We're Moving!

I have so many things to blog about, our trip to Ireland and Scotland, Jake turning 11 months, Jake having a birthday party, but I feel like I have this big announcement hanging over my head. So here it is:

Our little family is moving to Doha, Qatar.  That's right, a few more years of the Middle East for us.  We really wanted to move back to the USA sometime this year but Micah's job offer was too good to pass up so we agreed to make the move from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.

In many ways, life in Qatar will be much easier than life in Saudi. It is a much more "westernized" country where I will be able to drive and won't have to wear an abaya.  Stores don't close for prayer times and they even have movie theaters.  Certain restaurants serve alcohol and pork can be found in certain stores.  Doha is only 1 short (14-16 hour) plane ride from Houston.  I'm very excited to be able to get on ONE plane and be in Houston.  I know that sounds crazy but after years of 1.5 hour drive to the airport and extra flights with layovers, this sounds amazing.

For our family this move has a positive impact.  It means more normal type outings, normal dates for me and Micah, and even some fun activities to do together. Also, Micah will be working a more normal work week which Jacob and I are really happy about! We will be able to travel some more and see more of the world and get some more life experiences.

We will dearly miss our friends we've made here in Saudi and I don't look forward to living in the middle east without them. We will continue to miss our family and friends in the USA and miss getting to be there for special occasions but our time will come to be back and I'm sure the next few years will fly by. Wish us luck!

* Here are a few pictures from our trip to Doha for the interview

11 Months

11 months!

Jacob’s Stats:

Age: 11 months

Weight: 19 lbs 14 oz

Length: 29”

Eye Color: deep blue

Hair color: blonde

Eating Schedule: 5 oz 3 times/day, 6-8 oz morning and night. Solids at lunch and dinner

Sleeping: Jacob naps two times a day.  His first nap is in the morning and his long nap is from around 3:30pm-5:30pm. 

Clothing: Jake is in all 12 month

Teeth: Jake has 4 on bottom 1 on top and 1 on the way

New Activities: Jacob still loves the beach, the dishwasher, and playing with his toys.  He is getting very good at walking behind his walking toys and squeals when he needs someone to help turn him around. He also loves walking with people holding his hands. Jake is able to guide us like he has ahold of reigns. This month, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit before whisking me off to Ireland and Scotland.  I spent much of this month not at home.  Grandma and Grandpa were able to teach Jake how to say “uh oh” and work on “A-E-I-O-U” which has now appropriately been changed to “A-E-I-O-S-U- Cowboys”.  Jacob can say the first part and then just laughs when we finish. He loves his solid foods and eats quite a bit.  He also learned how to clap! This kid loves to eat. With how much food Jacob eats, I’m surprised he stays so slender.  Month 10 was such a fun month, now it's time for 11!

Birthdays

It's funny how when you have a baby suddenly you kinda forget to post stuff about your own birthdays.  Micah's birthday was February 25 and mine was April 3.  We both turned 29 this year.  Just one step away from 30!! Eek! 

For Micah's actual birthday we did the Heart Walk for Susie and Darrell.  He was so gracious to share his day! Brooks' birthday is really close to Micah's so Lindsey and I decided to throw them a joint party (I think we've done this ever since we've known them).   On a Thursday evening (Saudi version of Saturday) we had everyone over.  Lindsey and I had cooked spaghetti and we had a great idea of ordering a cookie cake from the Great American Cookie Company.  It wasn't very cute but it was delicious. 

Micah and I didn't really discuss much about my birthday. I was ok with it being somewhat low key but my husband is very smart and knows that I like surprises.  From what I'm told, it was very difficult logistically to pull of the surprise but our friends did it.  Lindsey had me come over to hang out while everyone was at my house getting stuff ready.  Then Lindsey had to come up with some excuse to get us to go to my house together.  I tried to get her to let me go alone but for some reason she wanted to come too :)

They had planned to grill some hamburgers in our wonderful spring weather but in true Saudi fashion, a sand storm blew in that day!  See they lovely haze.  However, the hamburgers were still delicious!

Yes, the sand in the air makes this picture look this way 

 I was very excited to have my own "Lindsey cake"!  Thanks Lindsey, it was fabulous as always.  We didn't have any candles so I ended up blowing out one of our scented candles. 

 I had a blast hanging out with everyone.  Thanks for the wonderful surprise!!!

Easter in Saudi

Celebrating Easter in Saudi is a very different experience from the USA. There of course are no "churches" so there are no special activities or services to go to.  Also, it's not a holiday that we have made a trip home for so we have spent the last 3 Easter's here.  Of course, no matter where you are the true meaning of Easter always shines through.  Jesus Lives no matter what country you call home!

This year I suddenly felt much more pressure and excitement about Easter.  I felt the importance of making sure Jacob knows the true meaning of Easter (of course he doesn't understand yet) and making it fun for him.  Obviously, we don't find decorations here so I kindly asked my Mom to bring Jake his very first Easter basket.  I decided this would basically be his gift from us this year.

On Thursday, our compound had an Easter Egg hunt.  I know Jake is really too young to understand hunting eggs but I brought him just for fun.  He loves his toy plastic eggs at home so I figured we could get him to at least pick up one egg.  He basically found one egg and was good to go.  Our friends and their kids came too and we had fun taking pictures of all our kids together.

Family picture time:

On Friday, the Saudi version of Sunday, we woke up, got dressed, and gave Jacob his first Easter basket. This year I decided his present was the actual basket itself since he doesn't care yet.  I also mentioned to Mom that I wanted a new swim-suit to be part of his Easter basket tradition so she bought him one this year.  I ordered Jake one of my favorite books as a kid and had a few other trinkety things in the basket.  All he cared about was the eggs. Gizmo was almost more interested than Jake.

Once we were done with the basket we to a wonderful morning service with our "group".  Afterwards, our close friends got together and had a traditional Easter lunch-Mexican food.  Haha. I guess maybe traditional for us Texans stuck in Saudi. Of course the kids had a blast playing in the jump house and with all the toys.

Brooklyn

Savannah 

Jake

Jack 

Gavin

Aden

Dan with Luke and Miles

Miles

Lindsey decided to take our celebration one step furthur and had games planned for all of us adults.  We did an Egg on the Spoon race, Egg Toss, Chubby Bunny, and well I'm not really sure what to call the other game (haha).  Maybe it's called Pass the Egg?  Anyway, here are some pictures of our fun Easter themed games.

Egg Toss- Tara had her baby a few days later :)

Egg toss

Egg on the spoon race

Egg Toss

Pass the Egg

Pass the Egg

Chubby Bunny

Chubby Bunny 

Chubby Bunny

I also made Jake take some more Easter pictures. He wasn't as cooperative this time though.

He is Risen!