Beijing restaurant,killer food!

Rylan with baby Heather, new friends! She is so cute!

Andys birthday dinner at Beijing, we love this place. good food!

yep, Rylan slept thru the WHOLE dinner on two chairs! It was the quietest meal we have had out in a LONG time-lol. He was so tired. This was about a week ago. SO he is more rested now! Poor kid!

GOOD NEWS!!!

We get to move to Al Ain on Thursday. We get our money soon for furniture and we just may get to move into our flat by Sunday! Its a good day! Now.....for all this to follow thru is another story. ALSO Andy had a GREAT interview with MUSCO Lighting(US based Company in Iowa) today, it sounds like he is HIRED! They would like him to start as soon as possible, so hopefully things will run as planned the next few days and we can settle. The kids will be so happy when they have their own space again. Hotel living is fun for a while..... not so fun after 16 or so days! the pool and beach is sure nice, but I need a routine and MORE space. We also need a good meal on the table. We eat a great breakfast buffet each morning and then lunch in the room and then eat out for supper. Its getting really old. We did purchase a micro, so I have been fixing steamed broccoli almost each day and then the kids get some micro meals for treats instead of sandwiches each day. Rydge could live on fruits and vegies! Rylan will eat anything. He ate 2 sub sandwiches for lunch, he loves subs! I will keep you all updated as to what happens in the next 4-5 days, it should be exciting. We found some AWESOME furniture for really good price, so we are really lucky for that. Our friend Shari(she was at our party) has helped in that area, so we are very blessed to have that contact! :) WE are all well, well... Andy got sick for a few days, food poison, but he is on the mend now. I was sick for about 24 hours and the kids have been fine, thank god for that. I think the submersion in the pool each day helps with that. Anyway, take care and we send you our love from Abu Dhabi!

Abby and family

Our HOTEL!

All About RYLAN!!!! Ry and I went for a walk. It was H-O-T at 4:30 yesterday afternoon. But he needed to exercise his legs!!!!

ME

gorgeous windows in Mosque

Entry way in Foyer at Grand Mosque

Prayer clock, tells what time of day to pray. They pray 5 times per day. They are reminded by prayers calls and they are to stop and worship their god 5 times per day! The prayer calls are something everyone should get to hear at least once in their life, they are so amzing.

Inside main prayer room in the Grand Mosque. This room will fit 7,000 people. the Mosque last weekend fit 25,000 people with people inside and out. The marble floo in the outside courtyard amazied me the most today. With the 120 degree heat, it remains cool, yes cool in the direct sun. It was made especially for the Mosque in Italy. It just amazed me!

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi

WOW, what a day! I got to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, what a amazing place for prayer. I will follow this blog with pictures. I had to wear an Abaya, which was provided to me at the Mosque. I had to be completely covered except for my face. I also got my school placement, which is in Om Ghafa, for those who want to explore it in the city of Al Ain, it will be about a 20 -30 mins drive depending on the traffic. The traffic is much less there so that will be good. I will be teaching kindergarten to boys and girls. I hope to rent a car once settled and then buy one once we get my third paycheck. We have to have at last three paychecks under my belt before they will give me a loan. I am posting this now, pics will follow. We have been having terrible time with internet and VPN....so here you go.

Abby

Maids quarters(Rylans room) he has a bath in there too. complex outside, complex outside, entry to apt and then hall bath. Again, very spacious!

Pictures:Kitchen(half of it), bedroom 1(Rydge room)living room(bigger than home!),entry to building, and then our complex, called Hili Residential Complex. These aer brand new and the kitchen doesnt photo well, looks kind of ugly wood, but its real pretty. Will post a few more.

Well we got our housing, its really really nice. We went on a tour of it today, it was a long day for Rylan and I. Andy stayed back at hotel and had alone time with Rydge, they played in the ocean for a bit with some other little tikes! I have orientation all week, its gonna be a long, boring week I have a feeling. We had some nice chinese food tonight, really good! We cant wait till we get in our apt, hopefully in a week so we can cook! We went to the market tonight, the vegies and fruits are wonderful, they are so fresh! Again, cant wait to get into our place and prepare these! Talk later!

Abby

The Corniche(its like a boardwalk), another mall where they had a amusement park, they all do. The boys road a coaster, bumper cars, played games, etc.... We found a wonderful super market, nice food choices love all the fresh stuff , especially the hummous! It is so yummy with their bread they make here.

Well, today started out with my medical check, bright and early at 6 AM! I didnt go to bed till 1 AM and then up with Rylan at 4;30, missing grandpas and grandpas. He then ate a bologna sandwich, cheese and a orange soda-very small one. They have these tiny little sodas here for kids, just the right size. I came back at 8:30 and we went for breakfast. They supply us with a very nice buffet breakfast, very good. We eat light for lunch and then will try to start having good healthy meals at supper. It is Ramadan, so supper/dinner starts very late here, about 8pm. We just got up from naps and now they are snacking and we will get ready to go. Enjoy some pics of the ocean from today, the kiddos loved their first trip in the water. There is a family here at the bottom I have become good friends with over the net, so we are swimming with him and his daughter today. His wife had a later med check than I. Take care and talk more later.

Abby

Abby

This is behind, should of done this first. But a few I wanted to share. Sad ones too. They are of airport and last morning of packing stuff up, all the family was there. It was hard to leave! I am crying writing this! :(

Greetings from Abu Dhabi! We are here and I have gone thru one day of orientation, not wasting any time. I have an insurance card already, bank account being set up and I have med check and police check in the next few days! The boys slept well on the flight, Rydge slept 9 hours and Rylan 8. They also slept well in the room we are set up in. We have two rooms, adjoining, very, very nice accomodations. I went to meetings this morning and then came back to the boys in the pool, so I went out there. It is like 115 here, but the humidity is very low and it is actually comfortable. We are going to go to the mall tonight to grab a good meal and then grab some food for the room.. It is Ramadan, so no eating or drinking in public, so food is hard to find during daylight hours. We will adjust! We will most likely be in the hotel for two weeks, but we will do fine, the kids have the pool and beach right here. Anyway, all is good, the flight was awful tho, out of the 14 hour flight, I bet 13 was nothing but bumps, very scary, but the kiddos slept right thru it! Take care!

Love, The McAlister Family