Wanna Buy a house?

So we've moved on, said goodbye to -20 degree winters, evergreens, whales, and Mt. McKinley. We now embrace 60-70 degree winters, palm trees, camels (not literally), and sand dunes in our new home, Udhailiyah, Saudi Arabia.

Overall, we are adjusting well. We traded this...

for this...

...and this

for this...

I'm not sure what decade this is from, but it's stunning, isn't it?

The good news is we can change out anything we don't like, including light fixtures, but have to put it back to original condition when we leave. The house was re-tiled completely and new carpet was put in the bedrooms for us. We also got a new lawn put in a couple of days after our arrival. We won't have our things for several months, so it feels like we are on permanent vacation... in a college dorm with dorm-like furniture.

As for the people... we are in the friendliest community. They literally offered the clothes off their backs when the boys' luggage didn't make it. We have been given bikes to use until ours arrive, as well as a camera lens when mine locked up, a freezer stocked with dinners so grocery shopping with 3 boys (no Fred Meyer Play land) and no car wouldn't be a burden. The list goes on and on.

We doubled the attendance in Sacrament meeting last week in the local branch. However, this week we plan on taking the bus to Dhahran so the boys can attend Primary and the Sacrament table won't be close enough to be Ethan's personal snack bar.

We are exactly 12 hours' time difference from Alaska. Luckily, it only took the boys two days to adjust to the time change.

The drinkable water here is called "Sweet Water." It tastes more like cardboard to me, so I'll be lugging bottled water home just like on my mission.

Stay tuned for more of our Arabian adventures as they unfold.