New ways, Old ways, We love them all!

Swimming in the desert?

It may seem like a funny concept to some, but our little ones loved it! It resembled somewhat of a new "Beach" experience because there was sand everywhere! Here, we are visiting our friend, Eli's home where Morgan a.k.a. Miss Bossy is in between the boys, "keeping everyone in check".

Too hot to play outside... bring the playground inside...

When it's over 125 degrees outside, we don't usually play in the sun and get a tan. Instead, we head to a mall and play inside (in the a/c). Here Morgan is having fun riding a ride at an indoor play area for children.

Laundry, an all day event...

As mentioned before, we are learning to do laundry in a different way. First you turn on the hose and let the washer fill with water and add soap. Next you add the clothes and turn on the washer dial for 12-15 minutes to wash the clothes. Then you turn the dial to rinse so the water will drain out the bottom hose. Next you turn back on the water hose and add softener to the clothes. Turn the dial for another 12 minutes for the next cycle of softener. After that, you rinse again and the start putting clothes (7-8 garments at a time) in the spinner in order to ring out the water (turn the dial for 5 minutes). After all the clothes have gone through the spin cycle, you hang them to dry on the clothes rack (as seen below)... And depending on how much laundry we have built up, it could end up being an all day event!

Micah is now starting to eat baby food!

Interesting enough, we have not seen vegetable baby food in jars sold in the stores here (only fruits). Therefore, Liz has decided to make her own baby food and Micah is loving it! So far we have only experienced applesauce and sweet potatoes, but he is doing well and knows when the bib goes on and he sees his spoon, it's time to eat!

What do we eat?

We have been able to find many foods in the market that we would normally eat and make meals out of (thankfully). And here are a few of our favorites (snacks not meals)... Fun-Fetti Cake Cookies and of course (being Texans), gotta have salsa! (G-Pa would be proud).

Please continue checking back as we are going to try and update with pictures, stories, and videos more often. We appreciate you keeping up with our family. It means a lot to us. Be sure to leave comments, we love reading them!

Happy 6 months Micah!

Micah turned 6 months old on the 14th and we wanted to share a little video with you. Micah's activity has increased greatly over the past few weeks as he is now rolling over to and from his back and trying to sit up more on his own. He is entering a fun stage and we are enjoying watching him and Morgan play more together.

Enjoy this short video, it's not fancy but we thought Grammy and MiMi would appreciate it!

Our first week across the ocean...

Here are some of the pics that didn't make it in our newsletter. So far, the kids have adjusted well and getting over jet lag. Micah has new fun toys to play with and in and loves it! He is rolling over and starting to scoot around on the ground (a few feet), but other then that, he has little interest in crawling yet.

From the first day we moved into our new home, Morgan has worn her dress-up outfits and ran around the house pretending to be a Princess. She is adjusting to yet another new home and doing well.

Micah is starting to sit up more on his own and is learning to eat from a spoon. He's a big boy here in a big boy chair (as you can see, he is looking more and more like Randall!)

First week and already Liz and Morgan were able to attend an Arab wedding. Much different then back at home where both males and females attend the same wedding at the same time! First, women get all dressed up with fancy hair, tons of make-up and perfume. Then they arrive at the wedding, which is typically in an "indoor tent" type setting with fruit and drinks on the table, of course with women and children only (the men are celebrating in their own way near by). Next the music starts (and is very loud) and most of the children and single women start dancing. This was the part Morgan loved as she ran up and down the stairs to the stage to dance with the other children. A nice dinner is served and the bride enters and makes her way to her throne on the stage (a wonderful and cultural experience).

The funny part about attending this particular wedding was that after the "first" bride arrived and her groom came in to take her away with him, the hosts of the "first wedding" cleared the table and we started all over again. Meaning, wedding #2 was well on its way! So out came the fruit, drinks, tea, perfume/incense/dinner, etc all over again. haha! By that time, we were all full and patiently awaiting for bride #2. By the way, the first wedding (meaning food and music) started around 8 p.m. and by the time we left it was 11 p.m.

Here is Rachel, Morgan & Liz before the wedding (we really do have lots of make-up on, but I'm sure it wasn't enough..)

Here is Liz & Morgan during the wedding (sometime at the beginning of wedding #2)

It was a wonderful experience and we were able to meet several women (although unable to understand most of what was said to us)... many smiles exchanged!

HE DID IT!!!!

Not as creative as the one before this, but Brandon did it.... He is a First time IRONMAN!!!!

Way to GO Brandon.... check out him crossing the finnish line.

Final time 12 hrs. 6 min. and 40 sec.

(so what did you do today from 9 a.m to 9 p.m.?)