Abayas, Skype, Birthday, Border Run, and Camels

We have been in the UAE for 30 days now (and yes, we are still in a hotel)!

On Thursday, Feb. 20, we had our first guests! A family in our branch came by to visit and brought us homemade chocolate chip cookies! YUM!

Friday, Feb. 21, we went to church (still getting used to this whole church on Friday thing) and had a wonderful potluck meal with our branch afterwards!

Church at the Villa

Saturday, Feb. 22, we went shopping to find supplies that Unicorn needs for Youth Conference. She will be going on a Trek in the desert and needed a sleeping bag, mat, backpack, flashlight and 2 abayas (traditional dress for the women in the Middle East). We found everything she needed except the 2 abayas. Unicorn was also able to Skype with her father and her (half) brother back in the States.

Sunday, Feb. 23, we FaceTimed with my sister and her hubby and their puppies. We are especially grateful for technology here as it is nice to be able to talk with family in real time! A friend came and took Unicorn and me to a store that has abayas and we were able to find 2 that fit her (the only 2 in her size actually). She also took us to the supermarket so we could get some dinner and snacks. Then Unicorn went to Seminary.

Monday, Feb. 24, was the second day of ice skating for the kids. They are really loving this activity and are doing very well. I love that they all have their lesson on the same day at the same time!

Tuesday, Feb. 25, Unicorn had Mutual (youth group) and they went to the Rugby Club and played Frisbee Golf.

Wednesday, Feb. 26, we FaceTimed with my mom and step-dad and my mom's mom!

Thursday, Feb. 27, hubby went to Abu Dhabi to pick up his Emirate's ID card. This is big because now we can work on getting ID's for the kids and me and we can buy a car (after he get paid)!

Friday, Feb. 28, Unicorn's birthday! Can't believe she is 14 already! We also Skyped with my dad, step-mom, Gram (dad's mom), and Aunt & Uncle (dad's sister). Then it was time for Stake Conference. Hubby and the girls went and I stayed back with Monkey as he was showing signs of a cold.

Happy 14th Birthday Unicorn!

Saturday, Mar. 1, Unicorn and I went and got mani/pedi's for her birthday. Then we all went to Bawadi Mall and had Unicorn's birthday lunch at TGI Friday's, did some shopping, then had Cold Stone ice cream for dessert.

Unicorn getting pampered

Me getting pampered

Unicorn's pedicure

Unicorn's manicure

My cuties

Being silly

The birthday girl!

Singing to Unicorn for her birthday!

Cold Stone ice cream!

Sunday, Mar. 2, we got up early and did a border run. A border run is where you leave the UAE and come back under another temporary tourist visa. We should only have to do this once as hubby already has is resident visa. We will submit the necessary documents to get resident visa's for the kids and me as soon as Unicorn gets back from Youth Conference this coming weekend. On the way back from Oman we saw a pick-up truck with at least 5 camels in it! It was also Seminary night for Unicorn.

How many camels can you fit in a pick-up truck?

Monday, Mar. 3, today we were able to watch the Gilbert Temple Cultural Celebration. This was neat as it is the area we just moved from. It also made us a bit homesick. Then it was time for ice skating lessons. I really can't believe how well they are doing. The girls are skating forwards, backwards, and in circles. Monkey is getting pretty good at walking on his skates. He is still quite nervous about it though. Today was Ladybug's first day at Activity Days. This is when the girls at church ages 8-11 get together and learn and have fun together. She had a great time, especially since she isn't technically old enough to go. She was invited to join them as she will be 8 in May and there are only 3 other girls in their little group. Other good news today, hubby got paid, got his bank card and got his medical card! Next up, housing and resident visa's for the kids and me!

Our Daily "Hotel" Life in Al Ain

Time to play catch-up...it has been a little over a week since my last post.

Mon., Feb. 10 - The kids and I got up early, had breakfast, and then headed out to a friend's place to do some laundry. One of the many wonderful things about being an expat in the UAE is you have an instant circle of friends! We are all living in a foreign country so we band together to help each other out and help each other learn about this amazing country we are in. Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) we are used to this type of instant "family" within our Church and it is even stronger here! While I was doing laundry and visiting with my friend our children had a great time playing together! Then she surprised us by taking us to a local mall and out to lunch at Papa John's! This was also hubby's first day at his new job! Wow...it is going to be much harder than we thought BUT we still feel this is where we are supposed to be and that all the pros will outweigh the difficulty of the job. Let's just say that 6th grade Arab boys aren't any better behaved than 6th grade boys in the US of A!

Tues., Feb. 11 - After another wonderful breakfast, the kids did some school work and then we checked out the pools (yes, plural, as in 3 pools)! They had a blast! After swimming, we ran everyone through the showers and Unicorn got ready for the Church Youth Activity...they played ping-pong and then cleaned the church building (a rather large Villa). Today hubby had to fill in for a math teacher that was gone to training. He said the day flew by but that he felt like he was thrown to the wolves! He is glad he gets to shadow the other teacher for a couple more days!

Can you see Ladybug? She is getting ready to go down the water slide!

Wed., Feb. 12 - One of these days I need to remember to take my camera to breakfast as it is quite the spread! After breakfast the kids did their schoolwork and we headed out to the mall. We signed the kids up for ice skating lessons, bought a flat iron, and tried to find some jeans for me (I have lost 5 pounds since we got here and my jeans don't fit anymore) and failed. On Wednesdays (and Mondays), hubby has professional development after school so he is home a bit later than usual.

Ladybug school (with a Monkey in the mirror)

Monkey School

Unicorn School ?!? (looks uncomfortable to me)!

Thurs., Feb. 13 - Thursday is the new Friday! Yippee! Hubby survived his first week! The kids and I enjoyed another day of school work and the pool. We also found the trampoline that is at the hotel! Monkey and Ladybug had a BLAST jumping (poor Unicorn is to old for the trampoline). We had a nice relaxing evening as a family and then ran everyone through the showers again as Friday is the new Sunday! ;)

Probably not a bad way for a red-head to sunbathe!

Monkey sunbathing?

Ladybug catching some rays!

She loves the water slide!

Monkey enjoying the water slide.

I think we wore him out!

Fri., Feb. 14 - The Muslim Sabbath is on Friday so Friday is our new Sunday and off to church we went! Our little Branch is just that...LITTLE! We had 45 people in attendance and we meet in a nice Villa! The kids call it "Villa Church"! Since they knew we were coming there were lots of hugs and many people were glad to finally meet us!

Valentine's Display at the hotel

Sat., Feb. 15 - I got a massage and a detox body wrap!!! Then we took a family field trip the the mall to get some more long sleeve dress shirts for hubby to wear to work and I finally found a couple pair of jeans that fit...and a cute new top!

Sun., Feb. 16 - It was back to work for hubby...his first day going solo with his own classes. It wasn't too bad, only 3 forty-five minute classes! He also got his schedule and he will have 3-4 classes of 6th grade science each day. He has to be at his school by 7. The boys do stretching, read from the Koran and sing the National Anthem at 7:15 and then classes start at 7:30. The boys are finished at 1:15 and the teachers can leave at 1:30 (except for Mon and Wed when they have professional development until 3:00). The kids and I hung out at the pool and the trampoline again (tough life, I know)! Around 5 in the evening we got an email that all the new (middle and high school) teachers would be heading to Abu Dhabi for training for the next 3 days and to call if they needed hotel accommodations. Hubby decided to catch a ride with his normal carpool and come back to Al Ain each night. Unicorn went to Seminary in the evening.

Mon., Feb. 17 - Hubby was up early and off to Abu Dhabi for training. The kids and I had breakfast, did some school work and headed off to the mall for their ice skating lessons. Have to say I was impressed as the have NEVER ice skated before. They got out on the ice about 20 minutes before their lessons and started trying to figure out how to move on the ice. Then they had about 25 minutes of lessons and the girls were able to ditch the "walkers"! The practiced for another 45 minutes or so and then I had to drag them off the ice so we could go get some lunch! They have begging to go back ever since we left! If they still like skating after a few more lessons we will sign them up for lessons on Wednesdays too! After lunch we found a nice little clothing store that had some cute clothes for kids and we picked up a few items for the kids.

Ladybug before her lesson

Monkey before his lesson

Unicorn and Ladybug before their lesson

Lesson time!

Unicorn skating without the walker

Ladybug without the walker

Racing to the other end of the rink

Not bad for first timers!

Monkey without the walker

Monkey going all the way around the rink after his lesson

Practicing after their lesson

Ladybug not wanting to leave!

Tues., Feb. 18 - Laundry and play dates again! In fact, we had 2 play dates today! Lots of fun. Unicorn had a Youth Activity in the evening. They went to the Rugby Club and played Frisbee Golf!

Wed., Feb. 19 -Today we caught up with some school work after a busy week. Hopefully we will make it to the pool tomorrow! Insha'Allah (means God willing...a VERY common phrase here)! Hubby was able to pick up his passport with his permanent resident visa today and get some information from the bank too. We have a local account and our housing allowance but no house or bank card! No worries...it will all happen eventually!

Going with the Flow...Abu Dhabi Style

The teachers were told on Wednesday (Feb. 5) to be ready to move to Al Ain by 9am on Thursday. Well, 9am came and went (and so did my children's patience). We hung out at the hotel all day and tried not to go crazy. While we waited we went down to the "beach" behind the hotel and the kids played in the sand for a bit.

Friday (Feb. 7), we decided to take a risk and we headed out to church. We had a nice time with the Abu Dhabi 2nd Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). When we got back to the hotel the papers were posted and we learned that we were going to be moving to Al Ain on Saturday at noon. So, we changed clothes and headed out to find some lunch/dinner. We ended up back at the mall and had Pizza Hut for dinner (it was very yummy)! Then we went back to the hotel and finished up packing.

Saturday (Feb. 8), we enjoyed our last breakfast at the IBIS Hotel in Abu Dhabi, did the last bit of packing and headed off to the lobby to catch our transport to Al Ain. Our hotel is the Danat Resort and it is wonderful. We have 2 rooms each with 2 beds so no one is sleeping on the floor! The breakfast here is much better (more variety) and there is more to do within a close vicinity.

Sunday (Feb. 9), hubby headed off to the ADEC offices to see if he was going to remain a reserve teacher or if they were going to place him. He returned 2 hours after he left and now has a placement...and he learned he will be teaching science instead of math! After he got back we headed out to Al Ain Mall for lunch and to purchase phones. We had a nice lunch at Applebee's, got our phones and got some information about ice skating lessons for the kids. Then back to the hotel to relax and play at the park. At 7pm, Unicorn headed off to seminary!