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.