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!

Egyptian Beauty...

Egyptian women are beautiful and they love to keep their skin and hair looking young. This calls for several trips to the Coiffure each week to have their hair styled and hair removed from their entire face.
My mom had a double treatment this past week. These first few pictures show Madison and Matthew Ray giving her an "ooh la la spa treatment" (they named it)....she had her hair done, a foot treatment with a starfish, a back rub with a jump rope and tattoos placed on her legs as well as a tree frog on her belly!! She also enjoyed her pleasant experience while Matthew Ray fanned her with a palm leaf.:)




Mom also took Meredith to the Coiffure for the first time to have her eyebrows done. Mom had "fatla" (hair removal with a string) done on her eyebrows and Meredith had hers done by a STRAIGHT RAZOR!!! Here's a video for you to see....YIKES!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Isn't she beautiful?!

Pyramids...A Family Field Trip...

Today we took a little trip outside of the city to see 3 pyramids we hadn't seen before. We saw the Red Pyramid, The Bent Pyramid and The Step Pyramid. We went down into the Red Pyramid (well, most of us did)...a few of us thought it was a little scary...ahem...but Matt went down with our 3 kids and they thought it was so cool! It was a great day to be together as a family but it was CRAZY WINDY...we were covered in sand by the end of the day! When we got back home Matthew Ray said, "Wow! This was a great field trip we did!" He doesn't even realize how cool his "field trips" really are!

The Red...(Matt, Madison and Matthew Ray after they went in the pyramid)

The Bent....
Mummies we found in the tombs :) They sure look good for being so ancient! :)

The Step....It was SO windy..."Mom! Help! The sand is everywhere!"


All cleaned up and happy at the end of a long day...

Easter Evening

After our fun afternoon Easter activities, we headed to a garbage area of Cairo called Iz Betel Nokl to worship with a church there. Matt preached....and then after he preached the pastor got up and announced that Matt and his wife would be singing a song for them in English. So, thirty seconds later we were singing a duet of "How Great is our God." One of the great things about Egypt is that there is never a dull moment...always something new...always (most of the time) keeps us laughing! ;)

Some of the kids from the church with Madison...
We loved hanging out with these girls after church....
Stacey and her dad with the translator...

Easter 2009

We had a great time with friends and FAMILY this Easter! We went to some friend's house and had a great time of fellowship and an Easter Egg Hunt. Mom and Dad loved being a part of the festivities this year and we were so happy they were with us, too!

I can't believe how fast they are growing up! This was Meredith's first time to wear high heels!

Nile Peace...

Another peaceful Nile Cruise...well, not really a cruise...but a Faluka ride is so nice after a crazy day in the city. Notice Matt and Madison are not pictured....Madison has grown increasingly afraid of the Faluka ride, so we no longer insist that she ride down the Nile with us. She and Matt spent the night together.:)

Awww.....

April and Meredith under the sunset...too sweet

Grammie and Granddaddy's Visit

Grammie and Granddaddy are here and they have EMBRACED the culture! Our first day was spent at a local park with 10,000 orphans! It was a very crowded place...but very enjoyable for all of us. Madison and Matthew Ray were filmed for a news program having their pictures sketched and Stacey was interviewed for the same news program IN ARABIC! Craziness....just craziness...only in Egypt! :)