Our trip out!

At the beginning of December we had the wonderful opportunity to

have a week in Dubai.  It was a lot of fun!!!  We didn't realize how tired

we were until after we had been there for a few days and got relaxed!

The last few months at home have been good, but hard!!!  So it was

great to really be able to relax for a while.

 Abram is going to be a beach bum just like the girls!

He loved it!!!!

 It was so strange to be in the Middle East and out in public and not be

all covered.  Not even wearing a head scarf! 

 On the Metro!  It was exciting the first time for the girls.

 They took baths everyday! And the first day they even took two!

Ayden said "were not at home anymore! 2 baths in one day!

 Behind the kiddos is the tallest building in the world.

 We had a fun day at the Children's Museum.

 On the plane home.  Abram and I fighting over the pacifier.

It really was a great relaxing trip, but it was good to be back.

my friend

This story is actually a few weeks old, but it took me a while to process before I could figure out what to write.  I was visiting my friend and I knew she had a rough life, like so many of the women here, but I didn't realize how bad it was.  I could tell from the moment I got there that she was upset and something was wrong.  The night before her and her husband had gotten into a fight.  He hits her pretty regularly, I think.  And he also hits the kids, and I have even seen burn marks on them that she said came from him putting out is cigarets on them.  As she was talking that day she was telling me that at night he comes home around 10:00 after "chewing" and he doesn't go to sleep until 3:00 or 4:00, She cleans a building and has to leave her house by 6:00 so she gets little sleep, because most of the time he makes her stay up with him.  (I have heard from a few ladies that it is wrong for them to go to bed while their husband is still up.)  He will stay up some nights and watch "bad movies" on his computer.  They don't have internet but she says he will download them somewhere else and then watch them in front of her.  It is just a really bad situation.  She was in such despair and even shared how much she wants him dead and even thinks about killing him.
I was sitting there trying to figure out how I comfort and love this lady and what I should even say to her.  I was with a "like-minded" friend and so that helped as we processed what she was telling us.  In this country there really is nothing to "do" for these ladies, he is not breaking any law and there is no battered women's clinic.  So we told her about the Father's love for her and we told her about how when we hate in our heart that to the Father it is the same as actually killing that person, that G@d sees our hearts (we said this because she said that he fear of G@d was the only thing keeping her from killing him).  I think for some reason felt I should share about forgiveness. and I even started with "I know this is going to be a hard concept, but"  and then I shared about when my sister had been murdered and how hard it was to forgive the men who did that and I could never do it on my own, that I could only with the help of the Father and the realization of what he had forgiven me of and saved me from.  And that we must forgive others because He has forgiven us.  I also shared that without forgiveness we will never be able to move on and be joyful.  We both shared with her that we know her life has been hard and we are not saying that it will ever be any easier, but that through the Son she can have peace and joy.  She allowed us to pr.. for her before leaving so we were very thankful for that.  Please remember her with me that she would come to realize that he Father loves her and has made a way for her to have a relationship with Him.
Also please just remember me, these conversations are so hard.  I came home and told Kirk "i'm not qualified for this, I need a degree in counseling." He reassured me that the Father will give me all I need, but sometimes I feel so inadequate to be sharing with these ladies.

EID

The big "Eid" or holiday is this week.  The first day of it was 

Friday and this is at a butcher shop the day before.  Every family

buys a goat, lamb, or small calf to butcher on the "eid."  There

were so many goats everywhere in the city!!!  On the first day of

the holiday we went and visited some friends.  It was great to spend

time with them but right before we were going to leave they brought out

a pot of food.  I did not recognize the dish but the lady of the house

reached down in the pot and pulled out the "special" piece of "meat" for

me to eat.  After asking many questions I realized that I was eating the

stomach lining of the goat they had slaughtered that morning.

Addie was sitting next to me and wanted to try it, of course

she did not know what it was.  She liked the taste and thankfully

ate most of it for me.  Of course, when they saw Addie eating it 

they found another piece for me!  I did manage to get it down, and

the taste wasn't that bad but the texture is something I would never want

to eat again!!!!  After that visit Abram and I were sick for two days, don't know

if it was that or something else but who knows!  I just loved being the 

"special" guest when we go places :)

G's Birthday!

The lady who has been watching our kids for a couple of years now

celebrated her B-day a few days a go.  The girls and Abram love her and it 

was great to be able to celebrate with her!!!

our little tiger

Kirk painted Annie Lynne's face the other day.  She loved it!!!

pumpkin village

There is a place on the outside of the city that we call 

pumpkin village.  We had a great day being out of the city and 

just letting the girls run, play, and climb!  It was a lot of fun

and I even got to talk to some of the shepherdesses out their tending

their sheep.  It was a great day!  

 On the way home we stopped and bought some pumpkins.

I made pumpkin pies and pumpkin cookies, all from scratch! 

A first for me!!!

our little boy!

Abram is growing so fast!!!  He has already figured out how to get

up on his windowsill and that wasn't enough so here is sitting

on a toy on the windowsill.  I guess this is why he always has 

bruises on his head, he is always falling of something.

 I thought we were weaning him from his pacifier instead

it has gotten much worse, and now he has figured out

how to suck on two at a time!!!

 The other day Abram got the cartoon of eggs and

decided to crack every one of them, before any of us

noticed he was missing.  He was such a mess to 

clean up and the floor was horrible, but he seemed to enjoyed it!