A walk through Jerusalem

This past weekend, the church that Peyton goes to school at, had an Easter Egg Hunt and also a little mini Jerusalem for the kids to experience. They were given bubble gum coins when they walked in to pay to do the activities. Some of the activities included were learning about the spices back in the day when Jesus lived, they had a bakery where they got to make butter, a jewelry store to make a necklace, grocery store where they played matching games, a carpenter's shop where they got to hammer nails into a cross, etc. It was fun and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Here are some cute photos from it and of the kids being cute posing together. They are just getting so big!

A Rodeo in Florida

Peyton's preschool had a rodeo day last week. It was such a great idea. The director of his school is actually from Allen, Texas which is very close to Garland, where I am from. They split the classes up and they each had their own chance to be a part of the rodeo. Peyton's class got to do a little obstacle course where they roped a paper calf, ran and played a guitar around a campfire and had to sing a song, and then ran with the horse in between their legs around some buckets and passed off to the next classmate. It was such a riot! The also had to carry corn kernals in a little measuring cup across the grass and into a bucket on their teachers lap. He was such a great sport and really had a good time! His class made their cowboy hats and bandanas to where around their neck. Here are some memories from that day.

"Is he in there now?"

"Is he in there now?" That is what Peyton had just said to me. You see, every night I read out of this children's bible stories book. We read about one story a night and it comes with a bible story, questions at the end to make sure they got it, and then a verse for them to remember and recite. Tonight's story, "Jesus Loves Little Children". At the end, as we are going over the questions, the question comes. What should children do to know Jesus and have Jesus live in their heart? As I ask my children, it really sparks Peyton's interest and he decides to go deep on me. Ohhhh no, hold on. Am I going to say everything he needs to hear? Will it make sense to him? God help me in this moment to be a witness to my child....at the young, sweet, immature age of 4 1/2. He says to me, "What do I need to do to have Jesus in my heart?" I tell him that he has to ask Jesus to come into his heart and that he only comes from being invited in. As I continue I tell him that Daddy and Mommy have Jesus in our hearts. "Jesus is in yours and Daddy's hearts?" "Jesus is always with you once you ask him to be." "Okay Mommy, I am going to say a prayer by myself to Jesus and you and Elle say a prayer for the people."(He is speaking of the list of people, you know what I am talking about...the same list you go over every night when you are praying.) So here goes(with his sweet little hands together and his eyes closed), "Dear Jesus, please come into my heart". (Opens his eyes) "Mommy, is he in there now?" My goodness, as my eyes are filling with tears, I say to my precious little one, " Yes son, he is. As soon as you ask, he is there and he will always be there for you forever". I go on to tell him, "You know the best part about it?!! When you ask Jesus into your heart, you will go to Heaven when you die. And guess what? It is waaaaay cooler and so much more fun than Legoland. It is the coolest place ever!" He looks at me with this big blue eyes, so wanting to know more. He says, "So if my ear hurts, Jesus will make them better now?" I say to him, "Son, Jesus is the best doctor around! He can fix anything and as long as you pray to him and talk to him he will take care of you." I tell him that because Jesus is in him, he can always call on Jesus anytime he is scared, frightened, or in need of anything. He is there for him all the time! Seriously, it does not get any better than this! I kiss my little one on the head and tell him, "That was a really cool thing you did tonight and I am very proud of you". I know Jesus is looking down on me going, "Job well done". And for that, I am internally satisfied. He may not understand the complex idea of having his Jesus in his heart, but the way he understands it right now is on the right road to victory! To see his smile on his face tonight, and his real interest for the first time, I had a feeling of satisfaction. There is just something so sweet about it. There are no words to describe my feeling at that moment. My prayer for him is that he will continue to grow and to ask questions. God help him to want to know more. Amen.

Fun in Downtown Disney

Yesterday we got to go to Downtown Disney to celebrate Peyton's friend Braden's birthday. This was our gift to him to go to LegoLand, his and Peyton's FAVORITE place to go. They have this race track outside where kids can build their own racecars and race them down this track. Braden and Peyton literally spent about 3 hours playing at this place! They spent so much time on their little cars and took so much pride in their designs. Just look at the concentration on Peyton's face!





Of course the princess store is right next door, which I am sure Elle Millia will someday own. So, her and Mommy got to go over there for some fun!

There is something about the whole Disney atmosphere that is so magical! These kids live for Disney and LegoLand. So anyways, we had planned to be there during the afternoon and then found out that my aunt and cousin from Garland were going to be in Orlando for the evening on their way to their Disney cruise! We got to see them and go to the TRex restaurant that evening. It was a lot of fun. The inside of the restaurant was so neat. The kids got to dig up fossil bones after dinner, which they really liked.





It was so great getting to see my Aunt Donna, Cousin Jodi and her daughters Avery and Emma. It was nice to finally have some younger relatives for my kids to hang around! I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love living in Central Florida due to the fact that family and friends are always in the area and we get to meet up with them during their vacation stay. It's an easy way to meet up with family that you have not seen in ages! Good Bye fellow Texans!!

Wacky Wednesday

This month has had moments every day and I just wanted to share them with you. Peyton had a "Wacky Wednesday" at his school this past week and he really enjoyed making up this outfit. It was for Dr. Seuss's Birthday. The whole school went wacky, including my son. Here are some pictures to prove it...


As you can tell he thought he was going the be the coolest thing since sliced bread! He has this way about him. He just has the funniest personality. He told me that he wanted to have a haircut that looked sharp like a knife! So needless to say, he enjoyed school that day and has since asked for the hairstyle again. He is one day going to be class clown...I can promise you that! Here he is just being silly in the car with one of Elle's princess headbands...oh how I loooove this boy! His smile literally melts my heart every time!

He is my sugar pie honey bunch, my Lego maniac, and the best big brother Elle could ask for...one who is willing to put up with her hitting, scratching, biting sisterly love right now!

Playdates and Parties

On the other end of the spectrum is Little Miss Elle. She has been invited to a birthday party every single Saturday this month. She has been making friends and enjoying playdates and parties. She seems to enjoy going for the cupcakes at the parties as you can see below...

Fingernails and Dolls

She seems to have quite the personality! She is a girl who knows what she wants and is not afraid to say it! We have been working on potty training and we seem to have it down. We are down to very minimal accidents. The paci on the other hand, we are working through it! We have gotten it down only to "night night" time and the fits from wanting it during the day have faded. Thank you LORD! She is talking in sentences and always talks about starting Big Girl school in the fall. She has a couple of best girlfriends and she enjoys hanging out with them.Elle and her friend Carley love to have their nails painted by Mommy or Daddy!

Mommy Elle

Here are a few shots of Elle being a Mommy. This is one of her favorite things to do...take care of all of her babies in her princess attire.

Disney Character Breakfast

This month we also got invited to go to the character breakfast at Disney World's Polynesian Resort. This was their first time to go and they seemed to have a blast despite Peyton's fear of Stitch(see below!) Daddy seemed to enjoy it too!

A letter from Dubai

My husband sent this email to me to send out to our close family and friends to give an update on where our family is at in the process of moving. Since this letter, we have decided to set the date March 1, as our official moving date. This means that the kids and I will pack up and fly over there on that date. It is only 7 1/2 weeks away. We are just looking forward to being a family again!!


"2008 was a journey, roller coaster ride and adventure all rolled into one. And it started with a bang. No, really, I got hit by a car and totaled my nearly new 2006 Civic in January. As luck would have it, I walked away from the accident with no scratches and my eyes wide open. I quickly realized the necessity of a second job, especially with the mountain of debt we were facing. So I started working in construction on the side and off to the races it was. Which brings me to Dubai.

God has such great plans for us but the route he gives us is never direct. We cannot count how many times God has used this accident as a catalyst to start working in our lives. So many people have blessed us with opportunities and benefits that we could never have imagined. Even now as I sit in the Middle East, God has put me in contact with Christians here on a continual basis.

I have no idea the future that awaits us but am absolutely certain that:
1. God is looking out for me.
2. God has a plan for me and my family.
3. My wife, children and family love me.
4. That is all I need.

Unfortunately there is no pleasure without pain. Until I can become established here, it is best for Amber and the kids to stay in Orlando. I seriously miss my family and am going crazy trying to do what it takes to get them here. I will return to the America for Christmas but my joy will be fleeting. I return to the U.A.E. within 1 week. We hope it will only be a few more months before the wife and kids and move here.

This year Christmas will be so much more special. I will cherish every moment of it. I pray God will bless your Christmas the same."

Dubai: Big changes, God willing

So, as most of you have heard, my family will be moving to Dubai within the next 3-6 months. My husband accepted a job there as an office manager for a Site Development company. We had a very rough year last year financially, when the economy got bad, so did Matt's business of doing safety inspections. Well, God has always pushed us in different directions, and about the time things got really bad, Matt had a friend who needed help with his concrete business. Matt began working with him, and since then an opportunity to go overseas has come up and is definately something only God could make happen. We have been praying about this situation since June and it is finally coming together. I just wanted to fill everyone in and let you know as many details as I do, until I get more. Matt left on October 28 to start his work, while the kids and I are staying behind until he gets settled in and is ready to move us over there. He is enjoying it over there so far, although he is very, very busy. Here are some of the pictures he has sent us so far:

Just a recap of Dubai in case you are one of those who has never heard of it before. It is located in the middle east(across the ocean from Iran) but to the east of Saudi Arabia in the UAE(United Arab Emirates). It is one of 7 emirates and the most populous emirate on the Persian Gulf. Arabic and English are both spoken, although the primary language is Arabic. It is widely known for its innovative real estate projects, sports events, monumental buildings, and out of this world parks(i.e. indoor ski arena).

Here is a forward that I got at one point which was very interesting:

How many of us could find Dubai on the map in 5 minutes??

What a difference in 17 years. Just shows what a little oil money can do.

Dubai in 1990

The same street in 2003

Last year

Dubai is said to currently have 15-25% of all the world's cranes.

The Dubai Waterfront. When completed it will become the
largest waterfront development in the world.


All of this was built in the last 5 years, including that island that looks like a palm tree.

The Palm Islands in Dubai. New Dutch dredging technology was used to create these massive man made islands. They are the largest artificial islands in the world and can be seen from space. Three of these Palms will be made with the last one being the largest of them all.

Upon completion, the resort will have 2,000 villas, 40 luxury hotels, shopping centers, movie theaters, and many other facilities. It is expected to support a population of approximately 500,000 people. It is advertised as being visible from the moon.

The World Islands. 300 artificially created islands in the shape of the world.

Each island will have an estimated cost of $25-30 million.

The Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai. The worlds tallest hotel.

Considered the only '7 star' hotel and the most luxurious hotel in the world.

It stands on an artificial island in the sea.

Hydropolis, the world's first underwater hotel.

Entirely built in Germany and then assembled in Dubai,

it is scheduled to be completed by 2009 after many delays.

The Burj Dubai. Construction began in 2005 and is expected to be complete by 2008. At an estimated height of over 800 meters, it will easily be world's tallest building when finished. It will be almost 40% taller than the the current tallest building, the Yaipei 101.


This is what downtown Dubai will look like around 2008-2009. More than 140 stories of the Burj Dubai have already been completed. It is already the worlds tallest man made structure and it is still not scheduled to be completed for at least another year.

The Al Burj. This will be the centerpiece of the Dubai Waterfront.

Once completed it will take over the title of the tallest structure in the world from the Burj Dubai.

Recently it was announced that the final height of this tower will be 1200 meters. That would make it more than 30% taller than the Burj Dubai and three times as tall as the Empire State Building.

This is a city on crack.

The Burj al Alam, or The World Tower.

Upon completion it will rank as the world's highest hotel.

It is expected to be finished by 2009.

At 480 meters it will only be 28 meters shorter than theTaipei 101.

The Trump International Hotel & Tower, which will be the
centerpiece of one of the palm islands, The Palm Jumeirah.

Dubailand. Currently, the largest amusement park collection in the world is Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, which is also the largest single-site employer in theUnited states with 58,000 employees. Dubailand will be twice the size.

Dubailand will be built on 3 billion square feet (107 miles^2) at an estimated $20 billion price tag.

The site will include a purported 45 mega projects and 200 hundred other smaller projects.

DubaiSports City A huge collection of sports arenas located in Dubailand.

Currently, the Walt Disney World Resort is the #1 tourist destination in the world. Once fully completed, Dubailand will easily take over that title since it is expected to attract 200,000 visitors daily.

The Dubai Marina is an entirely man made development that will contain over 200 highrise buildings when finished. It will be home to some of the tallest residential structures in the world. The completed first phase of the project is shown. Most of the other high rise buildings will be finished by 2009-2010.

The Dubai Mall will be the largest shopping mall in the world with over

9 million square feet of shopping and around 1000 stores.It will be completed in 2008.

Ski Dubai, which is already open, is the largest indoor skiing facility in the world.

This is a rendered image of another future indoor skiing facility that is being planned.

Some of the tallest buildings in the world, such as Ocean Heights and The Princess Tower, which will be the largest residential building in the world at over a 100 stories, will line the DubaiMarina.

The UAE Spaceport would be the first spaceport in the world if construction ever gets under way.

I'm not joking...

Some other crazy .. The Dubai Metro system, once completed, will become the largest fully automated rail system in the world. The Dubai World Central InternationalAirport will become the largest airport in size when it is completed. It will also eventually become the busiest airport in the world, based on passenger volume. There are more construction workers in Dubai than there are actual citizens.

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