We Made it!

For those who were worried or wondering, Stu, Kaden and I made it to CdA last night safe and sound. We had a fairly eventful (and f*&%ing LONG) trip over there, including missing our flight from Salt Lake, but I will post a more detailed account when I've had some yummy food and have rested a little more. I stayed up for more than 48 hours (impossible for me to sleep on planes apparently) so I was pretty exhausted in every way possible once we arrived.

Anyway, as I mentioned, my parents got DSL so I will be able to update while we are here. Stay tuned for some goings on of Northern Idaho!

The Waiting Game.

So Kaden just emptied his drawers… all of the neatly organized “shirts go here”, “pants go here” are on the floor… I guess he is as bored waiting as I am. Stu headed off to the gym which was probably a really good idea after he informed me both that he was bored and that we still had 17 hours before our plane took off. Ugh!

So I think I will head up to the roof when he gets back to get my tan on (5 on each side, lest I die of heat stroke). Then I’ll be out of ideas to pass the time and we’ll still be waiting. Maybe I should go Google “things to do when bored” and see what happens. Or go play some more Bookworm!

Oh, for those that were worried (I can’t lie, I was too!) I WILL be able to update my blog while I’m gone as my Mom informed me they just got high-speed internet after it seemed to be an impossibility. Hooray for technology!

(photo credit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/Etihad/NYChauffeur/prweb504518.htm)

Zero Day...

The zero day is tomorrow (it's actually at 2 AM the next day, but since I have to stay up to get on a plane, I'm calling it the same day!) and all three of us couldn't be more excited or eager to get the heck out of here. I'm out of fun or useful things to do... the laundry is washed, the dishes are clean, the carpet is vacuumed, the tile mopped. Of the fun things, I've used the virtual make-over function at Glamour.com to match my optimum color palate to my skin tone, hair color, and eye color. I’ve gone through my fashion magazine to pick out the styles of clothes I want to shoot for when I go shopping at home (including shoes!). I have emptied Kaden’s dresser and closet and sorted out the clothes that no longer fit him. I have inventoried my OWN closet and taken into account which clothes will probably only survive 1-2 more washes in this hell-water here, and which ones have at least 10+ more washes left in them. I organized then RE-organized the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. I watched my “Living Fresh with Sara Snow” and got “green”… even if only in my mind. And now I am bored out of my mind.

Kaden has abandoned me in favor of the “car” toy that Grandma and Grandpa Fox sent him. I couldn’t even get him to hang out on my lap long enough for a cuddle! Sheesh!

Thankfully, my girls are coming over today for our “Tea” (can’t avoid the Brits here!) Time. That will be a welcomed distraction from the ever-longer hours of waiting. Anyway, just wanted to post a couple cute (in my mind) pictures from yesterday and this morning (I picked out the camo-pants/Boise State combo, hehe). Enjoy!

Playing with his favorite friend: the "pretty baby" in the mirror!

My sweet boys!

Always the happy baby!

"New" Clothes!

Yesterday we got a couple boxes from Stu’s parents. They sent some toys for Kaden’s birthday and some boxes of muffins and brownies for us (YUM!... which I jumped on making as soon as they were out of the box!), but they also sent some clothes that I had pulled out of our suitcases and left with them while we were visiting back in March. Our suitcases had been pushing the weight limit and I didn’t want to have to worry about it as Kaden and I were about to embark on our own to a foreign country. So I left some of Kaden’s clothes and mine for them to ship. It was like Christmas again when we opened the boxes yesterday! I had been eagerly awaiting my khaki pants that I’d left, but forgot about any other clothes. Of course, the pants, which barely fit me back in March, and way too big now (figures). And Kaden has missed out on some of the clothes because I stupidly left 6-9 month outfits instead of the larger outfits, but it was nice to get not one but TWO more pairs of pants for me (another that I’d since forgotten about), and a couple shirts. So here I am celebrating my “new” clothes! (Ignore the lack of make-up… that’s not the part we’re focusing on!)



Then last night we had burritos (the taco shells we bought, which are imported, only had ONE shell that survived unbroken…) and Kaden had one with beans and cheese and avocado. He decided to wear it more than eat it… thought I’d share.

That’s pretty much it from me. I’ve been trying to sort out our insurance issues. We haven’t received our cards yet so we don’t have anything other than our Saudi ones, which I doubt will work in the US! Kaden needs a well-baby check-up and shots when we go home, so hopefully we can get that worked out before we get there. Otherwise I am just waiting for the hours to pass until 2 1/2 days are gone so we can get the heck out of here! The days are seriously moving SO SLOW. But I am so looking forward to getting home and getting to see some family and friends! Yay!

Grass Fun!

Stu and I took Kaden to the Corniche where there was (gasp!) grass! So we played a little while, sweating our behinds right off (look at the pictures of Stu and I for the “luminous” look). We are all very eager to be going home this week (3 days!!!) and it is days like this one that really prove why, at about 120 degrees and a zillion percent humidity... It was really fun though watching Kaden get acquainted with the grass and leaves!

If you look closely, you can see that they Sheikh's face and parts of his clothes are missing... no idea why... we're guessing he needed a make-over.

Kaden enjoying the grass!

Stu and the hazy sunset

Always the happy baby!

My turn with the sunset!

Kaden escaping from his stroller

Wedding Day!

Rainy and Marcelo’s wedding really was beautiful. It was simple with a handful of close friends, but it really was nice. Aside from it being “feels like 134” degrees outside (111 + humidity… courtesy of the weather channel.com), and everyone sweaty like crazy, the church was somewhat cool and it provided a nice environment for a wedding. You know, for a second, it was easy to forget we were hidden away in a neighborhood of villas in a Catholic “Church” that was unrecognizable as a church from the outside… It felt like we could easily have been at home at a church.

That really was a sort of weird experience… we drove through a typical neighborhood, making several turns, and up to this normal-looking brick building that just said “St. Andrews Center”. It was only after walking through a gate and then a courtyard that you saw a typical set of heavy wooden “churchy” doors. Inside looked like any number of modern churches (sans stained glass) with pews and an alter… it was nice. I also squealed for joy when the priest walked in adorning a robe (albeit one with a stool which looked like he picked it up on his last holiday to Mexico!). The priest himself was a bit brusque, but I’d imagine the heat and humidity would do that to anyone in several hundred pounds of robe…

Kaden got to be the ring bearer and took his job pretty seriously… taking his sweet time to saunter down the aisle… and when the priest asked if there was anyone who had reason that Rainy and Marcelo may not be married, Kaden gave a very serious (and very loud) “bock!” It provided much needed comic relief for those of us with sweat pooling in various places on our bodies.

The very coolest part of the whole ceremony, for me, was when the priest asked us all to join him in saying the lord’s prayer… he made certain to tell the congregation to recite it in the language in which everyone learned it… so as Stu and I begin, “Our Father, who art in Heaven…” I hear all around us the same prayer (with the same breaks and pauses) being recited in Portuguese. Aside from Rainy, Stu and I were the only people present that speak English as a first language… the rest were mostly Brazilian (all the Jiu-Jitsu coaches who train with Marcelo and Stu), and a Sri Lankan guy.

After the ceremony Stu and I got to sign as witnesses on the marriage certificate, and then the bride and groom were given a nice farewell with handfuls of rice. Very fun.

We took them out to dinner at this Brazilian place called Chamas in the Intercontinental Hotel. There is no menu, just waiters with skewer after skewer of various kinds of barbequed meat, and a handful of side dishes. It was really good and Kaden was a little angel. We had arranged ahead of time with the restaurant to have a cake of Congratulations and their names on it made for them and Kaden REALLY loved that! Then we called it a night.

The happy couple.

Olavo and his wife Julia.

Me and the blushing bride! :)

Stu, Marcelo, and Olavo... and Kaden

Our happy little family... all dressed up for once!

Stuart and Marcelo

Kaden snuggling Marcelo's leg

Kaden having a great time in his suit!

Sweet baby!

Sid and his wife and daughter

The priest!

Walking down the aisle... See the little ring bearer back there??? :)

Bearing the rings!

The guests...

The kiss!

Signing the certificate!

It's my turn!

Rice!

Kaden the fat baby with his unzipped pants!

Pretty Cool.

Told ya we were being read (or monitored, haha)! I was clued in to this by a fellow (American) blogger... I was included in the "Blogosphere" bits in June on the Gulf News site. Here is the link:

http://gulfnews.com/tabloid/Technology_and_Research/10219777.html

I will post pictures of the wedding tomorrow... Here is a little preview. It was a beautiful wedding, Kaden was adorable (but sweaty), we had good food and great time!