Ken and Wanda

I just had to get a pic of this...she fell asleep waiting on me to finish vacuuming. I guess her movie wasn't very interesting.

Pate and Rine family

2009-05-02T15:24:00.002-04:00

Our hearts go out and are aching for the tragic loss of Micah Pate. Though we do not know the Rine family we can't even imagine the pain they are going through. Our hearts go out to them and we pray for healing for the family. We do know the Pates and we are so saddened and overwhelmed by what has happened. Our thoughts and prayers are with these families at this time.

Stopping to smell the flowers...

2009-05-02T14:38:00.004-04:00

These pictures were taken after my tutoring lesson at parent's house. These are wild flowers and I think they are so beautiful so I just had to add my husband and daughter to the pics! Ashtyn has had a lot of time outdoors lately. We just got finished with our Hellenic Ministry Family Conference. Since the staff of HM has grown so much they decided to have it at Porto Astro Camp to save on cost. At first I was so worried about the logistics of all this and bringing a baby (no heat, no electricity, how will I heat up her baby food, make bottles etc.) but it all worked out and we had an amazing time. We met some missionaries that are with HM but work in other areas around the world. We had a highschool group from Canada come and serve which Matt was responsible for leading them around. They did all the cooking, child care (which was a nice break for me) and work projects around the property! We had a guest speaker from Holland who spoke to us every day and shared some amazing stories of his life as a missionary. It was great to just get away from the city life and enjoy God's nature every day. When we got back I did laundry for 3 days and then we packed back up and headed to Northern Greece (Leptokarya) for a church conference. Matt had a booth set up representing HM as well as a slideshow running. The conference was all in Greek so Matt really had a chance to use his Greek. Ashtyn loved playing outside with the other children. I couldn't leave her for one second or she would eat sand and rocks!
We are back in Athens now and are busy with the work here. Matt begins his level 4 Greek lesson this Monday. One more level to go!! Yipee!

Walking around

March 25th is Greek Independence Day

2009-03-30T15:28:00.004-04:00

March 25th is Greek Independence Day from the Turks and is therefore a holiday. We took this day to go on a family outing to Anavisos (about 1 hour south of Athens). We drove along the coast and stopped to eat at a fish tavern. We didn't realize we had to make reservations at the tavern since everyone else had the same great idea as us! However, a waitor said that he had space for two people only. The food was great and then we headed to the beach. It was so windy that day and all the windsurfers and kite surfers were out too. We sat in the car and watched them. It was a lot of fun and free entertainment! We did get out of the car for a few pics and you can see how windy it was!

Ashtyn has become more confident in her walking and will randomly just take off on her own. She is still mostly crawling but she has discovered that walking is fun too. Just a little scary!

Matt has finished his level 3 Greek class. He will begin level 4 in a couple of weeks. The last one was a private lesson at our house since he was the only student at the school. It was very convenient and he saved a lot of time not having to commute. He is doing so well with his language. I wish you could hear him speak!!

Our little DJ!

Who me? I didn't do it!

Where did mommy go?

Wind surfing and kite surfing

Happy 1st Birthday, Ashtyn!

2009-03-15T16:17:00.003-04:00

We are so proud of our little girl for turning one! We have been so blessed to have her in our lives. She brings us so much joy! We celebrated Ashtyn's birthday at our house. We invited two babies from Hellenic Ministries, Kella and Rebeccah to join us. It was so much fun watching them all interact. Ashtyn had a lot of fun opening all her presents! Thank you so much! She didn't like the mess on her hands from the cake and started crying. After we got her all cleaned up she played with all her new toys...and still is!

Opening presents with Daddy

Ashtyn, Mimi & Candy (puppy)

Ashtyn, Pappou and Rebecah

Peek-a-boo!

Some long overdue pics

2009-02-23T13:31:00.008-05:00

Here are some pics of our little one. We just celebrated her first birthday yesterday, Feb. 22. I can't believe how much she has grown and learned in just one year. She is such a sweet girl and God has blessed us with a very special gift. Happy birthday baby girl...we love you! Birthday pictures soon to come...stay posted!

Getting into my diaper bag

Hmmm...is anyone watching?

In a tub with a big cow!

Helping with the laundry...

Wearing mommy's slippers!

Trip to the zoo...Ashtyn loves cows!

Like father, like daughter...

Yummy avocado!

Toothies! :)

How old are you?

Cat fight at the beach!

Wonderful park by the beach

This is Ashtyn's cabinet in the kitchen...all plasticware.

Yiayia turned 95! We are at her house with my Uncle John celebrating.

Ashtyn sleeps with this puppy every night. She loves it!

At church with Vasiliki...one of the girls in the children's Bible class.

Vera giving Ashtyn a first haircut at church. We tried to hold off for Gram but the hair was just tooooo long!

It's been a while...

2009-02-15T14:17:00.005-05:00

I know, I know... my blog postings keep getting farther and farther spread apart. I'll have to blame that one on an almost 1 year old!! After feeding, entertaining, cleaning up, and chasing after Ashtyn all day I am exhausted by the time she goes to bed. Don't get me wrong, I love every minute of it...most minutes! :) but it definitely takes all my energy and blogging kind of gets put on the back burner. I'll try to get better...I promise! Well, since my last post a lot has happened. My step grandfather, Ney Ney, passed away at the age of 94 in Miami, FL. My mom spent his last few days with him and she was there by his side when he left this earth. He was such a wonderful grandfather to me and I will miss him so much. I am so thankful he met Matt a few years ago and I wish he could have seen Ashtyn. My dad has been a huge help watching Ashtyn while I tutor on Mondays since my mom is gone. My brother, Stephen, had a number of tests done on his stomach and praise God everything will be okay with him. He had us worried there for a few days! Our sympathies go out to Nancy and Kevin for the loss of Kevin's father. You are in our thoughts and prayers during this hard time. We have definitely been reminded of how precious life is and we never know what tomorrow may bring. It kind of puts life back into perspective for us.

Matt's Greek is coming along great! I am constantly amazed at how much he understands in daily conversations. I am so proud of his motivation and desire to learn Greek as fast as possible so that he can be in ministry full time. His classes are very intense every day with hours of homework when he comes back home, yet he still presses on to reach his goal. He is taking a short break between now and the next level to rejuvenate! He's a real trooper!

Ashtyn blows us away with new things every day! She turns 1 on Sunday and this has by far been our most blessed year! Here are 12 things we like to watch her do:

1. She is so close to walking...she will stand for a few seconds and then drop down
2. Gives kisses and hugs (she presses her lips together and makes a kissing sound)
3. Waves hi and bye and says "ha" and "ba"...it sounds very Southern :)
4. Plays peek-a-boo
5. She loves to eat avocado, zucchini, cheese, puffs (says "pu")
6. She loves to play with her baby doll putting on her hat and blanket.
7. Sleep through the night...8-6:30 am...we really like this one!
8. Loves Mimi's puppy and will grab and shake the gate that keeps the puppy inside.
9. Adores books and will sit for about 1/2 hour in her room pulling every book off the shelf and looking at the pictures.
10. She loves for us to read to her - 3 books every night
11. Says the beginning sounds of many words: cracker (caca), puppy, bath, cow, pray, shoe, head, hair, comb, pig, baby, duck, puffs, amen
12. We take her to the park by the beach and she loves to swing in the baby swings!

Well, today Ashtyn got her first haircut! A Russian girl from church, Vera, is a hairdresser and she offered to trim her bangs. Poor thing, they were hanging in her eyes for so long! We tried to hold out for Gram to give the first haircut, but it got to the point where we needed it done very soon!! I have so many pics to post but my card reader has not been working the last 3 times I have attempted to post. So it seems like we need to find another way to get the pics on here.
As soon as I figure this out I will get some pictures on here. I know I'm way past due...but their coming! We love you guys!!

Thank you for our Christmas gifts

2009-01-03T15:33:00.005-05:00

Thank you so much for all the Christmas gifts that were sent to us from the States! It was a wonderful surprise and we loved every last bit of it. :) We miss you and love you. Here are some pictures of the gifts that were sent. We don't have pics of everything, but I will post more as we use them.

I love my new puppy!!

Christmas Day

2009-01-03T14:02:00.006-05:00

This Christmas was very special for Matt and I because we got to spend it with Ashtyn for the first time. It was fun playing Santa Claus and video taping her unwrapping her presents. We opened presents to each other at our house, just the 3 of us. Then we headed off to my parents house and had more gift exchanges. One of Ashtyn's favorite gifts was her first baby doll that Uncle Stephen bought for her. She was so excited that she was trying to pull it out of the box even though it was tied in with a bunch of twisty ties. She was very impatient as we were trying to help her. She loved that doll and hugged and kissed it! Mom got a new puppy for Christmas! Yes, she did get one for her birthday as a surprise from my dad, but it was not the "perfect puppy" my mom was looking for...oops! Well, she was in a pet store the other day and ...there it was! Her perfect puppy! It was born on her birthday and she fell in love with it. I have to admit it really is an adorable puppy. So, my dad tried again...and he bought it for her Christmas present. She was very happy! :) So now she has two pomeranians. After my parents, we went to my Uncle John and Aunt Georgina's house in Corinth. My parents go there every Christmas and I used to growing up. They are always kind to have so many people over for Christmas lunch. I got to see my cousins and their children too. Here are pictures of Christmas Day with some of Ashtyn's gifts.

Gift from Santa

Opening gifts with daddy

Ashtyn likes to crawl under the exersaucer

Messy face!!

Christmas at Mimi and Papou's house

Mom's new cutie pie :)

Ashtyn's new baby doll

At Uncle John's house

New outfit from Mimi

Family trip to Lake Plastira

2009-01-02T09:52:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year 2009!! A lot has happened since my last post which is why I haven't posted in a while. Like most years, once the Christmas season begins to make its way it seems like there is very little down time and things happen so fast. This Christmas was different for us now that we are in Greece. We usually spend Christmas in Dallas and Oklahoma but being here we were able to spend it with my family. My dad was able to get an incredible deal for us to stay in a hotel north of Athens for two days (22 & 23) before Christmas Eve. The hotel is located in a place called Loutra Platostoma which is near the main city of Lamia. It is up in the mountains surrounded my hills, valleys, lakes, rivers, goats, cattle...basically everything you don't get to see in the busy city of Athens. It was a breath of fresh air and the scenery was incredible! Matt and I needed this getaway since life has been quite busy and hectic since our move here. This hotel was beautifully decorated, and people come here to relax in the spa and to experience the baths which has water with lots of minerals known to be healing for your skin. The hotel is also located next to Lake Plastira which we have been told is breathtaking. Our first day and night was very relaxing and we played games at night. Our plans for the next day was to see Lake Plastira which is 1.5 hours away from the hotel. So we woke up the next morning, had breakfast, piled into the van and made our way to the lake. We stopped on the way to visit the goats and their shepherd right off the side of the road. Matt took some great video of Ashtyn watching the goats. Well, we realized we didn't really know how to get to the lake and my dad must have asked about 30 people how to get there and everyone would tell us something different. So, 3 hours later and we still were not there so we decided to head back to the hotel. Well, on the way back we bought a map (great idea!) and my brother Stephen decided to lead us the short way back according to the map. Well, we ended up on a dirt road in a van that pretty much led to nowhere. There were bumps, and puddles to go over as we are driving down the mountain. By this point Ashtyn had enough of the car and was very restless. Well, it starts to get dark and we had to go back up the mountain and find another route. Not the best adventure to be on with a 10 month old! All in all it took 7 hours to get home and we never even made it to the lake! Wow, life doesn't always go as planned...we will definitely remember this one!! We did have a good time the next day and laughed about our crazy experience getting lost. Here are a few pictures from our trip. I will have several more posts in the next few days to catch up on all our events.

The beautiful view from up in the mountains

Eating at a restaurant near Lake Plastira

The girls are singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve. This is a Greek tradition where the children go around to homes and shops to play the triangle and sing. Then you give them some change and it's fun for them to see how much they make at the end of the day.

View from our hotel

Brrrr.....it's cold!

Mimi, Ashtyn & Uncle Stephen

Christmas Eve at home

Thanksgiving & December

2008-12-06T15:33:00.007-05:00

This year we spent Thanksgiving Day at Harding University in Porto Rafti. My parents attend every year and we had a feast of food before us! It was such a blessing to be there and have family to spend this day together. Harding had all the food provided and Matt and I brought the icecream! That was easy enough! :) We sure did miss Thanksgiving at Grandma and Poppy's house in Oklahoma!! And I know Melody cooked up a storm and Stephen provided the wild boar he killed! I don't think we missed out on the wild boar! Congratulations to Gary and Michael for their Thanksgiving bucks they shot...yummy! :)

On November 30th we went to our church's Christmas party at the Titania Hotel. There was good food, English, Bulgarian, Greek, and Russian Christmas carols, and a message about the birth of Christ. We had a wonderful time and then we went to the roof garden to take some pictures. There was a great view of the acropolis and the weather felt warm for December.

Ashtyn has had a rough week being sick. I took her to the doctor on Wednesday for a regular check up and it just so happened that day she started a fever so it was perfect timing. The doctor told us she had a very red, swollen throat and it was a throat virus so we couldn't put her on medicine. Well she continued to get worse making it very painful for her to swallow. This morning she woke up with a red, splotchy rash all over her face, back, and chest so I called the pediatrician. I woke her up even though it was 9 am, and she told me she has Strep throat which led to Scarlet fever, thus the rash. So, she put her on antibiotic and she is doing SO much better right now. It was shocking to me that this doctor didn't even ask to see her and she put her on antiobiotic and diagnosed it as Strep...I guess that's one of the differences between Greece and the U.S. We didn't even need a perscription to get it!

Here are some pictures of Thanksgiving, Christmas and our apartment.

This is the view from the Athens Centre where Matt goes for his Greek lessons.

Ashtyn loves taking a bath and I love playing with her hair!

Pappou at Thanksgiving

Mimi is showing Ashtyn a scarecrow

I found Ashtyn standing up in her crib for the first time.

At the roof garden of the Titania Hotel

Our little sweetie!

My friend Holly came to visit Greece while she was studying in Vienna. Holly helped me in my classroom for two years when I taught at GAC.

Some of you asked to see pictures of our apartment, so here it is! I didn't take any of the bedrooms yet....I need to pick up first! :)

View from our balcony on a cloudy day!

Halloween and Growing Up!

2008-11-12T16:39:00.006-05:00

Okay, I think I'm all caught up on pictures now. Our little girl is just growing up too quickly and I am so thankful I get to spend quality time with her every day. Halloween didn't really feel like Halloween since Greece doesn't celebrate this day. However, I decided to wear an orange shirt and I found a Halloween outfit in Ashtyn's closet that one of my GAC parents gave to her. Well, we were going to my parent's house to say "trick or treat" and had to stop at the bank on the way. Well, we certainly got strange looks from people. Even the people who worked at the bank couldn't stop staring. They probably felt sorry for Ashtyn. What kind of a crazy mom would dress their kid like that!?! It was pretty funny.

For some reason Ashtyn likes to suck on her fingers backwards.

This is my friend Phaedra whom I have known since 3rd grade. We were neighbors growing up and she babysat for Ashtyn today while my parents are in England. It was great seeing her again!

Ashtyn loves to get into this tub of toys. She will sometimes dump the whole thing onto her lap!

More pics...

2008-11-11T08:07:00.003-05:00

Ashtyn has two little teeth on the bottom and has two teeth coming in on top now.

Daddy and Ashtyn reading "Itsby Bitsy Spider" together.

Watching Simba play...

We took Ashtyn to Harding's campus in Porto Rafti for an education class. They needed several hours of observing an infant play and interact. She had a lot of fun and the college kids enjoyed playing with her.

At a restaurant near my parents house.

Ashtyn can clap, wave, point to your nose, give kisses (especially to her teddy bear, not so much mommy and daddy unless we beg for it!)

This is the view from our apartment on the second floor. You can see the ocean in the distance. On the other side of the balcony we have the view of the mountain.

FINALLY!!

2008-11-10T15:35:00.007-05:00

Hi everybody!! Well, it has taken this long to FINALLY get internet, tv, and a phone where we can call long distance....so to say the least we are so excited! Now, that doesn't mean that the tv works whenever we turn it on...but it does work 50% of the time and we are able to get Fox News. We have so much to update you on so I will have to do it in chunks instead of a huge blog post. I'll briefly give you an update on what's going on right now. Matt started his Greek lessons today. It is 4 hours a day from 1-5pm Mon-Fri. This will last for 3 weeks. I am tutoring two children in English and it is going well. The girl is in 3rd grade and the boy is in 6th grade. It is fun and it keeps me in the teaching mode. I'm also teaching the children's Bible class on Sundays. We had 4 children last Sunday. Most of my time of course is spent taking care of Ashtyn. She is growing up and already has 2 teeth on the bottom. She now has two teeth coming from the top too. She loves to touch the power cords and she knows she is not allowed to go there, but of course she does anyway. She is so funny and she stares at us as she makes her way to the cords. When we say "no" she gets startled and will just stare us down. It is really hard to keep a straight face and we have found ourselves busting out laughing. We're going to have to get control of ourselves if any kind of discipline will work. She has finally come around to liking food so that is great! She is not crawling on all fours, but can basically get to where she wants on her elbows. The biggest challenge for me right now is the driving!! Greece has absolutely no structure or organization to driving and not an inch of space to park...so I have been very reluctant to driving. However, depending on Matt to take me everywhere is becoming very difficult especially when I have to go to tutoring on Mon and Wed, so I am being forced to learn how to drive. I have to learn two things: How To Drive In Greece and How To Drive A Stickshift

I'll let you know how all that goes. My parents are in London right now so I'm taking care of their new puppy, Simba. My dad bought Simba for my mom as a surprise birthday present!

So here are a few pics starting from 6.5 months and I will make my way up to 8 months in the next few postings.

At Mimi and Pappou's house when we were living with them.

Mimi's new puppy, Simba! He's too cute!!

At church, on potluck Sunday.

Ashtyn having a blast playing with Simba.

Hip Hip Hooray!

Ashtyn is 7 months old in this picture.

I'll try to post some more tomorrow!

Arriving in Greece

2008-09-22T15:35:00.004-04:00

We finally made it over to Greece! We arrived here on Sept. 9th at 2:30am after a two day trip. All of our flights were on time and we did not lose any luggage so that was nice! Ashtyn did pretty well considering the length of the trip including layovers. She cried for about one hour going from Chicago to London and then she fell asleep until the plane landed. She was fussy going from London to Athens since it was around midnight and I was still dragging her here and there. When we arrived at the airport, my parents were there to pick us up as well as a couple from Hellenic Ministries, Heath and Mariko. Heath and Mariko have been in Greece for one year and they will be helping us as we get settled into the ministry. That same night we went to the Hellenic Ministries kick off party for the new year. They introduced our family and prayed for us. It was exciting to be reconnected with them and see familiar faces.

My parents have been extremely helpful and wonderful hosts while we have been living with them. Ashtyn is now a little more adjusted and she has one more place to be moved to...our own apartment! We have been searching for an apartment and we pinned one down tonight. We were able to get the owner to come down on the price to fit our budget and we are very happy with it. We needed a place close to the center of Athens and not too far from my parents. We also bought a car which we are so thankful for finding. It is a 4 door Chevy Lacetti. It is much easier to get Ashtyn's carseat in a 4 door car! It took a while to get this finalized as we found out we needed to get all different kinds of paperwork done in order to purchase a car, rent an apartment etc. My parents were running us here and there to the offices and we have accomplished what we needed at this time.

The weather got cool overnight! Once the sun goes down we have to put on our sweaters. Greece usually stays hot until the end of September, so it's a little strange.

We attended the love meal at Hellenic Ministries last Monday. It was the first one, so there were not too many people there. Matt and one of the workers roamed the streets and invited people to come in for a hot meal. We served them and visited with the refugees and some of the workers we had not met from Hellenic Ministries.

We are slowly getting settled in and taking care of legal documents. Our container is scheduled to come in about 4 days. We have been told there are delays at the Athens port, so our container will probably not be here for a while. We are praying for it to arrive quickly as we have found an apartment now.

We think about our friends and family in the States daily. We love you and have enjoyed talking to you either on the phone or internet.

Spending time with Ruthie before leaving for Greece.

On the airplane going from Chicago to London

Crashing in Heathrow airport while waiting for our next flight

Ashtyn is 7 months old

Uncle Ken and Aunt Katina came to visit!

Almost time to go...

2008-08-28T22:00:00.005-04:00

We are leaving for Greece in 9 days. We have been busy taking care of all the details on this end as the time draws closer for us to leave. It seems like the list is neverending, but we are taking one day at a time. We had a successful day today at the Greek Consulate getting our marriage registered in Greece so that Matt and Ashtyn can stay there without having to go out of the country every 3 months. Thank God we got the paperwork from Greece just on time and we were able to complete the papers.

Ashtyn is six months old and can now sit up unsupported. She does topple over every once in a while, but she gets better at it every day. She eats her cereal in the morning, fruit for lunch, and vegetables in the evening. She continues to nurse throughout the day. We have so much fun playing with her and we love to make her laugh. If we find something that makes her laugh we'll do it over and over until it's not funny to her anymore! :)

Here are some pics of her when she first started sitting up:

Our visit from Gram, Miranda, and Tanner

2008-08-13T21:55:00.007-04:00

We have spent the last two weeks packing and basically living out of suitcases in our home! We are moving out of our house on Sunday and the renters are moving in on Monday. We will be staying with a close friend until we depart for Greece in 3 weeks. It's hard to believe the time has already come for us to go. We are excited and have a lot to look forward to, but we will miss our family in the States so much. We are thankful for technology such as this where we can talk frequently and even see each other over the internet. It makes it a little easier!
We had the chance to see Nancy, Miranda, and Tanner one more time before we leave. They flew down here and stayed for 3 days. We had a wonderful time together at Stone Mountain, going to the pool, playing games at home, and eating 16 muffins we got free from eating at Mimi's cafe. (If you eat there for the first time, each person gets 4 free muffins!)
We will definitely miss you!

My brother, Stephen, graduated from Abilene Christian University last week. Congratulations! We wish we could have been there! He is planning to attend grad school in January to work on a Masters in Zoology with an emphasis in Herpatology. He has an exciting life ahead of him!

Our little girl will turn 6 months old next week. She can sit up for a few seconds and then flops over. She is doing much better eating her vegetables and I have started her on the yellows (the yummy ones). She likes those and didn't nearly make the faces she made with the green veggies. She loves to go to the pool, listen to her cds from grandma and poppy, and play with her toys.

Stone Mountain Park

She is about to outgrow this swing - her feet hang off the end!

Going to the pool

Playing around in her newborn baby basket...and sucking her toes!

Fun, Books and Nasty Peas!

2008-07-24T21:30:00.010-04:00

Ashtyn has been so much fun lately! She is doing something new every day and it is so interesting to watch her learn and grow. She is listening to us read stories to her before bedtime, she loves to put her feet in her mouth, and has really enjoyed the pool. Two weeks ago we started her on rice cereal and she is doing so much better with it now. She even opens her mouth on her own when she sees the spoon coming. Our doctor told us to start her on green vegetables this week, so while we were at the store we picked up some peas and green beans for her. Coming from a mom who LOVES broccoli, asparagus, and zucchini I was very excited to introduce her to vegetables! I thought she would just love them! Boy was I wrong!! She was almost in shock over how terrible they tasted and I think you'll be able to see how she felt about her first spoonful of green peas!!! Notice the progression of her thoughts. (If you have any successful tips on feeding vegetables to a baby, please share!)

Story time

Classic!

No, not another picture mom!

Wow, this is cool!

Yea! I get to try a new kind of food today!!

Oh...it's green?!

Ewww...this tastes awful!

Am I supposed to swallow this?

Get this off my tongue!

You're kidding me....another spoonful?

No way!!

Okay...we're done!

Four Generations

2008-07-16T13:54:00.007-04:00

Last week my parents from Greece and grandparents from Virginia came to see Ashtyn. It was my dad's first time to see her! It was such a special treat to have Grandma and Grandpa Brown fly down to see us. It had been almost 6 years since we last saw them. We had so much fun catching up and playing with Ashtyn. While they were here we went to the Georgia Aquarium. It is suitable for all ages and Ashtyn loved looking at the fish.

We are now in the process of packing up our home for our move. There are so many things to think about so we're taking it one day at a time!

Mimi and Ashtyn

Four generations...

Great Grandpa and Grandma Brown

At the Georgia Aquarium with the Beluga whales!

Papou and Ashtyn

Papou and Mimi

Our little squirt watching Baby Einstein

Great Grandma Brown and Ashtyn

Great Grandpa Brown

Family Trip to Dallas, Rockport, & Oklahoma

2008-07-07T13:21:00.014-04:00

We just got back a few days ago from our family trip to Texas and Oklahoma. It was so good to see everybody before our big move to Greece. We will miss everyone tremendously! I first flew out to Dallas to spend time with my sister, Melody and her husband Andy. Their two beautiful children, Jackson and Zoe, have grown so much and are so much fun to be around. Jackson can talk up a storm and says the cutest things! Ashtyn wished she could be just as active and talkative! While we were there Ashtyn got sick on Matt's birthday. She woke up crying and throwing up. We went to Melody's pediatrician, had some x-rays taken and they decided she had a virus. Thankfully it only lasted one day, but this was definitely her most miserable day yet. I felt so bad for her!

We celebrated Matt and Miranda's birthday together again this year. Matt celebrated his first Father's Day too! While we were in Dallas we found a new home for Tyson. It was heart breaking to make the decision to give him away, but with a new baby and our move to Greece he needed more attention. We feel comfortable with his new home and we already heard back that he is a good companion. We will love you forever Tyson!

We drove to Whitney, TX to pick up Bob, Steve, Celinda, Brooke, and Lauren and we drove to Rockport, TX. Vicki did extensive research picking out a house to rent for the week and she did a fabulous job! The house was gorgeous. It overlooked the canal where you could fish, canoe, and enjoy the view. Every house was unique in it's own way. Ours had just been renovated and the decor was beautifully done. We had wonderful seafood too! One of my favorite days was the drive to the beach. We all got to swim and Ashtyn had her first little dip in the water. The guys caught a jelly fish in a bucket, and Chloe created her own little swimming pool in the sand. I think she could have stayed there until the sun went down...she had so much fun!

Unfortunately Doug had to leave early to go back to work so Miranda, Chloe, Matt, Ashtyn and I drove back to Dallas together. Chloe was tired and Ashtyn was crying so we decided to stay the night in a hotel on the way back so they could get a good nights sleep! This was a great idea...thanks Miranda! :)

The next day we drove to Oklahoma! Ashtyn definitely grew accustomed to the car after this trip and now doesn't mind her carseat so much anymore. We spent time with Gram (Nancy), Kevin, Tanner, Grandma and Poppy, Greg, Robin, D.J., Stan, Kathy, and David! We had planned on a boat trip with Stan's cool, new boat but it rained that day and we didn't get to go. Oh well, we still had good food to eat! :)

It was a real priviledge to spend time with special people from Muskogee Church of Christ. We are so grateful to know they will be our home church when we head off to Greece. Matt had the opportunity to preach on Sunday and we had a wonderful dinner at David and Suzette Hall's house. We feel so blessed to be connected with this church and we look forward to all our future events and involvement with them.

We drove back to Dallas, packed up our bags and Matt drove back to Atlanta and I flew back with Ashtyn. We are so happy to be back home in our own beds/crib, but we will never forget this trip.

We want to thank everyone for their hospitality and special memories we had together!

Uncle Stan and Ashtyn

Gram and Ashtyn

Grandma and Poppy

Sleeping in the carseat...again!

Michael in the kitchen!

Rockport, TX

Chloe and Ashtyn

Daddy and Ashtyn

Fishing off the dock!

The house across from ours

Chloe with her butterfly tattoos!

Gigi and Ashtyn

Chloe had so much fun in this pool!

Lauren and Ashtyn playing together

Celinda and Brooke

Gigi and Grandpa Gary bought this seat for Ashtyn. She really likes it!

Hmmm...I'm in this carseat again???

They caught a jelly fish and put it in this bucket

Ashtyn's first swim!

Chloe enjoying the water...

Happy Birthday Matt and Miranda!

Sweet little Zoe in a Dora chair!

Jackson and Chloe

Uncle Andy and Ashtyn

Cousins

Aunt Miranda

Grandpa Gary and Ashtyn

Rolling over is fun!

2008-06-02T17:43:00.003-04:00

Ashtyn loves to hold her skirts up and giggle...we're working on learning how to be a lady!

Ashtyn rolled over for the first time today, and I was so excited! She has been trying to roll from her back to her tummy for the last two days, and she finally made it...wow, it was a lot of work for her! The first time took quite a while, but the second time was pretty quick. Now I know why parents always ooh and ahh for the smallest things!

We are getting ready for our one month trip to Dallas and Oklahoma. I'm flying with Ashtyn on Thursday to Dallas. I have no idea what to expect....so I'm a little nervous! She tends to get bored with things quickly and wants to be held. Oh, and she wants me to walk and hold her...I'm not allowed to sit down! Oh no!

Here are a few recent pics. She is smiling and she talks all the time!

Ashtyn is 3 months old!

2008-05-25T21:05:00.003-04:00

My last day with my first graders...Matt brought Ashtyn to school as a surprise at the end of the day. The kids loved it!

2008-05-10T14:12:00.002-04:00

2008-05-09T19:56:00.002-04:00

2008-05-02T17:28:00.002-04:00

Mimi is leaving on Sunday. We have really enjoyed having her here and we are so thankful she is able to take care of Ashtyn while we are at work.

Grandma and Poppy gave this "Little Angel" to Ashtyn. She loves to look at its bright colors.

Ashtyn has blue eyes!

2008-04-26T16:20:00.006-04:00

Blue eyes is big news in the Roussos family. I keep thinking they're going to turn brown any day, but they seem to get more blue! I always wanted a blue eyed baby!

Ashtyn is two months old!

2008-04-25T23:31:00.004-04:00

For some reason, every time Ashtyn is in her swing she blows bubbles around her lips.

Tummy time will help even out her flat head from lying on her back.

This blanket is called the Amazing Miracle Blanket. Aunt Melody gave it to us and it has worked wonders. As soon as she is all wrapped up she stops crying and goes to sleep. She will usually sleep for 5 hours at night between feedings which helps me make it through the next school day. We love this blanket!

Ashtyn likes her pacifier, but we have to hold it in her mouth. She has a strange suck and she can't keep it in her mouth on her own. She sucks on it when it's time for her to go to sleep.

She is wearing some cute little shoes that Louella Wilks gave to her! She has almost outgrown them already.

Ashtyn smiles more and more every day. It is so much fun! We will act so silly just to get a smile out of her. She is now a little over 10 lbs and she just had her two month vaccinations a few days ago. She screamed and turned red and then gave me a look like "Mommy, I can't believe they just did that to me!" Oh, she broke my heart....

2008-04-01T18:44:00.000-04:00

Life is good!

2008-04-01T18:34:00.002-04:00

Ashtyn weighed 8 lbs 7 oz last week.

Ashtyn knows how to smile....but she has also knows how to cry!!

Our little cutie pie

2008-04-01T18:30:00.002-04:00

Ashtyn started smiling this week! It is so much fun to watch her. You never know when you'll catch a smile full of gums! :)

Gram, Uncle Tanner, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa drive all the way from Oklahoma to see Ashtyn!

2008-03-22T23:29:00.002-04:00

Gram and Ashtyn for the first time!

Grandma and Poppy are here!

The two uncles!

Great Grandma and Ashtyn

We are so happy Grandma, Poppy, Nancy, and Tanner came to visit us! It was a long road trip, but we are so thankful they came.

Aunt Miranda meets Ashtyn!

2008-03-22T23:22:00.002-04:00

Ashtyn loves Aunt Miranda! :)

Miranda flew in from Dallas on Wednesday to visit Ashtyn. I learned a lot from her and drove her crazy with all my new mom questions. Sorry Mir! We wish Doug and sweet Chloe could have been here too.

Grandpa Gary, Gigi, and Uncle Michael drive from Dallas to meet Ashtyn!

2008-03-22T23:10:00.003-04:00

Oh, what fun lies ahead for her! :)

Ashtyn had so much fun with Gigi!

The two bros...

Uncle Michael is teaching Ashtyn how to read. We need to start early!

Last Sunday Gary, Vicki and Michael came to Atlanta! We had so much fun together even though we stayed home most of the time. We took a trip to the mall and then ate at Chilli's. We had the opportunity to hear Ashtyn scream all the way home in her car seat. That was her first REAL cry. Vicki even tried to tell her a story about how Matt proposed to me. She was interested at first, but then decided she didn't want to hear the rest of the story!

Uncle Stevo meets Ashtyn!

2008-03-22T23:03:00.002-04:00

Ashtyn loves Mimi!

Uncle Stephen and Ashtyn

Stephen came to Atlanta with two of his college friends and one friend from his highschool in Greece. He came during his spring break and then headed off to Disney World. We had a great time with them.

2008-03-22T22:58:00.000-04:00

Mimi bought Zoe and Ashtyn Easter dresses!

2008-03-22T22:48:00.004-04:00

Thank you Grandma Brown for making this beautiful pink afghan for Ashtyn!

Zoe decides she wants Ashtyn's bow.

Mimi with her granddaughters

Aunt Melody and cousin Zoe meet Ashtyn!

2008-03-22T22:37:00.006-04:00

Melody and Ashtyn

Cousin Zoe

We were thrilled to have my sister, Melody and her daughter, Zoe visit us in Atlanta! Zoe is precious and looked so grown up next to little Ashtyn. She has an adorable personality and it was so much fun to see them! We wish Andy and Jackson could have come too.

2008-03-22T21:22:00.004-04:00

Tyson misses our attention lately...

Our sweet little angel...

2008-03-22T20:54:00.002-04:00

Ashtyn has already proven to be Daddy's little girl! When she gets fussy, Matt will pick her up and hold her and she is instantly content and happy! :)

2008-03-07T14:23:00.004-05:00

Ashtyn is growing and has already gained 1 pound! She now weighs 7 lbs. 2 oz. I was very happy to hear this news since she has not been the best eater lately. She is such as sweet baby! She loves to sleep between feedings, so I try to sleep while she is sleeping. We are really enjoying her. Matt does an awesome job with changing her diapers during the night (she loves to go through several diapers in one changing), and then he gets her ready for her feeding. This gives me an extra 10 mins. of sleep! :)

Ashtyn can't wait to meet her great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. They will all be here soon!

Matt and I are learning how to be parents...what a change and blessing in our lives!

2008-02-26T22:16:00.004-05:00

We are home! We went into the hospital Thursday night, and Nikki was induced on Friday morning. Ashtyn Faith was born that night at 8:13 pm. It was a long day, but mom and baby are both doing great. Ashtyn weighed 6lbs 13oz and was 20 inches long. She gets more beautiful everyday. For more pics check out our shutterfly link:

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2008-02-07T17:30:00.000-05:00

Well, just a quick update here. Nikki had a doctor's appointment today. Her due date is the 25th of this month, but, Ashtyn is so excited that she might just come in a little over a week! Wow, our lives about to change!
I (Matt) spent the weekend in Oklahoma with family and the Muskogee Church of Christ. I went to talk with them about what all is going on in our lives and about our calling to missions in Greece. I had an incredible time and was very encouraged by the church. It was great to see and talk with so many who were instrumental in my growing up. I also got to know some of the leadership a bit better and was very impressed with what God is doing among that church.
Nikki and I are having dinner on Saturday with a guy and his wife who are on the Hellenic Ministries board. We are excited to meet them and visit with them.
Nikki's mom is arriving a week from Friday. She'll stay with us for awhile to help with the baby. How awesome is that?!
Pictures are coming, I just wanted to make sure I got an update on here for now. Consistently updating this blog is definitly a New Year's resolution. The good thing is I don't have to give up ice cream to do it!