Church Group in the Desert

We are very active in our church here in Dubai.  When I am able, I attend a Tuesday night "small group" in our neighborhood.  It is a focus group comprised of other adults in the area who wish to study the bible and its teachings.  We come together every Tuesday night from 7:30-10:30pm in someone's home and dig deep into The Word.  It's an amazing experience... and I've met some pretty outstanding people by doing it.  

We decided to go out on a Friday afternoon after church (our weekends in Dubai are Friday and Saturdays.... Sunday is the first day of the work week) to the desert with our entire families.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  We flew kites, played in the sand, spotted wild camels, built a fire, ate some amazing food (South Africans can really BBQ well!), and shared fellowship.  Just the way it should be:)

the 4 year olds

our campfire (notice B with her hot chocolate!)

Daddy helped fly the new kite from Nana.  The kids loved it and it was an awesome flyer (we've had some duds....)

Roasting marshmellows.  We are the only Americans in this group so we introduced s'mores to everyone.  They had never heard of or tasted them before.  Total hit.

My baby and me.

What our campsite looked like.

 I didn't get any specific pics of the sunset.  But it is absolutely stunning across the dunes.  This is just a little glimpse.

The place we went was new to us... we usually go to a different location to BBQ.  It was much more remote and desolate.  We even saw a heard of camels.  

This is Sandra, who hosts/leads the study group.  She is from Zimbabwe (South Africa).  We have such a diverse group - UK, Sweden, Africa, USA, Australia.... I feel SO BLESSED to be learning about the same God with people from all over the world.  Truly an inspiration to hear everyone's stories.

Potty Trained so Build a Bear

Since Veronica is officially out of diapers, we decided to celebrate with Build A Bear Workshop. My kiddos have never experienced this store, so they were thrilled to hear we were going to "make special friends" at the mall after school last week.  

There are 3 Build A Bear stores in Dubai.  I believe the prices are similar to those in the USA (I walked out paying about $67 for 2).  Luckily, my girls only wanted to build the stuffed animal.  They had NO desire to clothe or accessorize.... lucky my pocket book!  Veronica chose the purple horse/unicorn and Bianca chose the blue.  

We are so proud of our little Veronica Sue!!!

Cousin Lovin

Matt and Wendy went above and beyond (as usual) when we came to visit.  They pulled out all the stops with a pool slide and full-on entertainment.  The food venue was AMAZING and they totally spoiled us with some really good grub everyday we were there.  

A HUGE thank you for watching the kiddos for me so I could go help out with a baby shower.  Towards the end of the visit Derek was gone for 3 weeks and it was so nice to have extra help.  The day off was really nice. 

HUGE thank you for everything you guys did while we were there.  The only bad part of being with you was having to leave:(

4th of July (it's february, i know)

A little late, but better than ever.

We were 1 day into a 9-hour jet lag, a bit cranky and baggy eyed, BUT loved seeing family.  Mom and Dad had a little cookout for us.  It was a great day.