Delivery, anyone?

One of the most amazing things about living here is the delivery service. We love the delivery services and use them often. One of the kid's favorites is having ice-cream sudays delivered from McDonalds. EVERYONE, except Starbucks, delivers!! Here is a shot of the most common form of delivery automobile. As you can see, this one is from Pizza Hut but our grocery store delivers MANY bags of groceries with this same form of transportation!! It is an amazing sight to see!

Girl's Night Out

Disney Princess on Ice came to our city this month. So, we decided to make it a girl's night out with some of our friends. We had so much fun and as you can see in the last picture, Madison cried when it was over!

I love you more than 5 days....

Matthew Ray is really in love with his mommy. He is also the earliest riser in our family. One early morning last week he climbed into our bed just like he does every morning. This early greeting is not always warmly welcomed by mom and dad. Usually he lays there for a little while and then talks me (Stacey) into making him breakfast. This particular morning he didn't ask for breakfast first. He climbed into the bed, reached over and kissed me and then said, "I love you mommy...more than 5 days and all the world and Jesus!" I think he was trying to express as much love as a 3 year old can! I love him that much, too!

This is a picture of us when he was about 11 months old. Wow! How times flies!!


Here we are about 8 months ago in Florida.

Giving to the needy

While shopping one day, Meredith ran into this little girl. Before we knew it Meredith had given her money and a drink. Right after this picture was taken, Meredith walked into the shop where we were browsing and she began to cry. It makes her sad to see sights such as these. Two days later we were on the opposite side of town and she saw this same little girl begging for money again. It makes us so sad to see children put in these positions to beg for their family. I am so thankful for Meredith and her tender heart! What a great daughter and what a great asset to our family!

Don't Shoot!!!

Here's Matthew Ray protecting his belly dancing sister with a flash light and backward's underwear! They keep us in stiches all day, everyday!!!

Birthday Party for Jenna and Meredith

Jenna and Meredith have been best friends for several years. While Jenna visited here, we celebrated both girl's birthday. Jenna's is July 8 and Meredith's is August 14-We took them to Planet Africa for the celebration!
Take note of Matthew Ray's excitement in the video below:

Matt, the Bubble Man

When we visited the Garbage City School we also got to sing songs and play with the children. Here is Matt with the "little one's" blowing bubbles! They loved the bubbles! In fact, we have found that bubbles are great for all kids that live here. Meredith is thinking about starting a "bubble project."

Gifts from Home!!!!

Our friends bought and collected gifts for months before they came to visit. This first picture is of Amber talking to Meredith on the phone before the ladies left Florida. She is sitting in front of large bags of gifts! When the ladies arrived they wanted to come straight to our house to open all of the SEVEN suitcases FULL of presents! We had the children all leave the room while our friends made STACKS of gifts for each child. As they were unpacking, Matt and I carried LOADS of food, clothes and bathroom stuff and put them up! WOW! We had Christmas in June!!!! (scroll down to see the entire list of gifts!) Thank you sooooo much Karen, Holly, Mariah, Crystal, Heather, Paul, Sherry, Alex, Jenna and CBC!!!!!! We love you sooooo much! You are awesome!







Here is the amazing list of gifts:
16 lotions
2 body washes
3 body sprays
1 srunchy
toothbrush and toothpaste
door hanger for wreath
Abe's honey
Jacket for Stacey
Christmas Tree and lights (and my CAVE, thanks Paul!)
Easter baskets and decorations for years!
Travel coffee mug
19 brownie mixes
3 IPODS
$100 in IPOD music cards
11 shirts for Matt
21 muffin mixes
2 bags of grits
7 cookie mixes
5 cans of Purple Hull Peas
2 bottles of Hot sauce
12 cans of rotel
6 cans of mandarin oranges
2 packs of oreos
5 giant coffee mate French Vanilla Creamers!!!!
2 powdered creamers
3 Maxwell House coffees
Wickers BBQ sauce
3 Large Taco Seasonings
6 small taco seasonings
1 large vanilla extract
5 salsa seasonings
50 packs of strawberries and cream oatmeal
6 bottles of Adult Benadryl
5 containers of insect repellant
Cappucino mix
1 large bag of M&M's
15 packs of Easy mac and Easy Hamburger Helper
2 packs of stuffing mix
4 bags of chocolate chips
ENORMOUS PILE OF CLOTHES FOR ALL KIDS!!!!-Meredith's stack went to her knees and Madison and MR's stack went to their waists!
23 packs of ranch dressing mix
B-day candles
3 Merle Norman make-ups or Stacey
10 shirts for Stacey
3 pants for Stacey
1 skirt for Stacey
Palm Pilot
Perfume
3 boxes of Pop-tarts
2 Bath and Body room sprays
Alabama T-shirt for Matt
Alabama phone case for Matt
LOADS of TOYS for kids!!!!!!(Nathan, Patrick and Joe-MR loves all of the cool boy stuff)
57 music CD's and DVD's
5 books for Stacey
6 books for Matt
computer chill mat
9 Days of Amazing fun with Great friends!

Sewing Center at Gabage City

We had a chance to visit a different part of garbage city. There is a sewing center to teach young girls and women trades to provide jobs for their future. We were able to watch them use looms, make quilts and make paper. Stacey and her female friends loved watching these women and spending time with them.


This is a picture of Garbage City from a mountain overlook. These houses are literally covered in trash.


These women are making paper gift bags with fresh flowers embedded in the paper.


This is a loom for making blankets, purses and rugs. When these girls graduate from this program they can purchase one of these looms as their own for a very small price.


Stacey with some of the girls-she hopes to go back a lot and spend more time with them!!

Visiting a Garbage City School

We had some friends come and visit us for about 10 days and we were able to see and do some very exciting things. One of the most exciting was visiting a school in Garbage City. We sang songs, blew bubbles, gave gifts and loved on the kids. We were also able to present them with books for EVERY class!!! Some friends of Stacey's parents sent money to buy books for these precious children! They only teach from chalk boards and do not have any books in the school. Look at their faces when we gave them the books!!!!



Meredith, Madison and Matthew Ray had a great time passing out the books! They were so excited to GIVE!


Here's Stacey with one of the teachers and one of the directors of the school. The man in the picture is one of the directors. He grew up in this school and is now giving back!!!

And the Answer is........MADISON!!!!!

Thanks to all of you who posted a comment, sent and email, called or skyped your answers. But, only one person was correct! Thanks, B!!
Yes, this is how Egyptians say and write Madison's name. This paper is from her pre-school (called a Hadonna here). Everytime we have seen her name written by an Egyptian, they write it just like this. We even had one man tell us that her name was what they call the school for doctors here. (I guess he doesn't know that medicine is an English word!)
We now have written her name properly and given it to her teacher. Hopefully she will grow up and know how to spell her name in English and Arabic!

Here's Madison getting ready to go to a ballet lesson. I think with that belly she might take up belly dancing instead!

Can Anyone Guess What this is?

Okay, time for a little game! Can you guess what this is? You can post your answer by clicking the comment tab if you have a google account or you can email us with your answer!

A Hand to Hold......

We were able to visit an orphanage today as a family. It was an "all girl's" orphanage that our friend, Hannah took us to visit. We sat around and loved on these precious girls and used a lot of our Arabic! Children are great teachers! When we would say something incorrect, we would ask them if they understood and they were so sweet to tell us the correct way! I think we will get to visit them often!

On the way to see the girls we had a deep conversation with Madison and Matthew Ray about where we were going. They said some of the cutest and most profound things:
"If they don't have a daddy and mommy......
then they don't have anyone to cook them food because the stove is too hot!"
then they can't call anyone in their family on the phone."
then they don't have anyone to wash their clothes in a washer and dryer."
then they don't get presents for their birthday or Christmas."
then they might get run over in the street because they don't have a hand to hold."
The last statement really got to me.....A hand to hold! (Jam. 1:27)
After the last statement Matthew Ray said, "We need to pray for them. Let's do that right now!" How great it is to see even a 3 year old have such a passion!






Matthew Ray really was having a good time even though he doesn't look like it in this picture. He was hot and ready for a drink!

We Have Visitors!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, after 5 months of being here someone has come to see us!! (Ha!) We know that 5 months doesn't sound like a long time, but on days of culture shock it seems like years!!! We are so happy to have Sherry, Alex and Jenna! Here we are just hanging out like old times.

Trip to see a Train!!!!

Matthew Ray got to go see the train station this week. Our friend, Ms. Hannah, is going on a trip and taking a train this week. She needed to buy a ticket in advance so Matthew Ray wanted to go see the train with her. He was so excited he even picked out his own outfit to wear!!! Here he is with Mr. Siede (now the taxi driver for Hannah, too).



What a cutie!



Matthew Ray posing by the train.



Matthew Ray and Hannah-what a team!!!!

Singing Trio!

Meredith, Madison and Matthew Ray got new drums one night while shopping on the street. Here they are in their first performance.

Daddy's Boy!!

Matthew Ray is becoming quite the daddy's boy! He has been able to spend a lot more quality time with him since we have lived here. They don't get to throw a ball outside (now, inside is a different story) but they do think of creative ways to spend father/son time together!

Kiss the Camera!

Madison and Matthew Ray are missing their backyard back in the states. So, as all kids do-they adjust! Here's a video of them playing on one of our balconies. Matthew Ray ends the video with a big kiss to all of you!

Dr. Mohammed...Iraq Street...Gall Bladder in a Jar???

Not long after we moved here Stacey began having a little stomach trouble. This is common for people who move to a new place so we just kept thinking she would get better. About 3 weeks ago she went to see a doctor and he said that she just needed to live here for 1 year and eat the food and then she would be fine. WRONG!!!

This past week Stacey had another stomach attack that was unbearable so we knew we had to do something. We contacted another doctor by the name of Mohammed and he told us to have an ultrasound and then come see him. The results showed gall stones, and Stacey was admitted into the hospital the next morning. We were given directions to the hospital so we could tell the taxi driver where to go. The final destination was on Iraq Street!!!!

We arrived at the hospital the next morning by taxi after we dropped off all of the children at school. We had several visitors keep us company while Stacey waited for surgery. THANKS, GUYS! Finally after a few hours of waiting it was time for surgery.

The nurses wheeled me (Stacey) into the surgery room where I was greeted by MANY Arabic speaking people. I said, “Hi, how are you?” in Arabic and they all crowded around my gurney to see what other words I knew. The nurses were so sweet saying things like, “You are so sweet! You are so beautiful! You are a sweetie!” Then the anesthesiologist told me to count backwards from 10 to 1, so I thought it would entertain them even more to count in Arabic. All I remember after that was the sound of laughter.

The next thing I remember was rolling back into my room and the nurses showing Matt my Gall Bladder in a Jar!!!! He was then presented with a DVD of my insides!! The rest of the stay was great in the hospital and I was released the next afternoon.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would have surgery by a doctor named Mohammed, on a street called Iraq, have my gall bladder delivered to me in a jar and ride home in a non-air-conditioned, bumpy riding taxi in Africa! You just never know what a day will bring in this N. African life!

Like Father Like Son

Matthew Ray did a little dancing at the engagement party, too! Just click on the arrow to watch this little cutie. If you are just logging in, scroll down to the next YouTube block to see Matt dancing! You don't want to miss it!

New Culture, New Language, BIG SURPRISE!!!!

Well, we have now discovered that our understanding of the Egyptian culture and language is not where we thought it was. Mr. Siede, our taxi driver, has a very limited English vocabulary and our Arabic vocabulary is even less. We thought he had been telling us for weeks that his daughter was getting married and had invited us to her wedding. Stacey had surgery this week and Mr. Siede came to visit her in the hospital. While he was there our language teacher was also there. We started talking about the "wedding" and then came the BIG SURPRISE!! We didn't attend the wedding-we attended the engagement party!!! We thought it was a little strange that her dress was red but we just thought dresses could be any color here. We also thought it was strange that the only thing that happened that evening was dancing. So, now we have been invited to the real wedding that will be held sometime in the next few months when the couple's apartment is ready.

Below is the rest of the story of the eventful evening! Scroll to the bottom to see Matt do the unthinkable!!!

After the couple arrived the mother came out with a tray full of chocolates covered in colorful foil with the "wedding jewelry" snuggled in the middle. She paraded around the room to show off the jewelry. All of the children in the room wanted a piece of candy but all were refused except for our three children-another priveledge of being an honored guest. The jewelry was then presented to the couple to make the engagement final.

Then the party really started with dancing, dancing and more dancing. Meredith even joined in the fun with the bride. Many of the women even did belly dancing motions without their bellies showing!

Matt doing the unthinkable!!!!

All Dressed Up With Somewhere to Go! Part II

Finally, many people began arriving. The room soon filled and then the bride and groom entered. They stood at the door just like this for about 10 minutes while we listened to some Arabic song. (nothing like the wedding march)





Matt and I then waited for the "CEREMONY" to begin........

All Dressed Up With Somewhere to Go! Part I

We attended our first Egyptian wedding this week. What an experience!!!! We really don't have time to tell you everything in one blog so we will spread out the interesting details over the next several days. Let's just say, YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THE END OF THE STORY! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT MATT DID AT THIS WEDDING!!!

The wedding was for the daughter of our taxi driver, Mr. Siede. He insisted that he pick us up for the wedding. The plans were to be picked up at our apartment at 6:30 on Thursday evening. We were told the wedding would begin AROUND 8 pm. Mr. Siede knocked on our door at 7:30 and said in Arabic, "Come, we must hurry!!" So, we all hurried out the door, down the hallway, down the elevator and into the taxi. He drove very fast and didn't talk very much at all but what he did say was that the day had been crazy. We could tell he was a very nervous "Father of the Bride." We arrived, expecting to be late to the big celebration only to find we were the first ones there. We then helped Mr. Siede turn on the air conditioning and lights in the apartment where the wedding was to take place.

At 9 pm some family members began to trickle in as we took on the role as the welcoming party! All of them were so excited that we had come. We were then asked to take pictures with all of the family!!! You have to know that we didn't know anyone at this wedding except for our taxi driver. We took pictures with the family just like we took pictures with our family before our own wedding!

So, that's how the adventure began - Stay tuned as we unfold the events of the evening-Don't forget - YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT MATT DID AT THIS WEDDING!!!

****Below are just a few pictures of how the evening began*******

Matt with the Father of the Bride, Mr. Siede (our taxi driver)


Stacey and kids with the mother and aunt of the groom. (Stacey just met these women one minute before this picture was made!)


Stacey with the Mother and sister of the Bride.

No Sleeping in Carseats Here!!!!

Back in America our children always fell asleep in their carseats when they had had a long day. Well, we don't have a car here and we don't have carseats! We either walk or take a taxi everywhere we go. Last night Matt took Matthew Ray out with him to find a barber shop. They walked many miles and did not find an open barber shop that looked clean. While walking back home Matthew Ray's little legs were DONE. So, Matt carried him on his shoulders. When they arrived home this is how they looked! Matthew Ray was sound asleep on his daddy's head. So, neither got a hair-cut and both were exhausted but it was a sweet daddy and son moment!

Egyptian Shoes

Meredith has now crossed over to become a true Egyptian lady. Egyptian women are all about shoes! We live on top of about 10 shoe stores! Meredith needed some dressier shoes so she picked these cute wedge heels! It took her a few hours of walking to get used to them but now she loves them! (She's growing up way to fast!)