Christmas and a Camera Catastrophe...

Here's a few pics of our Christmas this year...not taken by our camera...but pics to let you know how our Christmas morning went...no pics of our Christmas Eve because of camera issues...ugh...BUT we did have a great Christmas Eve with friends...we told the story of Jesus two different ways...a book and the reading of Luke 2 by one of our friends that dressed up like an old lady to read the story.
And...we don't want to forget the HAM...we had HAM...no, no picture to prove it..but we had HAM!!!

So, here are pics of Christmas thanks to April's camera and a little commentary to go with it...

Our friend April stayed the night with us again this year...Santa brought her gifts too!

Matt read the letter from Santa to the kids...I love Matthew Ray's stance in this pic...
Meredith bought Matt his first Egypt soccer shirt...
Matthew Ray guessed he was getting a Ben 10 watch before he opened it...He was so excited he had guessed right...
Meredith's favorite present...cracks me up...she got a lot of nice things..and this is her favorite...
Madison has asked for a doll house for 2 years...now she finally has one....
Santa brought us all tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet. Madison was THRILLED and Matthew Ray was NOT so thrilled...between scenes when the orchestra was playing he said, "Oh come on! This is like when a movie or game is loading, loading, loading!" :) We did have a great time together as a family...so nice to do something all together.

And again...camera issues...we have 2....and this is the ONLY picture that turned out from our night at the Nutcracker. I love this little guy...He makes my heart warm!
Now to figure out our camera issues so I can keep blogging!

Not Everyday do you...

get a holiday greeting from the pyramids!

Merry Christmas!!!

Santa's Helper..

Madison would make a really cute Santa helper. If it counts, she is a daddy's girl!

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth...

That's what Matthew is singing this year after losing 2 teeth, 2 days in a row!

Bil Hanna wi Shiffa

Our friends are in the military and graciously took us to the commissary here! What a treat!!!!! We were able to get great American food at great American prices! Instead of paying $10 for coffee creamer (which we don't ever do here), we got it for $2.62! Instead of paying $2.50 for a can of cream of chicken soup, we got it for $.69. When we brought all of the food home the kids were screaming with excitement as we got each item out of the bags.
In Arabic when you are given food at someone's home they may say to you, "Bil Hanna wi shiffa" which means "May this food make you happy and heal you." Well, I am not sure this food with make us healthy but it sure does make us happy!!!

A real live HAM for Christmas dinner!


Tostitos sell here for about $8 a bag...not at the commissary...$2!!!
Bacon...and do you see the biscuits and crescents to the left? We can't even find those here!!

Can you tell we are excited?!?

Busy with Visitors...

Our sweet friends, the Sprakes, came to see us this week. We have been super busy seeing all there is to see in Egypt. Many times when people come to visit it is busy but not this busy....why so busy you may ask? Well, the Sprakes have 4 kids of their own. So, when you add their four to our three and the adults to our apartment and in our car to see all of the sites...well, it is MUCH busier...believe me! :)
Here are some of the things we have done so far...

We took Santa hats for great pics at the pyramids...
We became quite popular when we got the Santa hats out of our bag....Little girls love to have their picture made with Meredith...

Madison waiting on us to finish riding the camels...she's content to just sit on the desert sand and rocks..:)
Night on the Nile...

Cute Kids...

if I may say so myself! :)

A Trip to the Sinai..in Asia??!

We took a little trip to the Sinai this past weekend. It's always nice to get out of the city and breath fresh air and see stars. We drove through some amazing scenery...wow...God is so creative! The most fasinating part of the trip was that we crossed over into Asia, stayed on the Red Sea looking over Saudi Arabia in an area that some believe to be the place that Moses crossed over with the Israelites...and we were near a Bedouin village...just typing that amazes me! We are so grateful for the experiences that God allows us to enjoy.

It was a little windy...
The Red Sea...with Saudi in the background and where some believe Moses crossed...(and where we made a sand castle!)
Bedouin lady making bread dough...
Her name was Selma...
Mariah and Madison posing with her...
Meredith making her bread...just imagine if we had to do this everyday..we would starve!
Matt had to have a turn...I love his concentration face!
But this was definately Madison's cup of tea... or slice of bread..:)

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We loved this sign and even went back to see the camel races but they didn't have them at the time they were advertised...:)
But we did find a camel hanging out in the street...and Matt almost had a head on collision with one!

Soccer is BIG Here...

Madison and Matthew Ray proud to be Egyptians!

Meredith with her very cool friends/teammates, Dana and Kinzi

The same day that Egypt played Algeria in a playoff for the World Cup, Meredith's school played a local Sudanese school...We were just as excited about Meredith's game as we were the Egypt game! We were sad to see Egypt lose but super excited that Meredith's team won!! Go Crocs!!!