September News from the Mendezes

Well, it's September, and to say we're back in the swing of things would be an understatement. We've gotten so busy that we even missed the fact that Labor Day was a holiday.

The first half of August we spent in Alabama, then went back for a couple of days to Miami before heading back to Croatia. Abby and I had an absolute blast playing with the Crutchfield boys, and with her Miami cousins. She played so hard the entire time, and would just collapse with exhaustion at the end of the day. Oh, and she grew two new teeth while she was there as well, so now we're up to five!

(Abby in Miami, left)Abby and I arrived back in Croatia in mid-August, and had our first houseguests in Zagreb that weekend! Our friends Elaine and Joe from Rome were in the area, so we invited them to stay the night with us. We had a blast with them and only wish they could have stayed longer.

Then, with recovering from jetlag (which surprisingly wasn't that bad this time) , me recovering from a little sinus infection, a BBQ at the Embassy, and getting Abby started on the transition from formula to regular soy milk, we stayed fairly busy at the end of August. Oh, and Joel has started up with his Fantasy Football group again. We also sponsored (or, were the welcoming committee) for two families that arrived last weekend.

Abby is running (literally!) around like a crazy girl. Yep, we went right from little tentative steps to taking over the world. Last night, she somehow pulled four buttons off the keyboard of the laptop and we were frantically running around the living room looking for them before she swallowed them. Oh, and did I mention the time she pushed the buttons on the TV and changed the language to Thai??? It Joel hours to figure out how to fix that. Aaaaah, toddlerhood, right?

She is really attempting to talk now. She says "Dada," and "Poo" for Puzza the cat. Sometimes we can get her to meow or say "ruff" when she sees a cat or dog. Mostly she keeps us completely entertained with her antics. In this picture I tried to take a picture of her after her bath so you can all see how her hair is starting to curl up when it's wet. I hope it comes out well, I thought you all would get a kick out of that.

So our September schedule is in full swing. The International Women's Club starts back up next week, and I start with board meetings for that tomorrow. (Don't get me started; I still have no idea how I "volunteered" for that.) Plus, I've decided that Abby and I will join the playgroup this year, and there's talk of several moms getting together for baby swim classes this fall (indoors, of course). Abby loves the water, so that would be fun. I'm still continuing to work by doing the Embassy newsletter each week, and am moving forward with my resume coaching business. (Still working on getting a decent name for it so I can get a website - if anyone has any ideas, I'm open to hearing it.) Joel's got a "man" night, aka poker and football, scheduled at the house this weekend, and next weekend we are taking the trip back to Aviano to stock up.

So, that's our lives in a nutshell. Hope to speak to you all soon!

Love,
Julie, Joel, and Abby