She's Gonna Be an Actress...

I was looking back through some pictures from this past year and found this series of pics. While Juliana was here she lived with a camera in her hand. And her favorite subjects were not the historical things around her...her favorite subjects? My kids! Here's just a taste of what she and Madison did while waiting on food at a restaurant. I think Madison may have some acting talent!

A Couple of Little Funny Pharoah Land Moments...

...Brought to you by Matthew Ray:

#1 "What a RIP OFF!"
We took some new people on a faluka (sail boat) ride on the Nile the other day. We have taken several faluka rides since we have been here. All of them are different. Some of them are older than others....some are a little bigger than others....some have Egyptian music playing....and some don't play music at all. But it is always an enjoyable, peaceful ride away from the city chaos. Oh...and IT IS CHEAP. We ususally pay about 8 dollars for a TON of us to ride! This particular ride found us on just a regular ole faluka with no music...No big deal...we didn't think...until Matthew Ray yelled, "NO MUSIC?!?!!! WHAT A RIP OFF!"

#2 "Why do we call God a turtle?"
Matt was praying with Madison and Matthew Ray before bed last night. He was praying a prayer of praise...just praising God for who He is. He was saying, "God, You are Sovereign, You are Holy, You are All Knowing, You are Great, You are ETERNAL..." After Matt's prayer, Matthew Ray looked at Matt with a serious little face, peering over his glasses and asked, "Dad, why do we call God a turtle?"

A Simple Hotdog Dinner...:)

I promised you several stories written by Matt. Here's the first of many for you to enjoy:

Last week our family decided we were in the mood for pork. Dinners here are more of an event than in the states. Don’t ask me why. It just seems that everything takes more time and energy. On the pork we decided that hotdogs would be a quick and easy dinner and honestly it has been so long since any of us has eaten pork, the idea of an old fashioned hotdog sounded wonderful. Beef hotdogs are plentiful here but they do not even share a slight resemblance to Oscar Meyer and Armor.

While pork is scarce in Egypt we are fortunate to live a 1/3 of a mile from a pork store. Because the kids had been stuck inside all day we decided to make the trip to the store a family affair, so we all got ready and headed out the door. Anyone that has little ones knows that half a mile is like six or seven miles when your legs are only 12 inches long. However, after nearly an hour journey we were back at home to throw the dogs on the grill.

Lighting a grill here is a bit different. The first several attempts were disastrous to say the least. The charcoal is not exactly “Matchlight” quality. Honestly, it just looks like burnt wood. After spending several days trying to hunt down lighter fluid, I had resorted to using any flammable liquid I could find lying around, including some of Stacey’s beauty products. After raiding the medicine cabinet I discovered that the alcohol seemed to burn the way you would expect and so I was off to the store to buy alcohol. Because alcohol is only sold in small quantities I was forced to buy out the store in order to come up with what I presumed would be a sufficient supply for lighting my charcoal. Long story short, ten bottles of alcohol, an electric fan, and 2 hours is what had been required in the past to light a fire.

This time I had a better plan. Having noticed that the corn venders (men who barbeque corn on the street below our apartment) always seemed to have an ample supply of well lit coal, we got the bright idea to ask how they managed to light their charcoal. It turns out that they lay their coal on the eye of a stove (everyone here uses gas) and when the coal is ready they transport the coal to the grill. I was now ready to try the Egyptian way of lighting charcoal. Using the kitchen stove, it only took about 30 minutes to light an ample amount of charcoal to cook. I was then ready to cook.

It was at this time that I did what most people do when cooking hotdogs, I thought about the buns. I knew we didn’t have hotdog buns but loaf bread will always do in a pinch. Unfortunately when I checked the bread it was molded. This was not a disaster however because the grill I purchased here only allows the grate of the grill to get very close to the charcoal so the cooking time for hotdogs turned out to be about 45 minutes. Stacey simply gave Meredith some money and sent her to a small store around the corner from our apartment.

When Meredith returned with a package of buns I was taking the hotdogs off the grill. It was then that we learned two things. Pork hotdogs sold in Egypt are very large and hotdog buns sold in Egypt are very small. Let’s put it this way. If you break the hotdog in half there is still some hanging out of both ends of the bread and there is no way that bun is actually going to squeeze together around the hotdog like on a commercial or on the picture on the hotdog bun wrapper. No problem, the eating was a bit messier, but it all goes to the same place- right?

When supper was over we cleaned up. We had used paper plates to expedite our quick and easy supper, and after cleaning the charcoal off the stove and the floor of the kitchen the process of cooking hotdogs in Egypt from beginning to end only took 4 hours. After supper, we had just enough energy to brush the kids’ teeth, pray with them, and then tell them not to dare get out of their beds until morning before we retreated to the couch to begin resting up for the next day.

We Got A CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Anniversary, Happy Two Year living here....whatever you want to call it but....WE GOT A CAR AFTER COMPLETING TWO YEARS OF ARABIC!! YIPPY!
Driving here is pretty crazy and we already have a story to record. Here's the first of many I am sure:

…Matt called me at 9 am from downtown and said he left the results of his HIV test(which is negative…whew!) somewhere…I jumped up and found the paper…got all kids fed and dressed…dressed myself…ran Madison and Matthew Ray to preschool….asked Meredith if she was in for an adventure…drove our new car downtown for the first time….was doing good…until I took a “little” wrong turn…called Matt…we were having a hard time connecting…suddenly, I see him running down a one way street in a coat and tie…he ran up to my window, grabbed the paper and ran (the policeman next to my car looked puzzled)….at this point, I am needing to potty and have needed to potty for the last hour in traffic….I see a Hardees on the corner and think that would be a good place to park…nope…no parking anywhere….I proceed to go down many streets and find NOTHING…then….lost…lost…and REALLY needing to potty…all of the while, telling this in Arabic to many policeman in hopes they would help me out…NOPE…I finally make it to an area that is familiar but it is by a huge outdoor shopping area here (some of you know the Khan)…I see a bank…I pay to park….I go in the bank…they have NO Toilet!.....I ask where…they point me down a dark alley….I see a wooden door with holes all in it…NOPE, not going there….I walk to the shopping area and start asking…they point me to one three stories up very tiny steps(did I mention I did some crazy strength training exercise with my legs yesterday and I can barely move!)…Meredith guards the broken door…Finally, after 2 ½ hours of holding….I get to potty in a NASTY bathroom…then I had to pay when I came out for using their potty! I told Meredith that we needed to invest in a porta potty for the car!

Just the Two of Us....

I could not believe that we did not have one recent picture of just us so I decided to fix that! Meredith took our picture tonight before we left for our anniversary date. Keep checking back for funny stories to come!

After 17 YEARS...

Yes, we are still alive! It's been a little busy and crazy around here but we are starting to expect that from life in another country! We have had some funny and some exciting things happen lately and we are in the process of getting those stories written down. Matt actually wants to write some of these stories and I am super pumped about that! I love how he writes and tells stories!

Speaking of loving him....Tomorrow (well actually in 3 minutes at the time of this writing) is our 17 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!! What an amazing, fun-filled, unpredictable, crazy, exciting, boringless (is that a word), WONDERFUL journey! I love him so much and am so thankful that God brought him into my life 23 years ago....wow...23 years!! Even though he will tell you I had no interest in him at first, I KNEW I was going to marry him from the very beginning. I love you, sweetheart. You make life so fun! Thank you for being a picture of Christ to me in my life!

And here we are 17 Years ago today:


Here we are today....(the reason for 2 pics you ask??? I could not find one recent picture of just the two of us. Every picture I found had our kiddos separating us! We never dreamed God would give us 3 such wonderful gifts from HIM but they sure do get between us a lot!:)
Matt...you are one good lookin man! :)

And I adore you....

Christmas Morning 2008

Wow...what an amazing Christmas we had!!! The unwrapping of the gifts took about 1 1/2 hours and it was filled with many surprises and so much excitement!! What I loved watching most was the gratitude and politeness that came from each of my kids. They were so patient with each other as they took turns opening their gifts. And then....the THANK YOU'S...wow, they were pouring out of them...too sweet! We got them a Wii this year and they were so surprised and excited! I will try to upload the video of that event soon!

2008 Christmas Activities...

Our internet has been running too slow to upload anything because some internet lines were cut in the Mediterranean. So, hopefully I can get a few posts up showing you some of Christmas 2008 with the Dunavants!

First up....Christmas Eve Activities: We woke up Christmas Eve morning and the kids began begging Matt, "Can we open ONE...just ONE present today??? PLEASE!" So, after much begging, he caved. They each opened one present.


We then got ready and went to some friend's house for some Christmas snacks, kid crafts, cookie decorating, fellowship, and Wii playing!




After an eventful afternoon/evening, we returned home to put out reindeer food and Santa cookies and milk. Our friend, April, came home with us to spend the night and join this year's Christmas fun! Then we decided we really needed to watch Home Alone to end the evening! What a fun and full day!


This year we threw our reindeer food over the balcony. It worked.....Santa found us!!!!

Egyptian Jingle Bells Coming Your Way!

The girls sang some really neat songs in their Christmas program. I wasn't able to video all of it at the program so we decided to do a little re-take of a couple of songs. Here is Madison singing Jingle Bells Egyptian style. I will post Meredith's within a day or so!

Christmas Program at the Nursing Home

Today was a fun day! Meredith and Madison had a Christmas Program at a local nursing home. It was all in Arabic and they really did a fantastic job! Matt, Matthew Ray and I watched with pride as they performed. Matthew informed me that he thinks he will be too scared next year to do all of that in front of ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE! I think we might have a little guy with stage fright...a first for the Dunavant children! :)

Madison as a donkey:
Meredith as Mary:Meredith singing in Arabic and sign language:
We took a few shots in the lobby while we waited:
Madison and her class goofing off while they waited:

Sheep to the Slaughter....

Yesterday was a holiday here. It is called the holiday of the sacrifice. Families buy animals to sacrifice in the streets and the blood flows. It is important for each member of the family to watch the sacrifice. The sacrifices are done early in the morning.

Matt went out yesterday to watch this yearly tradition. It makes us so thankful for the Perfect Lamb that was slain!!

Meredith Serves....

Meredith recently visited a Sudanese school with her class. They took some needed items to the school and spent some time just visiting with the students. It is so good when we see our children give...you know, they are "takers" so much of the time! I love to see my children serve.


Aren't they adorable...

Some Christmas Cheer...

We actually decorated for Christmas the day before Thanksgiving but I thought I would wait until after Thanksgiving to post the pics! We just couldn't wait because we really didn't decorate last year because we were traveling to all of our families houses. This was our first time to decorate here in Egypt. We had a great time together as a family.
Our tree is loaded with many glass ornaments made here in Egypt.

Glass ornaments made for necessary assistance in the decorating process.

A decorating pose from Meredith

Madison is a cute little Santa helper!

The morning after we decorated we woke up to this sight. Matthew Ray is really in the Christmas spirit! He is so excited about everything....he even came home from school yesterday and was thrilled to tell us that his teacher wore Christmas earrings to school!!!

A Gobble, Gobble...no, Cluck, Cluckin Thanksgiving!

This year's Thanksgiving was a gobble, gobble (well...cluck, cluckin) good time!(hilarious story explained below) We got together with some other American friends and ate lots of food, played games and enjoyed one another's company! They really have become our "family" here and we are so thankful to share the holidays with those we love.

Pin the Hat on the Turkey game:

April's first Thanksgiving away from home...we love you, April!

Me and Matt trying to take a picture of ourselves...didn't work out too well :)
Full bellies and fun friends:

The gobble/cluck story... This is an email we received from our friend who was hosting our Thanksgiving celebration and who was also in charge of purchasing the turkey:

Dear Pilgrims and Indians,

That old Thanksgiving song asks of Timothy Turkey, “Why do you cry, Why do you cry, Why do you cry?” In the original our friend Timothy was crying great big turkey tears because he knew he was about to lose his head and feathers and end up on a silver platter on the classic, American table. Well, we at our house have felt the pain of ol’ Timmy Turkey, but for different reasons. We have cried because we have not been able to find a turkey. Well, let us rephrase. The first turkey we found was a frozen one (which is what we were looking for), but the wrapping had been opened and it looked as if the bird had been handled. We then found a turkey that we thought had been frozen at one time…although we are not sure when that time was. When we picked it up at the store it was very cold and we only carried it by the handle on the bag so we didn’t realize that it wasn’t really frozen until we got it home. After doing extensive research online (many thanks to “WikiAnswers”) we learned that a whole turkey can be left thawed in the refrigerator for only 1-2 days. So we thought we would investigate the questionable bird. As we opened the bag in our kitchen both of our heads snapped back at the smell of spoiled meat. Needless to say we aren’t cooking this one…although we are still debating as to whether this discovery would stop some of our friends from eating multiple portions anyway (Matt, don’t ask who I am talking about.). In conclusion, after six hours of searching our favorite stores from Heliopolis to Maadi, we found 3 turkeys; one frozen, naked, and handled, one rotten, and one as yet to be identified. We have decided to leave #3 a mystery. As it stands right now it looks as if Bahy BBQ will be providing our Thanksgiving meat. We think about 6 chickens will feed everyone. We are sorry if this ruins anyone’s holiday cheer. My thought was that I would now have more room for pumpkin pie, pecan pie, sweet potato casserole, dressing, beans, bread, and yes…street chicken. I guess we can rearrange everyone’s favorite holiday song…Charlie Chicken why do you cry? Or better yet…Fady Friek bitayut leih? We can’t wait to share our holiday together.