Scary dog???? Really?

This is one of the cutest most lovable dogs I've ever known. She is always waiting for us by the front door when we get home and wants to be as close as possible to us, literally. She will jump up on our laps hoping to be scratched and if we stop she will move as close as possible and wrap her front legs around your arm until you start scratching again. I love this little dog.

But believe it or not, there are a few people who are terrified of her. We have workers here on the compound that if she approaches them while we are out walking her, their eyes get real big and start backing away from her. Like she would really hurt them. It's a cultural thing so I understand how some people here don't like dogs at all, but Sassy is just too cute to not love.

Then we have this little boy on our compound who is absolutely terrified when Sassy is around. Whenever he comes to our house he cries and screams until we put her in a room. It is rather annoying because she is harmless. Today Vika had several friends over and he was here. We put Sassy in the bathroom and shut the door but someone had let her our. I was upstairs and heard this deathly scream and crying from the little boy. Normally I would go down and get Sassy but I was a little annoyed that we have to do that so I just waited to see what the other kids would do. They all were trying to convince him that Sassy wasn't going to hurt him. The weird thing is that one of the little boys here who lives next door has two huge dogs and the boy who is scared of Sassy has no problem with his dogs.

Anyway, I just stayed upstairs listening to the crying and screaming while the other kids were holding Sassy trying to get him to pet her and not be afraid. It didn't help. Finally after about 5 minutes of chaos, he huffed and ran out the door crying for his Mommy. Maybe I was being mean but hey, if you come into our house you need to love our dog. I'm tired of whining and crying over a cute little dog.

He came back a few minutes later pleading for Vika and the other kids to put Sassy away but they said that they wouldn't. That if he wanted to play with them he needed to not be afraid of Sassy. I finally told them that they could bring Sassy upstairs with me but they didn't want to so the little boy huffed and puffed and said that he wanted his mommy, so he left.

I just don't understand how anyone could be afraid of such a cute little dog. Yes, Vika was afraid of dogs one time and we have some rather funny stories of her being chased around the yard by our friends dog but she finally got over it because we didn't let her be a baby about it.

I love my dog, so if you come into my home, you better love her too!

Just a little bit of humor!

Today we had an assembly to celebrate Reading Month at school. The middle school classes all prepared some sort of presentation to perform to the elementary kids. One class did a reader's theatre of the book "The Squeaky Door". It's a very cute children's book with different animal characters that a grandmother puts to bed with her grandson when he is scared at night. One of the animals is a pig. When they read that part and had a student come out dressed as a pig, there were several gasps, and EWE's from the crowd. The reaction was quite funny. Now you have to understand that pigs are considered a real "no no" here in Saudi. No pork, no pigs, they are taboo here. Of course this is due to the Islamic religion which is totally fine, but it was funny to hear half the audience gross out because of the mention of a pig.

Some little kids don't even know what a pig is here. Rachel has been tutoring a little 8 year old boy from Sudan for the past few months trying to prepare him for entrance exams to several British schools here. She was going over animals and the names of their babies. She asked the boy what the name of a pig's baby is. He looked at her with a very puzzled look. She said "A pig, oink oink". He had no idea what she was talking about. She realized that he probably had never seen a pig before, not even a picture.

I think pigs are very cute. Of course, I wouldn't want one as a pet, but they just seem so cute, not to mention how good they taste.

The Coat

One of Rachel's Christmas presents this year was getting an Arab coat here in Saudi. They are the warmest looking things I have ever seen. I think the real ones are made from camels skins but they now have all different kinds of styles. We looked at several shops in old Khobar for coats and found this little store that had tons of the traditional style which basically look like a blanket wrapped around you, as well as, other different versions. After trying a few on, some very strange ones, she decided on this. It is an auburn orange leather print lined with fake fur. It goes all the way to the ground. I think it is pretty cool. We bought this thinking she was going back to Utah in February and could use it there, but now that she won't be going back until April, it might sit in a closet until next winter when she is back in Idaho.
We took a walk along the Corniche several weeks ago and didn't go quite as prepared as we should have. It was freezing!!!! Yes, freezing!. We took a few pictures and left.
Technically we (the women) are supposed to cover our heads here in Saudi but not many do. The Mutawa (religious police) can ask us to cover up and if a real policeman is there they can escort us out of the area but it doesn't happen that often. I hadn't been bothered for 6 months until a few nights ago when we went to dinner down on the Corniche. We were walking around while we waited for prayer time to end and the Mutawa asked Rachel and I to please cover our heads. Of course they didn't talk directly to us, but told Gavin to have us cover our heads. The gentlemen was very polite but neither of us had a scarf so what could we do? We had heard stories about them being rude and to just ignore them and walk away but this guy wasn't rude at all. I felt it was rude of us to just walk away but we had no choice. I guess we better start carrying a scarf around with us.

The Artists

While we lived in China, Rachel loved making abstract paintings and did several large paintings for her IB Art class where she danced to music on the paper. Nicole always thought that was cool so she wanted to do a similar painting. We got the supplies and set this up on our roof terrace. They put on old clothes, music and got to dancing. Fortunately the roof already had paint spots all over so we weren't too worried about it getting all over.
Good thing we used acrylic paint that can easily wash off because they were covered by the time they finished.

Vika made a smaller version. They both picked out their favorite colors and just had fun splattering and dancing around.
It was a very windy dusty day so there probably is some sand stuck in the paint but that just adds to the originality.
Nicole's is now hung above the beds in her room. It is about 4' x 5'. Not sure if we can get a frame that large, so for now it is taped to the wall.
Vika's masterpiece is about 2' x 3' and is hung above her bed in her room.

This is a close up of Nicole's painting.

It was a fun girl's activity and now they have some fun cool original art in their rooms.

My Funny Valentine

Although my favorite valentine was not here this year, I still had a great day. My students are so amazing. They brought me these goodies, not your store bought valentines cards which are typical gifts from students, but some homemade chocolaty sweet goodness. I was not expecting much today since Gavin is still in South Africa but this helped make it a special day.

I also found out that Gavin will be home tomorrow morning. I thought he would be gone for two more days but I was wrong...now that's the best valentine gift ever.

I'm watching the movie "Valentine's Day" with Rachel right now and will order pizza for dinner to share with my little funny valentine's. May not be a day filled with flowers, candle light dinner, or expensive gifts, but I have just what I want, my kids.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lonely 4 day weekend

I REALLY MISS MY HUSBAND!

I had to post that because sometimes we forget or neglect to share with our spouses how much we love them. It's times like this when we are apart that I realize how much he is an important component in our lives.

Gavin left early Thursday morning for a week of fun in South Africa with a group of High School students. It is WOW (Week Without Walls) week for the High School. Each year they plan some amazing trips both service oriented and just for fun for the students to go on. This year they had three Habitat for Humanity trips to Cambodia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka and three fun trips to Bali, South Africa, and Spain (girls only). The trips fill up fast by the Juniors and Seniors first so Jonny didn't go this year but Gavin (Jack), was asked to chaperone the trip to South Africa and he has been rubbing it in for months that he gets to go but maybe it's Karma because he almost didn't make it.

The group left the High School at 2:00 in the morning on Thursday for the Dammam Airport. I got a call at 3:45 that he had forgotten his multiple entry/exit visa and a taxi would be at our house to pick it up soon. The visa's are printed on just an ordinary 8 1/2" x 11" paper that is loose from your passport and you aren't supposed to staple anything to the pages in your passport so we keep them in the safe at home. We need to carry our passports and use them quite often here so we don't want to lose the visa so we only take it with us when we leave the country, but he forgot to take it with him.

The taxi showed up at the house at 4:11 and his flight left at 5:20, talk about cutting it short. The airport is normally about 45 minutes away but since we know this driver because he personally caters to the teachers here, he drove 180 KPM and got to the airport in 27 minutes (which he told me later in the day when he picked us up for soccer). So he barely made it onto his plane.

We had a long four day weekend due to the WOW trips so we had a very relaxing, maybe a little boring weekend just doing nothing. The couch has become my friend again, or at least for a few days. Since I can't drive here, we are home bound most of the time. We stocked up on food before Gavin left so that I wouldn't need to really go shopping except for a few basic things. We have compound vans and taxi's that can take us places but I don't really want to do that unless I have to.

The kids have all been playing with friends and having fun while I've been catching up on movies. We found a place in one of the local malls that sales pirated DVD's like we got in China so I've been watching some of the movies that we have missed over the past few months. After a few days of sitting, watching, and eating I had to get up and do something so I actually went to the gym and worked out. Rachel and I walked around the compound for about 30 minutes and then I lifted a few weights in the gym. We have a gym only 200 yards from our house and this was the first time I have used it...SAD! I think I need to get in there more often. No excuses.

Anyway....this has been a very lonely weekend without my wonderful spouse. Sometimes it's nice to have a little break from each other and this time I've realized how much I really love him and can't wait for him to come home and hear about his awesome trip. I'm hoping that he will have loved it so much that he will feel he has to take us back. South Africa is calling me...next Christmas sounds good...let's all cross our fingers!

Random things

While Rachel has been here we have taught ourselves how to make some of our favorite things we have found here and in Jordan. While we were in Jordan we had this AWESOME Lentil soup so we have been experimenting with different recipes and created our own yummy version. We discovered Falafels while in Israel and found a recipe online. This was our first attempt and they were absolutely heavenly. Add our favorite salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, olives and feta cheese and we had a feast.
Nicole started taking Flute lessons several years ago while we were in China but when we got here they only had a beginning band class for 6th graders. Her flute skills were too advanced so she was asked to choose another instrument to learn during the class but still practice her flute at home. She chose the trumpet. Not exactly sure why but she said because it was totally different from the flute. So we are having to hear the beginning sounds of someone learning an instrument. I've tried to get our kids interested in music, which they are somewhat, but sports always seem to take precedence and music comes second. Oh well, at least they have been exposed to these things. They may never become excellent musicians but at least they will have an appreciation for music.
Sassy has become a very important part of our family here. She is such a loyal dog and will be waiting at the window by our front door for us to come home each day. We were so lucky to find such a good dog. Of course she can be the typical annoying dog at times barking and other unmentionable things but it is very difficult for us to get mad at her when she is so cute. Whenever there is food around she will stand on her back legs and beg. I've never seen a dog that can stand and even walk on their back legs like her. She should be in the circus! We love our little Sassy!
Vika can always find something to entertain herself and loves to play!

Camels and Rachel

Rachel had an opportunity to go out to the camel races with Nathan and Camille Hall. We all were invited but had other obligations so she went along with them.
They had to wear Abayas which aren't real conducive to riding on a camel.
She learned that they actually have beauty pageants for the camels to find the most beautiful one. They had to have floppy lips and a big head. Not quite the same requirements for our beauty contests.
They are cute though but not sure this has the floppy lips.
The races are a big thing here.

After the race they were invited to have brunch with some locals in a Bedouin tent.

Just another cool experience for her here. She has been able to get a tutoring job for a little Sudanian boy who is trying to pass the test to get in the British section of our school. She works two hours every day and gets paid 100 SR per hour which is about $26 per hour. She also is subbing for another lady while she is gone for the next few weeks tutoring a little Arab boy and girl. She will make more here tutoring for the next few weeks then she would have made at her full time job back home. This has been a great opportunity for her here in Saudi.

Well life is still good here in Saudi. Even though we may not have the most exciting life, we are happy and still enjoying it. Our life is quite simple here but is filled with enough quality things that we can enjoy as a family.

Rachel has been here for 6 weeks and was supposed to go home this Thursday, February 2 but decided that since her new semester at BYU-Idaho doesn't start until April 14 that she would stay longer. She came in our room a few days ago and said that her job back in Utah was really slow right now and they didn't need her to work so she wanted to know if she could stay. Of course we said, YES! The next day I changed her flight and she now is going to stay another two months here. WOO HOO!

She has adapted to our simple life style here and having to wear the Abaya. The Abaya was the first gift we gave her when she arrived here. We really don't have to wear it that often because most of our time is spent at school or in our compound where it isn't required but she is getting used to it.
Nicole taught Rachel how to cover her head and face using just a scarf. We never have to do this or should I say we have never been asked to cover up. Technically they could tell us that we need to cover our hair but usually they leave the Westerner's alone.
Yes, Rachel can even make an Abaya and scarf look good.

One night we went out to dinner with our neighbors the Gerber's and the Brown's. We went to an Arab restaurant in the cultural section of town. They put us in this large room where they had pillows along the walls and carpets on the floors. Very traditional.
The came in and rolled out a long piece of plastic and set the table right on the floor.

We then all gathered around and ate right on the floor. Not quite the most comfortable way to eat for us old folks but we had to experience the traditional Arab feast. Of course the food was AWESOME!!!!!! We haven't yet tasted anything here that we didn't like.
Rachel being goofy. She caught this picture right as I was yawning. We were at Nicole's band concert at school and I guess Rachel was bored because she started taking goofy pictures with my phone. I really wasn't bored but obviously very tired.

Dead Sea and Karak

While we were in Jordan we went to the Dead Sea. Even though it was December the water was still warm enough to swim so we took the opportunity to do just that. We found a place that had little chalets on the beach where we could pay a daily fee and use the showers. It was a little more than just paying to go on the public beach but we wanted to make sure we could shower off all the salt water afterwards. We were told the salt can really do some havoc to your skin if you left it on.
We had to walk down a little hill to get to the beach below. It was very rocky and with the waves and currents we had to be extra careful not to cut our feet or hands on the rocks in the water which were covered with very sharp salt crystals. We also were told to make sure to keep our mouths shut and not splash water into our eyes.
The rocks on the shore and under the water were covered with these sharp salt crystals.
Gavin, Rachel, and Jonny were the first to brave the conditions. The water was warmer than the air so it actually wasn't too bad. The hard part was walking out into the water and not falling on the rocks when the waves came in.
It was very strange once you got into the water. We jumped expecting to have to swim and paddle to keep afloat but that wasn't necessary at all, in fact, it was difficult to try not to float.

After a few minutes in the water, Nicole started complaining about her eyes stinging because water accidentally splashed in her eyes. We were giving her a hard time and telling her to stop being a baby about because it was just a little salt water. She had a hard time getting out because she couldn't open her eyes. A few minutes later water splashed in my eye and I felt bad for getting mad at Nicole because it really hurt BAD!!!! It was like someone literally poured a teaspoon of salt in my eye and there was nothing you could do about it but let it wear off. Not a pleasant feeling. Jonny, Nicole, and Gavin all got little scratches from the rocks.

After spending a few minutes in the water we showered and were off to see the crusaders castle in Karak.
We didn't spend too much time here because it is nothing compared to Jerash or Petra.

They even had double sinks back in 1400 AD.
Our tour guide helped us take some cool pictures with the different lighting coming into the castle.



Vika's hand is glowing!!!!! WOW!