Thanksgiving 2011

Great friends, great food and thankful people. We have so much to be thankful for...our health, jobs, good friends, each other as husband and wife, our children who keep us on our toes, and peace in our lives. We had turkey, ham, mashed taters, gravy, stuffing, roasted pumpkin, green bean cass, homemade noodles(with my grandmas noodle maker!), mushroom cass, yams, three bean salad, carrots, watermelon, rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie cupcakes, cookies, chocolates and cheesecakes! Good cooks!! :)

My stove.....the food was fantastic!

Our desserts.

Clockwise:Andy, Jeff G, Jeff H, Laura, Christina, Michelle, Jon. Two families are from AZ and the other from NHampshire. Great families and our kids mesh well. Good times last night! I didnt want it to end!

Tired cook!

Sweet children....they were awesome last night.

For Papa Mac and Big Grandma! This is what you gave him!! He has been wanting a chair since his broke, so he really liked it. He loves water bottles and of course the markers....he is always creating something on paper, quite the artist! Thanks for sending him some money! :) He had a nice birthday with his family and friends!

Bike is partially bought with papa Randy and Grandma Laura. Andy ran over his....so we had to get a new one and with the money they sent, it helped us to afford it! Its a NICE bike!

Granny made this for Rydgee, he loves Cars! nice new blankie just in time for winter here! :)

A gift from my Arab teacher at work....she bought a gift for Rydge and didnt want Rylan to be left out! Love her! I will miss her terribly when I go, we have a very close bond and she one day hopes to visit America to see us!

FRom the Duncan's Arrived one day before his bday, Amy!

From papa mac, a new chair, new water bottle and new markers...all cars related!

from my arab teacher! he loved it!:)

legos from granny and papa lloyd

a JD set from us! brought from USA this summer...he was surprised!

Its 6AM...ITS MY BIRTHDAY MOM...... WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!! He was up at 5:30 and went back to sleep for a half hour!

Rydge insisted on this figure 8 cake....it was okay to make, not perfect, but he LOVED it and couldnt believe i did that!! LOL

train from Shamsa, my arab teacher!

a b-day sign our nanny made. Feruz is a great artist! Rydge loved this! She worked very hard on it! :)

noah and rydge...good buds! neighbors to us and good friends!

friends....

cheese!

happy birthday RYDGE!

Look, I'm five!

Making a wish!

All his friends....9 in all tonight. It was a FUN night and so good to have nice friends! We are blessed for sure!

The little boy to the right, in white shirt is Rydges BEST friend, he is from the Bronx. They are in the same class and Rydge WILL NOT go to school if he is NOT there, he comes home, serious..no joke! Its his comfort I guess. They are so cute together! :)

Oh My Lord....what have I created??? Hes so cute, isnt he?

cool gift! From Zach his best bud of course!

Yup....my bud!

a new soccer set!

WOW- a T-ball set

had to come home and bathe and then onto the train again from my arab teacher. he loved it, misses his Thomas stuff in the states and his train table! :(

Happy 5th. BIRTHDAY RYDGE!

I just posted a lot of pictures from our Oman Trip today. The wording is NOT in the correct places as it was when I wrote it. This happens when i post A LOT of pictures, as most of you know me....this FRUSTRATES me! Anyway, you will get a general idea of what its all about. We went to Oman today to see the Wadis and pools. Wadis are dried up riverbeds, that just happen to have water in them right now and then the large pool of water is Hatta Pools, nice fresh clear crisp pools of water. One pic you will see Andys feet covered in fish, they are eating all the crud...LOL like they do at the fish spa, but for FREE today. I couldnt do it, yuck! The kids had fun as you can see them jumping off the small cliff. You can see the off roading we did, tough rough terrain, ug! But fun! We visted a few other sites as well. It was a long day of climbing rocks, bumpy roads, and sweaty boys(and mom!) The boys were good as there was so much to look at. Wild goats, beautiful mtns, pools of water, etc.... It was a good day. All is well here.

Abby

Oman Trip November 18, 2011

The sand was blowing today. Its like what snow looks like back home. Drifts and all.

Something we see, often. Usually camels though. This is the end of our trip. The pictures went in totally backwards! Oops!

The boys are at an old village.We couldnt climb another step. We did a lot of walking and climbing today.

What does this mean? No clue...saw it a lot today!

I want to frame this. I love the swirls on the mtn. peaks.

Off roading for the first time today. It was rough!

Wadi=dried up river beds, but it has rained lately in Oman and this is why we went, so the kids could play in the water, in the DESERT!!

Ug, hot and tired! Lots of rock climbing today.

more water in the steep valleys. The kids loved the rocks. It made me nervous!

Hatta Pools. A large pool of water, where lots of people went to swin in today. The boys loved it! :) Nice crisp and clear. See Andy up there?