Fun Times with my MOM!

On Thanksgiving Day I left in the early evening to meet my mom's airplane at a port city as she entered this country. There was great excitement and consternation because all of our passports have been at the visa office for the past 3 weeks. I waited until the day before to buy my plane tickets and prepped my mom for how to come into our city alone. Upon calling the airport they assured me it would be no problem to fly if I had a copy of my passport, proof the visa office had my passport, and I threw my Oklahoma driver's license in there for good measure. Long story short....there are problems. Not so easy to travel in a foreign country without your passport. However...it can be done. A little money, a little convincing, and I was on the plane!! The next day...a little more money, a little more convincing, and I was on the plane again. Woo hoo!! And just so you know....my OK drivers license means absolutly NOTHING here! Upon my arrival in the "big city" to pick up my mom, I had a few hours to kill, so I checked into the hotel and headed to Starbucks for a coffee....I had heard they had their holiday flavors. I read my book and sipped my BIG coffee for an hour then headed back to the airport. It was a TREAT!

My mom arrived safe and sound to our country and to our city. We had a whirlwhind time with her, and it went by too fast. We stayed close to home the first 2 days so she could get oriented to the time difference and have our Thanksgiving meal. The kids were so excited to get to play with her. While Rob and I cooked she played dolls with Hannah and video games with Hudson. They were thrilled. And not one time did anyone call her to buy a house!! On Sunday we had a party for the OU/OSU game. Several friends came over and we watched the game. Then in the evening we all caught a bus and went out to the country to give Mom a little tour. We ate "local BBQ" and met some friends of ours who generously had gifts to give my mom. The next day we decided to take her to a small place we had been to before, only a 15 minute drive. BUT!! Our driver took the wrong turn and we ended up off the main road on a small, bumpy dirt road, that ended at the river. We then had to trek down the river and take a small boat that ferried people across the river. There was a rope across the river and the man who lived on the boat pulled the it back and forth all day long. I am quite sure this was WAY!! out of my mom's comfort zone but she was a trooper. She enjoyed seeing the small town and the people were very friendly to her. I am pretty sure she will come back because the thing she heard over and over again was how beautiful and young she looked. No one could believe she was my mother. She was THRILLED!! After we returned to our city, the kids each took a day off of school to spend with her. We shopped and ate at their favorite places. Finally on Thursday she helped us decorate our tree, and on Friday we had Christmas with her before she left for the airport. We were so Happy to have her come and visit. It was great to see her and spend time with her. Thanks MOM for making the long trip over here to see us. We are so thankful!!