home again

...for almost a week now!

The reason I haven't posted is that I am completely overwhelmed with what to write. Our trip was amazing. It was so good to go back, see our friends there, speak some arabic, show our friends that came with us the towns and people we love so much, and finally get some answers on how to open up a tourism company in Muscat! It makes me want to move back immediately.

So yes, it was great. Sayla did amazing on the trip and just went with the flow...LOTS of naps in the car seat and being kissed and passed around by my friends, but she loved the attention. Keadryn also had a wonderful time with family. They played a lot, went to the zoo (more than once), the museum, the park, playgroup...and tons more. She is having some serious separation anxiety now, but hopefully as we get back into our daily routine she will get better.

I have been going through the 1700 pictures and have narrowed it down to 800 I would like to share. haha. Well, I will be doing a few posts with some more pictures and details of the trip, but here are a few of my favorites for now.

awww...stacy and mark got engaged.

just a few pics

we've been here a week and are still having a great time. Sayla had finally switched her days and nights to the new time schedule and that has made all the difference for us being able to adjust as well. Our friends from Lubbock were suppose to join us today, but weather in Dallas made them miss their flight in Atlanta...so they will be here 27 hours later than anticipated. Yuck. I guess it is a good intro to this area of the world for them though, as much as you plan, things always go different than the schedule and you just have to go with it. :)

anyway- here are just a few pics of our time here so far:

...and the last one is for kead...she has some pants with apples on them and so we always sing "her apple bottom jeans and her boots with the furrrr" to her...so the sign made me think of her. :)

collateral

good thing we left keadryn in the states...or we might not have come back!

we are LOVING being here. I cried when we got off the airplane and I saw a group of men in their white robes and red head coverings. a good cry. an "I feel like I am home" cry.

Next in order we ate at Nandos, our favorite restaraunt in Dubai! It's actually a bristish chain, but we have only ever eaten at them in the arabian peninsula, so they will always remind us of here. We thought of our friends that use to live here, Kevin and Misty, the entire time since we always use to eat Nandos with them and the restaurnt is just a couple blocks from their old house. This place just doesn't seem the same without them here.

This morning we went to the mall of the emirates and people watched. I LOVE people watching in Dubai. It seems like no two people are from the same country and the hodge podge mixture of so many cultures (sometimes very very different cultures) is SO interesting to watch.

like I said...good thing we left kead in denver. I love being here so much, but I miss her like crazy and will be sure to get back on that airplane to see her little mischeivious face in a couple weeks!

...and we're off!

10 things we are looking forward to doing in the middle east:

1) seeing our local friends
2) eating at Abu Halibs...our favorite middle eastern place
3) going to the beach
4) hanging out with Jon and Vic
5) speaking arabic
6) getting to finally show chase and britt what we have been talking about for almost a year!
7) getting to spend some one-on-one time with sayla
8) finally getting to tour Sultan Qaboos Mosque (we have been kicked out twice)
9) buying a new rug
10) starting to meet with people about visas for our return

5 things we are not looking forward to

1) being away from kead
2) the heat
3) 24+ hours of travel with little sayla
4) smoking being allowed indoors
5)...its a LONG time to be away from kead

can't wait to come back with lots of stories and pictures. be praying for safe travels and be praying that kead does well for two weeks in denver!

twentyfive random things

in no particular order:

1. I love and I mean really really love cheesy dance movies. Watch all the special features kind of love.
   
2. I hate sponges. The way they smell after a day makes me gag.
   
3. I happen to have a really sensitive nose, which has been trouble in more than one market place while traveling overseas.
4. Drew and I met on a blind date. One of my best friends nagged me for a year to meet some guy who was "perfect for me" I gave in and told her I would meet him...more to get her off my back than anything. Turns out, she knows me pretty well.
5. We got engaged 6 months later...and married, on the beach, 5 months after that.
6. I loved being in language school. Most people called it a necessary evil, but I would be a full time language student if someone would pay for it.
7. My love of language learning dubs me a "language nerd" but (as you can clearly see) I don't give a flip about grammar, and don't really care for literature or poetry. I just love the language aquistion part.
   
8. keadryn was born in the U.A.E.
9. sayla was a "surprise"...a good one though. :)
10. I love ramen noodles and could eat them at least twice a week.
11. I LOVE cold weather. mmmm... waking up to a cloudy sky makes my heart flutter.
12. I started college as a theater major...haha. I really didn't know much about myself.
13. my cell phone is always either: a) lost b)dead c) not in earshot. It drives my sisters and mom crazy.
14. I can't wait to move back to the Middle East...eventhough its really hot there and there is not winter.
15. I cry everytime a dad dies in a movie. Thus, I sob uncontrolably at the movie Armageddon. Once I convinced Drew to watch it with me. Then I cried for hours. Never again, he says.
    
16. Care packages in the mail make me giddy.
17. I love all things crafty.
18. There are few movies that I can watch more than once. very very few... but for some reason I could watch Lord of the Rings (extended version, please), Knotting Hill, and Sweet Home Alabama over and over again.
19. I hate bugs that bite. Lots of mosquitos outside is a perfectably good reason to call of a camping trip.
20. But I also love to fish, so good fishing can offset bad mosquitos and keep a camping trip alive. It's a delicate balance, really.
21. I use to consider myself laid back...until I met drew... and now I think I am super tightly wound.
22. I am a very particular sleeper. All doors must be shut, a fan (or some noise maker) must be on and no bright lights anywhere. Once I asked Drew why it didn't bug him for there to be a light shining while he slept and he said "cause I sleep with my eyes closed."...he has a point.
23. I wish I could clean like my mom. She is amazing. One time she came and helped me clean my house. She cleaned my bathroom (which I thought was clean...) for an HOUR! Somehow I missed out on those skills.
24. I love preschoolers.
25. I'm a gypsy at heart and every 2 years get really antsy to move. It's getting to be that time, but this time I am re-doing a room in our house to try to appease my gypsy spirit.
    

giving up target

...for lent, that is. We always give up something for lent with drew's family. Some in the past have been chocolate, the snooze button on the alarm, carbonated drinks, fast food...

This year, for me, it's Target. Man, am I a consumer. I can go into a store (Target being the main culprit) with two things on my list and somehow leave the store 30 minutes later with bags of stuff that I convince myself that I really need.

We have always valued living simply, and living below our means so that we can give to those who don't have, but I have to confess that we have done a pretty awful job of it since being back in the States. I have somehow bought into the lies of always needing more to be happy, whether that be more gadgets to make daily tasks less time consuming, more clothes, more baby products, more food, more entertainment...more more more.

I hope that in this little break from my number one favorite store to peruse and spend money in, we will come back to the values of living simply, and giving much.

what a saturday should be

Both girls were in their jammies until noon. When I finally dressed Kead (Sayla is still in her jammies) she was wearing blue athletic pants and a cute matching blue shirt (matching being the key word...). Then she found her crocks and wanted to put them on, so we did. Then she wanted to go outside, so we grabbed the first jacket I saw, which happened to be pink leopard print. Then she stole Sayla's hat. And here's the combo:

We haven't had a lazy-wear-whatever-cause-we-aren't-going-anywhere-saturday in...well... 2009. Today though, we are doing a whole lot of nothing and it is fabulous. Drew is smoking some brisket and doing yard work, I am catching up on blogs, the girls are both napping. glorious.

i wanna be a cowboy

I don't usually have feelings of wishing I was a cowboy or part of cowboy culture(unlike my sister, keje). Nor do I usually post links...but this video of a friend of ours reciting a cowboy poem really makes me want to go ride a horse or punch cattle or whatever cowboys say. :)

check it out here

waiting for my niece

that's right...I'm going to be an aunt again soon. Drew's sister, Kate, is having a little girl at the end of April, so I will finally get to spoil a little niece with froofy bows, skirts, and all the fun little girl projects that we have found online (I know I have girls...but it is just funner to spoil a niece!)

anyway- this weekend we took a quick flight to the Big D (thanks granny and pops!) for a shower for the little peanut..."little" is used lightly here. Mama is 6'3" and Daddy is 6'9" so the baby doesn't have much of a shot at being a teensy. Drew says the WNBA is going to be at the birth to sign her. :)

Kate on the other hand is still TINY, I mean there is no way she looks 8 months pregnant. She is A-dor-a-ble pregnant! She has the pregnant glow and everything.

It was a great time and I can't wait to meet the little girl! (thanks carrie for the great pictures!)

this is cute because daddy's family owns a watermelon farm.

see? isn't she lovely?!

new resolution

I have been whining about getting a "real" camera for awhile now. I have also been whining about how I need to take some photography classes. In my head, until I do those two things I cannot take a "real" picture. :) But after reading an article about loving the camera you have and seeing this blog by a woman that has the same camera as me (isn't she amazing?!) I resolve to:

a) quit complaining
b) read my camera manual
c) try to start learning from some great resources online. These are the ones I like so far for someone who is just starting out and has no experience what-so-ever:

fruit on the vines- photo tips series has been really helpful
digital photography school- tips for beginners and beyond
pioneer woman photography she illustrates points with lots of picture examples. Good for us hands-on-learning types.

hopefully someday I will still be able to get in some classes and such, but I am looking forward to really learning how to use (and love) the camera I have now.

(I have this one, by the way)

showing burke some love

There are times I know that I should stop Keadryn, but I am just so amused by what she is doing I wait and let it progress. I love this set of pictures.

I walked into the kitchen and happened upon this scene:

I went to another room to grab kirsty and when we came back Kead was at it again. Together we watch kead give Burke every condiment she could reach.




If you're wondering, afterward she put them back too! :)

back in domber

Tonight we walked in the door and Kead started walking around the house yelling "Keeeks...Buuurke". I told her "Sorry Kead, Keeks and Burke went back to Denver." She then walked around for awhile saying "domber...domber...domber..." in a sad, deflated little voice.

We had a great visit from Burke and Aunt Keeks this week, really great. Everytime they leave I try to figure out how we can live in the same town. But for now it seems like we will be in different states. Anway, here are some highlights of the trip.

1) LOTS of trying to take pics of the cousins together. Keadryn wasn't amused...ever. These pictures sum up our attemps:





2) We threw a monogram themed shower for a friend having a little boy who will be named Will. I love throwing showers with Kirsty. She appreciates the little details as much as I do.

3) A trip to the Science Spectrum! Side note: Burke LOVES his cousins. I think he would already be walking if he lived here. He was so interested in Keadryn and always trying to keep up.

SUCH A CUTIE!

4) Girl time! I love this picture of Burkey Baby all nuzzled up with Uncle Drew. It was so nice of him to take the kids a few times so that we could enjoy some kid-free time together.

5) And of course- we crafted. We will post about the screen printing FABULOUSNESS on the kojo blog soon, but here is a sneak peak of the fun!


Thanks for coming down guys- we had a wonderful time and miss you already!

what big sisters do...

don't say cheese

around christmas time my friend kelli wrote an article giving some great advice on taking pictures of your kiddos (check it out here)

one of her tips was to refrain from telling kids to say cheese...I have been trying, but kead picked it up somehow and now says it on her own every time I try to take a picture.

isn't it lovely? sheesh.

this and that

lately there are several little-sharable-tidbits, but none that merit a whole post so here we go:

1) kead and sayla are "sleeping" in the same room now, but it has only lasted the whole night once so far. One girls coughs or makes some noise, which wakes up the other girl and 30 minutes to an hour later we are sleeping again, with sayla in her pack-n-play and kead in her room.

2) the one night that sayla slept in the nursery all night she had found her thumb and was SO content sucking on it that I had to get her up at 9:00 to feed her. she will be a thumb sucker for sure!

3) we are in our new building for redeemer and I am thrilled to have drew back!

4) kirst and burke are coming on wednesday and I can't wait. we have been singing the burkey baby song for days in preparation.

5) after my post about hating warm weather we had one crazy snow day and then temperatures shot right back up to normal. it was a nice snow day though!

6) kelli had asked how to post pictures like the ones of sayla in this post and oman in this post. Its really simple: when you upload an image under the "choose a layout" section- choose "none" and then you can postion the pictures as you please after they are uploaded. (there may be an easier way, but that's how I did it...)

7) wedding season is coming up and we are busy making invites for some brides. I love wedding season. be sure to check our kojo blog coming up soon for the goodness! (of course after the vacay with kirst there will be some new creations too!)

8) a little school update: even though I got into south plains I did not go this semester. the kids day out didn't have a spot for sayla and things were crazy with getting the new building... so, I will be going next semester.

9) kead has been saying so much lately. my favorites are: "I'm a mess!", "sayla, wash your hands." and "daddy at work...love you!"

10) also about kead- lately she LOVES to pray. mostly for her friends hays and max. she asks five or six times a day if we can pray. I think she is using it as an excuse to not eat or to postpone bedtime...she's a smart little girl because of course we aren't going to tell her no she can't pray. it's still really sweet though.