Our New Digs

Well, I don't have all the pics I would like to share because our camera is broken. Yes, broken. Isn't that wonderful timing? Maybe the time in our lives when we would most like to share our experiences ever and our camera is broken. At least we have a few pictures of our new home from when Dave was here before (house-hunting) that I can share...

Here they call homes 'villas'. We live in Villa #2.

We live in the first villa of 18 as you enter our compound, so it's a small neighborhood. It seems like probably only 7 or 8 of them are occupied right now, but the compound is always busy with the "security" people who I can't really figure out exactly what thier job is. They act as 24 hour security, call me before anyone rings my doorbell, installed my internet, hang my pictures, do my gardening, etc. I guess they're Mr. Do-it-alls or something. One even lent me a Dinar the other day when the guy dropped off a new water jug and I didn't know I was supposed to pay him directly.

As for the house itself, it is quite large, probably about 4,000 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. Tile is everywhere except faux-wood floors in the bedrooms. We are really needing to pick out some rugs because the rooms are big and boomy and the sound travels everyewhere. I'm hoping it will help. The problem is that the home is furnished in a more modern style, which we like just fine, but since it's not typically our taste we're having a difficult time choosing anything or knowing how it would look in our home when we see it in a store.

A view of the kitchen. Large and lots of cupboard space but tiny refrigerator.

The neighborhood has some nice amenities, which you can see a glimpse of in the picture below.

The clubhouse lounge overlooking the pool, behind it the park and tennis court.

Once we get more settled and into our life (i.e. meet some friends :) I think we can be comfortable and happy here.

Jet Lagged

I had been so worried about the flight, I didn't fully realize how difficult getting over the jet lag would be. I kind of figured that once we kept the kids up during the day one day, they would sleep at night and things would go pretty smoothly.

We arrived at the Marriott in Manama around 11pm Thursday night local time, but most of the family had just had a full night's sleep, so Dave romped with the kids while I went to bed for a few hours. The company had only booked the hotel for one night since our home was ready for us to move in, but there was no way we were moving from that room so quickly. We were all in a dead sleep the next afternoon when the maids came in thinking we would be gone.

Friday evening when we all finally woke up we took a drive to our new home. We thought we'd just look around outside and peek through the windows but when we said hello to security at the gate, he just handed over the keys, so we got to go inside and have a look. The next morning at 9am we met with Jackie, the housing coordinator from Oxy, to officially let us in. They supplied us with basics until our air shipment was to arrive (that's another story...), like towels, kitchen wares, vacuum, etc. Everything is good but the mattresses are SUPER uncomfortable. I am so so glad we were advised to bring over our own.

Dave had to work the next day (Sunday) and the next couple days are kind of a blur... They were so difficult with Davey up all day (he really adjusted pretty well) and Charlie up all night. And I had to let Dave sleep since he had to work and needed to begin his new job well. Luckily we had a great surprise when Dave got to work and learned that he would have Wed-Sun off for a combination of National Day and the Islamic New Year. I was so glad to only have to endure 3 days of that on my own.

We heard from others that Charlie would pretty much never adjust on his own, so even though he was up all night, we began to force him to be awake for the next several days. It felt so mean to wake him up for the day at 8am when he had only just gone to sleep at 4:30am most mornings. But we survived and by the time Dave went back to work on Monday we were in pretty good shape.

Now we seem much more in the swing of things, thank goodness. And the kids are on a pretty good schedule. Davey has taken a good nap each day and Charlie has stopped screaming every time we enter his room. The one thing I'm having to adjust to is Charlie's later bedtime, now between a7 and 8pm when it was 6pm before. I didn't think I'd like it since I enjoy having the evening "to myself" but I must say I'm also enjoying sleeping until Davey wakes at 7 or 7:30am.

The Big Trip Over

The day finally came that we were to board the plane for our big move overseas. It was hard to believe it was finally there. We were in pretty good shape with being ready to go and didn't have to leave until 4pm for the airport, so I was able to meet up with Mendy for lunch and even go to the hospital and meet Kristin's new baby, Madison, who was born the night before!

The day got a little crazy after that. I picked up a box on the way back to hold a couple items we hadn't planned to take on the plane with us. I stopped by the hotel around 2pm to check on the boys and then at 3pm I was going to drop a couple things at the post office, just across the freeway. But the sinking feeling I had when I couldn't find the car keys was confirmed when I saw them sitting on the front seat of our rental car!!!  I can't believe I did that right before we were to leave!! We could have just had the car company pick up the car later from the hotel but we needed the car seats and stroller out of it. It was a stressful hour, let me tell you, but it all worked out in the end and we arrived at the airport at 5:15 for our 7:30 flight like I had wanted to.

When we got our crazy amount of luggage all checked in (4 large suitcases, 4 small suitcases, 3 car seats, a box and a stroller) we were able to relax, eat some good food and let the kids play for a few minutes in the Qatar Airways business class lounge. It was such a nice change from the normal wait at the airport, especially one for a long flight that you spend trying to stock up on enough decent food to tide you over through it.

The accomodations on the plane were super-nice, too - lots of space, fully-reclining seats like a bed, a large tv and noise-cancelling headphones, a toiletry bag, pajamas (that I was surprised to see people actually wore) and a delicious menu!

The kids getting all settled in... Davey loving the new Cars activities

and Charlie enjoying the floor space emptying the contents of my purse

I was so super nervous about the airplane ride over here... luckily there is a direct from Houston to Doha so at least we didn't have to endure a long flight only to have another long one ahead of us, but I was very much not looking forward to the 15 hours on the plane with the kids. I was mostly nervous about whether or not Charlie would be able to sleep... he won't sleep in his car seat anymore for any length of time so I thought one of us would have to stay awake all the time in case he were to get up and fall off the seat or crawl away...

A beautiful sight!! 

Dave slept the WHOLE flight (thanks to the benadryl that seems to work wonders for him) but Charlie had more trouble staying asleep. But I didn't have to worry about sleeping through it... he woke screaming each time. I wasn't able to settle in and sleep much at all, but at least Dave was so he was rested when we arrived and could deal with the kids and let me rest.

Since we flew through the night we didn't get to see really anything on the ground out the window (I was really trying to peek through the clouds when we flew over Iraq).

The first class lounge in Doha was so super nice. I should have taken more pictures. Huge buffets of food with fresh juices and waiters, sauna, hot tub, sleeping rooms and a great play room for the kids with even a crib for a baby to sleep... 

Goofing around and getting out some energy before our next flight

Our family made it to the Middle East in one piece!

On the bus to the plane for the final leg from Qatar to Bahrain

(I know I look horrible in this but maybe I'll want to remember it someday...and it's such a shame Davey's eyes are closed too, he so rarely actually looks at the camera and smiles anymore)

AND at the end of a 30 minute flight... 

... the first glimpse of our new home!!

Not much at night but still an important first view!

Bahrain, Explained a Little

(We live close by where the King Fahd Causeway meets the island)

A bit about the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is a small island country in the Persian Gulf, near Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The population is around a million and has just one major city, Manama. Only 50% of the population are Bahraini, the rest coming mostly from South Asia and a handful of Westerners (maybe 100K).

It's mostly hot and dry here, though in the week we've been in Bahrain it's rained two times. Apparently it hadn't rained for 3 years before that, even though the air is often humid in the winter.

Driving around here, the majority of the buildings look similar (no surprise) to pictures I have seen on the news of Iraq. Not to say that the whole place looks like Iraq though; there are lots of modern buildings as well and they are certainly very nice inside. Shopping seems to be the national pass-time as everyone is very fashion-conscious and there are tons of busy, very nice malls (though you wouldn't be able to tell from the outside). Plus, I don't really know what else anyone does besides a little bit of sailing and Formula 1 race watching. I'm sure I'll find out more as I'm here longer though.

As for the culture, it is much more liberal and moder than many Arab countries, which is definitely good for us. Seeing Arab men in a Khandura and women in the Abaya is definitely common but not the majority. Every 1 in maybe 15 of the covered women are fully covered, showing only their eyes and maybe not even that. As much as I see myself as open-minded to other cultures, I'm still a little bewildered when I see a woman completely covered walking with a man dressed in a t-shirt and jeans.

The few locals I've interacted with have been very nice and mostly the interaction was based on admiring my children. Everyone here seems crazy about kids. They get so much attention, which of course a mother likes :) even though I know all kids get that attention.

Okay, I promise the next post will include some pictures we've taken since we've been here.

Our Big Adventure

Well, I can't believe I haven't even mentioned this on my blog yet, but we now live in Manama, Bahrian! Actually, I can believe it. Here's the story (I'll try to make it brief).

• Mid-August Dave got a call from his boss (who'd been here doing the job) saying he wanted to recommend him for the it, would he like it? (OF COURSE! Dream come true for Dave.) Wewere told however that we could not breathe a word of it to anyone. He even specifically mentioned that I couldn't either. Who could I tell that it would matter? Oh well, we kept it to ourselves for a while, then just told our parents of the possibility. His boss also wasn't very confident that sending an expat overseas would get approved so he gave it a 25% chance of happening. So, no blog post.
• Waiting game for a couple months... then it finally gets "approved" verbally mid-October right before Dave leaves for a trip to Bahrain for 2.5 weeks. They want Dave to return to Bahrain for good (= 2-3 years) 3 weeks after his return from his trip. We're still not sure it will really happen until we see something in writing but decide that the boys and I should go back to MI and see family while Dave is gone in case it does really happen that quickly. Plus, I don't want to be a "single" mom for 3 weeks. Don't want to spread the word too far since, like I said, we're not really sure it will happen until we see it in writing... so, no blog post.
• Dave is told he will get his written offer while he's there but it doesn't come until a few days after he returns but the time table is to remain the same. Ugh. Soooo much to do to get ready! (So... no blog post.) It doesn't quite happen as quickly as they wanted, but still very quickly for an international move. We all return from our trips Oct 31 and the movers arrive to begin a whole week (!) of packing on Nov 30. We flew out Dec 9th and the rest is another blog post!

Cute Charlie

Maybe I should be embarrased to admit that when Charlie was first born, I didn't know if I thought he was cute or not. I think I was just so used to Davey's looks and somehow thought that since I was having another boy, he would be a Davey clone. Anyway, now I know that I think Charlie is a very cute little guy and I couldn't resist dedicating a short post to his cuteness!

A ride on Daddy's shoulders is always an effective remedy

for a crabby Charlie

A happy, darling little guy waiting for our plane to Utah

I love the way his little body looks in this picture.
I just want to cuddle and squeeze him!

Dave's Birthday

Dave added a couple days on to the end of his trip to Bahrain (the reason we went to Michigan, so as not to be alone with the kids for 3 weeks) and spent them with his sister Carrie in NYC. From what I hear, it was a great trip and he spent his birthday with her. They went to the MOMA and an opera at the Met to celebrate. Way better than he would have gotten if he were here!

We invited a couple friends over on Sunday to have some cake and ice cream.

The birthday boy and an eager onlooker

Earlier in the day, Dave was really enjoying some pajamas Quatar Airways gave him on his flight...

Davey enjoyed them too!!

Halloween or Bust

I have a huge sweet tooth and thus always LOVED Halloween as a kid, so I always get so excited for Davey, anticipating what fun he'll have running around with his buddies collecting candy. Unfortunately, it was a definite bust this year... though it was probably mostly my own fault.

I extended the original dates of our trip to Michigan to maximize our time there and scheduled us to return Halloween morning. We missed both our ward and playgroup parties, which I'm sure Davey would have enjoyed, but I figured we'd catch one in MI. My parents ward didn't do anything... so we missed all the parties. At least we'd be home to trick-or-treat with our neighbor McKenzie as we'd planned. Wrong. They changed their minds and went to Dewberry Farm instead.

Davey had been feeling under the weather so when we got home we gave him a nap and had to wake him to make it out to trick-or-treat. We arranged to meet up with Lauren and Avery but Davey was sooo tired. He didn't even greet them and just couldn't keep up. I thought maybe his boots were too tight or something but after about 5 houses, he turned to me and asked, "Is this enough candy Mom? I want to go home." So, I ran to get the car and we went home. End of Halloween. Bummer.

Our little cowboy with his eyes glazed over

At least we got a half-smile here

(Charlie didn't get dressed up at all... I hadn't seen a horse outfit to go with the cowboy and didn't go to too much effort to find one since I knew he'd be sleeping anyway... Hopefully he never asks what he was for his first Hallowee. A baby?)

Yea Utah!

I just love every time I get to go back to Utah and visit. I have so many wonderful memories there from college, our early years of marriage, grad school, etc., the landscape is so beautiful and there are lots of yummy restaurants to eat at. Best of all, I'm always going to visit people I love dearly.

Five days after we got back from Michigan, Charlie and I boarded the plane again. Dave was excited for a weekend with Davey to himself and I was looking forward to a weekend with no disciplining, reasoning and trying to get a picky child to eat!

For this visit, I got to visit with all of my sisters, except my sis-in-law Kelly :(, and my parents. It was a nice treat to land in the SLC airport and be greeted by my mother and father! Shortly after, Desiree and Tommy flew in and we all caravaned down to Springville. 

The day after we arrived was just a lazy day at Harmony's hanging out and enjoying each other's company. I also took a 3 hour nap - it was heavenly! The evening ended with a meal I'd been looking forward to for a long time - Cafe Rio. Mmm....

It was fun seeing the babies together, though we had a hard time keeping Charlie from mauling Megan every chance he got.

Tommy (5 mos), Megan (1 month) and Charlie (10 mos)

Charlie and Tommy had some fun paling around together

Tommy is just a bit shorter than Charlie but weighs just as much!

I just love this picture of Des and I and our babies

but really wish Harmony & Meg were in it too!

Saturday afternoon, Harmony and I had a nice stroll down memory lane on the BYU campus. It was fun to see all the new additions and renovations, especially the JKHB and Tanner building where I spent the majority of my time there.

Harmony and Megan near the HFAC

That evening we had an early birthday dinner for Lacey at La Dolce Vita, almost my favorite Italian anywhere - good pick Laceyface!

Since we were all going to be in town, Harmony and Jared arranged to bless Megan on Sunday. It was so special to be there for it.

She looked so beautiful in her blessing gown - 

the same one of my father's that my boys were blessed in.

Our gang at the luncheon at Fred & Mary Roberts' afterward

Charlie and his Megan love

Later that evening, we celebrated Lacey's real birthday...

Happy 21st!!!

All of the babies got lots of attention and Charlie enjoyed being the oldest baby around! (No bullying from big brother for 5 full days!!)

I can't wait until our next Sisters trip!!

Megan Roberts

I am so excited to welcome Megan Roberts as the newest member of our family! She was born on October 8th, at 6 lb 5 oz and 19 in. Harmony and Jared were ecstatic to bring home their long-awaited baby girl from the hospital two days later. We are all so happy for them and know they will have more love and joy (and challenge, too :) in the years to come than they imagined! Read the beautiful story of her adoption on Harmony's blog here.

We were so lucky to be able to go meet her last weekend - it was so fun and I'll be blogging about it soon!