Happy Halloween!

This year for Halloween, Sarah was a 'Diva', Jack was 'Captain Jack Sparrow' and Anna a 'Black Cat'. I knew that our shipment wouldn't make it before Halloween, so I sent their costumes in our Air Freight box. There was a small chance that the costumes would be "misplaced" by customs, but I was thrilled when all 3 costumes made it!

Anna & I celebrated early as our Mom & Tots class had a Halloween Party one week before Halloween. Another mom & I set up an area in the room for our group to take pictures.

Halloween is pretty big here as it's the only non-religious and non-patriotic holiday us Americans celebrate - so we can decorate to our hearts content - it figures that its my least favorite holiday. Oh well, you can't win them all. It has been fun, because for some kids, this is their first Halloween as they are Australian, Indian, Nigerian, etc. On the morning of Halloween, we had a school parade and I brought Anna dressed up in her costume to see Sarah & Jack. Anna & I then went with them to their classrooms for their Halloween Parties.

Steve couldn't find anything to dress up in for the school parade, so he decided he would wear one of Sarah's wigs just to get in the spirit. I didn't see him in the parade, but I did notice the school mascot who led the parade was very cute....wait a second...I know those buns! Lo and behold, Steve was "Bob" our school mascot:) We didn't tell the kids while we were at school, but when they found out later that afternoon, Steve was such the celebrity - Sarah kept hanging on him giggling.

Halloween night, Cheri came up. Steve took Sarah, Jack and a couple of their friends trick or treating while Cheri & I took Anna in the golf cart to some houses. I then met up with Sarah & her friend and "drove" them around a little bit. I saw Jack's 8 yr. old Indian friend and asked him if he liked Halloween since I knew this was his first one. He replied, "It's okay, but my feet hurt from walking so much and I'm too tired!" So, in the golf cart he came with us - these kids are so spoiled!

We had a great night and the kids really enjoyed themselves. By the end of the night, Anna was saying, "Twick or Tweeeeet!"

Milestone for Anna

Well, we finally did it - we had Anna's first haircut. I've been wanting to get it trimmed for a couple of months now, but just kept procrastinating. I think because I know this is one of many things that will now make her a big girl and not a baby anymore. Anna did great. She sat by herself on a booster seat and read a book while her hair was cut and didn't cry until the very end. Once she cried, I bribed her with a secret weapon: a lollipop. Believe it or not, her hair looks full in the back, now! No more mini-mullet here:)









Doesn't she look like she's thinking, " Excuuuse me, I'm trying to read here."

Success - a happy baby girl with a clean cut!

MARCO....POLO!

Marco Polo left Venice in 1271 to take a little trip with his father and uncle. Upon leaving the city quite literally on a mission from God they were not heard from again...for 24 years. Can you imagine? Everyone in Venice took them for dead. Their insurance policies were collected upon. Marco's family divided up his vast collection of pool toys for we all know that is his true claim to fame. However after over 24 years on the road touring the likes of China and Southeast Asia they came riding into town (or boating I guess - it was Venice) like nothing out of the ordinary happened. I'm guessing his family was overjoyed at first and then just really ticked off that he did not write. He of course blamed everything on the Great Khan of China but his mom wasn't buying it and...well I digress.

You see we have been missing things for a long time as well. We have been in Saudi for no where near 24 years. In fact we have been here just over 2 months. However things that we were quite accustomed to back home up and disappeared on us as well. If you go back to the blog I wrote on moving day you will see pictures of all of our stuff being loaded onto a large truck and hauled away. That was on the 15th of August. We haven't seen our stuff since. Over two months now. Rumor has it we may actually get it back sometime next month. That being said something did come back to us yesterday. It may seem trivial to you but to us it was a big deal. In fact it made the entire family run outside - with a camera. What could be soooooo exciting? Well it has been exactly 63 days since we have seen a cloud. Not one. One of the perks of living and working for Aramco is that everyone in the family gets to come home for lunch each day for an hour. This inlcudes the school kids. It is great. Yesterday as we left to go back to school we walked out front and sure enough there it was. A big old cumulus cloud. We were so excited we took a picture. Ok, I was so excited I took a picture. Sarah thought I was just wierd. Deep down I am a weather dork. I love big thunderstorms and snow storms. Needless to say I have been quite literally high and dry as far as weather is concerned. But it is changing! The temperature is dropping everyday and it is actually quite tolerable now. I can't wait for winter. Highs in the 70's and nice cool evenings. As for old Marco Polo he was grounded from the pool for a month. He would sneak out and swim with his friends anyway. His mom would scream his first name from inside the house - MARCO! And his friends would all reply - POLO! Of course the rest is history. Ba dumt dumt.

Eid Mubarak!

Happy Eid everyone. It has been a long month but we can finally say that Ramadan is behind us. We can now drink and eat in public from sun up until sun down without looking like the ugly Americans. Businesses will now return to normal working hours and things will generally get back into a normal flow. Example: We purchased a 2001 Suburban early last week. I was able to pick up the vehicle but the registration and insurance paperwork won't be ready until after Ramadan ends. I have included pictures of our current toys below. So we are now on the last day of a 5 day weekend. Eid marks the end of Ramadan and is the biggest holiday of the year for Muslims. This occured two days ago however everthing is still closed and won't open back up until tomorrow.

The five day weekend has been a blast. A lot of people leave for exotic trips over this break. Some of this excursions include Sri Lanka, Sharm el Sheik (Egypt), Hedra (Greece), scuba diving in the Red Sea off the west coast of Saudi, Dubai, and of course good old Bahrain. We opted to stick around. The highlight of the weekend was a beach party thrown by Marie, Cheri and a friend from work, Tamara. We invited people from RT and Dhahran and ended up having close to 60 people show up for an afternoon of swimming and BBQ on the beach. The party lasted until well after dark and everyone had a great time - epecially me.

The other big news of the weekend I mentioned above is that we are no longer confined to driving the golf cart around camp. We are now the proud owners of a big honkin' 2001 Chevy Suburban! I purchased it from a company down south on the way to Dhahran. Aramco leases most all of it's vehicles for 2 or 3 year terms. When they turn them back in, you can go and buy them used. I got this at a great price with only 37,000 kilometers on it. It is a beast. I think it may have been used to inspect the oil lines out in the desert because it came with sand tires on it which I have to replace. The company I purchased it from cleaned up the engine and replaced filters, belts, fluids and jacked up the A/C. They also cleaned out the inside. This should last me a long time.

We also have recently aquired a motorbike. I can't call it a motorcylce because it is too small. However is it bigger then a scooter and therefore is called a motorbike. It is not actually ours. Cheri has hooked up with a group of women here in RT who all ride scooters. They formed a little biker group called the "Hooters on Scooters" and drive around for fun once a week or so. So Cheri picked up this bike and keeps it in our garage. We get to use it whenever we want.

Of course there is also the golf cart. A 2004 Club Car that has been a life saver for us for the past month. I wish I could say it has done the same for my golf game but it hasn't.

Finally, I can start the count down to Bahrain. We were supposed to go this weekend but didn't have the car lined up. So then we were going to go this coming weekend but due to Eid I don't have the paperwork on the car in hand yet and I need the registration to get through customs going accross the causeway. Now we are looking at 3 weekends out until we can go. That means that in exactly 17 days we will make our way out of kingdom for the first time. I have an education conference in Bahrain that weekend so the district is sending us for one night and we decided to extend it to two nights. I can't wait. I was driving the golf cart home from golf yesterday all hot and thristy and I found myself daydreaming about a tall cold beer. Not a Sam Adams or Stella or some high end beer either. I was dreaming of a Miller Lite! Oh lord I can't wait. 17 days baby. 17 days.

Jack turns 7!

We had another birthday in our family this past month; Jack turned 7. I know everyone always says it goes so fast, but it really does! I'm working on Jack's baby book right now and can hardly remember when he was this little chubbable, loveable baby Jack. He's still loveable but not so chubbable anymore. He's gotten so tall and lean, it's amazing how he's tranformed into this little boy.

I love the way our little boy still likes to cuddle (especially since I know it won't last forever). I love his soft squishy cheeks and his light blue/green eyes. I love the way he dances and strikes an Elvis pose here and there (compliments of his father!). I love the belly laughs that come out of him when he watches Tom & Jerry cartoons. I love the way when Anna cries for us, he picks her up like a sack of potatoes and delivers her to either Steve or I to comfort her. I love the way he sounds so serious when he asks Steve questions about Star Wars. I love the way he likes to wear 'handsome shirts' (any shirt with a collar) when he thinks we're going somewhere special or just wants to look nice. I love the way when we arrived here he asked me, "Mom, how do you say toilet in Arabic?", I replied, "Hammam." "Mom?", Jack asked, "Yes", I replied. "I have to go to the hammam.":) I also love the way he reads - I don't know if it's because it's new for him this past year, but its so cute to see him concentrate on words and be a reader - he's so grown up.

We love our little boy - Happy Birthday, Jackaroni!

Happy Birthday, Anna!

Our little Anna turned 2 this past month. I can hardly believe it. I know this sounds really mushy, but she really has brought so much joy to our family and we all just love her to pieces!

I love every little dimple on her. I love that her hair still hasn't grown in so it makes her still look like a little baby. I love the way she's learning new words every week. Her newest is, "Oh rats!" when she drops something. I love the way when I say, "Okay Anna, time to change your diaper.", she runs and hides in the same spot everytime (in Sarah's closet) and then squeals with delight when I find her.
I love the way she insists on wearing her obnoxious flowered sunglasses when we drive in the golf cart....even at night:) I love all of her girly clothes (all mostly from the Sarah/Julia/Becca & Lauren collection:) I love the way she smells after a bath. But most of all, I love her smile (the one where her nose squinches up).

Happy Birthday Anna!

Mommy, Daddy, Sarah & Jack love you so much!

The DMV Part II

After six trips into town I am proud to say I can legally drive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia! The last trip was the smoothest. So here is my picture. You are not allowed to smile when you get your picture taken. I blacked out the important numbers for security sake. Not that any of you can read arabic.