Levi turns 7!

I am not sure how it happened but my little Levi isn't so little any more!!!  If I was a good blogger I would have blogged about his birthday 6 weeks ago, since his birthday is on the 13th of September.  We all know I am not good at this though. :)

His birthday was on a Friday, which is our day for Fellowship.  Janet made this huge cake for him.  It was SO GOOD!!!

 He got lots of gifts from his Arabia family and lots of gifts from his grandparents who sent them with us from the US when we travelled over.  That night we had brownies and ice cream out in the drive way with all of our neighbors and he got even MORE presents!

He had a great day!  We are really blessed to have so many people here who love our kids and help make them feel special.  Levi is an awesome boy!  He is usually helpful and does what he is asked.  He likes to play with his friends and ride bikes and scooters and has especially enjoyed going to the BMX park here in Abqaiq. He also still loves to play video games and likes to play on his iPod. One thing I really appreciate about Levi is that he is my least picky eater! He is a really kind boy.  A few weeks ago he got the idea to try and make other people happy by leaving treats for them.  He left some cans of Pepsi by Dan and Sandra's front door for them and he has helped me make some cookies that he has delivered to other neighbors.   I am so grateful to be his Mom!

Safety! It's How We Bowl!

Back in September we celebrated Saudi National Day.  There were a few days of company holiday so we joined in a few festivities around the camp.  Our neighbor, Choy, was in charge of a bowling tournament for kids and he signed us up.

Apparently bowling is a big thing for Filipino people.   You'll notice the few white kids in the photo..They are either my kids or the neighbor kids...LOL.  So very different than in WY.

 While we were taking the group photo the gentleman in charge kept yelling "Condense!"  He wanted the kids to scoot closer to each other.  I got a pretty good laugh out of that.

 The got a free t-shirt! Score!  Aramco is very focused on safety so of course the main focus of the shirt is on safety more than bowling!

Selfie! Me and my Levi!

Swimming in the Gulf

About a 2 weeks after we got here we drove out to the gulf with the Tolmans and Janet.  You basically drive on a paved road through the desert for about 40 minutes and then go from seeing nothing but sand to nothing but water. :)

 I don't think it will ever get old to see camels as we are driving.

 It was almost dark by the time we got there so we only had about 15 minutes to play in the water.  There are lifeguards at the beach and the one by where we were was nice enough to let us play a little longer than usual.

 The water was so warm!  It was like getting into a bathtub!

 Briggy of course wanted to just run and play in the sand.  He loved it!

 Josh in the Gulf!!!  This was one of those moments where we went, "Holy cow!  We are really living in Saudi Arabia!"

 I was looking for a bathroom and nearly went into the Mosque instead... oops.

 After we had to be out of the water the kids played in the showers instead.

First Day of School....2 months later. :)

Catch up time...  School has been in for nearly 2 months.  I can hardly believe how quickly time flies by.  It is the end of the first term and we have parent teacher conferences this week.  

 I have some seriously cute kids.

 Millie:  4th grade (how did that happen???).  Her teacher is Mr. McGough who just happens to live in the same 4plex as we do.  Her best friend is Kealy McGough.  Millie spends a lot of time at their house.  Poor Mr. McGough! :)

 Callie is in PreK-4.  She goes to school every day in the afternoon from 12:30-3:00.  She loves school!  Her teacher is Ms. Cindy, who just happens to live in the 4plex next to us.  She loves playing with her friends Sara and Alexzi who both live on our street. 

 Levi:  He is in first grade and really loving school.  His teacher, Mrs. Bick, tells me that he is a very good friend and always very well behaved.  He is getting to be a better reader and does pretty well on his math homework.  He likes playing with his friends Finny, Diego and Nick.

Cute Briggy.  He is pretty much a monster who needs eyes on him at all times (otherwise something is going to be destroyed.  He loves riding his scooter and playing at the park.

Busy Busy Busy

I keep thinking that I will become a regular blogger.  I am really really wrong in this thinking.   I just can't ever seem to get around to it.

Things here are going really well, we stay plenty busy.  The kids all have activities they participate in that keep us moving in the afternoons.  All three of them have swimming lessons on Monday, on Tuesdays, Callie has ballet and Levi has rock climbing club, on Thursday Millie has rock climbing.  They all seems to be enjoying life here and they all have a lot of friends.

Josh has spent the last week and a half of so car shopping, then buying a car and trying to get all of the money wired over here from the US.  Things are done differently here so it has taken a while to figure our exactly how to do things.  Thanks to a lot of help from our super awesome neighbors Dan and Sandra, we finally got our new car last night!!!  (YAY!!!)  We had arranged before coming here to buy a car from some people that were leaving camp just as we were arriving.  It was a cheap car that was really too small for us and had some issues with the starter.  It was more stress than it was worth so I am super grateful that we have something newer and bigger.

Today is the last day of school for the kids for the next ten days.  Josh goes to work on Thursday and Sunday and then he is off for a bit too. On Monday we have plans to go with our neighbors out into the desert for some exploring.  I am not sure what else we will do but it will be nice to have a break for a bit.  

A shamal (wind/sand storm) started to blow through yesterday and its still windy today.  It looks kind of foggy outside because of all the dust in the air.  The temperature has dropped quite a bit as well, enough that my kids asked to wear jackets to school.  Right now it is about 75 degrees at 10:00 in the morning.   The sand in the air makes my throat feel kind of scratchy and I feel like I have sand on my eyes.  I think this will just be something that we learn to deal with.

More soon! Maybe.  Probably in a few weeks.  (I told you I stink at blogging)

Our House

Here is our humble abode. :) This is what we will call home for the next little while. 

 We live on the end of a 4-plex.  Just to the right of our garage is the neighbors garage. The lawn isn't fully grown in yet but we hired a gardener that is working on getting that taken care of.  He stops by a couple times a day to turn the sprinklers on, he also sweeps off the porch and once a week he washes the car.

 The kitchen is very different than the kitchen we had in the States.  I call it a hallway kitchen and I have a rule that no kids are allowed in there when I am in there.  Too close for comfort.  I do like the kitchen though.  There is plenty of counter space and lots of cabinets too.

 A view from the opposite side.

 This is our dining room.  Aramco provided the furniture for us until our own furniture gets here in a couple of months.

 This is me and Josh's room.  The provided a double bed for us but there is no way that I was gonna share with Josh so we put Briggy in a crip and then used the bed that was meant for him for Josh.  The beds are actually not that bad.

Another shot of our room, looking into the master bathroom.

I'll have to get pics of the kids rooms, the family room, the office and the laundry room up here next.

Random Pictures and a Cool Story.

 These 2 pictures were taken from the bus while we were on the day trip to Khobar.  There is A LOT of sand here and we see camels pretty frequently.

This is what the toilets look like.  Luckily there are a few normal looking toilets as well but there was rarely any toilet paper.  We need to remember to pack that along with us next time we leave Abqaiq.  Luckily I was able to find some paper towels. :)

Now for story time...

When  I was at the produce counter (you have all your produce weighed right in the produce area, not at the checkout stand) in Tamimi a man said, "You must have just got back from your vacation?"  I told him that we had actually just arrived 5 days preciously for the first time.  He was so nice and friendly welcoming us to Saudi Arabia.  He is from TX but lives in Ras Tanura which is a different Aramco compound, his name is Julio.  Josh talked to him for a few minutes and then we saw him a few other times when were doing our shopping.  Later on that day when we were having lunch at Chilis he came in and was also having lunch there.  After we got done eating the waiter came over and packaged up our to go boxes and Josh asked for the check.  The waiter smiled and told us our meal had already been paid for.  When we asked who paid for it he pointed over at Julio.  We were so touched by his kindness.  Paying for a meal for 6 people is no small amount!!!  We made sure to thank him and we headed out on our way.  After that we went to Saco world.  Its a HUGE store!  Callie and Levi needed to use the bathroom and I was just about to head to find Josh to make him take Levi.  Usually I just let Levi go in to the mens restroom alone but I felt nervous sending him by himself but I was also not comfortable with taking him into the women's restroom either.  Just in time Julio came around the corner and offered to go with Levi into the bathroom.  It was such a relief because finding Josh and then being able to get back it to the bathroom in time was going to be a challenge!  Well...Levi needed to go #2 and remember we are in the part of the world that doesn't use toilet paper.  Instead they have hoses in each stall so you can spray yourself off.  Poor Levi was left to figure this out on his own.  Julio realized that Levi was taking some time to he went and had to help Levi get cleaned up.  When they came out of the bathroom Levi was grinning from ear to ear and so was Julio.  They had a good laugh together about what a funny experience it was for Levi.

I was so touched by this man's kindness.  Here were are in the Middle East, a place that many people have told us they would be scared to live, and yet we were treated with just as much kindness as anywhere else we have ever been.  Josh and I have talked about this experience several times and will use this as a reminder to look for opportunities to serve others.  I should also add that everyone we encountered while have been here has been so kind.  People are very friendly and very willing to help us... No matter our race, nationality, or religion.

Abayas and Khobar

When we are in Abqaiq I can dress how I normally do. However, when we leave the compound (which is similar to a military base) I wear an abaya (covering my face and head isn't necessary).  On the first Saturday that we were here we went on an outing to Khobar, which is the closest big city.  Our first stop was at an abaya shop so all the new hires could be dressed appropriately for the rest of the day.  They had a pretty good selection and they weren't that pricey either.  I think I paid 75 SR for mine, which is twenty US dollars.   I've gotta say that hanging out in an abaya shop with about group of women that I had only known for a few days was totally a surreal experience.  Since then I've become great friends with these women and this picture makes me super happy!

After getting the abayas we headed to a grocery store.  We had limited time there so we rushed to grab whatever groceries we could.  The store is a Safeway called Tamimi.  Their selection is about a thousand times better than what we have at the commissary and the prices were pretty comparable to the grocery store I shopped at in Wyoming.   We also stopped at Saco World.  It's a big store that is like a Walmart without clothing or food or a Home Depot without lumber.  It's a huge store!!!  We had a good time here but again we were pretty rushed.  We also went to the Dhahran Mall and had lunch at Chilis.  We were commenting about how funny it was that we were in Khobar, Saudi Arabia but having lunch at Chilis.  It was actually really nice to go somewhere and order something that we were familiar with.  

While we were in Khobar we also went to IKEA and to a store similar to Best Buy.  By the time we got home it had been a 10 hour day and we were all super exhausted.  For most of the day I felt like I ha to remind myself that I was in Saudi Arabia.  It's amazing how quickly it just felt normal to be around people who are dressed so differently than me (especially the women all with their faces covered). 

 These are just a couple of random pictures I took from the bus while we were in Khobar.

 There are a lot of Baskin Robins Ice Cream shops here.  You can also buy it at the commissary.

There were about 40 of us on that bus to Khobar and we all bought a ton of stuff!  Unloading the bus and sorting through bags to figure out whose stuff was whose was pretty funny!  

First Class Flying, Airports, and Arriving in Abqaiq.

Everything was better about flying first class!  More leg room, lots of attention from the flight attendants, lots of food, screens for each person, seats that reclined...  I really wish we would have just had a direct flight because the only stressful part of the trip was getting to our connecting flights.  

 Levi and I on the flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles.  This was a short flight and they had cool snacks.  Probably the most fun part of the trip.  The airplane excitement was still fresh for the kids and we had a very friendly flight attendant.  

After our plane landed in LA we had an hour and forty minutes to get to our next flight.  We thought that would be plenty of time but little did we know we had to get to a totally different terminal and go through security again.  It wouldn't have been a big deal if we had been given accurate information.  We got on a shuttle and asked to be dropped off at terminal two.  Instead the driver decided we needed to go to terminal 4 instead.  Once we finally knew where we were going we started freaking out just a little because we knew we still had to get through security again.  A family of six getting through security isn't super simple.  The line was really long so we just cut in line making a bunch of people angry.  As we were getting everything on the conveyor belt we heard over the intercom "Despain party of 6 your flight to Amsterdam is ready to depart."  Well crap.  At this point I was starting to really really think we may not get on the flight.  We literally ran to the gate barely made it.  The crew of flight attendants helped us get all of the carry on luggage put away and the plane started moving about one minute after we were sitting down.  I let out a huge sigh.  I am still surprised that we made it.

About an hour after we took of dinner was served.  I should have taken a photo of the menu so I could remember the food options.  I got a beef steak with potatoes and vegetables and a roll.  I think Josh got that too.  Millie got a chicken dish and I think the rest of the kids got a fancy macaroni and cheese dish. There were appetizers too but none of them seemed super appealing. It was all much fancier food than Josh or I ever eat.  Everything was edible though and it was nice to be served. :)  One thing that was kind of challenging was that we had so much space that either Josh or I had to keep getting up to help the kids with their food (cutting it, buttering rolls, etc.)  Usually it was Josh getting up. :)  

 After dinner the kids got to watch movies on their screens and then we made them shut them off and get some sleep.  I think it was about 9pm when we made them sleep.  After running through the airport they were all pretty tired.

 Briggy slept for about 8 out of ten hours of this flight.  That was such a blessing!!!!

 An hour before landing in Amsterdam they served breakfast.  It felt like 3am for us so we weren't very hungry and some of the kids were still sleeping.  Josh got an omelet for breakfast and I got blueberry pancakes.  It also came with a croissant, some fruit and cheese, some yogurt, and a bowl of cornflakes.

At the end of the flight they brought around these little gifts for everyone.  They are little glass dutch looking houses.  I think the guy said there are 90 different ones and people that regularly fly with KLM collect them.  I need to get a picture of one still.  We didn't know they had alcohol in them so when we get them again after the next flight we traded some of them for ones that didn't have alcohol. (For those that don't know... Alcohol is prohibited in Saudi Arabia so they would have been confiscated if they had alcohol in them).

After landing in Amsterdam we had just enough time to figure out where to go and then get there.  We also had to go through security again.  SUCH A PAIN!  It was nice getting on to our last flight though and knowing we were getting closer!!!  The kids all did good on the flight from Amsterdam to Saudi but they were getting really antsy and ready to not be on a plane anymore.  Brigham slept for a bit and then was mostly watched Mickey Mouse on my lap top. There were several other Aramco employees on the flight but none of them were headed to Abqaiq.

The plane had a stop in Kuwait before taking off again for Dammam.  Josh and I took advantage of this time get changed and make sure we had everything and knew where things were (passports, ID, etc).  As the plane started loading again it was a bit of a reality and a culture shock...It filled with Muslim people.  Most of the women who boarded had their faces veiled showing only a little slit of their eyes.  Several people touched Callie's hair.  She is so blonde and they don't see hair quite like hers very often.

Once we landed in Dammam we found a bathroom and then headed for the immigration area.  We were at the end of a very long line when a Saudi man (dressed in a thob and gutra) took us to the front. He was an Aramco employee and had been looking for us.  Our family stood out big time... we are very white and we have a lot of kids. :)  After that we went to get our luggage.  We tipped 3 porters quite well for getting all of our luggage together for us.  They took it over to customs for us and helped get it all through.  Everything we brought made it though customs. They didn't even really search any of it.  After that we met up with the rest of the group of new teachers that were coming in at the same time and they took us to get our company IDs made.  Keep in mind that is was after 11pm Saudi time so it felt like early afternoon for us.  We in a small room with the rest of the new group and ate Snickerdoodle cookies that the superintendent brought for us.  It was really fun to get to know some of our new coworkers and neighbors.  Once we were done there we got on some really big busses that were very well air conditioned and headed to our new home.

We got to Abqaiq at about 3:30 am.  There are were 2 other families on the bus that also live in the same 4 plex of townhouses as us.  Everyone helped get everything unloaded and we were off to see our new home.  By this time I was definitely exhausted even though it should have only felt like about 7 pm for us.  We gave everyone some Melatonin to help make them sleepy and by 4am we were all sleeping.  I didn't even move I don't think until the 2pm.  I decided to make everyone get up so that we could start getting adjusted to the new time.

Thats all for now but I should have time later tonight to post about our first day here. :)  Thanks for reading.

Airport Day

To say it was hard to sleep the night before Airport Day (I've dubbed it that because I am not really sure what day technically would be moving day) is an understatement.  I woke up SO TIRED but so so so excited that we were finally at this point.  I don't think I can really describe the emotions... Scared, excited, nervous, happy, anxious. 

 We spent the last night at Josh's parents house.  Their poor front room was filled with our carry-on stuff as we tried to stuff everything in different suitcases.   Josh's parent were great help and they made us a yummy breakfast that included bacon and sausage!  We had to get our last fill of pork because it isbn't allowed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  My parents had all of the boxes and luggage that we were checking on the plane so they met us at Josh's parents house and then we all headed to Panda Express for our last American lunch. :)  

 We looked pretty funny trying to get everything where it needed to go.  Luckily it was a pretty hectic time and I didn't have a chance to think much...  The helped keep my emotions in check.

 Here it all is...  We had 8 dish barrel boxes and 4 big suitcases and a bike box that we needed to check in.  Luckily they all were under the weight limit of 70 pounds and the bike only cost $100 extra.

 This photo of our parents makes me smile.  We were all getting checked in and they were all standing with the same pose and looking a little nervous.  It was SO SO SO much help having them at the airport.  They stayed with us all the way to security.

 Once we made it through security we headed for the first class lounge.  We also looked kinda funny in there.  Not too many families of 6 were hanging out.  We all took advantage of the unlimited drinks and snacks.

Flying first class is very likely something that will never happen for us again so we soaked it up and enjoyed every minute.

Since we had a full week to spend in Utah before we headed for Saudi Arabia we decided to pack in as much fun with our families as possible!  

 We spend a day on Temple Square with our Llewellyn cousins (most of them anyway).  We also went to Liberty park that day and played in some small pools and then each of the kids got to pick on ride to go on.

 This is Levi and his cousin Kellen at the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City.  They have a part sectioned off just for kids.

 Briggy loved this little truck and spent the majority of his time at the museum playing in it.

 We also spent a day doing the exact same things with our Hendry cousins.  Millie chose to ride the swings both times and she LOVED it!

 Me and my Millie girl! :)  She is growing up WAY too fast!

 On our last day of fun before the big move we decided to go to Hollywood Connection.  The kids has unlimited rides, mini golf, roller skating, bumper cars, and a whole ton of arcade games.  They loved it!

These are cousins, Emmalee, Leah, and Spencer.  Not sure why we didn't include everyone in the picture.  We sure had fun with them though! :)