Maldives Trip

A month or so ago...(seems like forever), 4 of us ladies set off to the Maldives, a group of islands in the Indian ocean, for some much needed R&R. All of our husbands agreed to take on the "Mom and Dad" responsibility for a few days. We are sure they all bonded together to survive our absence. Instead of "it takes a village", over here we say, "it takes a compound". Anyway, we had a wonderful time and everyone, including our husbands, survived the trip.

Here we are leaving the airport. (see the tower?) We had to be taken to our island by a 20 minute boat ride.

This is the view of our island as we were coming in.

Some of the villas were actually out in the water.

We chose a villa on the land. Here was our view.

A few times throughout the day, sea planes would land and take vacationers out on excursions.

We didn't do much -- the point of an R & R trip. We laid on the beach, some of us read (not me!), we ate, people-watched...relaxing kind of stuff. We did do a snorkeling excursion which had more funny moments than memorable fish encounters -- masks that leaked, fins that were too small, and snorkelers that apparently couldn't swim...AT ALL...which was made apparent like 30 seconds after they jumped into the water. Literally, the people running the excursion were having to rescue people, snatching them up out of the water. Not too funny...but kind of.

We all got a lesson in Pig Latin from one of the ladies that we traveled with. Here we all are one evening. Our "new" names are below.

Errishay, Onnaday, Annya Ariemay, Engway

A Visitor

This is what I found in my backyard one afternoon. I had never seen a bird like it around here, and I was convinced it had escaped from the zoo which is about a mile or two from our compound. I took several pictures and showed them to my neighbors and friends, and they had never seen a bird like this either. But after doing some internet research, I found that this is a bird species that lives in Qatar. He is called a Hoopoe. I enjoyed watching him for about 3o minutes. Come back and see me some day!

Update

Just a quick update. I'm already in my 3rd week of work. It has been a little chaotic trying to get a schedule down, but I think I'm close. My brain was able to jump back into work much quicker than I thought. I thought it was nursery rhyme mush, but apparently there is a section that has retained all the stuff I've learned over the years and was just waiting to come out again.

Still have to get the dinner thing worked out. We've been having to do "take away" more than I like so I need to plan better to have a dinner on the table each night. Gotta get organized in that area.

The maid is WONDERFUL. I wonder how I was making it without her. Just for the ironing alone, it has been so helpful. Plan on packing her in a suitcase when we make our final venture home... ha ha.

The girls love AWANA. They've already earned their Cubbies vest. I'll have to post a pic later. And the way they can remember their scriptures...even from 3 weeks ago... I did not expect that. They are really enjoying it.

Okay...supposed to be working. Just took a quick break to update.

CHA-CHA-CHA-CHANGES

Lots of changes going on in our household. So I've tried to catch up on my posts because I don't know how much time I'll have over the next few weeks. So what's going on with us?

We've started AWANA with the girls which has made our Sunday's completely crazy. But they are having fun. And we are all learning more scripture by doing it.

Our part-time maid is moving in with us this week. She will still be part-time for us. She'll leave during the day to go do her work outside of our home, but she'll will return to our house in the afternoon and stay with us at night.

We are in the 4th week of Fantasy Football. I'm in two 10-team leagues and I'm currently ranked #2 in both. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time to manage those teams. I wonder if that's something I could work on my resume for future use???

And the biggest change....I'm going back to work!! Mr. D is kicking me out of the house to go earn some money. Okay...not really, but I definitely think he is happy about the extra income. I'll be working part time for Texas A&M-Qatar as a Research Administrator helping them submit research proposals and working closely with my pals back in College Station. I'll get to do some work from home so hopefully it won't be too chaotic for all of us.

Okay...I'm off to start my crazy Sunday afternoon.

July 4th Party 2008

After our trip to Indiana, we came back and stayed a few more days with Grandma and Pops.

We went to a July 4th party in Kerrville. Here are some pics:

Lil N showing off her new head attire.

Lil H with her face paint.

A video of the girls dancing:

And one more pic from Grandma's house:

Summer 2008 -- In Town Visits

Here are some random pics from visits with friends and family within the city limits:

After 100 snapshots, we finally got one decent one. This was taken in Ms. Lesley's garden.

Lil N, Lil H

A late birthday present from GrandPap and Grandma Debbie included play makeup.

Lil N, Lil H

Our friends and neighbors in Doha, The Kents, stay at a lake house when they come home during the summer. The girls had fun on their hammock.

Lil H, Lil N

We visited some friends, Greg and Cindy, and got to hang out with their horses.

Lil N

Lil N, Lil H

We went with some friends to the pool at Southwood Valley. Lots of fun there!

Lil H, Lil N

Lil N and Grayson

Lil N and Grayson again...

Summer 2008 -- Third Trip

Our third trip this summer was to Indiana. That is where my sister and her family live. We convinced Grandma to come along for the trip. Lil H held Grandma's hand on the plane because Grandma was scared. Lil H repeatedly told Grandma there was nothing to worry about.

The girls got to play with their 3 cousins, Taylor, Tanner and Kaycee. We all had a wonderful time. Some activities included: a local zoo which had some park rides, a trip to The Bear Factory, a water park, helping feed the rabbits, swinging and sliding, a barbie jeep, and a bouncy horse. Oh, and a new kitten. Lots of fun stuff.

Here are some pics:

Lil N pretending to be a prairie dog.

Lil H's turn...

Lil N building her new lamb, Bonnie.

Lil H "washing" her new kitty, Zoe.

Lil N bouncing on the horse. Look at those pig-tails go!

Lil H is not so sure about it...

Lil N, Lil H, cousin Taylor and new kitty, Rico.

Lil N, cousin Kaycee, and Lil H