GUESS WHERE I AM!

(I wrote this post about a week ago, but I'm only now getting it up! I'm thinking positive about the next post being soon....) it has actually happened! The family and I are no longer in the United States. Last Monday, the 13^th of December, we flew the 26 hour flight to Bahrain! We decided to take the job in Bahrain and trust in the Lord. At first we didn’t think it was fool proof enough when the signed offer actually came, so we were going to turn it down, but then that just didn’t feel right. So thought about it and decided we didn’t have much to lose. So here we are. We moved out of the apartment in Caldwell and left half of our possessions in storage, and left some to be shipped to Bahrain soon, and took another six 50 lb boxes and two 50lb suitcases on the airplane.

The flight went well and the kids slept most of the long 12 hour flight. The boys were so excited to ride on an airplane, but I think they were glad when it was finally over. They are a little confused as to what is going on. We’ve told them that Dad got a new job so we are going to live here now. But we are currently in temporary housing. Brian’s work set us up with an apartment which I’ve posted some pictures of. It’s… quirky. But livable. However, Brian’s sister’s husband’s parents live here (which Brian knew in boarding school- Brian went to boarding school here), and they are in Hawaii until the first of the year, so they are letting us stay in their place which is quite nice and more fully furnished. So we are having Christmas here.

We went to church on Friday (Friday is the Sabbath here) and there we quite a few people, and some families with kids too. I’ve already made friends and several people gave me their contact info and said to call if I need anything.

The place we are staying at right now is right on a bay where people fish and boat. The buildings are built on “reclaimed land”- reclaimed from the sea. George, the owner of this apartment, showed me a spot across the parking lot where you can collect sea shells, and not like at the Oregon coast. You don’t even have to search, they are just there on the ground- nice, beautiful ones. Amazing.

So, I’ve been having a great time and loving the adventure. My first day here I met Brian’s coworker’s wife, who is from India. They brought out some food to try, and boy was it spicy! But Yummy! I’m having fun trying the new food. There is a huge grocery store where I’m doing my shopping, and it takes me forever. First I have to find the item I’m looking for, then there are like 10 different types to choose from- foods from all over- have you ever heard of “lebna”? Anyways, not many brands I’m familiar with to chose from, and it’s hard to know which one to chose. There is English and Arabic on the containers but they don’t always list the ingredients and the only nutrition facts are the calories, fat, carbs, and protein. Some things are supper cheap, like bread is only 50 cents, but milk is over two and a half dollars for 2 liters. Oh, and everything is the metric system. The fruits and vegetables all say where they are from- Saudi Arabia, Africa, Egypt, Holland, and all over.

So, I’m loving this new stuff, and trying to not get overwhelmed. Brian’s been on holiday every day since we got here, which has been awesome. So today is his first day at work.

So here are the pics:

All the luggage you see here is ours!



This is the kitchen in the apartment that Brian's work provided for us.

I had to learn how to put a round plug into a square socket!

This is where they store the water heater... on the wall in the bathroom...




I was so tired that I feel asleep holding Syler.

Palm trees decorated with Christmas lights!

It's everywhere...


Had to try it!



It was pretty good

This is the view off of the roof of the apartment Brian's work provided. It is a nice view but the air is a bit dusty on this day. There are also about 20 vacuums and a load of boxes on the roof too.
This is the view of the sunrise off the balcony of our friends place where we have been staying.

It sounds good, but most stuff is pretty spendy...

Christmas Cookies!

Oh, JUST MORE WAITING!

Yeah, so I'm not in Saudi Arabia now like I thought I would be. Big surprise... not really. If I've learned anything about our situation it's that nothing is final until it has happened. *Ahem* Yeah, Brian is here in Caldwell with me know, and no, he is not going back soon. Oh, where to begin? Let's see, last time I posted I was busy getting ready to go to move, finally, because Brian's boss agreed to mobilize us into the country. BUT when it came time to process the visas , the guy turned around and told Brian that he wanted him to sign an agreement for him to do ANOTHER 90 days probation, and to change his contract to single status (which means that company would never bring his family into the country at all). So Brian was like, HECK NO (not in those particular words). And of coarse since he wouldn't agree to that his supervisor was told to give him his termination notice. His supervisor was nice enough to give him a week before he gave him the notice, and 60 days, instead of 30, of severance pay. So Brian spent a few days looking into some potential transfers and other jobs, but things didn't work out or were moving too slowly, so he decided to fly home. Two days before he left he was offered a job for the same company if Bahrain, a little island just off the the Persian Gulf next to Khobar. However, we have to wait for a signed offer letter to arrive in his email before we can count on the job. In addition to that, we couldn't completely sit around waiting for this letter, so Brian interviewed with a different office for the same company in Houston, Texas. Then they gave him a job offer too! The office in Houston agreed to give Brian some time to see if the job in Bahrain will work out. So.... the status now is that I'm loving having Brian back in my presence, and Syler is getting to know his daddy finally, and the boys have their wrestling buddy back... and my adopted ipod has its true owner... I also appreciate having my companion back and someone to share in the responsibilities of parenting again. We are waiting until the 30th of November , then if we don't get the offer letter from Bahrain, we will be moving to Texas! Whew!

IT IS REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN!

Okay. I know. I've got to be one of the worst bloggers ever. But I was waiting around for the moment when I actually knew where our lives were headed. FINALLY! Brian's boss said he could mobilize us into the country! Whew! It only took what... 23 weeks? However, we wont be over there until October still. Right now it is Ramadan and the Saudi Government is closed, so no paper work on Visas can be done. But I might as well continue to enjoy Idaho and family until then. It has actually been a blessing that 1) got to spend so much time with family, and 2) that I didn't have to go to the dessert during the summer months- I just didn't realize it until now. Funny how that works. Now it's back to business with all the planning. I'm really excited and already have friends there waiting my arrival!

On another note, some thing else amazing happened this week...

Terron FINALLY decided to be a big boy and use the potty! He's known how to for almost a year now, but just didn't want to do it full time until HE decided it was time. One night he just decided he was going to use the potty and then has ever since- with minimal accidents I might add. Geez- KIDS! I'm so proud of him though. He is not going to let anyone push him around! So next week we are going to have a Lightening McQueen Potty Party! It will be for both boys since we didn't have a party for Ashton when he was potty trained.

Okay- I really will post pics of what we have done this summer. I just need to get them on the computer. Hopefully it wont take me another two months...

This is a short summary of my life right now.

Brian is in Al Kohbar Saudi Arabia. He started working on March 20^th and we were supposed to join him six weeks after Syler’s birth. However there are a lot of strange "office politics" that are making things difficult. A particular group of people which I will not name, decided that they were going to “watch” Brian for his 90 day probation and evaluate him. For this reason we had not left when we thought we were. Brian’s 90 days were up on Thursday and they told him that they didn’t think they had enough proof that Brian was doing his job well enough (though they could not cite any specific items that he didn’t do or do well). So they said he could take a new position or go home. This means he would also be on probation for another 90 days, which means even after working for them for another 90 days they still might not keep him, plus his family has to keep waiting… He decided taking the other job was better than going home with no job. However we hope he will find another job to switch to before 90 days. He also asked if he could mobilize his family into the country, but the guy just said he’d think about it. So we wait.

Syler is going to be 10 weeks in two more days. He seems to be very good tempered and loves to smile at everyone. The last few days he has been sleeping a lot so every night I go to bed I hope that he will keep sleeping and not decide that he is finally going to have a long awake time! He is almost 15 pounds! Terron and Ashton constantly “ahw” at him, and Syler watches and smiles back at them. A couple of times a day he gets mauled by one of them.

Ashton is getting very fast at peddling Grandma’s tricycle. Terron has also learned how to use the peddles and the two sometimes argue who’s turn it is. They also have started the super hero phase. We watched some Superman a few weeks ago. Now Ashton puts on Syler’s blanket and Terron puts on my nursing cover and they wear them as capes and put their arm up to the air and say “Super-Man!” It is quite cute and entertaining.

A few days ago Ashton came to the back door at Grandma’s and said he picked some carrots. I went out and saw a pile of tiny little carrots sitting on the ground. He had picked them from Grandma’s garden. I had to tell him it wasn’t okay, but I knew that he was so proud. He has been wanting to pick carrots for a while and has trouble waiting. At least it was only about 15 and Grandma wasn’t too mad. I have to keep reminding him that they aren’t ready yet. Then yesterday the boys announced they were looking for worms (snakes according to Terron) in Grandma’s garden. Grandma went to look and Ashton was digging a nice deep hole (about a foot or so) in the same place that he had picked the carrots. Luckily he didn’t dig up any vegetables.

My Sis from Wisconsin came to visit in May.

We went on a picnic a few weeks ago to Ten Mile out side of Idaho City.

Blessing Picture:

I forgot I was going to put this one on too. It is his blessing picture. I know it is funny, but it's the only thing I had that was some what dressy that fit him!

More Pictures

Here are some better pictures of Syler. He is now over 8 pounds! I think his eyes might be blue, but I guess it's still too early to tell.

Introducing SYLER !!!!!!!

He's here! Last Monday, the 12th of April, Brian and I went to the hospital to induce. The nurse started me on pitocin and a few hours later the doctor broke my water. Four hours later I gave two pushes and Syler was born. I have to say it was a little too easy- Being started into labor and then having an epidural and then hardly having to push makes it seem like I cheated! But it doesn't matter how much discomfort I did or didn't go through. What matters is that he is healthy and beautiful! Syler Glen was 7lbs 7oz and 20 1/2 inches long. When I was able to hold him then he just looked into my eyes and then at his dad and then at the doctor, like everything was good in the world. He hardly cried (of coarse now that his lungs are clear he has demonstrated that he does have a voice).

Today, Sunday, we blessed him at my parents house. We needed to do it while Brian was still here. Brian's parents were able to come from Idaho Falls and his brother and his family from Nampa also came. My sister, Elisha, and her husband came from Boise. My brother and his family also came as did my grandparents. Brian gave Syler an awesome blessing, then we had dinner and cake. It was a really nice day. I love having family together to celebrate a new addition! My belly was HUGE!

Ashton was excited to hold the baby.
He said "he's the most beautiful baby I ever saw."

Terron, on the other hand, was not interested in the baby what so ever
and wouldn't even acknowledge him the first day.
The second day he actually touched his hair.
By the third day he finally decided it would be okay to hold him.

The two boys now make sure that they know where the baby is at all times and always want to give him his pacifier, and hold him several times a day.

I'll put some additional pictures on here soon that show Syler a little closer so you can all see how adorable he is :)

Only a few days left!

Brian is back in Idaho now! He flew back Thursday. Even though it is only 8:30pm, he has been asleep for an hour and a half because of Jet-lag. We will be having the baby by Monday- if I don't go into labor before then, I'm being induced. Not sure I'm ready for a new baby, but I am defiantly ready to not be pregnant any more! So I will try to find time after the baby is born to put some pictures up and to give a quick story on how it all went- you know us mother's always like to share our labor stories! :)

Brians First Weekend

Looks like Brian has an admirer.

These camels wanted to make some new friends.

Old Turkish market

I tried to get Brian to post a blog about the fun he's been having already, but I just don't think he's into this whole blogging thing. But I did get some pictures from him and a friend so I can put some of those on here.

So far his news of Saudi has been that the traffic is terrible and it's dangerous to drive and even more dangerous to be a pedestrian. Think of that game "Frogger" and you get a little bit of the picture.

Another funny story was when he was at the grocery store. He walked by an employee cooking some rotisserie chickens. He was wearing a face mask, which to Brian thought, "oh that's a nice thing" until the guy quickly removes it so he can sneeze... directly onto the glass over the chickens. This scene was second to one that happened at McDonald's in which the guy stocking the condiments dropped all the ketchup cups on the floor but still put them on the shelf when no one was looking (except Brian).

On his trip to the old market that I put pictures of the group stopped by a beach to put their feet in the water. They were there for only a few minutes before they were approached by the Coast Guard and told they had to see the Captain. So the Coast Guard checked their papers thoroughly and questioned them about their purpose in the area and all that exciting stuff, before explaining that the beach was off limits. It all turned out okay and they were released to go home, but what is a day in another country without being questioned by the military?

Brian is still in a guest house for another few days but should be moving to our home the beginning of the month. Here is a link to the website of the compound we will be in. I don't know how old the site is, but you get the general picture. http://www.albustanvillage.com.sa/
Miss you all! You're welcome to write to let us know how your life is!

Here's the Story

So I figure that an appropriate way to begin this blog would be from the beginning of the story.
As most of you know, Brian grew up in Saudi Arabia. His dad worked for an oil company, Aramco, over there. His parents actually just retired last spring after being there for 25 years. For the last two and a half years, Brian has been working at Schweitzer Engineering as an International Human Resource Specialist. This was his first job out of college, and he was blessed to already be in the international side of things. Last summer Brian got in contact with his old stake president (we'll call him Mr. C.) from when he was is Saudi. He also works in international human resources so Brian wanted to get some advice. A while after that, Mr. C got a new job with Worley and Parsons which brought him back to Saudi. To shorten up the story- Brian found himself being interviewed for a job by Mr. C and one thing led to another and he was offered a job.

Now if Brian were to ask me a year ago to go to Saudi Arabia (or anywhere over seas for that matter), I would have said "Nope, I'm not going." Of coarse I never thought it would actually happen. Lucky for Brian, we had a discussions a few months ago about whether I would be willing to do such a thing or not. After realizing a few things- I love my husband and want his dreams to come true; that I married him knowing this was a possibility; and that life is short and I should be seizing an opportunity for memories and adventures- I decided to be a little more open to the idea.

When he got the job offer I thought I'd know right away if it were a good idea or not, but of coarse, I also hoped that the feeling would be NO. I really didn't like the idea of him having 4 out of his 5 days at work be 11 hours (not including travel). I'm also pregnant and due April 18th, which is our third boy. I also was very happy in my home in Moscow and had many wonderful friends there. So I had a lot of things that made my believe it wasn't a good thing to do right now.
After a week of constant ponder, I told Brian this, but he felt differently. He explained his feelings that he knew this experience would bring us closer as a family and we would have the ability to experience great things together. A person who has only a few years experience in his work does not get an opportunity like this one. If we were to turn it down, it would probably be 10-20 years before he ever had the chance again. And after he is done, he will be much further ahead in his career than he could be any other way.

I now realize that I was just hoping I wouldn't have to leave Moscow and have any sort of challenges. Life in Moscow was good- no, great- pretty much perfect. Moscow is a great place with wonderful people. God blessed us over and over while we were there, and I'm so greateful he allowed us to live there so long. But now he wants us to continue to the next experience in life. I have prayed to know what God's will for me is, and I believe this is the start of the answer to that prayer. It is hard not knowing what the future is and what is will be like, but that is part of the adventure!

So we left Moscow at the beginning of March. I'm now living in Caldwell where my parents live. I have an apartment with my boys so that we can stay a little independent and not get too spoiled like we would if we lived with my mom and dad (though we are still getting pretty spoiled). My brother and his wife and family live here too. My sister lives with her husband in Boise. So I have a chance to spend some time with them before I leave. My other sister who lives in Wisconsin will also be visiting before I leave.

Brian was able to spend six full days with us while he waited for is visa. He flew to Saudi Thrusday, and will be starting his first day of work in a few hours. We are hoping he can fly back in about three weeks so that he will make it in time for the baby's birth. Crossing our fingers there! A short time after the baby is born, he will go back to Saudi, and I will get things arranged to follow by the end of May or beginning of June. I can't do any paperwork for the baby until he is born, so it will probably be at least six weeks after the birth that we will be able to go.
So there it is in a nut shell. We are starting an adventure. For those of you wondering what the heck we are doing, hopefully this blog will ease your mind. I have been told that we will be very safe there. The country has come a long way over the last 25 years (I couldn't have been my mother-in-law when she went- that's a story all in it's own!).

We will be living in very large compound- or "gated-community" if you prefer. I'm told it's like a compound made up of lots several compounds. Security will most likely be time consuming, but if you ask for safety that is what you get. Mr. C and his wife were an answer to our prayers and took their time to find us a place that will be in a great community for our family. There are schools nearby so there should be lots of families too. There is a park, a swimming pool, and lots of things to do. The is a store where I can do grocery shopping without leaving the compound.
Our home will be a town house style with three bedrooms, and two and a half bathrooms, and 17oo square feet. It is furnished with the large appliances, couch, table, beds, and dressers and such. It sounds like it will be a wonderful home!

Lets see, other detiails:
I wont be able to drive- it's against the law. And when I leave the compound I will wear a black, loose-fitting cover that goes to my wrist and ankels, but I don't have to cover my head. There is a bus system that if I want to use to get to some where in the city, it can take me. I don't know how much I will use that for the first part I'm there, considering I will have a newborn, three year old, and a four year old to bring along with me if I go. Whether in the compound or in the city, I should be able to find most of the things I need or want. The city has a Toys R Us, and an Ikea, and lots of other shopping.

Our work contract is for two years with the chance for renewal. The company will pay for us to come home once a year. It gets up to 125 degrees there during the summer, so it's better to take your vacation to America when it's like that. The timing doesn't work out this year, so we will be stuck in doors a lot, where there is air conditioning. I'm hoping we can go out in the morning and evenings and then stay in during the hottest part of the day, but I guess I'll have to see how fast the heat gets unbearable. At least there is the opportunity to go to the pool when ever we want for no cost. Oh, that's something else, the perks include the cost of housing, we don't have taxes taken from our paycheck, they company provides a car, and our utilities are paid for.

So as you can see, we wont be completely unfortunate. I will have to adjust to the atmosphere and the country as well as Brian working longer hours than with his last job. But I'm hoping that after the first little while we will get used to things and feel right at home. This will be a unique experience for us. I'm really looking forward to our adventure- if I can just get there!

Updates still to come

We're not in Saudi yet.

This is a test

This is a test to see if I know how to do this or not... or if this website works...