Watkins Worldwide :)

Summer Trip in California

2009-07-09T15:03:00.009+03:00

We arrived in California and had cold weather. The temperatures are regularly about 95 degrees and it never got above 75 degrees the entire time we were in California. Emily lives in Palmdale, CA, which is about an hour north of Los Angeles. We had a fun time playing with the kids. Jonah worked hard helping Mike build a shed. Mike got a sunburn, but I won't put that picture in here.

Bekah and Kort

Lindsey swinging

Kort riding his bike

We went to the LA Dodgers vs San Diego Padres game while we were there. The Dodgers won 6-3. It was a good game.

Go Dodgers!

Melody is a happy baby!

We went to the beach and had a nice time. The weather was kind of cold and the water was freezing, but that didn't stop the boys.

We went and spent a few days in Disneyland and California Adventure Park and had a great time!

Speedster Nick!

Pirates of the Caribbean

Obama in Egypt and the End of the School Year at CAC

2009-07-09T13:38:00.006+03:00

Obama in Egypt!

Cairo American College Graduation at the Pyramids.

Bekah and Nick wait for Obama

Us and our neighbors waiting for Obama.
Barrack Obama came to Egypt and had a very successful and well-received speech. He also had a special meeting for embassy family members at the Pyramids. Bekah was about three feet away and Todd and I were about 15 feet away. He was very personable and down to earth. What a cool experience.
One of my students is an amazing artist and I wanted to share this cute picture my class gave me on the last day of school.

Church trip to Jordan

2009-05-18T16:29:00.009+03:00

Goodbye night

Inside the church

The Jordan River

The Baptismal site

Isn't Jerash beautiful>

The Girls in our group!

This is all the first day and this day we met new people and went to Jerash.

Michele Goes to Athens, Greece

2009-05-16T12:46:00.010+03:00

Last week, May 7-10, I had the chance to attend a teacher’s conference in Athens, Greece. What an amazing experience. There were six teachers from my school, Cairo American College, who attended the conference. We had a great time shopping, sightseeing, eating and attending the conference. It was fun having European and American brands to choose from for shopping. I bought Greek olives and olive oil, chocolate croissants, baklava, and feta to bring home for our family to enjoy. Everyone got some new clothes. I got some great new shoes and a cute purse.
During our sightseeing, we went to an Islamic museum, which was very nice. I enjoyed seeing the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier, Parthenon and the Acropolis. One highlight for me, was on Sunday morning I was walking and heard beautiful singing. There was a 12th century Byzantine church right across from our hotel. I went inside and they were having a service. It was entirely chanting. It sounded like Gregorian chanting, except that is done by the Catholic church, so I’m not sure what it is called with the Greek Orthodox church. I had to pinch myself, it felt like a dream.

This is a view from the roof of our hotel.

We ate at the Plaka every night. That is the area of town that is right below the Parthenon and is filled with restaurants and cafés with people walking around. It is a great ambiance. I enjoyed the calamari (octopus), tzatziki (yogurt sauce) with fresh pita, souvlaki and gyro, feta, and grilled cheese, baked eggplant and stuffed grape leaves.

Our teacher’s conference took place at the American Community School of Athens. It was a nice school. The conference was on differentiation. I got some great ideas that I started implementing with my students this week.

What a great experience.

Update and Desert Camping

2009-04-01T18:30:00.010+02:00

Basketball season came to an end. Nick’s team, The Mavericks came in first for the regular season and won their tournament. They were undefeated for the year. Nick was the leading scorer and rebounder for his team. Jonah’s team, The Heat, took second place, after losing in overtime by two points. Jonah led his team in scoring, assists and steals. Baseball is starting this week. Jonah and Nick are playing on two different Yankees teams to Todd’s excitement.

Here are some events that have been happening with Bekah. She has been teaching swimming every Sat. morning to little kids. Bekah and her Young Women’s class made about 20 blankets and delivered them to a children’s cardiac hospital here in Cairo. The high school here has a week of school called “Week Without Walls”. During this week, Bekah spent her days helping refugee children in a Sudanese school. She was very proud of her bench that she made from scratch. She built the bench and then painted several benches and took the benches to the school. She raised money and gathered supplies to donate to the school. They also organized an activity day for the students to come and play. Bekah helped the kindergarten kids make beaded bracelets. Since Todd also works with the refugees, it was great for her to be exposed to a little bit of what Todd works with. This Sudanese school is the top refugee school in Cairo, but Bekah was surprised how dirty and ill-equipped it was. There were only two desks for the entire kindergarten.

Bahariya Oasis, White Desert, Black Desert

Last weekend our family went with the Eastin Family to the Bahariya Oasis, the White Desert and the Black Desert. It was about a 4-5 hour drive from Cairo. A German man named Peter ran our hotel. It was built around a natural hot mineral springs. At first the kids all just thought it was dirty, but after getting in they loved it. The water came out at about 110 degree, so we had to let it cool down a few hours, but you can see that it was still very warm from Jonah’s red skin.

The next morning we took off 4-wheeling through the deserts. First, we stopped at some huge, amazing sand dunes. The sand was very fine. It was really difficult to run in the sand, but the kids had a ball running up and then running/falling down. The black that you see in the pictures is from volcano magma from millions of years ago that has broken down into sand. That is why this is called the Black Desert.

We did some more climbing and then stopped at a place called Crystal Mountain. It contains crystal formations that look amazing. It is not authentic crystal, but is made from quartz. We continued 4-wheeling with our guides as they led us deeper into the White Desert.

Millions of years ago this area of Egypt was covered by water. What is left now is a white limestone that formed mounds. Those mounds have been eroded by the wind and sand to shapes and formations that are intriguing to see. Many are named things like “The Mushroom”, “The Chicken Under the Tree”, and “The Camel”. Others are left for your own imagination. We drove around these formations for about an hour. Close to sunset our guides found us a location by a rock formation and set-up camp for us. We had time to explore. The kids loved climbing on the huge formations. Our guides cooked us a delicious dinner over the fire.

The stars there were absolutely stunning. The sky was streaked with what looked like wispy clouds, but were actually stars. It was incredible! A desert fox that came to our camp to get food joined us. It had large ears and was about the size of a cat. It is amazing that animals can live in these extreme conditions.
We woke up the next morning, ate breakfast, packed up our campsite, explored and then headed back to our hotel, which was about 2 hours and then back into Cairo. As we were leaving the desert we passed a few camel trekkers, hiking and riding through the desert. The camels in the desert here are different from the camels we see in Cairo. These camels are from Sudan and are mush shorter and furrier.

Nile River Cruise March 2009

2009-03-28T16:39:00.016+02:00

Last weekend started our Spring Break. We went on a Nile River Cruise from Aswan to Luxor. Mom works with a friend named Hanaa and we went with her family. They did a great job organizing our trip. We flew down to Aswan and spent the day sightseeing there. Our boat was called the “The Queen of Hansa”, and it was beautiful. Raouf, Hanaa’s husband, had some connections and we were upgraded to a suite on the ship. Our room was very nice. Every room had nice big sliding windows out onto the Nile.
We had one other family with our tour group, it was a father and son from Colorado Springs. Milan and Cody were celebrating Cody’s 16th birthday with a trip to Cairo. They were very nice and we enjoyed spending time together on our trip.

In Aswan we went to the Temple of Philae, which is a temple for Isis and an unfinished Obelisk, which was huge. It was amazing to hear how they would move these huge heavy stones for their building. That afternoon we set sail and stopped that night to see a temple called Kom Ombo, built to honor two gods, Horus (falcon god) and Sobek (crocodile god). Horus’ eye is a very common symbol for protection and Sobek could be dangerous. This temple was built showing honor and a balance between these two gods. Kind of like the balance between the Yin and Yang.

We sailed that night to Edfu, where we toured a cool temple that was built to honor Horus who was also the son of Isis and Osiris. We took a horse and carriage ride from the boat to the temple. It was interested to see that statues to Horus in his Falcon form. We liked the spiral staircases up and the straight staircase down from the roof. There was also a model of what Horus’ boat to the after life would have looked like. Both Kom Ombo and Edfu are from the Greco-Roman period between 300-150 BC.

We spent the rest of the day sailing and relaxing. We ate and slept and read and swam and relaxed. We went through a lock, which was interesting. Egypt has built a reservoir to store water and so we had to go into a lock which they had water at our level, then they pumped out the water till it was level with the lower level of the Nile and then we sailed out into the lower level of water.
That night we arrived in Luxor. Because of the world economic crisis, tourism has dropped by about 40% in Luxor. Luxor is probably the second most popular tourist site after Cairo. Luxor was the capital of Egypt for a long time, including when Ramses II was the ruler and in Moses’ time. The temples and burial sites are from that period between 1500-1200 BC, and are incredible. They are in excellent condition.
We went and saw the Temple of Luxor. Many different pharaohs contributed to it during its long period of use. Temples were only open for the high priests and Pharaohs. They were not open for the general public. It is amazing to think that Moses probably walked here at the Temple of Luxor.

The next morning we woke up and went to see the Valley of the Kings. Originally, the Pharaohs were buried in the large pyramids, but then had so many problems with grave robbers that they went to smaller pyramids that were easier to guard. There were still problems so then they went to burying the kings in tombs in the valley. They could guard the valley entrance and then it was difficult for people to get in or out. They chose a valley that has a very high mountain peak in the shape of a pyramid. So far they have found over 60 kings burial chambers in this area and they are still excavating more. King Tut (ruled in 1354 -1345 BC for only eight years) was buried in this location. Ramses II was buried here. He may have been the ruler at the time of Moses. Ramses II ruled Egypt for 65 years, 1298-1235, the longest of any pharaoh.
Each burial chamber is unique based on what the current thought was of the afterlife. Some are dug deep into the mountain, others are long and far back into the mountain, others climb up the mountain and then you climb down. Some are big and some are small. The tombs are dry because they lie under the desert floor and this preserved the paint color in the tombs. It was very crowded and very hot inside of the chambers. I’m glad we were there in March and not July.

After the Valley of the Kings, we went to the Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut (ruled 1504-1484). She was the only female pharaoh. Her temple was stunning and built right into the mountainside. She is not buried here, but in the Valley of the Kings. This site is where people would go to pray for her and do funerary rituals after she died.

We relaxed on the boat and then that night went to see the Sound and Light Show at the Temple of Karnak. During the New Kingdom period of glory (1550-1069 BC), Thebes (Luxor) was the all-powerful capital of Egypt and Karnak was its “forbidden city”. Even in its ruins are amazing. It is possibly the largest temple complex every built. It was a place of worship, the residence of the priests and pharaohs, and the center of the administration. It employed tens of thousands of workers. Ordinary people were again, not allowed inside. Only the priests and Pharaoh entered it. I think this was the favorite place of everyone in our family. It had an amazing feel about the place.

The next morning we went with our guide and saw the Karnak temple by day, which was even more amazing. It is such a huge complex. It is 247 acres. It grew in stages during over 1,500 years. Each pharaoh contributed major monuments such as sanctuaries, kiosks, pylons and obelisks. There is a large sacred lake inside.

One highlight is a scarab. If you run around it three times you get good luck, if you run around it seven more times-you will marry, if you run the opposite direction seven more times you receive virility and have children. When Todd and I married, he proudly showed me his picture after running around it his 17 times. This time Jonah and Nick completed the ritual as well. Everyone else completed our three times around.

We returned to the boat and relaxed on the boat for most of the day. The weather was gorgeous. The water in the pool was a little too cold for everyone except the boys. Actually, they spent quite a bit of time in the small bath pool, which had warm water. We had a great time visiting with Hanaa’s family and just relaxing.
That night we went to dinner at a local kabob place right on the Nile River. It was a beautiful sunset. After the sunset, the wind picked up and soon there was a full on sand storm. This is the season for sandstorms. Everyone in Luxor told us this was the worst one in several years. Our flight was scheduled for 10:20 pm, but there was no visibility. Our flight finally took off about 3:00 am. We arrived home exhausted about 5:00 am.

2009-01-23T18:43:00.014+02:00

Well, our winter break is coming to a close. It has been a nice relaxing three-week break. We have all enjoyed sleeping in, reading and having some time to do some things locally that we haven’t had time to do previously.

Our family went with some friends sightseeing and saw some of the local famous sites of Saqqara, Memphis, and went inside two of the Giza pyramids. The pyramids were very hot and stuffy. It was cool to go inside, but we were glad we were there in Dec and not July.

We had a nice Christmas. Everyone received some nice gifts they were looking forward to. Our family got a blue-ray player and some blue-ray movies for Christmas and signed up for Netflix. We have been watching a lot of movies together. X-box and Wii games were hits from Christmas. Nick loved his dancing cow that Jonah got for him.

New Years Eve found us doing our family’s traditional fondue dinner, which we enjoy so much. Being is Cairo hasn’t changed many of those great traditions.

We are able to watch football bowl games here, although they are on at crazy times. Todd was thrilled to see his Utes win the Sugar Bowl and have an undefeated season.

We are all excited about Todd’s sister Emily having a new baby girl on Jan 2nd. Her name is Melody Ann. She is beautiful and we are glad that she and Emily are both doing well.

Jonah and Nick start their next basketball league games next week. Jonah played for the Middle School team. They came in 2nd in Cairo and Jonah had a good season.

Bekah has been busy reading “Great Expectations” for school. She has had extra time to watch movies and keep in touch with friends in VA.

Michele celebrated her 42nd birthday on Jan 6th. We hired a Thai chef and his wife to come and cook a delicious and beautiful Thai meal for us. What a nice treat. She’d also like to add, that if you enjoyed reading “The Lord of the Rings”, she has found a series very similar called “The Wheel of Time”, and she highly recommends it. It is a very long series, but very enthralling.

Todd and Jonah are getting ready for the Giants vs. Eagles game. They are giving each other a hard time about who is going to win.

Well, like I mentioned, it has been a quiet and relaxing break. School starts next Sunday, Jan 11th. We hope that you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Lake Nasser Cruse--Happy 19th Anniversary

2008-12-22T13:25:00.003+02:00

Happy 19th Anniversary to Todd and Michele!! For our 19th anniversary we decided to go on a cruise here in Egypt. The Nile River flows from South to North through the entire country and empties into the Mediterranean Sea about 150 miles north of Cairo in a city named Alexandria. The Nile originates in two locations in Africa, the White Nile in Rwanda and the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. The two rivers come together in Khartoum in Sudan. It then flows into Egypt in the south through the towns of Abu Simbel, Aswan, and Luxor, which are famous for the Pharaonic ruins. The Nile used to flood and destroy homes and crops each year and so in the early 1900’s Britain built a dam in Aswan to help control the Nile flooding. In the 1960’s a new larger dam was built by Egypt and the Soviet Union to help further control the flooding caused by the Nile. This larger dam created a lake called Lake Nasser, which is over 400 miles long.
This large lake was going to flood and cover many ancient and important historical temples. A United Nations organization which focuses on saving historical antiquities called UNESCO agreed to help organize and save several of these ancient sites. These sites were all in the southern part of Egypt in an area called Nubia. Nubian people are darker skinned with an African heritage rather than the lighter skinned Middle Eastern people more common in Cairo. Many countries worked together to move these sites before they were flooded and covered by the new lake created by the larger dam.

The cruise that we chose to go on was a 4-day/3-night cruise along Lake Nasser. During our cruise we stopped to see several of the rescued Nubian temples and historical sites. Many of these sites are only accessible by boat, so it was exciting to see these seldom visited temples.

The boat we traveled on was called the MS Eugenie and it was a nice boat with character. It was not new or modern but tried to create an elegant feel. It has 50 rooms, so it is much smaller than most Caribbean cruise ships, and it had a more intimate feel about it. There were about 100 people on our cruise. About half of the people were French and there were about six Americans. Many people were ex-pats living in Cairo.

On our first day we visited a site in Aswan with several relocated buildings. The Temple of Kalabsha had some Pharaonic aspects, remodeled into the Greco-Roman style and dedicated to the God Mandoulis. We also saw Beit El Wali, which was erected by Ramses II in the beginning of his reign. There was also the Kiosk of Kertassi erected to honor the Goddess Isis.

The next day we crossed over the Tropic of Cancer and visited the Wadi El Seboua temple, dedicated by Ramses II to the two Gods Amon Ra and Ra Harmakis. The temple of Dakka was dedicated to the God Thot of divine wisdom, Lord of times and seasons, master of literature. Also on that site was the Greco-Roman temple of Meharakka.

Our third day we visited temples in Amada, which contained the oldest rescued site. There was also a temple dedicated by Ramses II to the rising sun. A tomb to a viceroy of Egypt named Penout was also saved and moved here.

That afternoon and evening were the highlights of the trip. We arrived in the city of Abu Simbel. We approached the magnificent Abu Simbel temples of Ramses II and his wife Nefertari by boat. The statues outside of this temple are over 60 feet tall. These temples were built into mountains. The international effort that was involved in rescuing this site was amazing. They cut these temples into 20-30 ton pieces on rock and numbered them and then moved them 1/4 mile over and higher and reassembled the pieces like a 3D puzzle so they would not be covered. These temples had been covered by sand for 2000 years and were rediscovered in the 1800’s.

I can’t even describe how amazing these monuments were. They were very well preserved and their size was huge. The amount of work involved to cut, move and reassemble these temples was unbelievable. Todd thinks this site compares to the Giza Pyramids in terms of grandeur and interest. There was a sound and light show that night which was very well done. We went back to the boat and had a nice Egyptian dinner sailing out in front of the lit Abu Simbel Temples.

You can click on this site to read more about these temples.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_simbel

The cruise was very relaxing. Todd and I enjoyed spending quiet time together. We read books and soaked in the sun up on deck. It was in the 80’s during the day and the 70’s in the evening. The stars were amazing during the evening sails. We had a balcony and enjoyed sitting out there watching the beautiful scenery as we sailed on the Lake.

Our cruise ended and we flew back to Aswan and enjoyed spending the afternoon touring and relaxing in Aswan. We ate at McDonalds for the first time since we arrived in Egypt. Here is a picture of the official McDonalds hijab uniforms. We flew home to Cairo and had a memorable and enjoyable anniversary.

2008-11-10T17:50:00.000+02:00

This was all his choice he wanted to get it cut.For the first time in so long Jonah got his hair to become short.

History Has Been Made

2008-11-08T19:36:00.003+02:00

Saturday November 8th, 2008
Jonah has made history by now becoming the tallest kid for the Watkins family Bekah was not happy with what has happened. She has been gloating for the past month saying "I'm still taller then you". Now it is Jonahs turn to gloat. Bekahs comeback is now i will still be older then you.

Jonahs Hair Cut

2008-11-03T15:16:00.005+02:00

TADA

This was all his choice he wanted to get it cut.For the first time in so long Jonah got his hair to become short. The first time my Dad, Jonah, Nick, Bekah, Mom have ever heard a dad tell there son he shouldn't get a hair cut. Todd did say you shouldn't get a hair cut to Jonah.

Homecoming 2008!

2008-10-18T17:30:00.003+02:00

Bekah went to homecoming on Friday 17th and had a blast! That morning she went to the mall with her friend and picked out a dress. Then she went over to another friends house and got ready there. She was very happy everything went so well.

Eid al-Fitr holiday

2008-10-06T14:42:00.003+02:00

Jonah and Nick sliding down the slide

The ocean you can see the coral

Jonah and nick with some of their friends

One of the many beautiful views

All the kids sliding

Bekah and Dad in the pool

Bekah and Nick in front of the sea

Dad playing water polo he was the champion goalie of the team

Right before the eid holiday started Jonah fractured his thumb! He was playing basketball at recess and reached for the ball and ended up breaking his thumb. Mom took him to the hospital and he got X-rays and a cast. He has to keep it on for 3 weeks and then get a splint and keep that on for another 3 weeks. Because of this we weren’t sure if we were going to do anything for the eid holiday but we finally got everything worked out the day before we left!!!

We went to Hurghada with a lady my mom works with, Hana’a, and her family. Hurghada is located on the Red Sea and a 5 hour-trip from Cairo. The place we stayed is a 4-star hotel, but the room happened to be very small! They provided breakfast and dinner and we really never had to leave the hotel. Inside the hotel there were 3 pools and a private beach. The pool had slides and a lot of activities that kept us busy throughout the day. There was also a huge waterslide but unfortunately the tide was too low and it didn’t open while we were there. It was also very windy on the first 2 days we were there.
Jonah was quite a sight to see. Mom wanted him to be able to swim and snorkel but he was not allowed to get his cast wet. Mom’s solution… Garbage bag wrapped with duct tape!!! It was hilarious to see! He looked like he had a club on his hand but he was happy he was able to do all the stuff everyone else did.
On the second day Bekah and Mom, along with Hana’a’s family, went snorkeling. Bekah liked it a lot because she had never been before but because of the wind the water was not clear and we didn’t see a lot of fish. Luckily, on the 3rd day the wind had died down and the whole family went snorkeling. Nick had some trouble with the saltiness of the water and didn’t use the tube to breath so he just swam and looked at the fish but everyone else was fine. We all saw millions of fish! We even saw one that was a foot and a half long! Bekah was really excited because she saw a ray! The fish were all so colorful and cool looking. The kids all though it was very weird to have the fish that close to them and Bekah was afraid she would hurt them haha.

The night before we left Mom decided to take games, Harry Potter Clue and Pit, out to the pool to share with Hana’a and her family. Dad and the kids all thought she was crazy and they would all think she was nuts but to our dismay the games were a huge hit! Everyone loved Pit! It would have been quite a sight to see 12 people gathered around yelling numbers for over an hour. One guy came over and started mocking us!

Bowling parties and Iftars

2008-10-06T14:25:00.004+02:00

Some of the traditional food

one of the guards wifes made these they are stuffed potatoes!! there so much work!

Traditional rice

The annual festival of Ramadon, which is a month of fasting for the Muslims, was during September. During this month Muslims don’t eat from sunrise to sunset. The meal at sundown is called Iftar and is usually a huge celebration. People often celebrate it every night with family and friends. Our family decided to through an Iftar for our Guards. Our housekeeper and her sister spent the day making delicious, traditional Ramadon food. The guards really appreciated it and we all had a good experience.

Nick's wonderful cake

Nick bowling :P

Make a wish!!

Nick turned 10 on September 25, 2008!! There are no more Watkins’ kids who have a one-digit age! Nick had his party at a bowling alley in Maadi. Mom made him a wonderful bowling cake. Well of course, because this is Egypt, not everything went according to plan :P. One of our friends was nice enough to take us to the bowling alley, we are still waiting for our car to get here, but he misunderstood and took us almost 20 miles in the wrong direction!! Nick ended up arriving 30 min late for his own birthday party!! Next the place that mom was going to get the food from wasn’t open like they said they would be. She asked and they said they would open in 5 min, well 45 min later it still wasn’t open and people were getting hungry. Dad went to the Chilis next door and got chips and salsa and drinks to hold the kids over till we could get the pizza but they took 30 min to get the sodas to us!! We then had to order pizza but of course that took an hour and the pizza got there right when the parents came to pick up the kids.

In Sha Allah

2008-09-19T19:01:00.000+02:00

Sphinx

The pyramids

Our beautiful Ramadan Lamp- The next morning we went to a market to find Ramadan lamps. Ramadan lamps are lamps used during Ramadan to signal that everyone can eat after the sun has set. We got confused on the instructions from the groups and got lost but we did find our way eventually. It was a very interesting experience for everyone. There were donkeys everywhere and once Bekah got trapped between a donkey cart and a car. It was a good Egypt experience. We ended up getting 2 beautiful lamps for us and a smaller one for guests that had us over to dinner that night. By the end of the trip everyone was worn out and ready to go home.

Bekah and her friend Nika at the Pyramid

All of us right before the sound and light show

Jonah doing the Egyptian

During the show-On Friday the 22 we all went to the Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the Pharaohs and the history of the Pyramids. The Pyramids are the only ancient wonder of the world still standing and they have been standing for 4600 years. The show was very dramatic. Bekah thought it was a little too dramatic and also that they included a little too much of the history. It started to get a little boring in the end but besides that it was good.

In Sha Allah is a famous line here in Egypt. It mean if Gods wills it and thats really how things work here. We thought we would get our air shipment 2 weeks after we got here but SURPRISE I guess that God did not want that to happen because we ended up getting it 2 days ago, on the 28th. Things here in Egypt happen a lot slower than in the States and this is a lesson we have all had to learn throughout this adventure. Many Egyptians use this line including our new maid. She is really nice but does not speak a lot of English. She is a very good cook and has already made our family many Egyptian dishes including a dish we all love called Babagonug, which is like Humous but made from eggplant.

We had quite a big shock on Sunday the 24 at 2:30 in the morning. Dad was outside talking with a friend, Mom was inside reading her book, and the three kids were asleep. Mom heard a pop and thought it was dad coming in but then about 15 minutes later she saw smoke coming from the kitchen. She ran and woke up the kids and got them out of the house. The kids were totally discombobulated because they had just been woken up and Bekah and Nick didn't even get shoes on. Mom rushed them down the stairs and yelled for dad. Dad and his friend, whose job is to handle problems, came running up. Other apartments also had smoke in them and then at about 3 in the morning our whole complex was outside waiting for the embassy. They ended up coming at 4 30 in the morning and everyone went back up to bed but our apartment still smelled so we stayed with the neighbors for the night.

Coming back from church on Friday the 29 something happened that proved to dad that we are becoming Egyptian. We were walking back from church talking when a car comes up behind us. (For those who don't know this is a normal event in Egypt and most people walk on the road because the sidewalks are so bad.) The car honked and Bekah, without looking back, took a few steps to the side to let the car pass. Dad told everyone one that that was what everyone does in Egypt and was happy that we were getting the hang of life here.

It was Back to School night for Mom this week. She worked hard in her classroom and with her students to get everything ready. Everything went really well. She had her students’ right biographies about Olympic Athletes and the parents were able to open the files and read the students biographies.

After school on Thursday, the school had an annual "Beat the Heat" golf tournament for teachers. Mom decided to participate in that and had a great time. She only golfs about once a year now, so she was ecstatic when she got a birdie on one hole. The golf course was 100 yards from the Great Pyramids. It was so surreal for her when she was teeing off, looking at the pyramids and the beautiful prayer call started. It if difficult to describe what an amazing feeling it was.

We have Arrived

2008-08-15T21:59:00.000+03:00

Felucca ride

Our family on the Felucca

Me and Nick in front of the Nile

In front of the sphinx- the boys

the sphinx- the girls

Me and mom on a camel

Camels again

again

pyramids in the background

us compared to one stone

the pyramids

jonah holding up the pyramid

nick pushing them apart haha

as u can see its very tall

The kids on one of the stones

Us at The Great Pyramid

We arrived in EGYPT
After a long 14-hour journey with one layover in Frankfort we arrived in Egypt on Tuesday July 22. We were worried that Pepper, our dog, would not be able to come with us because it was hot on the day we left but luckily the airlines took her. She arrived safely with us as planned but some our baggage was not so fortunate. Only 6 out of 11 bags made it on time. Fortunately the others arrived the next morning ☺.
The dad of our host family was there at the airport to greet and welcome us to Egypt. We arrived at our house with Pepper 30 min. later. The house looked great but soon we realized that one of the rooms, soon to be Bekah’s room, was furnished as an office, so Bekah had to spend a few nights sleeping in the same room with Nick. Our first official day in Egypt was an Egyptian holiday! (National Day) Our host family took us to the commissary, the American military grocery store. And we stocked up on our favorite items. We were happy to find frozen pizza, Bagel Bites, and Cocoa Puffs along with many other good foods. After the commissary we discovered the Maadi House. The Maadi house is a community center where they not only have a swimming pool and restaurant but they also teach sports and have wireless internet!!! Because of the Internet Bekah spends a lot of her time there.

Our host family has been great and we have been over to their house for dinner several times in our first week. They are good cooks and we also love their Grandma’s chocolate chip cookies.
On Friday, because the weekends in Egypt are Friday and Saturday, we went to church. Church is held in a converted two-story house and the branch is very small compared to the wards have been to before. It is a branch of about 60 people but because it was the summer there were only 40 that attended. There are 2 new families beside us both have over 4 kids. The next day, we went with our host family and another family on a Felucca ride on the Nile River. A felucca is a traditional Egyptian sailboat. The weather was beautiful, the food tasty, the company was marvelous, and the view was extraordinary. When you come to visit us we will be sure to take you on one.
On Sunday we walked to our new school, Cairo American College (CAC). It is a nice campus and Jonah and Bekah were excited to find out that they have a 20 break between each class, a hour and a half free period every other day, and Bekah can go off campus for lunch or use her cell phone to order food in. Jonah is excited to be able to play basketball in between each class. Mom starts school on Sunday August 3.
We had an orientation at the embassy, which was very boring. The building in nice and very big, in fact it’s the second largest embassy in the world, the first being Iraq.
On Monday July 28 we wished Jonah an official happy 13th birthday (we celebrated unofficially about 3 times before we left) we ate a delicious dinner at the Chili’s restaurant that is about 10 min. from our house. The food and prices were just like in the United States. For his birthday he chose, to our surprise, a carrot cake. We also had another birthday party for him with our host family but instead of a cake we had a mound of chocolate chip cookies.
Nick met some friends at that party and ended up spending the night at their house and then the next day their mom took them to a resort hotel with a water park. He came home a little sun burnt but had a great time with his new friends.
While he was at the water park Mom, Jonah, and Bekah met a new family from the branch and went to the GRAND Maadi Mall. The mall was 7 STORIES HIGH!!!! We had Egyptian food and walked around the entire mall.
Lately we have been watching a lot of movies because we do not have our stuff yet. We have not yet received any of our shipments but we hope to get out air shipment soon.
Mom’s notes: We are all adjusting fairly well to life in Cairo. We like our house and are enjoying our new friends we are meeting here. Bekah is starting to set her cell phone down sometimes now. She would look at it longingly for the first couple of days. Jonah’s basketball team in Fairfax won the regular season and we are proud of them playing in the finals for the tournament. Jonah looks forward to your emails so please keep writing to him. Nick misses Matt and his friends and also looks forward to Matt’s emails. Our thoughts and prayers are with Aunt Gayla and her family as she is dealing with her news of lung cancer. We appreciate being kept up to date on your progress. We miss you all and will be relieved to get our internet and phone setup so we can communicate easier. School starts on Aug 12th for the kids. Right now many people are visiting the states so life is quiet. We are glad to hear that Emily, Mike, Kort and Lindsay arrived safely in California and that Kort is recovering from his pneumonia. We are looking forward to the Olympics starting soon and hope our TV will be hooked up and running by then.
Few days later
Now that school has started we have made a lot of friends. Moms work invited us to 2 dinners one was catered and the other was at a nice restaurant. Then they invited us to a Friday brunch at the Four Seasons hotel. It was amazing!!!
We went to the pyramids on Friday Aug. 15 it was a lot of fun but it was hot. We saw a lot of cool things including the sphinx. Mom, Bekah, Jonah, and Nick all rode a camel it was a little scary when they got up and down but other than that it was so much fun.

SCHOOLS OUT

2008-06-18T22:26:00.000+03:00

We are so excited school is finally over for all of us! Bekah is done with her freshman year and had a great year. She really excited to be a sophomore. Jonah is done with elementary school and is moving on to Junior high!! Nick is done with 3rd grade and is moving on to 4th! Mom is probably the most relieved for school to be over. She started out with a good 5th grade class, but then because the school needed 4th grade teachers she was moved to teaching 4th grade and had a bad class. She is now SOOO glad that it is all over. The kids last day was on friday and Moms was on tuesday so to celebrate we all went out to Dairy Queen and had a Blizard. The picture of Jonah is him receiving his diploma and the one of Nick is him on his culture day dressed up as a pharaoh on the last week of school.

End of Seminary!

2008-06-10T02:27:00.000+03:00

Bekah has completed her 1st year of seminary! She worked very hard waking up at 5:00 in the morning every school day. She would like to thank her mom who diligently got up to take her from seminary to school every morning. Next year she is excited for school to start later so she wont have to wake up as early. All of us went to her seminary graduation and we are all very proud of her!

crazy hair day

2008-05-25T23:30:00.000+03:00

jonah and nick had crazy hair day at there school

spring bball

2008-05-25T23:20:00.000+03:00

jonahs spring basketball is just about to start their tournament they won the regular season again :)

Jonahs team r the champions they won in overtime 40 to 39

winter basketball

2008-05-23T14:45:00.000+03:00

Jonah's basketball team went to the semi finals but lost but they were the regular season champions.

Bekah's Science Fair

2008-05-23T03:38:00.000+03:00

Bekah decided to take Honors Biology this year which meant doing science fair. Bekah and her partner Holly decided to do a project on Venus flytraps. They did a lot of research and found out that Venus Flytraps did not have to eat insects it just helps their soil, so they decided to experiment with that. Their hypothesis was that if the Venus Flytraps were fed crickets they will be healthier than those who aren't. They discovered that their hypothesis was correct. They won 2nd place at their school for plant projects and got to go on to regionals!!! It was a lot of work and very exciting. They had to spend 4 hours at judging and the next day they found out how they did. They got 2nd place again for plant projects and they were relieved that they didnt have to go onto state. They where happy for the opportunity but were very glad that it was over!! It really took a lot of work.

Top Chef 2008

2008-05-23T03:25:00.000+03:00

We had a lot of fun creating beautiful food dishes during our 2008 Top Chef.
For people who dont know what Top Chef is its a TV show on Bravo and our family copies this idea and does a contest every year where all the kids make meals for mom and dad, and they judge us. After 8 weeks of cooking they chose a winner. Some of the dishes are shown above. Jonah's is a Mississippi Mud pie, Nick's is a Nuss Torte, and Bekah's was a ground pork roast with chestnut stuffing, which is the dish that won overall. All of the dishes were great but a winner had to be chosen. Mom and Dad chose Bekah as the overall winner and so she won 50 dollars. The 2 runner ups also got a prize of 25 dollars

Fist Blog

2008-05-23T03:19:00.000+03:00

YEHHH we got got a blog!!!!
we were finally able to get a blog hopefully we can keep up with everyone