ABU DHABI TRIP 2008

Don't anyone faint! I am finally getting to this again. The last time on here, I was telling about our trip to Abu Dhabi to see Sydney, Stu and our little man, Sir Kaden. We were there three weeks and it was wonderful. Our trip over was very nice - plenty of room on the plane and nothing late in arriving to the great smiles of the Foxes! They took us on many tours of Dubai, Al Ain, and Abu Dhabi. In between traveling to each of these cities, there were smaller towns along the way which were very interesting to us. Everywhere there is sand and sand dunes, and on one trip we saw some wild camels in the distance. That was quite amazing. It's one thing to see cows, but camels?? haha I suppose they would be surprised to see cows!! Sydney and Stu have a cute apartment on the fourth floor. Kaden can reach the buttons and he was the elevator operator on any trip out of the building. We experienced many great dinners and our favorite turned out to be Sydney and Stu's favorite, too; The Lebanese Flower. Talk about tasty! After returning, we have tried to find something similar here, and thanks to Bill's cardiologist, his office staff gave us a heads up on one and they were right...it was quite good. The hummus and garlic paste are "almost" identical, so the only thing missing will be the Arabian bread that we fell in love with as well.

It was amazing all the building and construction going on in every city, especially in Abu Dhabi! On one-fourth of a city block, we counted NINE cranes on top of buildings! The whole block was under construction so I'm not sure how many there really were in that city block, and every block had at least three if not more! It has to be the crane capital of the world! Abu Dhabi has many small parks that are perfectly groomed and all the children's equipment is very nice and looks all new. Kaden showed us how good he was at going down the slides and riding on the bouncy toys. He never stopped running from one to the other. He also met a cute little girl (her mother was with her in her full abaya with a small baby on a blanket) and before they left, she came to say goodbye to Kaden and gave him a kiss right on his lips!!! It was the cutest thing. Kaden, as any young man would do, gave her a slight smile....gotta watch those men, little girl!

We visited the Grand Mosque, the third largest in the world, the other two being in Saudi Arabia. It was magnificent. Words can't describe the beauty of it all. It dedicated to Sheik Zayed and his crypt is also housed in a small Mosque near the Grand Mosque. The Grand Mosque isn't yet completed but when it is, we'd love to go see it again. I can't imagine what next they could do to it to make it more beautiful, but they seem to be trying!

Our three weeks went by so fast - for us anyway! haha I'm sure Sydney and Stu were ready to pull their hair out waiting for the last few days! Kaden was so used to us and he was confused about being at the airport and saying goodbye to us...he kept holding his hands out for Papa to take him. I cried all the way to the plane, but we know it won't be long before we see him and them again....back here in the States.

After we got back on Jan. 2, it was a few days later that Marion came to see us for a short visit. That was a lot of fun to have here here for a few days. We had to work, so it cut our "entertaining" time out somewhat, but we did get in a lunch and a short tour of Old Scottsdale. We hope she'll come back again when we can take off work for a few days and take her to Lake Havasu to see the old London Bridge. She has seen it in London, but not in Arizona!!

After Marion was here, Monica called to ask if Justine could come see us before she left for the Air Force. She came and was here for a couple of weeks. We had a blast with her. She's so sweet and never a problem at all. She got in a little Arizona sun and did some reading while we worked.

We took a Valentine's Day weekend trip up to see Mary-Leah and Jeff and the kids. Had a great time there, too. It was one of the nicest times we've spent there...just relaxing and not any rush, rush. Oh, one thing we did, and Lord knows hope we don't ever have to repeat, was to attend a fund raiser BINGO night at school!! Oh boy...ML wrote on one of her bingo cards, "please shoot me!" haha They didn't even serve beer...what's with schools these days anyway?? haha

Just a few more days and it will be Monica's birthday - St. Patrick's Day! I would love to have a neat birthday like that! Hope she has a good time and that our gift will arrive on time!

Next month we'll be going to San Antonio to attend Justine's graduation from boot camp. Never have been to something like that so we are really looking forward to it. I take that back...years ago, we went to Alison Moore's graduation from her nursing school in the Navy somewhere in Washington State. Now, if Monica gets us all the military ID's we'll need and all the instructions, we'll be set to go!

In May we'll be going to Boise for the Confirmation Mass of Flower, our granddaughter. I know that will be very nice. We've been to several of these, so at least we know what to expect!

Nothing planned - YET - in June, July or August, but in September we'll be flying to Denver to attend Kyle Patton's and Amie Mace's wedding. This is going to be quite elegant and we're really excited about going.

Think that's about it unless something comes up at the last minute for our summer plans. We are still coming down from the high of our great trip to Abu Dhabi ! We have all our little souvenirs on the the tv and can't believe we've gone to the Middle East! We can't thank Sydney and Stu enough for allowing us to visit, and they were very great host and hostess. She's a great cook, too, so if anyone else can visit them, you'll enjoy some of her cooking as well as the Flower Restaurant!

Love to all of you who may read this. Sorry, I don't know how to publish pictures yet, but maybe someday! I'll keep trying!

That's it for now...Mom and Dad/Mimi and Papa/Friend and Friend