Alida on the J.O.B.

OK, so I finally gave in to the request of family and friends to post pictures of me on the J.O.B. - I love my job, love what I do, I love serving my country .... my country, indeed .... a country where I chose to live in, as opposed to happened to be born in, and compared to any other country that I had the priviledge and was blessed to lived in, America, in my humble opinion, is the best! I signed my name on the dotted line because I truly believe, my country is worth it. I became a US citizen on (pay attention to the date) 12 September 2001. That's when I knew that I wanted to do more than to contribute to the overall production of beer (I worked for Anheuser-Bush in St. Louis, MO at that time); I wanted something more meaningful .... Today, eight years later, I have yet to regret that decision.

The American Dream holds truth for me, in fact .... I live it. My husband and I came from very humble beginnings .... came from nothing to so much .... we are truly blessed with so much good in our lives. I truly believe that with hard work, dedication, right attitude, spiritual faith that with HIS help anything is possible, and the love of a man like my husband, who stood beside me through thick and thin .... anything IS possible! There's no other place/country I'd much rather call HOME. .... HOME for me is where the heart is, where my two boys are (the big one and the little one) and I will be ok, no matter where I am. However, ultimately the U.S. will always be the place I call HOME.

So this is me, in a nutshell, at the office. The last picture is my boss and I, a wonderful lady .... couldn't have wished for a better boss, and definately a people-oriented person who cares about the people who work for her while still focusing on getting the mission done. I have a great relationship with my boss, which is more than many people can say, and for that I'm very greateful.

*Meine Lieben, endlich hab ich paar Photos von mir gemacht bei der Arbeit. Hier seht ihr mich in meinem Bueroe, naturlich umringt von Photos vom Toti und Geno .... tudom, kepbuzis vagyok dehat ez van, ezt kel szeretni ..... das letzte Photo sind mein Boss und ich. Sie ist echt sehr lieb zu mir .... so ziemlich einer meiner besten Bosse, die ich je hatte. Wir haben ein sehr gutes Verhaeltnis zueinander, und darueber freu ich mich, weil es ja doch mehr ist als viele andere sagen koennen ueber ihre Bosse und die Beziehungen zu ihnen. Na ja, ich hab diesmal Glueck gehabt. Ich hoffe es geht Euch allen gut. Ich vermisse Euch und pussl Euch alle.

Dora Live and The Cottage Restaurant in Atlanta

As a last minute, spontanious kind of activity we decided to go see Dora Live this weekend at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, and then go to our favorite restaurant we always go to when in Atlanta, The Cottage. We had a wonderful time at both, and got so full on injera and lamb that it was really hard trying to stay awake for the drive home ... well, except for Jalen, who fell out soon after we hit the road. Below you'll see pictures of our weekend.

*Meine Lieben, hier sind ein paar Photos als wir nach Atlanta gefahren sind um Dora Live zu gucken und dann sind wir ins Ethiopische Restaurant gegangen. Oh, das essen is soooo toll: wir haben injera gegessen mit Lamm - wir sind dann immer so voll wenn wir von dort weggehen. Das Maedchen im Photo ist die Serviererin im Restaurant, sie war so lieb und bescheiden und ich dachte mir ich frag sie ob wir ein Photo mit ihr machen koennen und sie hat 'ja' gesagt.

Alida, Jalen and Abeba.

This is the Hotel we stayed in, just a few blocks walking distance to the Fox Theater, so we won't have to worry about parking.

At the Fox Theater.

*Beim Theater.

View from our Hotel Room over downtown Atlanta, we were on the eighth floor.

*Die Sicht aus unserem Hotel. Wir waren im 8. Stock.

Jalen on the way to Atlanta, sucking on a ring pop.

*Toti, im Auto auf dem weg nach Atlanta.

First Day of K-5 School - Erster Schultag in K-5

This was Jalen's first day of school. You see him here with his new K-5 teacher, Mrs. Bramel. We were the first ones to arrive, because I'm always trying not to be late, but then I'm too early .... but better early then late ..... especially the first day of school. What kind of an example would I be setting for my child if we were ever late. I'm starting to instill in him, how important being on time is .... and more times than not, I succeed .... like his first day of school. * Das ist Toti's Lehrerin am ersten Schultag. Wir waren so gut wie die ersten, denn ich will nie zu spaet kommen. Seine Lehrerin heisst Mrs. Bramel, und Toti mag sie und bis her mag ich sie auch .... ich denke mal sie ist echt ok und schein lieb zu sein. Na ja, mal sehen was noch kommt ... das Schuljahr ist ja noch lang ... aber ich hab das Gefuehl alles wird schon ok sein.

'Twas the BathTime Night Before First Day of School

These pictures we took the last night before starting school, before starting K-5. Just wanted to capture this for later memories. We haven't taken bath time pictures in a very long time, considering that when he was smaller we used to take lots of them ...... but as Jalen will tell you: He's a big boy now!

* Wir haben schon seit sehr langem keine Photos mehr beim Badi Badi gemacht. Diese Photos haben wir genau den Abend vor seinem ersten Schultag gemacht.

Jalen's A Yellow Belt Now ..... and a Pirate .... Sometimes

Jalen graduated to the next level in Karate - to the Yellow Belt.

*Jalen hat jetzt nich mehr den orangenen Gurt, sondern den gelben Gurt. Er war sehr stolz und in seiner Klasse, es gibt noch 4 Jungs ausser ihn, ist er wirklich der Beste. Unser Liebe Toti, wie gross er schon geworden ist, nicht wahr!

My Boys Doing Chores in the Yard

Geno mowing the lawn and listening to his Ipod - well, not right now since I was trying to get his attention so he can give me a quick smile ...... he hates that, hates taking pictures ..... but to please me, he'll do even that ..... I love him for that even more, if that's even possible.
There's nothing like a sweaty man doing manual labor, or nothing like a man in uniform ... well, here half a uniform ..... some old ABU pants that he now uses for cutting gras.

Jalen and Geno cleaning the pool, something I know nothing about and would like to keep it that way too :).

* Jalen und Dada beim Sachen erledigen hinten im Hof. Toti gefaellt es sehr wenn er seinem Dada helfen kann. Er fuehlt sich dann immer so wichtig und brauchbar, obwohl er ja eigentlich nicht wirklich hilft, wie zum Beispiel hier. Aber es macht trotzdem Spass, und der Geno hat ja nichts dagegen .... im Gegenteil, er mag das.

Jalen's Very First BigBoySitter - Toti's Erste Babysitterin

Jalen hasn't had anyone else babysit him ever other than either my Mom or Geno's Mom, his two grandmothers. Well, right before school started, Jalen was out of Summer School and had two weeks of down time before school started again. So luckily, by chance, we have been referred to LaToya, who used to go to Jalen's school but now she graduated, and she was the one babysitting him for those two weeks. She was wonderful, Jalen liked her and we're hoping to use her again if she's available. Everything went well, and my biggest 'mommie fears' never materialized, thank God! We are truly blessed.

* Hier seht ihr ein Photo vom Toti mit seiner ersten wahren Babysittering, LaToya. Wie ich Euch gesagt habe, alles war gut gelaufen, und wenn LaToya Zeit hat und wir sie brauchen, werden wir sie wieder rufen.

Midbay Shores, FL - Military Resort

This was our first time at Midbay Shores Florida, a military resort. I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised how beautiful it was and how immaculate our cabin was. First you'll see pictures at the beach - from MS it was just a matter of crossing the bridge - and then you'll see some pictures in the resort itself by our cabin.

Dragii Mei, uite aici va arat fotografiile care le-am facut acum in August cind am fost in vacanta cu copiii si cu Lisa. A fost foarte frumos. Intii vedeti poze la mare la strand si dupa acea poze unde am locuit la cabana chiar la apa intr-o Bucht unde se poate foarte fain pescui si este toate ce trebe pentru pescar, inca si o ghiuveta cu masa mare chiar unde pescuiesti ca dupa ce prinzi pestii sa-i si cureti si ii duci deja gata curatati la cabina. Nu am fotografii unde se pescuieste ca am uitat sa fac dar este foart Anglerfreundlich aici - poate pot odata sa va duc si pe voi aici. Na pusserdli, und macht es gut. Wir reden schon balde. Ich hab euch lieb.

Mykilie and Jalen playing in the sand.

Fearless ...............

Shawn, Jalen and Mykilie acting silly .......

Expressions ..... when watching The Wiz .....

View from our cabin yard at Midbay Shores Military Resort in Florida.

Another view from our cabin yard.

Sunset ....

Ready, set and over .......

Dada and Jalen ..... chillin' .....

Geno making the kids pancakes in the morning.

This was our cabin. The kids are playing in front of it.

Overall, it was a great vacation and we enjoyed having Lisa and the kids with us. Looking forward to another vacation together next year. Thank you Shawn, Mykilie and Lisa for joining us and making this a great vacation.

Dies war echt ein toller Urlaub.