Only in Abu Dhabi . . . .

Only in Abu Dhabi do sheep and goats travel in the back of pick up trucks . . .

  . . .the church Christmas party is catered by a Chinese restaurant . . .

  . . .work trucks are adorned with butterflies and hearts . . .

  . . . you have to be cautious of the "un flammable" . . .

  . . .  snowmen and pandas hang out together . . .

  . . .seat belt laws do not exist . . .

  . . . local Emirates drive in little cars painted with a British flag . . .

 . . .ground beef is shaped like Christmas trees . . .

 And camels go cruising down the road . . .

Happy National Day!

UAE National Day is on Dec. 2nd.  It is a huge party here and there are flags everywhere!!! They hang lights, and basically only wear red, white, green and black for Oct. and Dec. The city is very festive and lights are hung on every building. The kids had a big party at school, Colette got a henna tattoo and the kids enjoyed learning all about UAE culture and history.

Gregg's happens to be as old as the country so everywhere we go he get's reminded of his age! LOL!

ADNIC 10K run

I figured it was time to race again so I signed up for an easy 10k. It took place at the Yas Racetrack which is the same place they race the Formula 1 cars.  Pretty neat!

 They had all sorts of stuff for kids to do so Bennet and Ashtonn had fun waiting for the races to start,

Each bib had the country you were from on it so I got to represent the good ole USA!

 The boys got to try their had at changing a tire in record time. They made for a good pit crew!

 Can you see me?

 Go Jenn GO!

 Yeah! All done! All the competitors got a medal too! How cool is that?!

We had an awesome Thanksgiving with some great friends. We added jumbo shrimp to the menu this year!

Happy Birthday Gregg!

Here we are at Texas Roadhouse for Gregg's big day. Ashtonn tried out the saddle and seems to have a knack for ropin'.

 We ate outside among the lit palm trees. It was sooo pretty!

We had to drive up Dubai for dinner but it was worth it for the awesome view of the Burj Kalifa aglow for Christmas!

Two of my "footballers"

Bennet and Ashton love playing "football" Yes, we still call it "soccer". Everyone knows we're Americans as soon as we say it! 

Sand dunes

We explored the wild dunes of the UAE! The kids had a blast running up and down hill after hill of marvelous sand! I only had my cell phone so watch for better pictures to come!

 We had a great big bonfire and roasted marshmallows.  Dallin used his scout skills to help.

 Ashtonn found a bush full of fluttering butterflies!

 We came home with about 3 cups of sand in Ashtonn's pockets alone! :)

 Sunset in the sand.