Jordan

These are some new pictures Dad sent us from Jordan. The phrase at the top is pronounced like a sneeze, "Assalamu alaikum" which means - peace be with you. Dad says the people there hate saying it to non-muslims so Dad and the other guys he is with fool them and say it first. The people there aren't sure what denomination [Dad and the other guys with him] are, after that.

The pictures above include two of the camel auction, a small store they pass on their way to work, a picture of them driving to work, two different Iraqi road signs (they are only a few miles from the Iraqi border), three of a shawarma stand, the area around the camp that they work at, along with a couple pictures of some of the guys Dad works with.

The guy in the blue jacket with the braided beard is Mark Burmingham, who is Irish. Alex Cook is the older guy with the big mustache, he worked for the CIA for 21 years. Roy is the older guy with the weird goatee. Jeff is the team leader sitting down working at the computer. And all of the stuff on the shelves are things Dad and all those guys use to make bombs for their training.

There are also two pictures of a baby desert tortes that they found at the camp there. They put him in a box and gave him to their driver, to give to his kids. Dad named the baby tortes Rudy Jr. Poor little Rudy Jr would not have lasted long at the camp there, because most likely he would've been part of the soup the next day (true story).

Here is a closer picture of Dad at a shawarma stand. Shawarmas are the staple food there. Dad said going to a shawarma stand there, is like going to a McDonalds here. At a shawarma stand, there are big wheels of meat (Lamb) with big layers of lamb fat on top that melt down over the meat. They slice if off, and put it in peta bread with onions, tomatoes and a sour yogurt. You get six for 2.5 denar which is about $3.00.

A Flash Back In Time

This picture was taken when Kyler was blessed on March 2nd, 2008.

Happy Easter

This picture was taken on our vacation to Disneyland. And this is our cute little bunny!

Pictures of Jordan

These are some pictures Dad sent us from Jordan. This first one is a view from his hotel room of the nice pool that won't be open until May. Which means Dad will miss out on all those men in speedos sitting around the pool.

This is also a view from Dad's hotel room. He said it looks like there is a storm, but those are not clouds it's sand in the air. How crazy!

All that sand reminds me of a scene from Star Wars the movie. Dad must feel, at times, that he's on another planet.

Momma-razzi

These poor babies got a taste of Momma-razzi tonight. They had matching outfits and we couldn't resist.

We had dinner at Mom's. I made meatloaf and potatoes which was sort of like a science project...We're already missing Dad's cooking. Justin made a chocolate cake. He was funny too, because the middle of the cake had sunk so he said he just about added extra frosting to the middle to level the top up. It was good though!

We love you Dad. We can tell Mom misses you already, as do we.

What a Day...

Dad left today for Jordan and should be getting there sometime tomorrow. As for us back at home, today isn't a day we really care to relive, but we'll never forget.

After Jared got home from work today, I heard my phone ring but didn't get it in time. It was Justin calling - so I called him back. He asked to speak with Jared. I listened in on their conversation and I could tell Justin was asking Jared if he could give Zoie a blessing. So when Jared got off the phone I asked what was wrong with Zoie. He said that when Justin was going to pick Ashley up from work - he slipped and the car seat fell with Zoie in it. Zoie hit her head on the ground because the car seat landed with her face down. When Jared told me that, my heart ached literally for Zoie, as well as for Justin. Justin told Jared how they had already taken her to the ER and they didn't find anything wrong with her - thank goodness!

Another older guy (who lives in their ward) assisted Jared with the blessing. Zoie really cried hard when they gave her the blessing, most likely because they had to touch her head. After Jared gave her a blessing Justin told us that when Zoie hit the ground she didn't make any noise; which is more terrifying then hearing them cry after something like that. So he picked her up as fast as he could and ran her into the house where he cleaned off her head. Her head has some scrapes and bumps on it still from where she hit the ground. Needless to say tonight has been a sad night for all.

I can only imagine the heartache you would feel if you were in Justin's shoes when Zoie fell. It's hard to explain how much love you feel for these precious little ones, but it's huge! And you never want to see them hurt EVER.

Happy Trails Dad

Today's the day Dad is leaving for Jordan. He'll be back in May. How sad. We don't want him to miss out on anything happening back here at home which is why we wanted to start this blog. We recently had two new additions to our family: Zoie and Kyler. They are growing and changing every day so we wanted to make sure Dad is able to see the changes with us.

We love you dad!