Easter in Saudi

Tavis had a fun time dyeing the eggs, something that he missed out on last year because he was still a little guy. It is essentially illegal to celebrate Easter here, so obviously things like egg dye and Easter baskets are not sold. We made our own dye, and it worked great. Tavis loves Popeye, and the Easter Bunny must have known because he brought him a new backpack along with some other goodies. As you can see from his face, he was pretty happy to see it waiting for him. I don't think he has ever had more fun than he did finding the eggs. The Easter Bunny only hid a dozen, and after they were all found, Tavis said "More!!". Nate had to work, of course, because the weekend here is Thursday and Friday, but we were able to go to dinner to finish off our "celebration".

Sliding

Tavis turns 2!

Tavis' second birthday was March 26, and we were lucky that it fell on a Friday this year as that is Nate's only day off during the week. We had a party for him, and invited several people that Nate works with. We had people in our home from Egypt, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Saudi and Savannah, Georgia. Our friend Farid owns a company that makes cheesecake, and he provided us with two for the party. Nate's friend Osama from Egypt is here with his family, and Tavis enjoys playing with his 3 year old daughter. Tavis had a good time, but I think was a little overwhelmed with all the people. The highlight of Nate's evening was when a $400 bottle of contraband Johnny Walker was pulled out.

Bahrain

We had a chance to go to Bahrain last weekend with one of Nathan's co-workers, Rassoul, who is from Lebanon. Tavis has really taken to him, and calls him "Friend". We spent a great day at a beach club, so not only were we close to the beach, but to a pool as well. We had some great meals, and were able to enjoy ourselves away from the strict Saudi way of life. Tavis made a friend at dinner before we left on Friday. She is one month younger than him, and we hope to meet up with her family if we make it to Bahrain again.

St. Patrick's Day in Saudi

I wanted to post some pictures of Tavis that I took on Saint Patrick's Day. Look back to a year ago and see how much he has changed - it was hard for me to believe too! A year ago he was still a baby, and now, here he is, almost two. You will notice him wearing his ever ready boots and dad's hat, his two favorite clothing items.

Saudi Living

Just a few pictures so you can get an idea of where we are living. You can see our living room, note all the crazy colors. They think this looks good!! The back of our apartment building, as well as down the street behind it. I tried to get a good picture of the Tamimi Market, which is a Safeway. They are very sensitive of photography here, so I take what I can. Hopefully we will be able to post more the longer we are here. Also, you can see the license plate on our Toyota.

Posing for the camera!