Cairo with one of the fish she saved yesterday after the net was pulled in.

shells and sea glass

We rented a car and took a drive yesterday.  BEACHES, BEACHES, BEACHES...the coast is dotted with granite rocks that look like giant hippos half submerged.  Around each corner is a new secluded beach with crystal clear water and NO PEOPLE.  It's amazing how quiet and private every beach is.  We stopped and enjoyed finding treasures on a beach.  I've always been intrigued by the idea of sea glass.  A broken bottle, rolled and tumbled to a soft, smooth, cloudy-colored treasure.  The beach was sprinkled with different colors of sea glass.  Once a dangerous, menacing piece of glass, now little treasures to be saved as souvenirs.  There were also so many shells.  It was as if nature had planned a treasure hunt for our entertainment.  We spent 2 hours collecting little treasures, climbing on rocks..And Cairo (the girl once chased by a buffalo in Yellowstone) found extra excitement by rousing a couple of guard dogs on some one's property on a cliff above the beach.  The dogs ran right past Brad and after Cairo's cute little tush.  The whole story goes like this:

Brad, Cairo, and the little guys climbed around an outcropping of giant granite rocks.  Sam and I stayed behind hunting for sea glass..After the 4 of them had been out of sight for about 20 minutes our peaceful treasure hunt was interrupted by the loud barking of two dogs above the rocks on a piece of property.  When we looked up we saw Brad's tan, shiny back sprinting away from two angry dogs.  We could even hear him kind of yelling "Eyyyeyyyyeyyyy!"

Had we not seen the dogs stop and Brad escape safely it would have been terrifying.  Instead we got a good laugh and waited for their return.  They had obviously climbed the side of the hill and were trying to come down a different way when they surprised..(or were surprised, or both) the two dogs.  On their return we were talking to Brad about how scary it could have been if the dogs would have gotten a hold of one of them.  That's when Brad told us that Cairo had been the one the dogs were interested in.  She was behind Brad and apparently the dogs ran right past Brad and were inches from having Cairo sandwich for lunch.  He was screaming to try to get them away from her.  

(That's his story and he's sticking with it...)

A room with a view.

The Seychelles..Wow, it's impossible to describe the beauty that is all around us.  Even the ocean, which isn't really a NEW sight for us, is bigger, bluer, more clear.  It couldn't be more clear.  There is so much green that while driving today Sam said it was hurting his eyes.  (That's a kid who's been in the desert too long.)  When I took of my polarized lenses, I realized it really was so INCREDIBLY BRIGHT.  The sun was bright and made the constant green of the hills brighter than seemed naturally possible.  

Our accommodations are PERFECT.  I know, it sounds like I'm in that "vacation ecstasy".  But really, we got all kinds of lucky when I got on the internet 24 hours before we were to arrive and sent out mass emails to several guest houses that claimed to have beachfront property.  The offices of all the places had closed for the day so we went to bed the night before our trip with a place in mind but we weren't too excited about it.  After a busy last day of school and lots of errands before our departure, it was evening before I was able to check on the responses from my emails the night before.  When I logged on I saw that 5 of the places had room for us.  One of which had only 3 nights available.  That one happened to stick in my mind as having a "Good Website".  Even though it was all written in french, the colors and graphics were nice, so I assumed the place must have some class. Right?  Brad and I looked at it again online and decided to take our chances and then move to another island after the 3 nights.

We LOVE THIS PLACE.  It couldn't be more perfect for our family.  Three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms a kitchen and....A T.V. AND D.V.D. PLAYER.  These last items are really hard to come by in this country where couples like to come to "Get Away From It All".  That's just the inside.  The outside steps down 5 quick steps to the sand and a giant bowing palm tree complete with a warning sign for dropping coconuts...Channelling Gilligan's Island anyone?  Our balconies, YES 2 of them.  Look out onto the beach and the sunsets and the french doors stay open all night for nature's air conditioning...which does a great job of cooling the place as well as allowing for that wonderful sound of crashing waves.  If our kids weren't sooo much fun and sooo darn cute, I might think Brad and I should have come alone...

Today's Catch..

Brad helped the locals pull in their catch this morning.  As the net got closer, Cairo and Charlie decided it looked like fun.  The guys couldn't believe they wanted to help them "work".  A great start to a PERFECT Day!

Charlie was thrilled with the flipping, flopping fish!  He grabbed the small ones and helped throw them back to be caught another day.

Charlie slept late.  The sound of crashing waves must have been his lullaby.  He slept 3 hours later than the rest of us...But, Cairo got us up at 4:30!  Did someone think we were on vacation?

We have to thank Cairo for helping us get up to see the sunrise and take advantage of a full day.

We're Off to the Seychelles

 Can we really go wrong visiting a country with a flag this CHEERFUL??

Really, it makes me smile just to look at it.

Thanks for voting.  We made the quick decision to take of for the Seychelles.  We leave tomorrow night.  It's a long flight but we are bound to have a wonderful time exploring the islands that can be found east of the African continent and just south of the equator.  It's going to be a different vacation than what we were prepared for with Thailand.  This location demands rest, relaxation, reading, sand castles, turtle watching, bird searching, island hopping, snorkeling, scuba-diving and lots of adventure for the family in a relatively untouched part of the world.

Plan B?

Up until this morning we have remained optimistic about the "situation" in the Bangkok airport being resolved...Now, we are starting talks, debating about where in the world we should go instead.  

Ideas include: Sri Lanka, Singapore, Kuala Lampur, Maldives, Bali, Seychelles, South Africa 

We're open to suggestions.  Cast your vote on the survey to the right.

WE GIVE THANKS

Another Thanksgiving in Abu Dhabi.  I can hardly believe this makes 3.  The day was chaotic, as most days seem to be.  I was cooking and relaxing and listening to music when suddenly...our guests arrived!  Yikes, this has been a lot of fun but I still need to bathe, peel potatoes, cook the yams, make the gravy, carve the turkey, make a chocolate pie.......

Luckily, our guests were the Oswalds, my good friends Jennifer and her two boys.  So I just put her to work doing all the yucky stuff while I had a bath...(Not really that bad, Thanks Jennifer).  She seemed to take it all in stride.  It's more fun to cook with a friend anyway.

  Jennifer and her two kids and husband just moved here in August.  However, Jennifer and I met on the www thanks to my blog.  Jennifer was preparing to move her family around the world and through a trusty Google search ran across the abudhabicooks blog.  After that we were pen-pals or keyboard pals whatever you wish.  They now live here and we did our best to help them enjoy their first Thanksgiving abroad.  We also had a new couple from our church, Jason and Camille. (No kids for them yet.) We also had our friends from the compound and church, Lynne and Christina.  It all worked out.  We all over ate and had great conversation.  Another Thanksgiving come and gone.  Another year of blessings of great family, fabulous friends, and good health to be grateful for.  We are truly blessed and truly thankful EVERYDAY of the YEAR.

Thanksgiving Ski Day

Give Thanks for Snow!

Like any true Utahn, Cairo spent Thanksgiving morning working up and appetite for turkey by skiing!  Her friend Valentina, invited her to go take a ski lesson at Ski Dubai.  Since we moved here, Cairo has wanted to ski in the mall.  I have ethical problems with our children learning to ski in a shopping mall.  We come from the Greatest Snow on Earth!!! It falls naturally from the sky (ok, sometimes assisted by a snow machine) onto beautiful tall mountains and resorts that we reach by driving up canyons.  Not by driving in speeding traffic, risking our lives on the freeways of the UAE!  I've adapted my thinking.  Learning to ski on any slope is more fun and more critical than which slope it is.  Our lives here are made up of compromises and exceptional experiences.  This one was both.

Thanks to Yoca, my friend and Valentina's Mom for taking them to Dubai and for documenting the experience in photos so I could share in it.  I was home cooking turkey.

The Dr. is a Rockstar!

Every year The Dr. gives a speech to the students of Abu Dhabi Women's College.  Every year he gives this speech in their native language, Arabic.  Because National Day falls on an Islamic holiday this year.  The campus celebration and the speech took place early.  This year he went totally native and wore the traditional clothing as well.  The students went crazy.  Press the play button to get a sense of what it was like in that auditorium.