Making Tracks

The boys participated in their first ever elementary track meet. It's for children ages 1 to 10 and is put on by the middle school students as a service project for the community. Because all the residents here are employed and there are gardeners, housekeepers, maintenance workers etc., we have to come up with different ways to give the youth opportunities to serve within the community.

Chris and I have been brainstorming ways to teach the boys about service, but it is difficult because many of the normal things we would do aren't needs here on camp, or would take away employment from someone who desperately needs it. Maybe we can take cupcakes to the security guards?

Neither of the boys knew what a track meet was before hand. It didn't take long for them to figure out that this was AWESOME!

It is frightening how much Ethan and I look the same at this age. My hair was a little bit longer but the build and facial expressions are identical.

The boys' favorite ended up being the obstacle course.

I love this action shot!

After the kids were divided up by age they spent about 15 minutes at each rotation.

This was the first year they had the hammer throw.

Most of the kids just kept hitting themselves while trying this... not Ethan! He was a pro. In fact, he kept weaseling extra turns.

There were also long jump, frisbee, and tennis ball throw events. The evening ended with the 100 and 200 meter sprints.

After the one and two year olds went they backed up the starting line for the threes and fours.

Ethan was so cute running once he understood what was going on.

Zach did great running. He did both the 100 and 200.

I was super proud of him for finishing the 200...

and so was Ethan...

who was cheering and waiting for him at the finish line.

Debt Free @ 33

The closing for our house was last Thursday. The only thing is that no one told us. Last we'd heard, the closing would be delayed a few days so we were in standby mode with our fingers crossed. Then the next thing we knew my mom was calling asking where to deposit the check. It's bittersweet. We loved that house and the precious memories were made there.

We feel extremely blessed and pray things continue to go well here. We are in the process of buying one of these:

And what a process it is! In the states when you pay cash you can drive home the same day. Here it takes an average of 5 visits to complete the endless paperwork and paying cash is the only option. They even need a bunch of my info and women can't even drive here. I don't get it.

We chose the Armada because we need a LOT of metal around us (we've passed some gnarly accidents) and four wheel drive and space for all those car seats.

Once we get wheels we plan to explore more-- at least, as much as we can between the 6 prayers 20 to 40 minutes in length that shut everything down. Things also remain closed after the noon prayer until around 4:00 pm. You must have a specific plan of attack to get things done and be relaxed enough to hang out and wait, because the plan never goes as desired. Add in a baby that wants to nurse every 4 hours and a busy 3 year old and you wonder how anything will get done.

We spent last Saturday shopping in Kobar. We had errands all over town and had to visit the American Consulate. Without a car, and trying to work around all the above mentioned chaos, it was a busy day. We hired a driver for the day and set out. I finally broke down and bought an Abaya to wear in public places. I was tired of getting stared at for not having one on. I was only harassed once by the religious police for not wearing one the night before. It is against the law for them to approach or speak to women so as he passed me he said, "Abaya, please, Abaya."

Chris also decided to do a century ride in Dhahran last Friday morning. It went really well considering he has had very little time in the saddle since arriving. There are some other "roadies" in our ward and they invited us to stay the weekend with them. We had great hospitality, great food, and a great long weekend.

Ethan Antics

Good morning Ethan!

This was his first choice of attire for the day.

Not much later followed by this. We asked him to go get some underwear on and get dressed. He really took the undies to heart.

This is actually the 2nd time he has done something like this. However, last time he had about 4 pairs of undies on each arm and looked like the Chiquita Banana Lady with the puffy sleeves.

By the end of the morning he was wearing this Tigger swing a friend gave us.

He had a very busy 2 hours.

When Ethan is not a fireman he often thinks he's a pirate. Lately he keeps swashbuckling from the curtains. We try and deter him from this, especially when we are in other people's homes. Yesterday however, what we said would happen finally happened in our master bedroom.

After the initial shock he got up and said, "It's ok, Mom. We can fix this with some tape."

I explained that wasn't going to work this time. I think this has cured him. With a bit of work I was able to restore the curtain rods and oh-so-lovely curtains back to working condition.

I am so looking forward to having our own things and make this place a bit less dorm room and a lot more homey.

Orange Haze

We are stuck inside today. It has been windy off and on during our first month but today is our first real sand storm. We're not going anywhere and appointments are being cancelled. School is still in, but if you don't have to go out it's best to stay inside.

Most mornings I wake up to this.

Last Wednesday we woke up to this. It looks like a foggy morning but instead it was dust and sand.

Once the wind died down it took another day and a half for all the dust to finally settle. We started to see blue sky again Friday afternoon.

The boys and I had an inside day full of movies, Legos both actual and virtual, and extended story time. Later that night I found the bathtub full of sand. This was way more than I find after bathing the boys but it was our shower and not theirs. Chris had rinsed the bike helmet he had worn to work during the storm and the sand inside completely covered the bottom of the tub.

I just left the natural disaster mecca of Alaska-- volcanoes, earthquakes, blizzards, avalanches, chinooks, and tsunamis (did I forget anything?) for nature's most violent and unpredictable phenomena that occurs just outside the real Mecca.

At least ours wasn't as bad as this.

A wall of sand approaching in Iraq

Yeah, if I saw that coming I would seriously want to hightail it outta there. Just looking at it makes me feel like I'm suffocating.

Police Escort

On our bus ride to church we had to pull over. At first I thought it was an accident because I saw a bunch of police cars with lights flashing. As we got closer it was the police escorting a camel caravan across the highway. I had no idea they got such service.

On another note it happened! Chris finally saw the light. I am not sure if it was my completely frazzled demeanor or the fact that he had to sweep and mop the entire house when I just couldn't do it all. After he was done he came to me and said, "I think we should get a houseboy." All along he has been concerned that the boys will grow up helpless slobs if they don't learn to clean the house themselves. Instead I get to constantly pick up after them. In Alaska I was able to keep up with the two at home and lots of babysitters. Here, I have three boys 24-7. Chris and I have had a sitter twice. So they don't give me much time to get the housework done and my personality is such that I like it clean and organized. Right now the boys aren't much help, no matter what the job. They will still have responsibilities such as their room and toys. Golum (yes, that's his name) is helping me, not them. Some house boys do everything from laundry and grocery shopping to cleaning. Ours only waters our lawn and cleans the bathrooms, floors, and kitchen.

People keep asking how Chris' job is going. It is definitely a different work culture than he is used to. He describes it like this: "I feel like a chef who goes in to cook a meal and someone has completely rearranged everything in the kitchen. I can still cook but don't know where anything is or how to be efficient."  After a month now things are somewhat better and somewhat more complicated. Although some things have taken him by surprise most of this would be the same no matter what the new job is. There is always a learning curve and a time where you feel inept until you understand the system.

It's A Miracle

I knew they could do it!

They can play Legos nicely together.

I am thrilled! I thought this Lego thing was a fluke, but it has been several days now, and the Lego Vault is now the Lego room, and they will play in there together for a while. It helps that all the sets are destroyed and combined so Zach is not constantly freaking out about his broken sets.

They also like to rock out together.

We were visiting the Johnson family and as soon as Ethan saw the Wii he got excited and yelled, "I wanna play rock band!" He LOVES to play the drums and guitar and even takes a turn singing. Maybe one of these days we'll even turn it on.

A few more Zach funnies:

Last night after they had been in bed and had the usual 2-3 call backs Zach starts calling for me again. I called back asking what he needed and he responded, "I don't know. It could be anything."

Then this morning he woke up and came into the kitchen saying, "This is the worst day of my life... because I know I 'm going to have to eat that disgusting dinner again as leftovers tonight."

3 Months and Counting

My Dream Boy slept through the night for the first time. He has been an excellent sleeper since day one but this morning I had to wake him up because I was about to burst.

These smiles just melt you when you walk into his line of site.

People can't help but comment about what a good baby he is. They are absolutely right. The Lord blessed us with this sweet angel at the most stressful time in our lives. If he had been needy in any way I would not have come out sane after this international move.

I know that I adored all my babies as much as Graham but this kid has something special and we all can feel it. The boys really love him and enjoy making him smile and laugh.

We can only hope the brotherly love will continue once he starts moving.

So Long Farewell

We got a call and urgent emails on January 30th about an offer on our house. We countered it and they countered back, which we accepted. The home inspection went well and we are looking to close around February 20th. We are completely shocked that the house was only on the market 30 days and that we got what we wanted for it. We weren't sure how things would go with the market as it is, and the other houses in the neighborhood, although different than ours, had been on the market for more than a year before they sold. We feel utterly and totally and undeniably BLESSED!

I am so missing this!

The apology letter we get at the beginning of each month makes not having a super nice home manageable. Spending more family time together is priceless.

Rambling Zach & A Crush

Just a few funny things Zach has said recently:

During one of our Friday "Meal with a Member Family" we were discussing foreign languages and places we'd lived. Zach piped in, "My Grandpa is Canadian and I can understand him just fine."

My sister Lauren made a T-shirt about my dad called Where's Grandpa Slocombe. The list is so long is takes up the entire front of the shirt. Zach was wearing his the other night and had to really lift it up out of the way to use the restroom before bed. Chris said, "It's kind of a long shirt." Zach responded, "That's because Grandpa has a lot of places to be."

After the cultural evening Zach was running around with some friends and one he especially likes named Anyah. We told him it was time to go and he, putting his foot down, said, "I will not go until you tell me that I can marry Anyah when I grow up." "Sure thing buddy. Let's go," I said. "Ok mom."

Last night while getting ready for bed he said, "Mom sometimes I think you're a complete idiot... but I would never tell you that."

We were at the library today and saw a whole section of CDs about teaching English to Arabic speaking children. After we'd left Zach asked if there were discs that teach children Arabic. He said he'd like to learn Arabic so that if he speaks to someone in English and they don't understand him he could speak to them in Arabic instead.

I cut the boys hair yesterday and I only know one style. This morning Zach very sweetly said, "Ethan I REALLY like your new haircut." I told him that was good because that's exactly what his hair looks like. "Great mom, now everyone will think we're twins."

Ethan had a hard time not being old enough to join the Jr. Tennis club. So I left Zach and he was to come home with the neighbors. When I got home from running Zach told me he walked Nyah (our neighbor's daughter) up the hill to her house and then came home. I thought that was a little strange because she lives further away. Later I found out after tennis he and Nyah got their snack and walked home together without telling her mom. She was a bit frantic looking for them. What a gentleman to make sure she made it home safely in the dark. We only live two blocks from the courts and there is no danger other than falling in a decorative fountain or getting run over by a golf cart. He still got the tell-an-adult-where-you're-going lecture.

Apparently during last park day Anyah and Zach had a falling out. He has been upset about it all week. Today he got himself dressed for park day in his what he calls his "Brown Picture Shirt". He said he wanted to look nice for Anyah. I tried to help him understand it's who you are and not what you wear that is important, but looking nice in general is a good thing. Whether it was his inner rico suave or outer I'm not sure, but things are back to normal. I know what it looks like but they were just telling secrets.

The Abaya is a Facade for Modesty

The thought behind the Abaya is modesty. However, as I have done window shopping at the malls here, the underclothes advertised are anything but modest. The women here dress to impress each other because they can only be seen by each other and immediate family. So if I were in need of clothing while here there is the problem of immodesty and they don't have fitting rooms. If you are like me you have to try on at least 10 outfits before you find something you like and fits well. They do occasionally put fitting rooms in the women's bathrooms. However, the bathrooms are small lakes because they hose themselves off after using the restroom and wash up for prayer time. It is a public restroom nightmare personified here. Once we get a car we will do a desert pit stop before heading into the city.

To be respectful, some have said to wear the Abaya out in public but I don't have to cover my head. Some Westerns here never worn one but just dress extremely modest-- i.e. long sleeves in the dead of summer. I have gone out twice modestly dressed and gotten a lot of stares, and once in the Abaya that I borrowed. I haven't decided which I'll wear: shorts and tees with the Abaya in the summer, or long pants and long sleeves. There are also religious police who enforce the laws but they are not supposed to approach and talk with us. The only foreigners are workers or those Muslims who are making their once in a life time pilgrimage to Mecca.

A couple of observations:

Juice: They have the most amazing, thick, yummy juice here. I did not buy juice (empty calories) for the boys at home, but here when you see things like mango, cherry raspberry, extra thick strawberry, kiwi lime, pear, or pomegranate lime juice you just have to try it. So far we have not been disappointed.

Dry Skin: In Alaska my skin was ALWAYS dry. In the winter my fingers were always cracking and bleeding. I thought it would be ten times worse here. Strangely enough my hands are better. My face is still dry and only gets really bad when we have sandstorms.

Diversity: We went to a Festival of Culture put on by the school last week. There were displays from all over the world. Everyone wore costumes from their home countries. The best part were the tables after tables of food from each country. We tried food from Egypt, Jordan, Philippines, Mexico, Canada (how exotic!), India, Pakistan, Venezuela and others. It was awesome because unless you visit those respective countries you don't often get to try something authentic. At home things were often Americanized. Poor Graham does not like my adventures in eating. Often after I am adventurous in eating he pays the price the next day. There are so many spices here he is not used to. I decided I need to stick with the mild things and next year I can really experience all the curries I have wanted to try.