First month in Singapore

We arrived in Singapore on July 4th. Overall, our flights were great and the kids did spectacular. I was alittle worried when we got on our flight in Dallas and the flight attendant announced that they were so "sorry but the video service was not working on our plane." I literally cried wondering what I was going to do with my children for 13 hours. (thankfully our row of tv's worked after about an hour into the flight...God knew what I could handle at that moment)

We were in temporary housing for about three weeks and then moved (moved is a strong word since it was just our suitcases we brought on the plane...our household goods have yet to arrive) into one of the Navy's housing. We prayed and prayed about our housing situation here (there are some pretty spectacular 3 bedroom british colonial homes that we were hoping for and then some not so wonderful third floor apartments) but we were offered a two bedroom (yes, two!!!) Japanese bungalow. We felt at peace about it so we will squeeze into our little bungalow for now (made a room for Kyle out of a "den" area). We pray something else will open eventually but we are satisfied.

Kyle will start school next Monday at International Community School. It is a christian school and we feel so blessed to be able to send him there (at the Navy's expense as well....can't get better than that). We are still deciding on a preschool for Grace but have some good options.

My prayer for the family long before our move here was this: that we would make some really good, godly friends (us and the kids); that Kyle would be surrounded by godly influence as he goes into middle school, and for the military community here at large...that they might experience a healing from past hurts in the Chapel. First week here we met an Air Force Major and his wife who are christians, his dad is a retired Air Force Chaplain, and they have two little kids Grace and Bethany's age. They moved in next door to us and we have become great friends. Already an answer to prayer. Kyle is on his way, I believe, to a great year in school and I anticipate him making some great friends. I continue to lift the Chapel up in prayer as we endeavor to build it up for God's glory.

(picture is of Darin and the kids on our trip to Thailand last week. Darin's dad got to meet Bethany for the first time...we had a great visit!)

Darin's homecoming!!!!!

Big day for the family. Darin returned Friday from his five month deployment with the USS Nashville. They sent him home a month earlier than the ship's return so that we would have alittle time to prepare for Singapore. The kids were so excited to see him and spent the whole ride home from the airport saying "daddy, watch this." and doing silly faces (the girls). Kyle was patient as always to wait for daddy's attention. Came home to Darin's favorite, thai food, and then starbuck's this morning! We will take the long weekend to relax and then jump in to Singapore plans early next week.

The Mother of all Mothers!!!!!

As you all know, we will be moving to Singapore at the end of June. So in anticipation of moving out of our house, my mom decided to come down for a week and help me get the house ready for our departure. The first day we spent nine hours cutting back ten years worth of overgrown bushes, schrubs, rose bushes (can you say "thorns") and who knows what else. Over the next few days we cleaned the gutters (of which I had to refuse to hold the ladder for my mom because she wanted to get to the "A framed peak" of the house....she wanted to extend the ladder completely out and climb it over my concrete front porch...NO WAY.....finally I talked her out of it), cut all the grass (my wimpy self did that), patched up missing wall paper (I'll give you a great tip for finding extra wall paper to fix tears....look under your electrical plugs.....worked great) replaced bits of missing carpet, reupholstered my kitchen chairs (for those of you who are related to the Saar girls, you know what an accomplishment that is), striped and waxed my kitchen floor, cleaned windows, and the end all of outdoor jobs.....powerwashed the outside of the house. Above pictures show my mom power washing the house in a thunderstorm. Yet again I had to "make" my mom stop power washing during the thunder and lightening storm. Overall, I'd say my mom is a trooper and hardest worker I know!!!!! Talk about labor of love!!!! Thanks Mom, I could not have done a quarter of what we did without you here!!!!

We did get one night out to ourselves for dinner and a movie! What a treat!

Gotcha Day!!!

This is a little late in posting, but I wanted to mention our Gotcha Day this year....Gotcha Day is referring to the day you were given your baby when adopting. April 5th is the day Grace stole our hearts in Nanchang China. My mom and sister were kind enough to buy me tickets to the Steven Curtis Chapman/Michael W. Smith United concert that was on April 5th here in Norfolk Va. I was going to take Kyle originally but he seemed less than enthusiastic about it and when I realized it was Grace's Gotcha Day I thought it would be a great event to take her to. Steven Curtis Chapman and his family have started a foundation, Shoahannah's Hope, which gives grants to families for the expense of adopting, are major advocates of adoption within the christian community, and have three girls adopted from China as well.

We started the night off by going to Chili's (my favorite) and enjoyed our "mommy, Gracie dinner" (that's what Grace called it) The waitress cleaned our table off while I was taking Grace to the bathroom...I guess the downfall of going out without another adult....but what we got to eat was great!

We had great seats at the concert....(3rd row)....and even got a shout out from Steven Curtis Chapman when he saw our sign (see above pic). I'm not much of a "sign holder" at events like this but this one was worth it and Grace had a blast holding it high for all to see!!!

All in all, it was a great night and the concert was spectacular!!!

On a side note, as May 21st approaches please pray for the Chapman family. Many of you may know that his five year old daughter from China was killed last May 21st in an accident in their family driveway. Please remember to lift up this family and this man, who inspires and ministers to so many through his music, in prayer.

Did I happen to mention Darin comes home May 22nd!!!!!!!!

Dates, Dates, and more Dates!!!!

Exciting times! Darin received his tickets to fly home from the ship almost a month early so he can help us out here at home before our move to Singapore. The Navy has been good to us (more specifically the Operational Ministry Center and the USS Nashville)! He will be home by the end of May!

Within the three weeks after Darin returns home, we will 1) go to Disney for a family vacation June 10th-17th 2) pack out of our house the 18th (yes the day after returning from Disney) through the 24th 3) fly out of Norfolk to Dallas TX June 29th 4) fly from Dallas to Singapore July 2nd, arriving in Singapore July 4th. Whew...just writing it makes me tired!!!! (not to mention fly our dog to Singapore separately out of Dulles International at some time within that window as well). Really it sounds hectic, but things have really fallen into place for the most part, with the exception of the dog!

So for now, I am busy trying to make arrangements for the dog and get the house in order! The kids are getting excited, at least Kyle is. Grace is most concerned with whether the dog will be moving with us or will she "be getting a new family." Thus the push to bring the dog with us.

Our Singapore address is as follows:

PSC 470 Box 2916
FPO AP 96534

We'll keep you posted! Hope to see a lot of you as we travel to FL and TX!

March madness!

I must admit, I was dreading March. I know it's an awful thing to wish your life away, but when your husband and father are away from you, your only desire is to be back together again, counting the days until that happens. It's hard not to feel like your life is on hold; like you are wishing days to pass. I have tried hard to keep positive for the kids and for my own sanity. Having visitors and planning small trips help the time pass. March was going to be a long month without many visitor and no trips planned. Thankfully I had unplanned guests and Grace's birthday (which we seemed to celebrate all month) seemed to break up the monotony. I can't say the same thing for Darin although he seems to be doing well and keeping his spirits up. We have not heard from him in about a week, since his ship left Nigeria. They will be pulling in to another country in the next few days so hopefully connection will be up again soon!!!
We received our official orders to Singapore so we are trying to plan our move over there which is quite problematic when the active duty member is not Statesside. Seems that I am half human in the eyes of the military because I am just "the dependent." I like planning and having everything squared away so not being able to check things off of my list is quite stressful. But I know it will all get done, maybe not on my timetable but eventually it will all come together! We plan on leaving for Singapore the first week of July, if all things go according to plans. I am reminded daily of the following verse, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16
On a lighter note, you will notice in the above picture that my girls have taken to playing "doctor" with our bassett hound as their patient. Poor dog...I'm sure she's wishing for a new family right about now. She takes it like a trooper!!!

Hi Grandma

A message to Lauren and Laney

Feel better soon

Singapore, Sea and Sun!!!!

One month down, four to go!!!!

So Darin has been gone for more than a month now. It's always exciting to see the passage of time when he is deployed...just one day closer to when he comes home. He is doing well and seems to be upbeat and positive about his time at sea with the Nashville.

Florida Trip and Family Visit!

The kids and I have been trying to stay busy. We took a trip to FL a few weeks ago with my mom and stayed with my sister. My brother was also passing through Jacksonville FL on his way to Disney World so we got to have all the "Saar" cousins together for about 24 hours. It was a lot of fun for all of us. Then my niece and nephew were brave enough to fly up from FL by themselves for a long weekend to help out with the girls and hang out with Kyle. I think we all had a great time and enjoyed celebrating Travis' 13th birthday while they were here.

It's Official!!!

We finally received official orders to Singapore. We will be moving this July. Darin will be responsible for the base Chapel there, along with other duties I'm not sure of!!! :) It looks like a great place to live and the military will pay to send Kyle (and eventually Grace) to a private school, since there are no Department of Defense schools there. It is suppose to be the best quality of living in the US Navy, according to who I'm not sure!!!! Of course, having Darin's father and brother living in Thailand is a huge bonus (Bangkok is about a two hour flight from Singapore). We'll keep you updated on the move!

Trying to blog more often although I don't feel like my life warrants that much publicity!!!

Darin's second & final deployment in Norfolk VA

Darin left on January 15th with the USS Nashville for a six month deployment to West Africa. The ship is on a humanitarian mission to bridge relationships between the US, European Nations and Africa. They have an international contingency on board which Darin finds very interesting. Some of the Countries they will visit include Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Gabon. (this is all posted publicly on the internet because of the mission so I'm not giving out information that is classified) Darin will take part in a lot of the Community Relations projects in the Countries they visit so it will be exciting for him. I'm hoping he gets to visit some orphanages and love on the children there. Darin was in good spirits when he left, knowing that this will be his last deployment for some time. We expect to be moving to Singapore in July so they will be flying Darin home a few weeks early to prepare for the move overseas.
So we are left here in Chesapeake but we are in a good situation. Missing daddy of course. Bethany doesn't understand at all where Daddy has gone. Grace has some clue and Kyle takes it like a man!!!! The other day we were in my bedroom and the washing machine started running and both girls thought it was the garage door opener and ran to the door yelling "daddy's home." I was heartbroken and didn't share that piece of information with Darin since it would kill him. But they bounced back and were back to playing long before I got over it!
Please pray for our family during this time. We want the time away to be meaningful...not just get by, but thrive. We also pray Darin's presence will make a real difference on the ship for the Kingdom of God. That is the only reason we are able to tolerate the separation as a family....knowing we are following God's plan for our lives.
On a personal note, please pray as Darin will go before the promotion board this May for promotion to Lieutenant Commander. We pray that all of his hard work and dedication (and separation) will pay off. Ultimately we know God has his career in His hands!!! May it be as the Lord wills!!! Thanks for all of your prayers!!!