One thing about living overseas...are the constant surprises. Imagine our surprise when Ryan and I went on a hunt for Ryan's costume for a party last nite. He decided to be a Mexican bandito..now this is an easy task when you live in TEXAS, but we had our doubts about finding the accessories here. :) I brought a great poncho from El Paso..so we had that...but we were doubtful about finding a sombrero, etc. We headed to this store called Posters..unfamiliar to us but we were told it had some costumes. What a surprise when we walked in the door...it was full of costumes and party goods!! Almost felt like Party City. Not only did we find the sombrero but also the bullet belt! Actually turned out to be a good costume. Also pretty surprising to see two folks dressed like Santa Claus last nite walking down the street.....hmmm...:) And then there was the surprise of seeing a guy DRIVING down the Corniche(waterfront road) with a small brazier grill thing filled with lit, hot coals...in his lap! Yep. That was a surprise, too. :)
We also had a week full of fun and surprises with the Belsons..who left on Thurs. So wonderful to have them here. They brought some fun things from home...more surprises..and we spent the time talking and seeing the sights. Sheryl got to meet my English Club ladies and both Sheryl and Maynard got to attend our Sunday nite family class as well as meet many friends from our Friday nite small group. They spent time in the park with the moms and met Johnni(my American friend married to an Emirati) one afternoon at the beach. Maynard spent Wednesday afternoon walking the job site with Mike and visited with some of the guys there. All in all, it was great! Hard to say good-bye, tears and hugs...but so blessed to have had time with them.
And by the way, thanks to many of you for sending surprises with them. We really appreciate it. A lot.
Here's to surprises...especially the good ones!
Love, Mattie 
Here we are at Ski Dubai. 