Wow! It's been nine months since I last posted anything...we've been busy! Where to begin...we survived our first year!!!
After an amazing summer in America, including Texas and Florida, we came back to Abu Dhabi ready to explore! We settled back into the school routine and haven't slowed a bit. Jonathan is loving fourth grade and has great friends and wonderful teachers. He often has to be reminded that school work MUST continue with all of the fun! Everett has settled in wonderfully this year. You may remember that his (our) first few months here were a bit tearful. He has wonderful friends and teachers as well. Both boys have been busy playing Little League Baseball since November and will continue through the end of March. They are on the same team and are enjoying every minute of it. The games are all held in Dubai so we're tearing up the road between here and there. The fields in Dubai are very nice and were built after 9-11. Apparently the Dubai Govt asked the Consulate's office what they could do to help after 9-11 and baseball fields were requested and built. Pretty neat. The backdrop happens to be pretty amazing. The boys think it's pretty cool to play baseball with a view of the tallest building in the world. Jonathan tried out and made the All Star team. Joe is coaching as well, so they'll be busy for the next few weeks. We'll travel to Kuwait at the end of the month to watch the tournament. Another great experience for the kids! We are truly blessed. Lila is in KG1 and is loving it. She has a smile on her face every single day at pick up and chatters about all she did and learned. She has a wonderful teacher and two loving assistants. I help in her class on Sunday mornings and am having fun doing so. I'm also one of the classroom parents for Everett's class. It seems like each week I spend a little more time at the school and wouldn't have it any other way.
On November 17th we had a very special guest arrive. Gran came and stayed with us for two months and we had a blast showing her around Abu Dhabi. We took a trip to Oman for a long weekend as well and had a great time. It would take days to mention everything we did while she was here! I think she enjoyed her time here. We miss her lots! We also had two lovely ladies from Fort Davis visit in Dec., Betty and Evin Prude. We laughed every day they were here and stayed quite busy going from one souq(market) to the next. I think we bought a large percentage of Abu Dhabi's pashmina supply while they were here, not to mention pillow covers, spices, coffee pots, bowls, etc. We're now on a first name basis with our supplier at one of the local gift shops! Needless to say, he gets a grin on his face when we walk in! We especially enjoyed going dune bashing with Mom, Betty and Evin. The kids are still watching the videos of our trip and laugh every time they watch. Before Christmas, my sister Jennifer and her sister-in-law Diana, arrived for the holidays. We went on tours of the Grand Mosque, went dune bashing again, spent Christmas in the Liwa Desert at Qasr Al Sarab, tried lots of new and interesting foods (Saudi Kitchen), ate lots of camel milk chocolate (delicious), went on a boat trip to the old Dubai souq, hit every shop in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, explored the Camel Festival (very interesting), and bought one of every kind of trinket and treasure sold in the UAE. Whew! I'm tired just reading this and reliving it! It was a whirlwind couple of months with visitors and what an amazing time we had! Thank you Mom, Jen, Diana, Betty, and Evin for coming. I can't begin to tell you how much it meant for us to have you all here! Oh, and how could I forget, we all rode a camel!
We're now in the process of planning our next adventure. We've been looking into Tanzania, Africa and Thailand. After researching and getting quotes, we think we've decided on Thailand. We will be going for Spring break, the first week in April. We're hoping to cover a lot of ground and see Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket. The kids are most excited about seeing the floating market in Bangkok, fishing in Phuket, and riding an elephant in Chiang Mai. I'm just excited about all of it! I think Joe's very ready to get out of town for a bit! We'll continue to research Africa and hope to visit there before the end of the year. There are so many places on our "Must See" list...I just hope we can fit them all in!
Joe's had an extremely busy and challenging year here, most of which, he has enjoyed! He is over the Hospitality Division of Development and had two major projects completed (mostly!) in Nov. and Dec. The Westin,www.westinabudhabigolfresort.com/ at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and St. Regiswww.stregissaadiyatisland.com/ on Saadiyat Island, are now up and running. There have been lots of hic ups along the way, but he's proud of what they have accomplished. Both hotels are beautiful and the entire team should be proud! While he continues with these projects, he's now going full steam ahead on another, The Eastern Mangrove Hotel by Anantara should open sometime in early summer. I won't say that I wish he could slow down, because we're happy to have a job.
A couple of weeks ago, several friends and I were able to go to the HSBC Golf Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. We spent several hours following Tiger Woods and Rock, the winner, for seven holes. What great fun we had. I'm no golfer, and don't even watch golf, but was completely caught up in the excitement of it all! I just may look into golf lessons. Joe took the boys to the tournament as well, which sparked their interest again in golf. They are now taking their second round of lessons at Saadiyat Island Golf Club and are enjoying it. Lila, however, wasn't interested!
Well I think I've rambled on long enough. I'll try to post again after our trip to Kuwait for baseball and again after our Spring break adventure. Before we know it, we'll be planning our trip home for the summer. Yahoo! Bloom where you're planted! Also, please excuse the typos in this post. As I tried to correct them, my words kept disapearing, so I opted to quit, rather than have to rewrite the entire post. Thanks! Computer error, I'm sure, NOT the user! Hee Hee!
After an amazing summer in America, including Texas and Florida, we came back to Abu Dhabi ready to explore! We settled back into the school routine and haven't slowed a bit. Jonathan is loving fourth grade and has great friends and wonderful teachers. He often has to be reminded that school work MUST continue with all of the fun! Everett has settled in wonderfully this year. You may remember that his (our) first few months here were a bit tearful. He has wonderful friends and teachers as well. Both boys have been busy playing Little League Baseball since November and will continue through the end of March. They are on the same team and are enjoying every minute of it. The games are all held in Dubai so we're tearing up the road between here and there. The fields in Dubai are very nice and were built after 9-11. Apparently the Dubai Govt asked the Consulate's office what they could do to help after 9-11 and baseball fields were requested and built. Pretty neat. The backdrop happens to be pretty amazing. The boys think it's pretty cool to play baseball with a view of the tallest building in the world. Jonathan tried out and made the All Star team. Joe is coaching as well, so they'll be busy for the next few weeks. We'll travel to Kuwait at the end of the month to watch the tournament. Another great experience for the kids! We are truly blessed. Lila is in KG1 and is loving it. She has a smile on her face every single day at pick up and chatters about all she did and learned. She has a wonderful teacher and two loving assistants. I help in her class on Sunday mornings and am having fun doing so. I'm also one of the classroom parents for Everett's class. It seems like each week I spend a little more time at the school and wouldn't have it any other way.
On November 17th we had a very special guest arrive. Gran came and stayed with us for two months and we had a blast showing her around Abu Dhabi. We took a trip to Oman for a long weekend as well and had a great time. It would take days to mention everything we did while she was here! I think she enjoyed her time here. We miss her lots! We also had two lovely ladies from Fort Davis visit in Dec., Betty and Evin Prude. We laughed every day they were here and stayed quite busy going from one souq(market) to the next. I think we bought a large percentage of Abu Dhabi's pashmina supply while they were here, not to mention pillow covers, spices, coffee pots, bowls, etc. We're now on a first name basis with our supplier at one of the local gift shops! Needless to say, he gets a grin on his face when we walk in! We especially enjoyed going dune bashing with Mom, Betty and Evin. The kids are still watching the videos of our trip and laugh every time they watch. Before Christmas, my sister Jennifer and her sister-in-law Diana, arrived for the holidays. We went on tours of the Grand Mosque, went dune bashing again, spent Christmas in the Liwa Desert at Qasr Al Sarab, tried lots of new and interesting foods (Saudi Kitchen), ate lots of camel milk chocolate (delicious), went on a boat trip to the old Dubai souq, hit every shop in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, explored the Camel Festival (very interesting), and bought one of every kind of trinket and treasure sold in the UAE. Whew! I'm tired just reading this and reliving it! It was a whirlwind couple of months with visitors and what an amazing time we had! Thank you Mom, Jen, Diana, Betty, and Evin for coming. I can't begin to tell you how much it meant for us to have you all here! Oh, and how could I forget, we all rode a camel!
We're now in the process of planning our next adventure. We've been looking into Tanzania, Africa and Thailand. After researching and getting quotes, we think we've decided on Thailand. We will be going for Spring break, the first week in April. We're hoping to cover a lot of ground and see Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket. The kids are most excited about seeing the floating market in Bangkok, fishing in Phuket, and riding an elephant in Chiang Mai. I'm just excited about all of it! I think Joe's very ready to get out of town for a bit! We'll continue to research Africa and hope to visit there before the end of the year. There are so many places on our "Must See" list...I just hope we can fit them all in!
Joe's had an extremely busy and challenging year here, most of which, he has enjoyed! He is over the Hospitality Division of Development and had two major projects completed (mostly!) in Nov. and Dec. The Westin,www.westinabudhabigolfresort.com/ at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and St. Regiswww.stregissaadiyatisland.com/ on Saadiyat Island, are now up and running. There have been lots of hic ups along the way, but he's proud of what they have accomplished. Both hotels are beautiful and the entire team should be proud! While he continues with these projects, he's now going full steam ahead on another, The Eastern Mangrove Hotel by Anantara should open sometime in early summer. I won't say that I wish he could slow down, because we're happy to have a job.
A couple of weeks ago, several friends and I were able to go to the HSBC Golf Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. We spent several hours following Tiger Woods and Rock, the winner, for seven holes. What great fun we had. I'm no golfer, and don't even watch golf, but was completely caught up in the excitement of it all! I just may look into golf lessons. Joe took the boys to the tournament as well, which sparked their interest again in golf. They are now taking their second round of lessons at Saadiyat Island Golf Club and are enjoying it. Lila, however, wasn't interested!
Well I think I've rambled on long enough. I'll try to post again after our trip to Kuwait for baseball and again after our Spring break adventure. Before we know it, we'll be planning our trip home for the summer. Yahoo! Bloom where you're planted! Also, please excuse the typos in this post. As I tried to correct them, my words kept disapearing, so I opted to quit, rather than have to rewrite the entire post. Thanks! Computer error, I'm sure, NOT the user! Hee Hee!
Love, love, love this post! It brings back lots of wonderful memories...a trip of a lifetime for me. Thanks for sharing it! I love you all the way to the moon and back! Hugs to all, Mom
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