They're here!

Steve, Sarah, Jack & I went to pick Mom & Dad up in Bahrain Wednesday night. Anna stayed with Aunt Ceci as we knew it would be a late night. I thought poor Sarah was going to burst - she actually screamed in the parking lot with excitement as we parked to go in the airport. Unfortunately, their flight was delayed two hours...when they finally walked out, we were all so excited to see each other! We went back into Saudi Arabia with no traffic & were in bed by 1:30 a.m.

We have a tradition here to put up a welcome sign for all family (mostly for returning students, but for extended family, too) - it's neat to see them on everyone's garage door so you know if their kids are home from boarding school and/or college. Usually it's a hand made sign that says, "Welcome home so and so". Keeping tradition, I asked Cheri if she could help me with a banner for Mom & Dad Rebl and this is what my creative & talented sister came up with:

Gotta love the perks of having a Graphic Designing sister! Thanks, Cheri!

The next day, there was a bus trip to Hofuf. Because the bus trips are far & few between and because I thought it would show them some interesting things about Saudi, we asked Mom & Dad if they would be up for a tour the first day we were here. They decided to go for it. So, we all woke up at 6:00am (after only 4 1/2 hours of sleep!) to board a bus at 6:30am and off we went. Once again my gracious sister offered to watch Anna for the day (Aunt Ceci rocks!!!) After 2.5 hours of driving, we get to a hotel for a bathroom break and juice/coffee. We then leave to see a museum, an old fort and do some antique shopping. We returned to the hotel for a delicious buffet lunch and then head out to a pottery center:

After this we went to explore caves, see ruins of a 1200 year old mosque and stopped by some hot springs. We all really loved the caves - especially the kids:

It was a very long day - Mom, Dad & the kids did great. By being out touring all day, I think they avoided getting jet lag! We finally pulled into RT at 8:30pm. Cheri kept Anna up so Mom & Dad could finally see her! It took less than an hour for her to warm up to her Pop Pop and by the next morning she was hugging Grandmom and making sure they got to sit next to eachother in the golfcart:)

This morning (Day #2) we all woke up from a good night's sleep and happy that we didn't have to do anything with such a busy day yesterday. We had breakfast at the golf shack and then while Steve & Dad went to the Dammam airport to pick up 2 pieces of luggage that were delayed, Mom & I did some touring around town. When Steve & Dad returned, they went to play a couple of holes and then we had shwarma on our back patio for dinner- yum! Mom & Dad seemed to enjoy them - so they've been officially initiated and we'll let them stay:)

I'll try to update our blog more often so you can follow and see how their trip is going. I have to say - it's so weird to see them here! Everything seems normal when we're hanging out, and then when I see this Saudi backdrop behind them, I have to do a double take! Tune in for more as we go along!