Where have we been, you ask?

Oh, you know, the usual places... hanging out around some really old rocks...
spending some quality time with Mr. Monkey for SC's 5-month photo shoot...
taking in gorgeous views during a cross-country drive...
sharing the road with camels...
and enjoying a relaxing weekend at the sea.

Just a bit of trivia: the mountains you see in the distance are not our country, but a neighboring one. We were just a stone's throw from three other countries at our vacation spot--pretty cool!

It was great to get away from it all for a few days. However, we realized at the end of our trip that we might need to try to stay in one place for a while. When I told Sawyer that we were going home, he said, "Mommy, which one is our house?" We've moved so much this summer and fall that the poor child doesn't know where he lives!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! We're so thankful for the chance to have adventures like these, and for all of you who are on this journey with us.

Is it Nov. 1 yet?

I am happy to report that our furniture has arrived!It has been an ordeal, but we are thrilled to be finally unpacking all of our suitcases, 34 days after we got here.

Here's a little rundown of our last few days:

Saturday afternoon: Jason calls the furniture company to ask what time they'll be delivering it on Sunday (which he had been told to do). The person on the phone tells him "after 3 p.m."

Sunday, 3:00 p.m.: Nothing.

Sunday, 5:00 p.m.: Jason calls again to see when they will bring the furniture. He is told that the delivery people work till midnight, so it won't be after that.

Sunday, 7:00 p.m.: Jason receives a call from the delivery people saying they will be here at 6:00 a.m. Monday morning.

Sunday, 11:00 p.m.: We go to bed, still furniture-less.

Monday, 6:00 a.m.: Nothing.

Monday, 7:15 a.m.: They show up with the furniture! This is great, but they bring everything in pieces and it's obvious they don't plan on assembling it. Jason asks about this, and they tell him the assembly guy will come later. "When would you like him to come?" Jason tells them 5:00 would be good.

Monday, 5:00 p.m.: Nothing.

Monday, 6:00 p.m.: Jason calls the company, and is told that the assembly guy also works till midnight. Great.

Monday, 9:00 p.m.: Jason decides to go ahead and put our bed together.

Monday, 11:00 p.m.: We go to bed, feeling pretty confident the assembly guy is not coming. We're glad to be on a mattress that's not on the floor for the first time in 3 weeks.

Tuesday, 10:30 a.m.: The assembly guy calls! He says he'll be there at 11:30 or 12. Sure you will, buddy.

Tuesday, 12:45 p.m.: He shows up! Two of them, actually, and they put it all together in an hour and a half. They cannot understand why Jason couldn't wait for them to put the bed together.
As you can see in the pictures, the furniture they brought included all of our bedroom furniture, our dining room table and chairs, and a guest bed. We are pleased with all of it.

You can also see in the first picture why my friend affectionately calls this the "Barney Building." I'm not sure what reason he could have possibly had, but some unknown force compelled the designer of this white building to paint all the window and door frames bright purple. ALL of the windows and doors are that attractive color. However, you'll be glad to know that we do have paint stores here, so we should be able to take care of that once it moves high enough up the priority list. Things are coming together, shwaya shwaya (little by little).