Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!! Christmas Eve we played games with games with friends and then later had a delicious prime rib roast. Christmas morning the girls were up early to find their stockings full and presents under the tree.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Gingerbread House

Lydia and Jill had fun making a gingerbread house a few days before Christmas. I thought they did a great job on it. It looks good enough to live in or eat up. The rule was that nobody could take a bite out of it until Christmas Eve. Amazingly everyone obeyed the rule well. Maybe that was because Jill had made lots of other treats for us all to nibble on.

Visiting Santa

Here's the yearly picture with Santa. Lydia was excited...Kinzy really didn't know what was going on...and Alia was scared out of her mind (I've never seen her suck her thumb before). I guess it is pretty traumatizing to see a fat man with a white beard saying, Ho Ho Ho.

Girl Scout Christmas Party

There are several other Girl Scout troops in Cairo and they all had a large Christmas party at a local school. There were all kinds of games and competitions for the girls to do. Lydia had so much fun!

Three girls

We were taking pictures of the girls the other day for Christmas time and I just couldn't resist putting this one up for all to see. I'm afraid that 10 or 15 years from now I'm going to have to get a big stick to beat those Egyptian boys off of them. What do you think? ....maybe I'm biased

Girl Scout Cookies

A couple of months ago, Jill started a Brownie Girl Scout troop for Lydia and other like-minded girls in our area. So since then, every other week for about an hour and a half our house is filled with 6-8 girls Lydia's age. I have learned what people mean when they say, "giggly girls". The girls are from all different nationalities. They have learned what to do in case of a fire and first-aid skills. A couple of weeks ago, they all came for a couple of weeks to bake and decorate Christmas cookies. The cookies were then sent to our armed forces in Iraq for Christmas.

Christmas Greetings from the Inman Girls!

Last year Grandma decided it would be fun to give us this little snowman with a dog that sings jingle bells and shakes and makes holiday noise. Of course, the girls found it first when we got out the Christmas stuff this year. Mom and Dad really appreciate it so much because it's helped us really learn the jingle bells song well. :) As you can see from the video, the girls enjoy it.

Puttin' up the Tree

Last week we put up the Tree! The girls had so much fun. We splurged and bought some imports to have a snacky night with popcorn and chips with dip. We decorated our tree and our home with some simple Christmasy things. We watched the Grinch and laughed. Which we needed! Then we started our Christmas countdown with the Nativity Calendar and Advent wreath. It was a great family night together.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had such a wonderful thanksgiving with friends. The great thing here in Egypt is that we get our Turkey fresh...I mean fresh...like killed the day before or that day. We soaked him in a brine overnight and baked him crispy brown. We had friends over and ate and ate and ate! We put a poster board on the wall for everyone to write what they are thankful for. We have so much to be thankful for! We trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A Ronald McDonald Birthday!

We recently went to a birthday party at McDonald's with some friends. The music was loud and the games were fun! Every parent's dream! I thought you might enjoy some of these pictures.

A trip to the dentist

I don't think many people like to go to the dentist. Unfortunately, Lydia's first visit wasn't just a cleaning. Lydia started telling us that her tooth hurt when she brushed...then she started saying that it hurt when she ate. So we took her to our dentist and sure enough there was a cavity between two of her back molars. The dentist was so good and gentle. He talked her through everything he did. I think the experience was more traumatic for Momma but there were a couple times when Lydia's whole body tensed up...like when the drill was digging around. But she got a toy and a new toothbrush afterward and her tooth doesn't hurt anymore. Now, hadn't you better schedule your next appointment? :)

A Halloween party

Sorry for the long time without updating. Here's some pics of a halloween party we had at the house. We had some friends over and we each hid behind a door and had the kids walk around the house knocking on room doors saying "trick or treat". It was fun. We also were able to go to a party hosted by a local British school.

Trick or treating at the house

Party at the British school

I got candy!!!

A short break

We took a quick trip to the beach for a couple of days. The hotel was pretty empty, so it was nice to enjoy a couple of days together. Enjoy the pics!

The elevator is coming, The elevator is coming!! Part 5

A couple of weeks ago, Alia and I came home to find beautiful bright lights and sparks falling down on us. I think this is how Alia saw the situation. I, on the other hand saw welding torches and hot metal. Thankfully, they stopped welding as we walked up the stairs but they quickly started up again as we passed and I had to shield Alia's eyes. "Look Daddy, bright light!" But after all that, we now have walls around the stairwell....made of Chicken wire. :) I guess the only thing left is the little box you ride in, called the uh........oh yeah....elevator! The girls wanted to be in the picture this time.

The elevator is coming, The elevator is coming!! Part 4

A little hammering, some drilling, maybe a little welding sparks, some more hammering on stone and VOILA....We have doors! Of course at this point you don't want to walk through these doors or you'll fall down and go boom.....or poof like the coyote on bugs bunny. By the way, for us to see the frame of the elevator in place doesn't give us a whole lot of confidence to ride it in the future. :)

Cute Pics

One of our friends took these great pictures the other night and we just had to share them. Enjoy!

Kinzy's first meal

I think the video speaks for itself.

The elevator is coming, The elevator is coming!! Part 3

The banging started last Thursday night around 11:00. When we opened our door to see what was going on we saw a couple of guys with sledge hammers pounding away at the stairwell. It was quite a site. Rocks and metal were falling and bouncing all the way down....most of them would hit our door and bounce off. Then they brought out the metal skill saws to cut the railings. This lasted 'till probably 2:00 am. For a few days now we've been walking down the stairs over piles of rubble and keeping the kids as far away from the edge as possible. Stay tuned next time when you'll see elevator doors....same Inman time, same Inman channel...

The elevator is coming, The elevator is coming!! Part 2

About two weeks ago, a few men came by our building and dropped off about 50 wooden posts that looked like they were taken from the Pilgram's Mayflower. A few days later more men showed up around 11:30 at night and built what you see here out of some old rope and the wooden posts. It's quite a circus to get down the stairs with posts here and there that you have to duck under. We have now realized that what they have built is scaffolding.

Reflections from the past

I thought this was a great picture of Lydia and Alia. This was taken on our roof. We are slowly fixing it up....as you can see we've added some plants and of course the swimming pool. What's funny about this picture is that we posted a similar one last year September. It was taken in the same swimming pool at our old house. Check it out! You can find it in the September 2006 archives of our blog.

The elevator is coming, The elevator is coming!!

Nine months ago, when we moved into our new flat we were told that an elevator would be installed in about 3 months. Because our flat is on the fourth floor (fifth floor American), an elevator became pretty important. However, it wasn't until one month ago that we saw any progress toward the elevator/lift/no stairs project. The progress was a hole....yes....a hole. Which actually made climbing down the stairs a little more adventurous; because once you got down five flights of stairs you had a large pit to walk around. We will keep you updated on the current elevator project in our building. Stay tuned for more!

Happy Birthday, Lydia!

Two days ago on the sixth of September Lydia turned six years old. It was really hard for us to believe. We had a great family time together on the day of her birthday. She opened presents and then we all went to an indoor (hot outside) playground nearby. Then we had Lydia's favorite meal, tacos that night. Yesterday, we had a party with friends at the water park here. It was quite hot and crowded but Lydia had a great time.

Modified Self

After catching up on some friends, I (Jill) realized a while ago I had been tagged to share about the changes in myself. These are just a few ways I can think of in which I have been modified, refined, remodeled....in no particular order:

1. I now have two sets of clothes: House clothes and Street clothes. House clothes consist of t-shirts, shorts, and just plain comfortable things where street clothes always cover as much skin as possible, not tight, not revealing and dressier. I now understand that clothes are not truly dirty until you have worn them consistently for 6 days.

2. Being on time for an appointment is overrated. Remove the stress from life and when I get there or they get there, the appointment will happen.

3. I am now a clean freak in my house. When Cal and I were first married, I would clean whenever we couldn't walk across the floor. Now I can't go a few hours without cleaning or organizing the house. I know it is a sub-conscious effort of regaining the feeling of control in my life. The rest of my world here is so out of control, that I try and make a little part controllable.

4. The horn is one of the most useful mechanisms on a car. When I drive, I use it at least once a minute. It is great to announce you are coming into an intersection, warn others of your presence, going by someones blind spot, or to tell someone to go faster to name a few.

5. Like my friend Brin, I once intensely resisted the idea of being a homeschool mom - now it is one of the highlights of my day.

6. Most days I am the one being changed by God more than I am being used to change anyone or anything here.

7. Everyday things like water, electricity and gas are no longer something I think that I deserve, but a privilege. Each day I wake up and think, "Wow! We have water this morning. Thank you!"

8. 20 million people is actually kinda cozy feeling. I feel very uncomfortable in quiet, calm areas now.

9. I didn't know the deep pain that would go through my heart when I see my children confused (why don't I have grandparents here?), ostracized (I can't understand what they are saying), or understanding they must say good-bye to people they love on both continents, and I know all of this is because of the choice that we made. There are no regrets.......it just hurts more than I thought.

10. I used to be a "To Do" list person. I still enjoy writing lists, but it is just a mental exercise for me and not a measure of success like before. If I get one thing done a day, like getting vegetables, it's a good day. And now my definition of success is if I listened to His voice today.


Now I tag....Laura Mudd, Stacey D, and Beth D

A day at Legoland

Located in Bavaria is a park just for young kids called Legoland. I had never heard of it but evidently there are more Legolands in other parts of Europe. Anyway, I took Lydia and some German friends we were staying with to Legoland. Jill decided to stay home with Kinzy and Alia. Next time she'll go. :(

The Bavarian Alps and Countryside

Ahhhh...What beauty! One of our days there we were able to go to the Alps. We went up a cable car to the top of a peak close to Salzburg, Austria. In the same day, we went to a nice mountain lake and the girls even got to swim a little. Of course we didn't have swimsuits with us so they just swam the German way.....no clothes. :) However, we didn't have to go the Alps to see pretty sites. There were plenty of days of hiking to small villages and beautiful scenery around where we stayed.

Enjoy the pictures!

Around the Bavarian Farm

We spent most of our time just hanging out at the farm. The girls loved it and we enjoyed the quiet and fresh air. The weather was perfect. The hottest day was maybe 88 degrees F and we only had two or three days of rain. The rain was actually fun....since we only see it once or twice a year.

Trip to Bavaria

We just got back from a family vacation to Bavaria, Germany. We had such a wonderful time. We stayed with a family who opened their farm up to us. It was a great blessing! We have lots of pictures and stories to share so I'm going to put most of them in a slide show format over the next few posts. Here is a couple of shots of us and the family we stayed with.

The weather was very mild every day...especially compared to temps in Egypt.

This is the German family we stayed with. The two boys are adopted. They also have another adopted girl and three kids of their own.

Cutie!!

We just had to share some of these cute pictures!! We think she should be on some advertisement. Whatever is being sold I'd buy it with that cutie smiling at me!

Ice in the desert

Disney on Ice has come to Cairo! Of course it was all indoors, since our temperatures lately have been in the high 90s or 100s. Jill and Lydia went on a girls night out last Wednesday and saw Princesses on Ice. Lydia dressed up like Cinderella , ate her first snow cone in a princess cup, and sat with awe as her favorite characters danced on the ice. Jill said it was an amazing show. It was a reenactment of 7 princess movies. They had a wonderful time and Lydia is still talking about it.

Alladin and princess Jasmine

Lydia's first snow cone!

Egyptian Breakfast

Nearly every morning I go out and get some breakfast for us. The Egyptian breakfast is quite delicious and really quite healthy. The bowl you see at the top is called "fool", which is fava beans cooked overnight with chopped tomatoes, onions, tahina, salt and pepper. Very tasty! The bowl at the bottom is called Tamaya. It is also beans made into a paste with spices and then deep fried to a crunchy patty. Other parts of the middle east call it fallafal. The bread to the left is made from whole wheat and comes freshly baked...nice and hot from a fire oven. The bread is cooked and made in the same way as the ancient Egytians made it. I guess after 7000 years they should have gotten it right by now...it's very good. To eat it correctly, you don't use silverware. Instead you tear off pieces of bread and use it to grab the foul or tamaya. This whole meal can feed our family for 23 cents. Beat that McDonald's!