More Christmas Pics!

Merry Christmas - 2011

I'm having a terrible time with my pictures tonight, so I'm gonna go ahead and post.  I hope to share some more pictures from Christmas soon!!

Unfortunately there were no camel races for the Rowlands this year on Christmas day, but we still had a fabulous day!  It was probably one of the busiest seasons we have had in a long time, due to my job.  I wish I could post a bunch of those pictures, but I can't due to security.  So, I chose a few from home to share instead.

First things first, Matt and I got to meet Minka Kelly (I'm a big Friday Night Lights fan!), Robert Horry (lets be honest, I had to look up who he was) and Jordin Sparks (she's striking and very personable).   They came to the Embassy for a brief visit with the Marines and Matt was in charge of helping escort them.   It's good to be an LTC wife and work with the head marine's wife!  We got to chat with them a bit and snap a few pictures before they were off to the other camps.  FUN!

Other highlights from work were the Children's Christmas party - which was a brunch with Santa, Christmas Caroling, and a family movie night complete with a cook out and hot chocolate.  It was all a little more involved than it sounds considering my co-worker and I were in charge of it all, but we were happy everything turned out well and the families were very appreciative of it all.  We also held several activities for the staff, brought in and gave away live Christmas trees through the Trees for Troops program,  decorated the Embassy, and more that I won't bore you with.  You get the idea!  Thank you to my Co-Co CLO - who also happens to be my husband.  He is worked quite a bit by my job!

The kiddos have enjoyed being home from school and lounging in their pajamas.  We cooked a nice Christmas Eve dinner since I didn't cook on Thanksgiving.  We were able to Skype with my mom and dad and Aunt Terri which is always fun.  For some reason I managed to get so tickled about forgetting what I was gonna say that I had tears coming out my eyes, lol.  Terri decided I hadn't had enough sleep.  :-)  I honestly don't know what came over me.

Under the Christmas tree, Landen found a new bat (surprise, surprise!), a few shirts, a bible devotion book, some skull headphones, and some new Vans shoes.  Hayden got a new laptop, a remote control helicopter from Nana & Pop, Spy Car and Spy Glasses, and battling bug set.  The boys both also got Rock Band from Grammy and Pawpaw and love it!  Our old one had broken...  Jordyn got an American Girl doll, some matching doll clothes, finger paints, some new dress up clothes, and lots of other surprises.   Matt got a new Nike+ GPS watch and I got some cool new Ray Bans.  Santa was good to us this year!  Santa even left a receipt in Hayden's stocking....  he evidently shops at the 100 Fills store.  Interesting, huh?!  ;)  



It's not official yet, so I won't let the cat out of the bag until we know for sure, but we have an inkling of where we are moving next.  Clue #1 - United States of  ________________!!!!!!

Update:  So, before I got the pictures on here and posted this entry, it became official.  Brush up on your BlackJack because we are moving to another desert - only, this time in the U.S.  Yep - Las Vegas, here we come!!!!!!!

Aunt Terri Came to Visit!

Terri and Melissa (her roommate from law school) came to visit me this past week!  She is only the second person from our family to be brave enough for the adventure, the first being my mother in law who came a year ago.  It was so much fun getting to spend a little time with her.  Though the week went quickly, we all felt like they got to sight see some and yet relax a little.  They even threw in a 2 day trip to Dubai where they got to spend the night on the 69th floor or the Burg Khalifa (tallest building in the world)!!  The pictures looked amazing and I think they were a bit more impressed than I was with Dubai.  Then again, I didn't get to spend the night in the Burg Khalifa and was running to and from the baseball fields.   I guess that might have put it in a different perspective.  I'll let you  know what I think when we have a second go around at it in the Spring.

Norma, you need to come back now that we have the scoop on what to do here.  We enjoyed lunch at the top of  the Kuwait Towers, toured the Embassy, went to the Heritage Souk, listened to the Call To Prayer every day,  showed them where I used to live/kids school/etc, ate some local food, toured the Grand Mosque, searched for camels in the desert, watched the kids practice a little baseball, and ended the week by staying up (for most) of the Razorback vs. LSU game - we all went to bed about 2am and then were up for the airport at 6am.  Yep,  I'm dragging a little today and am guessing they got a little sleep on that long flight back to the good ole' USA.

During our tour of the Grand Mosque.

 Terri & Melissa chillin under the Kuwait Towers while we waited for the lunch buffet to open.

 See our car in the background?  Jordyn is crying and refuses to get out for fear of the camel getting her!

 Family shot, minus Jordyn.

 Melissa got a little spooked when the camel decided to get a little closer to her head, lol!

 A mosque near our house...

 Trying to get the Shisha Pipe in the background - see it between us at the table behind us?

 I told Terri that this is probably the last time she will be able to take a picture with Landen and she is the taller one...  those days are a changing!

 Thanksgiving Dinner....  cute pic of all of them!

Ladies, it was fun and you are both welcome back anytime!  I only shed a few tears (which is good for me!) when I hugged my sister goodbye until next time (which better be in the U.S.!!)  :-)  Terri, I'm ready to visit CA again soon!  Just gotta get Matt to get us back to the same continent.  We can text, talk on the phone easier, there won't be terrible jet lag, spend an actual holiday with the whole family together - I'm giddy just thinking about it.    :-)

Holiday Bazaar

Today Jordyn and I went to a holiday bazaar and I got a little jumpstart on my Christmas shopping.  I wish I had known about them last year!  Matt reminded me that this time last year, things were a little different around here.  We were still trying to adjust to everything and Jordyn was having an especially difficult time.  What a difference a year makes!  Jordyn used to be scared to talk to any strangers and was unsure what to do with all of the attention she receives.  This year, she has learned to take advantage of all the things she gets given to her.  She is going to have a harsh adjustment to reality come this summer!  That being said, I am proud of how she handles the attention now...  even if she is a little big headed.   I took a few pictures of her getting her face painted.  Enjoy!

Marine Ball 2011

After a year and a half, we finally got to dress up and go to a ball!  I came prepared with a few dresses in anticipation of dressing up here, but I  haven't had the occasion to wear one of them until last night.  My co-worker's husband is the head Marine and he and his staff did a fantastic job in preparing for a fantastic night at the Marine's 236th Birthday celebrated at the Marine Ball.  There were friends, food, and dancing and we had a lovely evening.  I'm going to miss all the girls when we move!  (but yes, I still want to move!!)

On another note, guess who is coming to see me in a few days????  This beautiful girl!!  Can't wait to see her.  It's been a year and a half and even then, it was only for a weekend that time so it's been WAY too long since I've gotten to spend any time with me sister.  CANNOT wait and I'm so happy she's making the long, long journey.  I hope I can show her a good time!!!

Halloween 2011

We celebrated our 5th year of Halloween overseas - the only change this year was that a coworker and I were in charge of the entire event!  It was a blast, a lot of work, and we saw a lot of smiles that night.  My only regret is that I didn't get to spend it with my kids.  Thanks to my husband, and several friends, the kids were good about going with whoever would take them and they had a great time.  I have a few (and I do mean a few!) pictures to remember the evening...  now, onto planning for Thanksgiving & Christmas!