A Visit to the Fire House in Abu Dhabi

60 pre-schoolers and a surprised fire department are an interesting combination but, hey, we're in the UAE...So everyone just rolled with it.  The fire fighters quickly came up with a plan to show the kids a great time...And once all the drivers found the station we were able to have some fun.

Charlie and Jack know how to pass the time while waiting for a plan to come together...They just decided out of the blue to meditate for a few minutes.

Finally, we got to see the good stuff.  Even try on the uniforms!  This was worth the wait.

It took a few minutes to get the water to come out of the hose...so hopefully, this was just a fluke and they have better luck during a real fire.

We watched the ladder go sooooo high.

Then we got to go up in it!

Look, there's Big Red!  She looks good from up here.

This final group photo was a bit like herding cats.  The kids were tired and ready to leave but every mom there wanted her own shot of the group.  So, about 20 minutes later...this is the best we got.

Limited Edition...

I saw this driving ahead of me yesterday and had to snap a photo of it.  I get such a laugh at the spelling of words in english here.  I would definitely agree, this guy has a limited edition of a Land C-R-U-S-I-A-R.  Do you think Toyota just misspelled it on his tire cover just to make it a limited edition? You never know....

It's Raining, It's Pouring....

While on the playground after school the other day, all of the sudden it clouded over and started to rain....pour, in fact.  It is such a novelty to have precipitation here that the kids went wild!  They ran and danced in the rain then started rolling in the puddles created by the drain pipes from the building.  I'm not sure who had the idea but soon they were rolling around in the sand-box.  They looked like they were covered in graham cracker crumbs.  Almost good enough to eat.  Needless to say, we came home to take a long hot bath! I have to admit, for a moment I envied their inhibition.  They didn't hesitate to jump into those puddles and get messy.  Sometimes I think it would be great to do those things as adults.  We often hold back.

Rootbeer Sprite?!

This is Charlie having one of his favorite treats. He calls it "Rootbeer Sprite". Most people know it as a rootbeer float. I don't know where he got the name but he sure loves the stuff.

Loss of a Great Leader

We learned first thing this morning that President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley, had passed away. He is the only living Prophet our children have known in their lifetimes. It's amazing how quickly the news traveled. We found out here in Abu Dhabi just minutes after it hit the news in Utah. He leaves behind a legacy of love, acceptance and greater positive recognition for our church and it's members. We will surely miss him and look forward to a new era with hope.

CTR

Charlie and Jack are so proud of their new CTR rings. They have managed to keep track of them since Friday! When I look at these cute boys in these pictures it's hard to believe they could ever do anything but Choose The Right.

EJ in AD...What a Dream...Come...True!

Most who know me know how much I love Elton John.  Last month Brad and I went to see Justin Timberlake in concert at the Emirates Palace, in an ampitheater out on the beach.  It was a fabulous concert in an incredible venue.  At the time I said, "The ulimate concert would be Elton in this venue."  Well, about two weeks after that, it was announced that Elton was coming to THAT VERY VENUE!  Needless to say we were so excited.  We counted the tickets as our Christmas and 11th anniversary gifts to each other.....Then....I got soooooo sick!  I mean, I haven't been that sick for as long as I can remember.  The morning of the 22nd I woke feeling like I'd been hit by not just a truck but 5 trucks, at least.  I ached everywhere.  As evidence of how awful I felt, not only did I not care about the Elton concert that night but if he were to have walked into my room to visit me, I'm not sure I would have lifted my head off the pillow.  Proof positive that I am blessed with really good health.  I am a terrible sick person.  Compounding the pain was the knowledge that I wouldn't enjoy the concert to it's fullest potential.  By that night, I rallied, took lots of aspirin and looking like night of the living dead, I trudged into the concert.  I missed the warm-up party at Jenn West's house but I did make it to the concert.  Shake my groove thing??? NO.  Would have, if I could have, but couldn't.  It was fabulous.  EJ is so amazing.  He played mostly his early stuff. Illustrating just what a great career he has had...He played for 2.5 hours and hadn't even moved through half of his 1990's stuff.

Bad word...I know.  But he was singing his old song..."The B@#$h is Back" with this sign flashing in the background.  It was pure Elton flashy.

Brads' Favorite - Miguel Angel Jimenez

We followed him last year at the same tournament and were so entertained by him, he became a family favorite. He is a character on and off the course, he wears leopard print golf shoes and smokes a stink stogey but is such a lovable guy. He was great with the kids and happy to pose for a photo with the boys. He even made Jack and Charlie chase him around for their autographed balls.

Future Owner

These are Sam's dream cars. He saw them in the parking lot of the golf course and had to have a photo in front of them. Charlie thought he would just spread out across it. The boys do know their cars. We drive around town and the twins will say, "Look at that Mercedes."

We arrived home from a fun day together to Marilyn's open arms and a nice clean house. What a perfect day! Sam says he always knows when Marilyn is here because the house smells so clean. What would we do without her?!?!

We were losing track by now...

I realize this is all published on the blog from end of the day to the first...So have patience. Cairo caught yet one more autograph on our way to the car..We knew we had to stop her when after asking a gentleman for his autograph he smiled and said, "I'm just a spectator."

Here they are, showing off their autographs. Cairo is holding Jack's ball that was signed because by now he was done and not posing for any more photos. Cairo's visor is covered with signatures....Many of which may have come from professional golfers..haha. She also has a signature on her shirt and in the program she is holding she circled all the names of the pros she met. I think she is an official GOLF GROUPIE!

Lee Westwood

She got really good at asking for an autograph and a photo all at the same time.

My Personal Favorite - Adam Scott

Let's face it..Golf is just a great game. No grunting, no fighting, beautiful surroundings and an occassional good-looking pro who is nice to the kids. That is Adam Scott. Age 27, ranked 7th in the world of golf..Not bad. He's from Australia and he was super nice to all the kids, especially Cairo. 7th in the world...wow. I'll bet he's on People Magazine's "list" too..maybe higher than #7.

You can see from this picture that Cairo had managed to work her way right into the fenced off press area. Nobody seemed to mind.