Scrapbooking by Blogging

I used to scrapbook all of the time with some really great friends. It was such a fun and relaxing time for all of us. Now that we have a digital camera and computer and I no longer live near those "scrapbooking friends" I hardly ever get prints from the pictures that I take. Blogging is a way that I keep up with our life now and I love it. So, when I put a new post up I am always trying to find creative ways to blog it. I have a folder on my desktop designated for pictures of each of our children. I put pictures in the folders that make me smile. Here are three slide shows of those folders.

"We are walking behind Jesus"

Madison and Matthew Ray learned a song at their pre-school. These are the words in English:

Jesus, I am walking behind You,
And the people are looking at me.
When the people see me with You,
We hope for them to be with You.
In my eyes, I am always seeing You.All of Your heart has compassion.

Here they are singing it for you!

Meredith's Photography

Several of you have asked for more pictures from the city. We forget to take our camera everywhere we go so we had Meredith go down and take some shots that she thought you might enjoy. All of these pictures are on the street right under our apartment. Meredith buys eggs, milk, soap, etc. from some of these shops. She is now able to use her Arabic and can ask for most anything. If she buys too much, she just has them deliver it to our apartment! The men in the little grocery shops sell items to Meredith several times a week. They were so proud to have Meredith take their picture.

Matt Forgot!!??

As you may remember, we took a family vacation last week. At the end of the vacation Stacey became ill and came home a day early, leaving Matt with all three kids and the responsibility of packing everything up and getting it back home. Matt and the kids had a great last day playing together. When they arrived home, Stacey was feeling better and began unpacking the luggage only to find that Matt forgot all of the "hang-up" clothes and all 5 passports at the hotel! At first, there was great frustration but this was soon followed by...."Hey, let's go back next weekend-just the two of us!" We made a call to some GREAT friends who VOLUNTEERED to keep our kids while we were gone. (THANKS, GUYS!) When we told Mr. Siede about the whole incident, he said, "Sure, Matt forgot!!?? He just wanted to go back alone with Stacey!"

Anyway, here are the pictures from the "mini-couple getaway." Matt played golf for the first time since we have been here and Stacey was glad to caddy.

Here's the beautiful view from our hotel room!

The Never Ending Party -Part 3

The last party Meredith had for her birthday was 2 days after her REAL birthday. We received a call from our taxi driver, Mr. Siede, asking us if it would be okay to bring over a cake for Meredith. We told him that we would be gone that day so he asked about the next day. We told him that we would be gone again and would be home late. He said, "That's okay! We can bring it late. What about 9:30 (PM)?" Sooooo, we had ANOTHER party for Meredith at 9:30 pm and it lasted until 12:15 am!!! Here's a video of Mr. Siede, Ms. Mona, Reeham, Ingie and Mazin singing Happy Birthday in English first, then Arabic. Sorry that it is a dark video-they made us turn out the light!

The Never Ending Party

As seen in the blog before, we decided to have Meredith's party a little early (1 week) while we were on vacation. Her REAL birthday is on August 14th. There were no big plans for the actual day, so we decided to make chocolate chip pancakes complete with 11 candles for her birthday morning. She got the song again but no presents this day. Here she is with her happy smile for her pancakes. Stay tuned for the next blog-another birthday party (Egyptian) to share with you!!!!

Meredith Turned 11!!!!!

Our first born is now 11!! It is really hard to believe. We decided to have her party while we were on vacation because all of her friends were gone for the summer. It was kind of sad for us but she is a real trooper and tries to make the best of situations. Anyway, she had a great time and loved getting a CELL PHONE for her birthday. She asked us this question after she opened her gift, "When did you (mom and dad) get cell phones when you were growing up???" We had a great laugh over that one!

The Salt Water Torture! "Everything Hurts on Me!"

There are a few people in our family that love getting into the sea. Madison and Stacey are not those people!!! So, while Matt, Meredith and Matthew Ray enjoyed burning their skin, Madison and Stacey sat on the sand and spent this "quality time" together. You see, the rest of the family talked Madison into joining them in the water which was not the best idea in the world. Here's a video to explain why:

Vacation Pictures!

We have been here 8 months and have taken one small vacation so we thought it was time for some more "down time." We loved the place where we visited on the Red Sea so we decided to go back! We spent the whole time just relaxing by the pool and sea. We also had a little birthday party for Meredith. We will blog shots of that soon! Enjoy the slide show!

Mixin' It Up!

Since there is no yard here, we are always looking for something fun to do with the kids to try to "mix things up!" We are preparing to leave for vacation in two days so Matt thought of a fun activity to help us get ready! If you know Matt, you know he enjoys food! One of his favorite "road snacks" is trail-mix. Well, trail-mix can't be found here so we created our own! We purchased raisins, peanuts, pretzels, cheerios (no chex mix here), m & m's (paid $10 for the bag) and chocolate chips (from our friends back home). The kids enjoyed pouring each item into the tupperware container and mixing it all up with their hands. We are set for the road! Stay tuned for pics and stories from our vacation on the Red Sea!

Part 2 Down on the Corner....Out in the Street

Several of you emailed, called, or posted this question: When do the people that live there sleep? Well, this video will give you the answer. This is a video the next day at 11 AM!



Quite a difference, huh?

Down on the Corner....Out in the Street

Down on the Corner, Out in the Street...so the song goes! Well, here is a video of down on the corner, out in the street where we live!! What big thing is happening that makes the traffic and people out at 11 pm? LIFE! That's it! LIFE! It never ceases to amaze us every night to look down from our balcony and see this incredible sight!