The Fey Family

Ok, so my last post was all true and in a lot of ways is all still true, but I have managed to get a bit more sleep the last couple of days and have been able to think a bit more rationally (and grace-fully) about our time in Michigan. Emotional breakdowns excluded, we have had a fantastic time here. Hudsonville is where we spent the majority of our married life and raised our kids, so it just feels like home. We have been able to visit our old neighborhood, old places of employment, get a tour of our old house, eat ice cream at Hudsonville Lanes, go to Love Inc, have Frosties at Wendy’s, lunch at Panera, a visit to Hughe’s Park and more. The kids have ridden bikes, scooters and roller blades. They’ve played in sandboxes, swimming pools, trampolines and swing sets with friends, neighbors of friends, relatives of friends and more. We’ve laughed, like the deep belly laughs that ends in tears, more times than I can count. It has been so good for our souls. We’ve laughed at memori...

We have been back in the states for over a week. It is Tuesday afternoon now and we are heading out on Thursday morning for the next leg of our journey. We have been having a wonderful time here in Michigan, but the exhaustion and overwhelming-ness of this experience came crashing down on me yesterday. Up until that point I felt like I was doing totally fine. Reverse culture shock? What’s that? Tired? Not me! I’m like the Energizer Bunny who can just keep going, with enough coffee and chocolate pumped into my system. Yesterday morning reality hit and it hit hard. I am reliving conversations from the past week and wishing I’d just kept my mouth shut about 90% more of the time than I actually did. I’m feeling awkward about some moments and sad about others. I've realized that I've probably scared a lot of small children and that maybe ticked off a few mothers as well with my “it takes a village to raise a child, and I am that village” attitude. I have found myself saying...

Thanks to super fast, unlimited internet, I've managed to update our Picasa albums! Check them out here !

First Diet Coke: not as good as I remembered. In fact, I didn’t even finish the whole can. First time seeing my best friend: Amazing!!! Just being able to hug each other and talk face to face is such a gift. It does not seem like we haven’t been together for 3 years. First Little Caesar’s Pizza: YUM!! Bonus: we didn’t get sick from all the grease and cheese and pepperoni goodness. First Ice Cream: So delish! I am eating as much ice CREAM, meaning it is made with cream and not vegetable fat, as I can. First Time riding in a car with Darin as the driver: Kind of scary, for all of us. He kept turning into the wrong lane and would swoop back over to the correct side of the road. First Time at a grocery store: Kind of overwhelming, and really cold! What is up with all the air conditioning? Do these people not want customers to stay and browse the aisles? First Hamburger: So good. Like really, really good. The onion rings were also so crunchy and tasty and just goo...

This week we will be on American soil for the first time in 3 years. We started our journey to South Africa on June 11, 2011 and landed here on June 13. Now we’ll be heading back for a visit, leaving June 13, 2014 and arriving in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 14 after many, many hours of travel. We are all excited to see our family and friends, to eat at Wendy’s and Pizza Ranch, to drive down familiar roads and avenues, and catch up with people who were, and still are, near and dear to us. However, along with the excitement is also a bit of anxiety. The members of our family have changed over the last three years. We feel that a lot of these changes are for the better, but what if our old friends don’t like the “new” us? Tyson and Jori are not the same children they were when we left. They are older, have stronger personalities, have been exposed to different people and cultures than our family and friends in the states. We love the bits and pieces that they have taken from peopl...

We will be flying back to the states in less than a month. It is strange to think that right around this time, 3 years ago, we were packing to move to South Africa. We were in the middle of goodbye parties, a flurry of doctor appointments, final haircuts, selling off the last bits of our furniture and the seemingly never ending process of packing and repacking our stuff for the big move. We will be flying out of South Africa on June 13, which is the day that we landed here 3 years ago. During our first few days home, Tyson and Jori will get to celebrate their 10 th and 8 th birthdays, much like they celebrated their 7 th and 5 th birthdays in 2011, only this time they’ll be able to hug their friends and not just open a card from them. We will be doing a lot of traveling while we are in the US. First we’ll spend time in Michigan, where our life as a family was spent. We’ll have bonfires in familiar backyards, go to grocery stores where we used to do our weekly shopping, dri...

I need to go to hospital today. Not for myself, but to pick up results of a blood test for one of our babies. I also need to pop in to see the speech therapist to set up a follow-up appointment for Amo. These two things could take me 15 minutes or an hour depending on any number of factors. I don’t mind waiting, for the most part. The pediatric outpatient department, where I need to go for the test results, is an interesting place to wait. There are lots of little kids, some super tiny babies who look like they still belong in hospital and a lot of older children as well. Last month I had a child pinching my hands and face and her mother said “Watch out, she might bite you.” Never a dull moment! Usually I feel pretty comfortable at the hospital. I am there enough that I know my way around and am recognized by some of the sisters (nurses). Most of the staff and patients are very kind and very helpful. Last week, however, during a “quick” visit to the hospital to pick up a prescript...