Asking for Your Prayers...

We wanted to ask for prayers for Randall's Dad, Doug. He was recently diagnosed with Follicular Cancer, Stage 4 and has just completed his first round of treatment. For those who don't know Doug, we thought we would share just a glimpse of how much he means to us:

Obviously, he has good taste in NBA Teams!!!

March 9, 2007, Doug couldn't take his eyes off of his first grand-daughter!

Then on January 14, 2009, Doug fell in love with his first grand-son!

G.Pa loves his grandkids!!!

And clearly, they love him too!

Its hard for us being on opposite sides of the world but we cherish the moments we are all together as a family.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)

Preschool & "Pre" Preschool

We are well into our 1st semester of preschool (homeschool) for the kids. So far, things are working out well and the kids are enjoying a change in our routine. Here is a glimpse of what we have been up to:

Morgan and Micah having breakfast on the 1st day of school

Here's the bright student now.. backpack on, filled with new school supplies (Mom's favorite part)

Since we are doing homeschool in a group setting, we have a carpool system to get the kids to and from their respected homes/classrooms... Here's Morgan and Joseph on the 1st day!

And now introducing: our "pre" preschoolers"! Here's Micah and Faith (both 2 y/o) in the other car

And Karis (6 mos) is a part of our "pre" preschoolers a.k.a. younger siblings of the preschool kids

This is what we do: We Play!

And we Play some more!

2nd day of school:

2nd day: We practice sharing and singing our ABC's!

Of course there's snack time!

Busy, Bright Minds at Work!!!

And Creativity! (notice, Micah and Faith each have a book, a flashlight and are growing smarter as they "study" in our "bed-tent".. princess and brown bear book, what could be more educating???

Morgan in her new school clothes! Proud to be a preschooler!

What a blessing it has been to have kids close in age to Morgan and Micah in our new country. We are very fortunate to have willing Moms who are excited to teach the kids and give of their time and energy to run the homeschool group. On my (Liz) side of things, it is also a blessing for me to have the "pre" preschoolers" and get to love on them while the big kids are in school.

Stay tuned for more pics and projects of our "Pre" & Preschoolers... Check out

http://joseph-faith.blogspot.com/ for more pics of the bigger kids!

Weekend Get-Away!

This past weekend I (Liz) was able to take a trip to visit some old friends (where we studied in language school), the key part was that I was alone a.k.a. without the kids!!! I will try to sum up my short but refreshing weekend...

Here we are Thursday late afternoon, saying goodbye at the airport... Morgan knew the day before that Mommy was taking a trip and got her tears out then. However, this was a Big surprise for Micah, who didn't like seeing Mommy leave.

I have to admit, it was really weird traveling alone without Randall and the kids... kind of nice because I got to sit and watch all of the other Mom's chase after their kids in the airport, but a little nerve-racking at the same time because it was my first time to fly within the Middle East alone, without my family. So, to pass the time, I enjoyed a yummy smoothie and a great book!!! (Love me some Francine Rivers!!!)

After reuniting with my friends at the airport, closing down a mall (12:30 a.m.), driving to their house, we finally arrived at 3:00 a.m. and went to bed. The next day, we had planned to visit some of our Arab friends and here are the gifts I brought to give them (incense burners) made out of pottery (which they seemed to like after opening)!

Another first: One of my close Arab friends asked me to stay the night at her house; our visit started around 10pm and we stayed up talking until 1:30a.m. and finally said our good-nights! Here is a pic of the room I slept in...

And here is the time I finally went to sleep... talk about 2 late nights in a row!!!

The next day we visited another Arab friend and then headed to Dubai to meet up with some other dear friends... Here is Brit and I on the beach, just before eating lunch..

Happy Birthday Muna! We celebrated her birthday at El Chico, yes there are many Western eating places in Dubai... and in my opinion, what better way to celebrate a birthday then eating Mexican food, but I guess that is the Texan in me!

And following our lunch, we shopped at IKEA (which is a must when coming to Dubai) and then met up with some more dear friends at a mall. I loved seeing my friends and realized how much I had missed them since our move in June. So thankful for email, texting programs, skype, etc...

After saying goodbye to all of our friends, Brittany, her husband Chase and I finally made it to our hotel around 3:30a.m. It was quite an adventure trying to find our place of rest for the night!!! This next picture sums up my trip: Tired (got about 15-16 hrs of sleep within 3 nights) but so Refreshed!!! A much needed time away for me to receive much encouragement and spend quality time with loved ones. As I waited for departure at the airport Sunday morning, I sat once again, observed the other Mom's trying to keep their children happy, running after them, etc, sipped on my Starbucks and reflected on my weekend... Notice: No Book!

And this is what I saw after gathering my bags and stamping back into our country:

Such a sweet reunion I had with Morgan, Micah and Randall. So thankful for time away and a loving family who missed me, yet allowed me to refuel for the weekend. Happy to be Home!