A Photo Update from Aug. to Dec. 2014

Things were a bit slow from August to December and then things got super busy with traveling and then I was very tired trying to recover from jet-lag. We've been home (in the UAE) for about a month now and I think I have finally recovered from some pretty serious jet-lag. It is time to get caught up on this blog and on my scrap-booking. This post is a compilation of photos from August until just before we leave for our December travels. They are mostly of Ladybug and Monkey as Unicorn has gotten a bit camera shy lately.

In August Ladybug started learning to play the guitar. She is quite a natural.

September 10 Monkey lost his 2nd tooth!

Ladybug was so excited for our trip she made a paper chain...90 links!

Also in September we had to renew our passports in Dubai.

Since we were in Dubai we headed to the Dubai Mall and had my birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

The kids love this fountain at the Dubai Mall.

In October we watched the General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Ladybug doing an art project with her General Conference crown and bunny ears she made for her Halloween costume.

"Fishing" at our Branch Halloween Party.

Ladybug got her face painted at the Halloween Party.

In November Ladybug and Monkey participated in our Branch Primary Program.

Ladybug made a paper Nativity.

Close-up of Ladybug's Nativity Scene

Thanksgiving Dinner! Yummy! We were able to find all our favorites.

Cute photo of Ladybug and Monkey at church. They look so little on this couch!

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Gold Souq, Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa, Beach ~ Dubai

We had a long weekend (Sunday was an Islamic Holiday) so week took off for a weekend in Dubai. We left after church on Friday and checked in to this really neat little hotel (Ahmedia Heritage Guest House). It had a lot of character and a wonderful staff. The only problem was parking. The hotel was formally a really large villa that has been converted in to a hotel and it only has ONE parking spot for their 15 rooms. Unfortunately we weren't the only ones there with a car. Luckily since both cars were small we were able to fit them both in and just be able to switch spots with the other guest as needed. We also had an issue with the air conditioning in one of our rooms but the staff moved the girls to another room.

1 room: Hubby, Monkey and I stayed in this room.

The door to one of our rooms.

The lock on the door

Looking down on the lobby

Unicorn and Ladybug's room.

Ladybug and Monkey and a couple of the hotel staff.

Saturday morning we walked over to the Gold Souq. Wow, it was amazing. A lot of the shops don't allow photography so were weren't able to get pictures of some of the really amazing pieces. It was a short walk from the hotel to the souq but since it was very hot (115*F) we only lasted about 1.5 hours.

This is just one of MANY gold shops in the souq!

I love turtles!

My name in Arabic (white gold)

My mom's name in Arabic (gold)

After the Gold Souk we went back to the hotel to cool off and rest for a bit. Then we headed out to the Dubai Mall. We had lunch at IHOP and wandered around a bit. The kids and I went to Build-a-Bear (so I could get my camel).

My camel: Dhabi

Monkey's monkey: Dusty

Ladybug's bunny: Sparkle

Unicorn's bunny: Gabriella

 After Build-a-Bear we wandered around the mall a bit and found the indoor aquarium.

Then it was time to head to the Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world (Saudi Arabia is currently building one that is to be taller). You have to get tickets a couple weeks in advance and even 2 weeks in advance we had limited time slots to choose from. We opted for the 8pm time. Sometimes it is really nice to have a couple really cute children with your...as soon as the employees saw Monkey and Ladybug they moved us to the front of the line (the did this at the end of the tour too) and cut an hour off our wait time! There are 160 floors but you can only go up to the 124th floor for the viewing.

Sunday we walked to the Gold Souq real quick to pick up the necklaces. Then we checked out of the hotel and headed to the beach for a bit (it was really too hot for the beach but we had promised the little ones that we would go). We lasted about 30-45 minutes.

A view of the Burj Khalifa from the beach

Checking out a Jellyfish

After the beach we grabbed a bite from a nearby McDonald's and headed home! It was a fun (and exhausting) trip!