From Sugar to Sand

Brooks and I made Valentine cupcakes for his class to enjoy today. I dropped the Bees and cupcakes off at school and then went to Bible study. I was visiting outside after Bible study and in a matter of seconds the sky went from blue to brown. A huge sand storm literally took over. Below are a few pictures from my car. It was like a driving in very dense fog but like nothing I've ever seen before. The storm started around 11:30am and is still going...its been almost 5 hours. Not a chance of keeping sand out of your mouth if you go outside. I'm sure our house will be extremely dusty and sandy tomorrow. If we weren't sure we were in the desert, we are NOW! I guess it could be worse and will be...this summer with temperatures over 110.

Brooks and his sprinkles!

Just outside church

Pulling out on to the main road from our church

Entering a round-about

Cars approaching from just a few yards away.

Looking at a gas station across the road.

Waiting at a light, looking across the street.

Approaching the light at a round-about. Just before this picture an ambulance tried to get through traffic, which Doha drivers aren't respectful of to begin with. Even worse when drivers are completely freaking out over the storm. Most drivers here think they're entitled to drive just about any way they choose. So being on the road during a sand storm is not a safe place to be. We're home for the rest of our day and there's certainly no playing outside.

Here's the counter in our kitchen when I returned home...oops!
Lesson learned...never leave windows open, a sand storm might blow through.

Lunch and the Park with Daddies

We got to meet our friends and Daddy at the park for lunch.

Barrett (aka Raggamuffin), Jacob, Brooks and Isaac (in the stroller behind)

Daddies in the sand

Jacob (15 mo)

Mr. Happy and Raggamuffin

Brooks

Taste of Home

What a day of eating! That's what we get excited about in Doha. There's a lot of good food here but sometimes you just need a something that tastes like home. Most of the chain restaurants are just a little off to what we have in the States. Even Subway and Pizza Hut are a little differnt. Better than nothing, that's for sure! We need to adjust our expectations a bit. Sooner or later, we'll just forget about the real stuff back at home. BUT today was a day when the taste of home was right on!!

First of all God has blessed us again with incredible friends. I met the LaRoveres at the DC airport on my way back to Doha with the boys after Christmas. They were traveling back to Qatar with their little boys as well. As soon as we were back Jackie and I re-connected and realized we had lots in common. She grew up in Plano and went to PSHS. Her family knows some of my family...and on and on. Pretty amazing!

All that to say Jackie and Mark introduced us today to the best food we've had since Christmas! After church (Friday is Holy Day) we went to Ric's Kountry Kitchen! Praise the good Lord...it really was a Holy Day after what we ate! Its a lot like a hole-in-the-wall Denny's or IHop. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and its ALL good. Although Qatar doesn't allow any pork in the country there might actually be something porky in Ric's kitchen. Its very close! If its not, it will work! We had chicken fried chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, a breakfast burrito with SALSA, pankcakes, eggs, and the best was the TEXAS TOAST and GRITS! Oh my word...we were in Doha Heaven and the boys were too! They loved it. Obviously we didn't eat dinner. BUT we did hit the local TCBY tonight after a little house work. I must say...it was just like home. No difference what so ever! White Cholocate Moose! We'll do a little extra workin' out this week to burn off what we ate this weekend but it was worth every bite!

The stuffed Junods and LaRoveres after lunch.

Serious Middle Eastern Hole-in-the-Wall!


TCBY faves...Rainbow Cream and Banilla with sprinkles, of course.

Lunch with Daddy

This week was a rather tiring week for me since Brooks decided he wouldn't take naps anymore. No naps means very cranky Brooks...therefore very cranky Wendi. After a rough morning we decided we needed to meet Daddy for lunch to break up our day before the nap battle began. We went to Bennigans. We never went to Bennigans at home but when you're in Doha you do things you don't usually do. Its actually a great place to eat and the play area is awesome! The boys love it.

Erin McCarley

Gotta put in a plug for a sista! Lookout...the next star is Erin McCarley (Baylor Pi Beta Phi sister of mine!) You must listen to her music. She's beautiful and so talented. She's already been heard on Grey's Anatomy, One Tree Hill and more. She's also been on Letterman and is making all kinds of fuss for being amazing! Slightly bigger deal than the All University Sing performances we were so proud have her in!!! Check out her video, website, iTunes, ringtones, etc. She's a star and a great girl! So excited to see her succeed in such a tough business. She's earned it herself and worked hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfZ-FOHQDaA&eurl

http://www.erinmccarley.com/

Chili in Doha

By "chili" I mean CHILI BOWL! I took Brooks to get his haircut today and we came home with a chili bowl cut...seriously??? Seriously we did! It could be worse but its pretty funny and cute too. Doha actually has children's haircut places similar to Cool Cuts for Kids, back at home in Texas. I never know if I'm getting a rookie or a stylist who is good with kids at those places. I asked this kind Phillipeno man to keep his hair long on the top, just trim above the ears, neck and out of the eyes. I guess he did what I asked! He started using the clippers so I told him not to. He said we needed to :) Nick hasn't seen the new "bowl" but he'll like it. He'd prefer that his boys' hair be shorter than the hair on their arms. I obviously prefer a little longer. So glad we have boys for things like this. Coming out with a different look than anticipated is always easier with boys especially when you're in Doha.





Oh and by the way it is "chilly" here. Not cold but chilly. It actually gets very cold in our house because of the cement walls and tile floors. We've been using our space heaters a lot. During the day its 21 degrees C and in the evening its around 14 degrees C. That's around 69 F and 57 F for the English in us all!

First Day of School

The first day of school is always a pretty big deal. Seems a little different since we're in Doha and its the middle of the year. But, Barrett just started school for the very first time last week. Didn't hesitate a bit on the first day. He loves it! Brooks really likes the idea that they go to school together. These pics are just before Bear's first day at Apple Tree.