Gangsta and Bethlehem

Summer vacation..."Mom, what is there to do?" "Be creative...go play....that's enough t.v. and Wii."

Here is what they came back with. Oh, to understand the minds of my children!





Make sure you pay attention to the birth of baby Jesus;)

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Great Birthday Party...Wrong Month...Bitter sweetness...

We have discovered that there are many emotional ups and downs that come with living overseas. One of the exciting things is meeting so many new people and really becoming family with many of them. Living in another culture can feel overwhelming at times with so many different sounds, sights, words and customs. So, when we find a few other Americans to socialize with we find a place of familiarity that just feels "normal." But one of the sad things about this "familiar family" is that it is full of many good-byes.
One of those families that we have grown to love is leaving soon. They have four precious children and two of them are right around Madison's age. She has been so sad thinking that they would not be able to come to her birthday party in November. So, tonight we planned a sleepover birthday party at the last minute...when I say last minute, I mean we came up with the idea, decorated, made 2 Barbie cakes and wrapped presents in a little over an hour! Madison was so surprised! We had a great time getting it all set up and the girls had a ton of fun!

Another Year Down...Such Gifted Girls

Another year of school is now behind us! Meredith and Madison had their last day of school today...completing 6th grade and kindergarten. Today their school held an award's ceremony and talent show. We are so proud of how God has gifted each one of them. We pray that their lives will always glorify HIM!

Meredith received the Bible award for her class. Her teacher said that not only was she a super bible verse memorizer but that her WALK with Christ was amazing and showed in how she lived. I think it was the best award of the day! :)


Madison getting ready to receive her art award...she was SO excited! We have discovered that Madison is our "creative/artistic" child.


Madison and her teacher who invested so much special time with Madison:


Madison came home from school yesterday with her drawing book. She opened it and showed us this picture and stated that she drew it all by herself! We were shocked and a little concerned that she might not be telling the truth. But as it turns out..her teacher told us today that she did draw it all alone. Her teacher had a drawing like this on her white board and Madison drew one herself. We may have a future artist on our hands! :)

A BIG SECRET REVEALED.....

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Matthew Ray is a Graduate...

Matthew Ray graduated from his Egyptian hadonna (preschool) this past weekend. Some of our friends from the States came and helped with the program. He was so proud to be a graduate and we were so proud of him! Matthew Ray and his teachers:
He was so excited! He kept calling his gown his graduation costume....
Our friends from the States...they are so cool and Matthew Ray is their big bud!

Progress...

Well, we have made SOME progress....but this is Egypt...so, it may take a while to finish everything!

Extreme Makeover-Egypt Edition...

We have some visitors for the next few weeks. They are teaching at Matthew Ray's hadonna (pre-school). They were supposed to paint at the hadonna but the plans were changed and they had a couple of "free" days....so, we put them to work at our house! They have been so great to help us with our mini-makeover of the kid's rooms. We decided to move the girls in together and give Matthew Ray his own room. (Don't worry all of you Meredith fans....she wanted to do this and is excited about getting new loft beds for their room).

Another friend of ours is flying in next week and bringing their SUPER cute bedding! Here are the beginning pics of the project. We hope to be done with everything in a few weeks because we still haven't heard back from the man who is making the loft beds....This is Egypt....so, you never know! :) We will update more as the rooms progress.

From pink to CHOCOLATE:
Matthew Ray trying to help Amanda...trying!
Christa working and playing:

This girl didn't stop! Leshay painted EVERY letter of my kid's names....and it was not an easy task! Her reason for being so efficient? "I am stubborn!":)
Melinda and Stacey in the "dungeon" painting letters...

New Friends....

We were invited to eat with some new friends last week. We had such a great time and the food was FABULOUS! I even learned how to make a dish and tried it out this week....yummy!

Madison and Marriage...

For some reason we have had many conversations of marriage lately in the Dunavant household. Madison has been very clear in what she would like her future to look like in regards to this topic: "I am NOT marrying anyone!



Tonight the girls and I were cooking supper together and the topic of marriage came up again. Matt called and was checking on me (such a sweet gesture) and when I got off of the phone I said, "You girls need to marry someone like your daddy. You need to marry someone that loves Jesus more than anything, that treats you like a queen, that "chases" after you, that adores you, and that will take care of you."

Meredith said, "Yeah Madison...that last thing means....don't marry a cheapskate!" Madison put her hand on her hip and said, "Meredith! I am NOT going to marry a CHEESECAKE!"

Madison did go on to say a little later that the reason she is not going to marry anyone is because I took the good one...her daddy!! How sweet it is for her to love her daddy that much....

Our First Coptic Wedding....We Partied ALL Night!

Last night we attended our first Coptic wedding. Our pediatrician and his dear wife invited us to their daughter's wedding. It was an amazing evening. Stacey, Meredith and Madison spent a few hours at the Coiffure getting pedicures, manicures and their hair done. (totaling $30!) The wedding started at 8 pm at the Coptic church on our street. We arrived at 8 and the bride arrived around 8:20 which is very common here. While we waited we took these pics:




This is Meredith with Mirna. Mirna is in our Bible study.
The bride arrived in a beautiful limo with her mother. Her mother exited the car and then there were many pictures taken of the bride sitting in the car. Here are her parents waiting in anticipation for her to get out of the limo:
We then followed the bride into the church. The bride and groom stand to the side of the platform. There are chairs for them there because there is a lot of standing and sitting during the ceremony. No vows are given. There is much "chanting" by the priests and some things read to the couple.


Madison loved being there:




Here is a video of part of the ceremony. The priest covers the bride and groom with capes (I forgot to ask why).

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Side note: On the way home from the wedding Matthew Ray said, "They didn't even say,
You may kiss the bride or nothin! They didn't say you may do anything! That was boring!" We had a good laugh! But that was just the beginning of our evening. We got the kids to a friend's house to spend the night and then Matt and I headed to the reception at a popular hotel.

We were awe-stuck by the reception....it was incredible!! Matt and I arrived at around 11 pm and the party was just getting started. We ate appetizers while we waited for the bride and groom to enter. They danced the first dance and then the festivities really began. The buffet opened with ROOMS of food...it was just amazing! The bride and groom sat on a couch as they watched the show begin...here's just a clip of it:

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All in all it was an amazing evening...we have never seen anything like it! Here we are at 2 am...a little frazzled looking but having a good time! :)

It's Good to Have Friends....

Meredith and her pal...

You know, when you move to a new country one of the main things you worry about is how your children will adjust to a new place away from all of their friends. God has been so faithful to give our children great friends since moving overseas! We are so thankful that they share some things in common and provide endless hours of fun (ending in sleep:) for our kiddos!
Madison and Matthew Ray with their newest friend...exhausted after hours of sword fighting...

Why I love 5 Year Old Boys...especially mine...:)

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Winding up the month....

My (Stacey) parents have been here for about a month now. We have seen so much and really enjoyed our time together! We are so thankful that we have gotten to see our parents several times since we left over 2 years ago. God has truly blessed us with amazing families who continue to support and encourage us!

Haynes and Susanne leave in 2 days. We took our last sight-seeing trip today to the Giza Pyramids. It was a fun time...full of excitment with camel rides, dickering over prices, dodging camel poopy, a trip to the Pizza Hut next to the pyramids, kissing the sphinx and good ole' sunburns! But our most favorite thing this time was holding up a prayer sign for Stellan (www.mycharmingkids.net) We have been praying for him for quite a while now. We were so glad to add to his photo gallery at the pyramids! The kids made a sign for him last night for us to hold in several locations today.

A few sphinx kisses...

Meredith has never gotten used to the camel getting up and down...

My mom reapplying her lipstick ON THE CAMEL....:)
We are praying for you Stellan!