Visit with Great Paw Paw

Hooray! We have completed our 3rd semester of language school and our reward was a visit from Randall's Grandfather, who flew over here to see us this past week. We actually met in a neighboring country and took a "mini vacation" with Great Paw Paw.

Here are some of the pics that captured Great Paw Paw's visit with us:

This is a neat Fort with a lot of history and we think Great Paw Paw enjoyed... despite all the walking!

Of course Morgan loves to take pictures and sat there and posed for the camera! Yes, she is wearing a jacket! As soon as we got off the plane, we had to immediately change Micah from shorts to pants and find all of our jackets; it was at least 10 degrees cooler than our country + wind and for once, we were cold! But we love being cold, at least here!

Paw Paw was trying to keep Micah still for a picture, which is challenging these days! But Micah sure loved having his Great Paw Paw around!

This was a funny moment for Micah as he found a KFC delivery motor scooter without its driver... so what was the most natural thing for him to do?... Climb on board and pretend he was driving himself. Thankfully, Great Paw Paw made sure he didn't actually start up the scooter!

Once again, Morgan posing for the camera... still in her jacket!

Randall enjoying his time with his Grandfather as this is his second time to visit us. He loves to travel and we love having him here with us!

Now Micah cheesing for the camera! Love that smile!

Liz decided to be in a pic rather then just taking all the pics...

We think this was the first time Paw Paw had ever fed a camel... At one point, one of the camels reached its neck over the fence, almost kissed Paw Paw's face... talk about up close and personal!

We've decided that you can't come to the Middle East without having pictures of camels!!!

Thank you Paw Paw for taking the time to visit us. We enjoyed having you here, showing you around and introducing you to our friends! We appreciate all of the encouragement you gave us and all of the love you left us. We love you!

Happy 2nd Birthday Micah!

This is a must see video! Micah turned 2 y/o last Friday, January 14 and the nursery had a little party for him. This gives some good insight to the cultural in which we live in. In addition, shows how much Arabic our kids understand.

Micah is getting so big, its hard to believe he is already 2 years old. So many changes... he and Morgan are playing together a lot more now which also means, fighting a lot more now; they are now sharing a room and learning to share everything; they often have conversations in which we do not understand but they seem to; and we often see them loving on each other and giving hugs! This is a fun stage Morgan and Micah are in and we are enjoying it while it lasts!

Enjoy the video! Happy 2nd Birthday Micah! We Love You!

Stay tuned for more pics and videos as we're having a Birthday party for Micah at the beginning of next month with his friend Lucy!

Starting on a Good Note...

So far, so good... our family has started 2011 on a good note! Randall ran his first 1/2 marathon this morning with his good friend B. One of the directors of our school is big time into running and put together a 1/2 marathon for any of the students who wanted to participate... let's just say there were 3 people who participated, which means, Randall placed.. well maybe a tie for second!

Liz, B's wife and the kids jumped in the car, prepared with water, gatorade, bananas and dates and met up with the guys a little over half way through their run. Pit stop #1...

And they're off! (as you can see, its a 1/2 marathon in the desert!)

Pit stop #2... we drove several kilometers down the road and met up with them again (mainly to check up on them and make sure they were still breathing and not cramping up)... about 1 mile left (1.6 kilometer) at this point, which of course is the hardest part of the entire race

And the winner is... Yeah! They finished and are still smiling!

And the best prize of all... hugging the 2 biggest fans! (the kids cheered Randall and B along the way)

As for Micah, he's never really been around dogs much but he loves Daisy (the director's dog)

And Morgan loved this! A Huge Trampoline! Of course both kids now want a dog and a trampoline at our house... Inshallah.. If God Wills.. as they say in the Middle East

A well deserved power nap! What a trooper, after running the 1/2 Randall played with the kids and even read books to them!

And what would a New Years be without cupcakes???

Celebrating the New Year and celebrating Randall's Big accomplishment!!!

We hope each of you had a great start to this new year as well!

Happy New Year!!!