A Tribute to Cairo

Cairo's First Swim Meet of '08

The American School of Dubai travelled to ACS for the meet. It is always nice when we aren't the ones making that drive. I have new responsibilities this year, trying to organize our team so each swimmer is prepared for their event line-up. With Shari's expertise and willingness to help and several other Moms we managed to get the swimmers in the right place at the right time. It's definitely more complex than one would imagine.
Cairo placed in all of her events. We don't have the official times yet but she did great and swam the individual butterfly, the individual free-style and those same strokes in 2 medley relays. She did great.

When she wasn't swimming Cairo was happy to take over my job and tell everyone where to go.


Something about this picture makes me think she looks just like the shark that's on her swim cap.

Cairo's Game Face

Brad and Cairo looked so cute the other morning..each in their pink shirts..I had to take this photo.

Sam has a new hobby. He has started making his first stop-motion movie. He learned about the technique on Youtube and researched how to do it and now has begun his first short film..We will keep you posted on the release date...

Retiring Charlie's 1st Lunch Box
This was the first lunch box Charlie ever carried. After starting KG2 and beginning his 3rd year of taking a lunch to school, the zipper broke on the SuperMan lunch box. Charlie was devastated. He wants to get the zipper fixed but I think maybe it's just time to move on. I want to always remember this lunch box as my baby's first lunch box.

A Balloon Launch for the Nielson Family

Most who read this blog know of the tragic private plane crash that resulted in the death of one man and severe burn injuries to Stephanie and Christian Nielson. Stephanie is a sister to a very good friends of ours, Andrew and Megan Clark. Due to the extent of the burns both Stephanie and Christian have been in a burn center in Arizona since the accident on August 16th. Their 4 children are in Utah being cared for and loved by aunts and uncles and going to school with their cousins. Nie Nie, as Stephanie is known has a blog that has impacted women and mothers all over the world. She has a great attitude about her calling as a mother and has some fantastic ways to motivate her children and to create family unity. One of their family traditions has been to launch helium balloons with wishes or blessings on them. In honor of this tradition there have been several launches all over the world for the family. Here in Abu Dhabi we got together and launched balloons for the family and the support system that is making this recovery easier for them. The day was extremely hot and humid 110 degrees and 93% humidity. It didn't stop us. We wrote each family member's name on a balloon and spoke of the accident and how blessed we are each day to have good health and how quickly it can all change. Then we let the balloons fly. It was such a great experience to feel we did something in such a helpless situation.




Earlier that day, in spin class, I was thinking of Nie Nie and the upcoming launch that afternoon. I decided early in the class to ride for Nie Nie, simply because I can and I know she would love to ride a bike, hug her kids, laugh and love...It made me ride even harder than usual.

Cute Addition to Cairo's Room

Having Sarah with a print shop has turned into quite a benefit for a lot of reasons...While I think she works waaaay to hard for a pregnant first time mom, I surely enjoyed cutting some fun new vinyl to hang in our home here upon our return.
This is a photo if a chandelier silhouette that I hung in Cairo's room. It looks so great..We both love it! Thanks Sarbar

Our Night at the Burj al Arab

Once a year Brad has a conference in Dubai at one of the nicest hotels in that city. In my opinion, it is nicer than the Burj. It is in the Jumeirah Beach area and lies in the shadow of the Burj.
We enjoyed the afternoon in our room then were treated to dinner at the Burj with Sargon and Virgil. The restaurant is considered the most expensive restaurant in the world. We had drinks first at the top of the Burj that overlooks the Persian Gulf. Of course, luck would have it, my camera ran out of batteries just as we entered the hotel. (Which requires your name to be on a list to even gain access to the lobby.) We bought a disposable camera and the following are the photos of the evening.
Thanks a million to Sargon and Virgil for the fabulous night!




I had to take a photo of the bathroom. The picture doesn't really do it justice but it was a very nice restroom..

A Beginning of School Celebration

Since Cairo and Sam started school a few days before Jack and Charlie did I decided to take the two of them out for a little treat after dropping off the older two.

Jack opted for an ice cream cone, while Charlie wanted a donut.

Back to School 2008-2009

Look at these great kids. Excited and happy to begin a new school year at ACS. They are growing up sooo fast..Somebody press the pause button FAST!

Charlie, prepared for his first full day of school, KG2 with Mrs. Self. For the first couple of times, he called her "Mrs. You".

Here are the two boys together...It feels like yesterday, they were snuggled together in the same crib.

I requested the boys have the same teacher. So, Jack is ready to go into his first day too. Wearing his Emirate hat to shield him from the sun.

Liam is really the twin's best friend. He lives here in the compound and is considered part of the family. He attends the British School which began 2 weeks after ACS did. Therefore, he wasn't here when we returned from our summer break and Jack and Charlie really missed him and looked for his family to be home daily.
On the day he finally returned, we were driving into the carport after school when the doors of Big Red flew open and the boys were out and running toward Liam who had been watching for them to return from their day at school. It was so cute to see these 3 boys reunited after the summer break. They were hugging and swinging each other around in circles. I was fortunate enough to capture the reunion on film.

I love, love, love these clay pots from Hatta. It seems to be the only place around to get pots like these. I have had a few in the house but recently Shari made a trip to Hatta with Sam for a meeting and picked up a load of pots. These are a few of my new ones...Aren't they great. I especially love them at night when I have a candle burning inside them. Now I just need to figure out how to get them home to the US when we move back...

...REALLY???
This is a plant found on our compound.. Every time I see it I think.."OK, along with flies, mosquitoes, and roaches, this is one living thing that I am uncertain as to the purpose of...Why would the owner of this plant find it meaningful enough to keep around? It's a waste of soil..in my opinion.

Ramadan Kareem

It is the Holy Month of Ramadan. A month of fasting, celebrations and a focus on directing the thoughts and spirit to Allah. The title photo above was taken at a mosque near our home. I have always loved driving past the mosque during prayer time and seeing the many shoes on the steps of the mosque. A symbol, to me, of people leaving part of outside world behind and going into prayer. Finally, I got a picture of the shoes on the steps. I have wanted this photo for such a long time.

Thursday Again?!

It's Thursday already and I still haven't blogged..I miss my blog....
I've been so busy with the kids, homework, Cairo's swim practice...driving back and forth and Brad comes home for lunch almost everyday (YEA!) But with all that and my work outs and Ramadan schedule at school..I have no time left to blog.
I have made a promise to myself that I will blog today. Right now it is only 12:05am and not the right time to start blogging, although the house is quiet and I'm alone...I just can't.

I do need to say I have been spending a lot of time lately trying to live in the moment. Megan Clark, my dear friend from Provo, is helping with nieces and nephews who's parents were in a private plane crash the 3rd week of August. Both were severely burned and are recovering at a burn center in Arizona. Nie Nie, Megan's sister-in-law is covered in burns..up to 85% of her body. Her husband and sweetheart, Mr. Nielson, she calls him, is also covered in burns but not as badly. Nie Nie was an inspiration to so many people all over the world through her blog that the New York Times has now covered the story as well as the Today Show. My heart aches for this little family. I feel so blessed to have my health and the health of my family. I also feel extremely fortunate to know that I have an awesome extended family (like Nie Nie) who would totally step up and love our kids and pray for us and continue to inspire the world for us if something so tragic happened.

I must go to bed..I'm tired and emotional...Hug your kids and love your family. Anything can change tomorrow...No Regrets!

Check out the blogs about Nie Nie and Christian:
www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com
www.nierecovery.com
www.cjanerun.blogspot.com

Summer Fun at Bobbi and Grandpa John's in Logan

I drove Sam to Sun Valley to spend a week with Drew at a Warrior Camp. To save the other 3 kids from a long drive, they stayed with Bobbi and Grandpa overnight. They managed to have loads of fun in just a short amount of time.