It's Getting Hot . . . time to go home.

Well, we know it is time to come home for the summer when the weekly lows are in the mid 80's and all the highs are over 100 degrees.  We have four weeks and two days of school left.  In one way it is nice to think we are going to Scotland and get a good long visit in the Midwest and Canada with everyone soon, but at the same time there is so much to do until then.  We are going to be very busy trying to get our students where we want them in four weeks and we get to move houses in two weeks!  Packing will start today.

In Aden news, he has been a little rolling machine.  He started rolling over this week and hasn't stopped since.  I put a video of him rolling on Facebook, but wasn't able to upload it to the blog.  I suppose we shouldn't lay him on the edge of the kitchen counter anymore . . . just kidding, we never did that.  However, he isn't so safe laying on the bed while we are brushing our teeth in the bathroom anymore.  I'm glad God designed babies to hit one milestone at a time so we can adjust to one new thing before another starts.

Well, that's all for now.  Enjoy the pictures.

Jamie

Who's feet are those?

Aden, Mommy, Joumana, and baby Kamila

Family pic.  Aden is looking quite relaxed.

Doctor Appointment and . . . A New House!

Aden went in for his four month vaccinations and his check-up.  The doctor said he is 90 percentile for weight and 95 percentile for height now.  He seems to be slowing down a little, which is ok with us because he isn't so easy to haul around everywhere anymore.

Our big news is our new house!  We are moving off of Red Sea Desert Palms compound, which is a little drab and has older prefabricated housing.  Our school secured a home on Pearl Beach compound, which is on the beach.  We have some families there now, but houses there are expensive and don't become available all that often.  We were fifth in line for this house and never thought people would pass it up, but for different reasons they all said no.  We said a pretty quick yes.  It will be a little sad moving away from our neighbors, but we will still see them.  Our new house is a very open three bedroom with porches on the front and back, plants and trees all around, and a little grass yard!  Oh yeah, and the beach is just a couple minute walk from our house!

Here are a few pictures of what it looks like now.  It will be very different when we move in a few weeks.

New Kitchen

Outside 

Living Room

I think I will get at least twice as many tomatoes as last year.  They are great eating too.

Aden enjoying his little chair.

Swimming trip on Murjan compound.  He is definitely a water baby.

Hofuf

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.  This was our first Easter in Saudi (last year we were in Thailand for spring break) and it was a bit weird.  We had our "church service" on Good Friday and Sunday was a normal work day.  I don't think it's something that I can get used to.  The nice thing about this year was the fact that we could get together with other believers and celebrate Christ's resurrection.  We couldn't have done that last year if we were here.  That community of believers is something I will never take for granted anymore.  

This weekend we headed out at 4:30 am for an adventure to Hofuf!  Hofuf is the major city in the Al-Ahsa Oasis which claims to be the largest oasis in the world.  It was a three hour drive south of Jubail, but completely worth it.  The reason we had to leave so early was to get to the camel market in time.  Shortly after dawn, people congregate at the camel market to buy camels.  I'm not sure what makes a good camel, but it was neat to watch guys inspecting them.  We watched one man buy a mother and baby for 6,000 SAR ($1600).  The most interesting part of the market is watching the camels being loaded into their new owners' trucks.  The camels' legs get tied and then they are hoisted by a crane into the back of the truck.  This is quite the process and the camels don't like it at all.  After listening to an unhappy camel, I think I know where the producers of Jurassic Park got the sound for their dinosaurs.  

After the camel market we went to an old fort in town.  The fort is only open by appointment (which we didn't make), but we happened to get there just about 10 minutes before a school group showed up so we were allowed to tour with them.  The fort was neat, but very similar to the one we went to in Dubai.  The Qarah caves were much more interesting.  They were fun to explore and had many great photo ops.  A 4-year old boy who was with us had the best quote of the day while at the caves.  There was a sewage smell in one part of the caves and he said "it smells like dragon poop!" completely believing that dragons lived there.  Ah, the mouths of the innocent.  

The oasis itself made it feel like a much nicer area of Saudi although we didn't spend much time there.  It has trees, water, and even the desert is beautiful. 

The whole trip was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to see a different part of Saudi. 

Tara

Camel crossing!

Jamie and Aden checking out the camel market. 

Posing in the caves

Is that water and green?  This can't be Saudi, but it is! 

Dressing up for Easter Sunday

My new favorite picture!  What a couple of goofballs!