Halloween

I know it is Fall somewhere- colorful leaves falling, rainy overcast skies, the smell of fresh baked bread and pumpkin pies... all of these things and more. Abu Dhabi is still warm,(hot really if I am being honest with myself), with blue sunny skies, and the only pumpkin in sight costs about 80 Durham- the equivalent of say, maybe 20 bucks.

We ere all set to celebrate Halloween but it was cancelled due to one of the Emirate Sheiks deaths. So the country is in mourning for the next 40 days, with Abu Dhabi observing it for 7 days. So Halloween will officially be celebrated in Abu Dhabi on Friday November 5th. I told Grace "Be Happy, this is the only time in your life where you will get to trick-or-treat on your birthday!".

We did have a ward/friend Halloween party last Saturday night. It was really fun with a chili kick off and some games and treats. Audrey and Grace were Hula girls, Sullivan was a vampire and Hazel was a butterfly(for all of five seconds). Good times.

Some of you back home have asked if we celebrate Halloween here. Well, sort of. Some Westerners do- and some Arabs do to. Just whatever your family decides to do.
You kind of are made to feel a bit like a heathen, there are crazy letters to the editors in papers regarding Halloween. I have clipped a few and am making a scrap book. Here are a few headlines and quotes from articles-

"Keep kids safe- don't get into evil Halloween" or ..."a few people will be very surprised to find their cats and dogs slayed and heads ripped off and crucified around Halloween time..." ...."do not call yourself a Christian when you are celebrating this junk:..

So...regardless you will find us trick-or-treating this Friday night. We have all been given Pumpkin pictures to tape to our front doors if we are participating.

As for the rest of the week- I have finally hopped off the fence and ordered some curtains for this villa. I am sure the neighbors are as excited as I am. I keep calling Didar to see when they will be done- his response 'In sha Allah'- translating- when God wills it...so sometime soon perhaps.

So we have been here now- 5 weeks. Amazing how time flies when you are trying to put a house together. And carpool, and clean a house, and make new friends, and help your kids make new friends, and do homework, and drive to wrestling, and laundry, and wash dishes, and orchestrate pesticide and house repair and window washing and pool cleaning, and buy rugs, and get passport pictures, and find a place that takes passport pictures....and the list goes on. I have discovered that the list goes on and on regardless of where you find yourself on this globe.
When I find myself giving into this heat and chaos of city life I hear my mother's voice reciting "Attitude is Altitude", and sigh, she is right.

So after 5 weeks I am able to count a few accomplishments:

#1- I can navigate in and out of the city without a map!
#2- Audrey had her first 10/10 day at school. And yes, that day happened to include her 1st day of sailing instruction! How fun!
#3- Hazel is completely potty trained!
#4- Sullivan has made a few friends that are boys! Finally.
#5-Grace is in an accelerated learning program for reading, spelling and math.
#6- Our resident visa's are being processed.
#7- I have finally perfected my Hungarian Goulash recipe.
#8- I don't flinch when I see a dead coach roach on my floor. Well only if I happen to step on it...
#9- I have finished one of four HALLOWEEN costumes.

I am amazed at how self absorbed I have become over the past few years. A trait of which I am not proud. I can blame it on circumstances, living off the fat of the land out in Utah, but really just because I lost touch with what really matters. I remember when Quin and i came home from Egypt and we said we would never ever take anything for granted ever again. But slowly we did. Slowly I did. Anyhow, maybe the reason we have been led to live out here is the fact that someone is trying to get us back on track. Life is learning to be grateful. Grateful you don't wake up each morning in a work camp miles away from your spouse and kids in a foreign country earning 2 bucks a day working in 115 degree weather, building a palace, a home with 5 bedrooms and 8 full bathrooms, knowing you will never live anywhere that has electricity in your walls. Grateful is having the option of driving your own kids to a good school and picking them up when they need you, or volunteering in their class because you are not working. Taking your own kids to the park and pushing them in the swing and having them tell you about their day- face to face. Grateful for someone seeing you wrestling two kids in the grocery store and quietly unloading your grocery cart for you. Thankful for water- regardless of temperature- just enjoying rain, a shower, a pool, clean linens, watered potted plants, a glass of water.

Someone posted a clip on FB about women in Sudan. If anyone is interested there is a great biography written about a young woman from Darfur- "Tears in the Desert". I read it a few years ago. She is being honored as Humanitarian of the Year. You can look her up on You Tube- I'll post the site. Pretty amazing person- and tragic story- but inspiring. Highland City library has a copy- so I am sure you can get it just about anywhere. A great read. Let me know if anyone reads this.

Life In Abu Dhabi

Ice skating at The Dubai Mall.

And the adventure begins...

We have been here a month now- and things are slowly beginning to make some sort of sense. I don't know if it will ever all fall into place- seems like everything here is in constant change. But we are enjoying this adventure- glad to have these experiences. Here is a bit of what's going on.

Audrey and Grace are loving their school. The facilities are amazing, teachers are enthusiastic, the curriculum is great, wide range of after school programs and they seem to be making friends from all over the world.

Sullivan is home with me- swimming a ton, inviting friends over, and is trying out rugby and wrestling.

Hazel is potty trained!!! Yeah! That was quite unexpected- but amazing. She is still attached to bottles, (and her mother), but she is also enjoying the pool and sand.

As for me- I am getting used to wicked cold air conditioning. I would say the heat, but does anyone truly get used to 105 degree weather? With 99 percent humidity? I keep looking at my pile of novels I brought- so far still only on page 87 of Frankenstein.... We have been busy trying to put together a "functioning" house. We have beds up and a kitchen table, a sofa set, two bookcases, and a TV. So really, I feel good about it. We have a few miss matched mattresses leaning against windows for privacy and a few bed sheets taped to other windows. One day I will get to the fabric district for drapes. But for now we are changing in the dark, and ducking:)

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I am missing friends- I am sure all the Nanny's in the neighborhood can tell. There isn't one nanny I haven't stopped to chat with at the park. There are some really great women in the ward. I look forward to getting to know them better. The ward is amazing, has been amazing in helping us get set up and feel comfortable here. I have lived here three weeks and already been VT-ed.

Today we had to do a boarder run. That means that the kids and I entered on a tourist visa. We are allowed to be here for 30 days on that type of visa. So we had to drive to Oman for an exit and re admittance stamp- giving us another 30 days to sort out our residency visa. It was a bit of an ordeal- as the officer in Al Ain(the UAE office) forgot to stamp our visas upon exiting the country. So when we got to the Oman checkpoint we had to return the 20 kilometers back to Al Ain, get the stamp and drive back to the Oman checkpoint for an entry and exit stamp then back to Al Ain. Then drive back home- with all the kids. Lets just say a little stressful. On the bright side- Al Ain is a really pretty city. Loads of trees, beautiful gardens and wide streets. Seems a bit more laid back than Abu Dhabi and less, way less construction. After stopping for dinner, face painting(the kids), and balloon tying we made it home. Ahh. So good to be home. So that makes this place home- happy to be here.

My top 5 things that I really love about living here-

1. The fruit and veggie selection! Everything, did I say everything is delicious?

2. Our pool in our backyard. Always wanted one- and it is the best!!

3. Service- and it is almost always with a smile. Someone is always ready to help you do anything- (you just have to give them a small tip).

4. After school programs- dancing, swim squad and Sailing? What? Makes me want to go back to school.

5. The gospel- because there are more opportunities to talk to my kids about it. They notice the differences. I make sure we are doing FHE, going to church, prayers etc. because we need the Lords help here. Not that we didn't in Utah, but you know what I am talking about.

5 things I really miss about UTAH-

1. Friends and family.

2. Grass- my front yard and everyone else's....(I almost miss mowing).

3. Our piano.

4. Costco.

5. Cold tap water.

So there you have it.