Sorry it has been so long...For those of you don't know this about me...i have a strong DISLIKE for technology!! So...sitting at this computer and updating the blog is the hardest thing to talk myself into!
I left off in March...so i'll pick up in April. We were given a ham, from our US consulate friends, and so we had a traditional Easter dinner with a few friends. The dads hid all the eggs in a community area in the compound and the kids hunted eggs.The only thing missing was church service. :(
Not much else happened in April. May was filled with parties...birthday, ma'a'salama (good-bye in Arabic), pool, end of school year, beginning of summer. There is not much that ISN'T celebrated here! With nothing else to do...we just get together for whatever reason we can.
Darren came to visit us in May after his semester finished. He stayed for a little over a week. He got to join us at an "Arabian Nights" themed ma'a'salama party and meet all of our friends. He also met all the teenage kids in the compound..they showed him around and took him to a few graduation parties. We had a community swim meet - just lots of silly games like racing on floats , swimming through hoops, relays, etc....Darren participated and his little brothers were sooooooo proud of him! It was the greatest week ever for them! They finally got to introduce him to all their friends...they felt so cool. Everyone in the compound wanted to meet him...so he made the rounds with us. Even spent a day at the park where we counted 12 different nationalities playing together. He was in awe.
Darren got to experience the call to prayer and closing of the grocery store while the lost expats race through to finish shopping because they forgot prayer times were early for Friday, the Holy Day (yes, this included us...). We also have the added help of Samuel and Jonathan screaming..RUNNNNN mom!!! It's prayer time...HURRY - get the eggs and meet me at the register!! :)
At the end of the visit we took Darren to Manama, Bahrain - we visited Al Dar Island for the first time. We took a ferry across and spent the day.....the beach and water is beautiful. Darren got to snorkel a little. We took him to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, CUT, and let him eat the steak sampler...great meal for a broke college kid! It was a nice night talking with just the 3 of us. (Scott, Darren and I) The boys stayed at the hotel with a nanny.
Then we sent him home to work with my dad for the summer until June 19th when we all headed to ITALY!!
Ahhh, Italy, my mind relaxes just saying the name... we had such a great time! We arrived in Italy mid June and were met by Darren, my sister and her family, Scott's father and 2 friends of the family, Warren & Cassidy who were already vacationing in Europe! And at the end of our trip - Dan, Katie, Alex & Gracie stayed a few days with us in Italy. We stayed 2 weeks in Tuscany Region in the most beautiful home in the most perfect location. We took the train to several different locations, laid on beaches, enjoyed the most wonderful day on a wine tour, hiked trails, shopped in courtyards, toured museums, ate at amazing little cafes, etc, etc, You get the point that is was the best trip EVER!
Everyone went home after 2 weeks and the boys and I made a few more stops before heading home (to Saudi) in August. We spent a week in Germany with our new friends Dan, Katie, Alex & Gracie - they took us all around - to Disneyland Paris, Legoland in Germany and several beautiful place near their home in Germany. (They were our neighbors in Saudi for 1 year and then transferred with AirForce to Germany) We are keeping in touch...
The boys and I left Germany and headed to Texas! We spent one week with the McKees in Round Rock, celebrated Jonathan's 3rd birthday with them and then they took us to Concan to stay in a cabin at the Frio River :) The boys (all 3) think of the McKee kids as cousins so they were super excited to spend time with them. They "floated" a few feet of the river at our little campsite and played in the water non stop. We went to the Garner State Park dance - both little boys learned to ask girls to dance and how to 2 step (somewhat) - they had sooo much fun! Although...by the end of the night - I think Samuel, Jonathan & Brandt were going after the same pretty little girl (who was a great dancer)...so things got a little sticky ;) Going to have to make sure and teach them the "bro-code" next trip!
After our trip to the river we stayed at my dad's property for 3 glorious weeks! Darren was working for his grandpa so we got to spend most of those 3 weeks with him. The little boys checked on the ocean every morning for dolphins, hermit crabs, fish,boats, etc. In the evenings we watched fiddler crabs dance, ate dinner outside on the picnic table, fished with daddy, Grandpa, Uncle Teague and Tammy. We visited the beach, the community pool, library, aquarium and parks. We enjoyed a night at a baseball game when Papaw came to visit. It was overall a very relaxing time. It was such a great time that we bought the waterfront property right next to my dad! We will eventually build a 2nd home on it one day....
So the fall months sped by - the boys and I did homeschool and Scott worked. In September, we spent a few days of EID in Doha, Qatar, with friends. In November we organized an American community Thanksgiving dinner. We all cooked and gathered - there were about 80-100 people. It was a good time. We invited all the military guys to join us..for a night we felt very "American" :)
We spent Christmas in Midland and now we are back in Saudi. We came back to a week of executions - I believe there were 11 the 1st week in January. One included a popular cleric from Iran. Things didn't change much in our area...we just avoided the areas where protests were likely to happen. Other than that...things are very quiet here.
Samuel was offered a spot in the American pre -school on the US Consulate so we took it to ensure he had a place for kinder...there's a waiting list for the school - and not many good options if they are full so we didn't want to take chances. He loves it....he is ahead of his class, but loves the variety that being at school offers. In his pre-school there are 40 kids (split into 4 classes of 10) - and within those children - there are 14 different countries represented.
Darren finished the Fall 2015 semester at UTSA, but has decided not to return to college for now. He has enlisted in the Navy. We knew he had it in his heart to join and are proud of him for making a 2yr go of college first and hope when he figures out a new direction he will go back and finish. (that's his plan anyways) He is enlisted with a ship date of Aug 9 - we are very excited for him. Please keep him in your prayers.
I was asked last summer to take over the playgroup (ages 3-5) on our compound - I declined because I was still teaching Samuel and Jonathan at home. But have taken the job now that Samuel entered his own pre-school. So Jonathan and I go every day 8:30-12 and teach his friends all of the stuff we do at home anyways. :) Jonathan loves playschool also...he likes being my helper and getting the best of of both worlds...seeing his mommy and friends everyday! I am also teaching Sunday school lessons to 2yr-6yr in our compound. I have been helping with it since we arrived, but the mom who started it moved up to teach the teenage kids so I took over. It's fun to have the little ones associate me with the one who teaches about Jesus :)
Some of our friends set their house up every Friday morning and we watch a sermom via podcast. The pastor is from The Village Church in Texas. We do worship and then watch the sermon...almost feels like a real church and makes us feel like real people. Our church hosted an Easter lunch this past Friday with about 10 families....it was nice - we had American, Colombian, French, Swedish, Korean, German and Filipino families all celebrating the resurrection together and with a taste of each of their traditions.
Samuel got the opportunity to play t-ball with a league on Aramco. We were worried about being able to get on at first as this is usually a very difficult task to accomplish once, much less twice per week for months at a time! Scott volunteered to help the league in any way and boy did they love that. He has been umpiring adult softball leagues and tournaments. But the best part is that he is the assistant coach for Samuel's t-ball team. We haven't had any issues with getting on and Samuel is quite the ball player. Poor Jonathan couldn't play in the fall, but....the coaches decided he could play in the spring. Scott is having a great time coaching both of the boys. Jonathan does very well, especially for a 3 year old. Samuel is definitely one of the top players on the team and was given the MVP award for fall season for his team, the Dhahran Dinosaurs. The boys just love t-ball. You will see some pictures below of them in hockey gear. It was a one time thing. We were able to go to a nearby compound that has an ice rink and hosts youth and adult leagues. Who knew they had they in Saudi!
Scott got to go on a weekend trip to Abu Dhabi for the Formula 1 race with a few friends. It was a great experience for him.
Scott's job is going well. He has just moved into a sales role. We are waiting to see what the likely purchase by Halliburton will bring.
Some of the pictures you will see.....went to the Al Dar Island in Bahrain - spent two separate weekend nights on the beach with 2 different sets of friends, 4 wheeling in the desert, celebrating Chinese New Year, Christmas (doesn't Santa look familiar?), Halloween, Mardi (Saudi) Gras, a few birthdays, Valentine's Day, and then our favorite game nights. There are several things that happened at Samuel's pre-school as well.
It's a busy life here in Saudi. Maybe we should take a vacation and get away...
Everyone went home after 2 weeks and the boys and I made a few more stops before heading home (to Saudi) in August. We spent a week in Germany with our new friends Dan, Katie, Alex & Gracie - they took us all around - to Disneyland Paris, Legoland in Germany and several beautiful place near their home in Germany. (They were our neighbors in Saudi for 1 year and then transferred with AirForce to Germany) We are keeping in touch...
The boys and I left Germany and headed to Texas! We spent one week with the McKees in Round Rock, celebrated Jonathan's 3rd birthday with them and then they took us to Concan to stay in a cabin at the Frio River :) The boys (all 3) think of the McKee kids as cousins so they were super excited to spend time with them. They "floated" a few feet of the river at our little campsite and played in the water non stop. We went to the Garner State Park dance - both little boys learned to ask girls to dance and how to 2 step (somewhat) - they had sooo much fun! Although...by the end of the night - I think Samuel, Jonathan & Brandt were going after the same pretty little girl (who was a great dancer)...so things got a little sticky ;) Going to have to make sure and teach them the "bro-code" next trip!
After our trip to the river we stayed at my dad's property for 3 glorious weeks! Darren was working for his grandpa so we got to spend most of those 3 weeks with him. The little boys checked on the ocean every morning for dolphins, hermit crabs, fish,boats, etc. In the evenings we watched fiddler crabs dance, ate dinner outside on the picnic table, fished with daddy, Grandpa, Uncle Teague and Tammy. We visited the beach, the community pool, library, aquarium and parks. We enjoyed a night at a baseball game when Papaw came to visit. It was overall a very relaxing time. It was such a great time that we bought the waterfront property right next to my dad! We will eventually build a 2nd home on it one day....
So the fall months sped by - the boys and I did homeschool and Scott worked. In September, we spent a few days of EID in Doha, Qatar, with friends. In November we organized an American community Thanksgiving dinner. We all cooked and gathered - there were about 80-100 people. It was a good time. We invited all the military guys to join us..for a night we felt very "American" :)
We spent Christmas in Midland and now we are back in Saudi. We came back to a week of executions - I believe there were 11 the 1st week in January. One included a popular cleric from Iran. Things didn't change much in our area...we just avoided the areas where protests were likely to happen. Other than that...things are very quiet here.
Samuel was offered a spot in the American pre -school on the US Consulate so we took it to ensure he had a place for kinder...there's a waiting list for the school - and not many good options if they are full so we didn't want to take chances. He loves it....he is ahead of his class, but loves the variety that being at school offers. In his pre-school there are 40 kids (split into 4 classes of 10) - and within those children - there are 14 different countries represented.
Darren finished the Fall 2015 semester at UTSA, but has decided not to return to college for now. He has enlisted in the Navy. We knew he had it in his heart to join and are proud of him for making a 2yr go of college first and hope when he figures out a new direction he will go back and finish. (that's his plan anyways) He is enlisted with a ship date of Aug 9 - we are very excited for him. Please keep him in your prayers.
I was asked last summer to take over the playgroup (ages 3-5) on our compound - I declined because I was still teaching Samuel and Jonathan at home. But have taken the job now that Samuel entered his own pre-school. So Jonathan and I go every day 8:30-12 and teach his friends all of the stuff we do at home anyways. :) Jonathan loves playschool also...he likes being my helper and getting the best of of both worlds...seeing his mommy and friends everyday! I am also teaching Sunday school lessons to 2yr-6yr in our compound. I have been helping with it since we arrived, but the mom who started it moved up to teach the teenage kids so I took over. It's fun to have the little ones associate me with the one who teaches about Jesus :)
Some of our friends set their house up every Friday morning and we watch a sermom via podcast. The pastor is from The Village Church in Texas. We do worship and then watch the sermon...almost feels like a real church and makes us feel like real people. Our church hosted an Easter lunch this past Friday with about 10 families....it was nice - we had American, Colombian, French, Swedish, Korean, German and Filipino families all celebrating the resurrection together and with a taste of each of their traditions.
Samuel got the opportunity to play t-ball with a league on Aramco. We were worried about being able to get on at first as this is usually a very difficult task to accomplish once, much less twice per week for months at a time! Scott volunteered to help the league in any way and boy did they love that. He has been umpiring adult softball leagues and tournaments. But the best part is that he is the assistant coach for Samuel's t-ball team. We haven't had any issues with getting on and Samuel is quite the ball player. Poor Jonathan couldn't play in the fall, but....the coaches decided he could play in the spring. Scott is having a great time coaching both of the boys. Jonathan does very well, especially for a 3 year old. Samuel is definitely one of the top players on the team and was given the MVP award for fall season for his team, the Dhahran Dinosaurs. The boys just love t-ball. You will see some pictures below of them in hockey gear. It was a one time thing. We were able to go to a nearby compound that has an ice rink and hosts youth and adult leagues. Who knew they had they in Saudi!
Scott got to go on a weekend trip to Abu Dhabi for the Formula 1 race with a few friends. It was a great experience for him.
Scott's job is going well. He has just moved into a sales role. We are waiting to see what the likely purchase by Halliburton will bring.
Some of the pictures you will see.....went to the Al Dar Island in Bahrain - spent two separate weekend nights on the beach with 2 different sets of friends, 4 wheeling in the desert, celebrating Chinese New Year, Christmas (doesn't Santa look familiar?), Halloween, Mardi (Saudi) Gras, a few birthdays, Valentine's Day, and then our favorite game nights. There are several things that happened at Samuel's pre-school as well.
It's a busy life here in Saudi. Maybe we should take a vacation and get away...
