Togetherness

I returned to Doha first. Sallie came in later that evening. Mike arrived the next day.  Ryan two days later. At one point I was sure I would forget who was supposed to be where and when they were supposed to be there. The day after Sallie arrived in Doha, she, Robert and his buddy Adrian flew to Abu Dhabi.  Both kids wanted to see their friends there and that was part of their Christmas present. Then Russell flew back here with them on December 24th and finally! after 12 months we were all 6 of us together again! For me that was the best part of Christmas. I know that with Ryan now working in Austin at the Mariott(starting Jan. 5) and Russell working hard in Abu Dhabi and Sallie in Dallas in College, well, it will be harder and harder to have the 6 of us together.  So it was a quiet Christmas but just right. Now Ryan is in Abu Dhabi seeing his friends for a few days and hanging out some more with Russell. He will head back here on the 1st then off to start his new job. Very excited for him.

As 2013 winds down, I think back through the months that flew by.  The sadness of my brother's sudden death combined with the joy and peace of knowing he knew Jesus. Celebrating 30 years of marriage with my best friend. Sallie's graduation from high school. The many friends who came to see us. The many friends we were able to visit. Our niece's wedding in Kansas. Sallie getting her driver's license and starting college in Dallas. Leaving her there with good friends to help her get reacquainted with American life. Robert starting traditional school here in Doha. Russell moving to Abu Dhabi. Thanksgiving with good friends here in Doha. Then like a bookend to my year, another sad but wonderful celebration  of Mom Hildebrands homegoing... What a precious time that was to be with family and remember her. (So glad we had the summer wedding with almost all of us there.)

So here I am. In that pause between Christmas and New Years. It was a great year. Not an easy one, no, but still a very good year. I just started reading One Thousand Gifts, by Ann Voskamp. That's my hope for 2014..to see and name the wonderful gifts in my life.

And I'm starting with family.  and friends. and...

Thanksgiving at the Mitchell's with many of our Doha friends

Before they headed to Abu Dhabi for New Year's

Christmas Dinner

Four Wheeling fun in the Desert. Apparently Ryan also tried flying but we didn't get a picture.

My kids complain that I take too many pictuers. tough.

Goodbye, Mom

I'm waiting to hear today if Mike, stranded in ice-locked Dallas will make it out of their today. We had his flight to Wichita all booked but didn't plan on the ice storm of all ice storms.  He is on his way to Kansas.

Here we are minus Russell. We were all in Kansas to celebrate Mom's 80th birthday. 

 We got the news early last Thursday morning that Mom Hildebrand passed away.  Another one of those gut wrenching, it is hard to be so far away, phone calls. Mike went into work late and I worked on his flights out of here. His coworkers were so kind. A parade of folks passing thru the office to offer their condolences.
As a daughter in law, and member of this terrific family for 30 plus years, here are some of my thoughts on this strong, intelligent, kind woman. From my first visit in 1981 she made me feel welcome and included. I think one time I asked her about what she thought of me those first visits, ha ha.. the city girl who could not sew, cook, play piano, garden, etc. etc... But she never made me feel that I was  anything LESS... ( I may have felt those beginning years, but not from her! :) ) My favorite memories are the ones of my summers at her place. I didn't see much of my grandparents growing up so I wanted my boys to have time with their cousins and grandmother. I would take the kids up to Stafford and we would just stay for two or three weeks. We had so much fun. Mike would come join us and I loved those times.  The boys would play in the sprinkler or wash the toy trucks their dad had played with as a boy, and mom and I spent many hours on the front porch. Or maybe all of us would head to Mary and Norman's and get rides in the tractors. Including me. Mom and I had lots of long talks during those summer evenings. Or those glorious summer mornings. There were pizza nights, dinners with all the cousins, vacation bible school, and even a trip to Dodge City to see Mom's childhood home.
 Mom H welcomed me and so many others into her home.  The Hildebrand Hotel just off Hwy 50 was open for so many friends traveling East to West and West to East.  But more than that, all of us were welcomed into her heart.
I will fly to Kansas on Thursday. Then the family will all come together on Saturday and celebrate a woman who walked with the Lord and is now rejoicing in heaven with Him. And as great as that is, we are still sad and will miss her very, very much.
Iolene Hildebrand. We love you.

On the Bright Side

Lunch at The Burgerry. We are enjoying it but the sun is bright as seen by poor Robert's squint. :)

With the hassles of  getting resident permits/visas in this part of the world come certain benefits as well.  Like having Russell come to see us last weekend as he doesn't have his visa yet.  We picked him up Thursday night at the airport and just had a fun couple of days hanging out. Although he has said that Doha is not his favorite place we did manage to give him a more positive opinion by introducing him to two new restaurants that we found. :)Mr. Taco is new and right by our house.  Great Mexican food with homemade tortillas and salsa. Another new favorite? The Burgerry. Great Burgers and Shakes with outside eating. The servers are all from Eastern Europe but they make great burgers! Russell will be back for Thanksgiving. First one we have had with him in 6 years.  Sallie and Ryan celebrating together with Diana and Adrian in El Paso.  All of us looking forward to family time together. On both sides of the world.
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone.

Isn't this a great tree? 

Aspire Tower. Doha landmark. Without it I would get lost way more often than I already do. 

@ HolidaysareHere!

Everyone is taking deep breaths over here. The heat is finally breaking. It isn't that knock- you- over blast these days when you walk outside.  And with that slightly fresher air come the Fall holidays. Robert went to a youth group Halloween party as Charlie Brown.  Possibly the first Halloween costume I have ever put together. Still am not a halloween fan, by the way, but Robert is our 4th and, yes, he wore a costume.Just not a whole lot of extra fun over here.
Of course, we may be pushing the cooler temperatures just a bit. Mike was so anxious to try out our new fire pit on our little back patio that he got wood and made a fire in it last night.  I laughed when I saw the beads of sweat on his forehead as he chopped the wood( a wooden pallet taken from the fruit market by our house).  "Are we maybe rushing this fire thing just a bit? " Still, we enjoyed the fire with our friends... And will enjoy it more as the season progresses. :)
Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. We will gather with several friends to celebrate and thank God for His provision here and for the many blessings we have in our lives..here and there. Today I will go to the AWA (American Women's Association) Christmas Bazaar. Always fun to browse around and find things from all over the world.
Happy Fall, Everyone!

Fun in Oman

To celebrate Eid we flew to Oman to spend time with Jeff and Mary and Russell. It was such a fun week.  Russell had never been to Oman so it was fun for him to see another Gulf country. Oman is especially beautiful with its mountains, beaches and history. 

The Bahla fort was built during the medieval islamic period sometime between the 12th and 15th centuries. It is surrounded by a ruins of a village from the same era. Russell hoped to see a Jinn. No luck. 

It is so fun having Russell back in this part of the world!!   

Meals on Wheels

It's Eid al Adha this week. The time of year when Muslims all over the world celebrate Abraham's sacrifice and obedience before God.  As part of the celebration there are family meals which include meat from a sheep.. just slaughtered.  So all over town one can see animals on their way to the slaughterhouses. I snapped this poor fellow on the way home from dropping Robert at school yesterday.

Mike and Robert have the whole week off!  Tomorrow we are going to see the Kenney's in Oman. We can't wait. I heard on the news that One million people will be going thru the Doha airport in the next 10 days. Needless to say, we are going to get there at least 3 hours early tomorrow. :) On Thursday people abandoned their cars and ended up walking to the airport. Yep. It is a crazy time in the Gulf region.    

Last and First

We had another first in September. In fact we had a couple of other firsts besides Robert's first day of a bricks and mortar school experience....

And we had a Last as well.  Grace Fellowship, our church here in Doha, held its last worship service in the villa where it all started like 9 years ago. Although the Hildebrands have only been attending for a little over a year, we still felt the emotion of change and goodbyes.  Many families here helped start this church and it was difficult to say good bye to a place that held so many great memories for them. We are thankful to have had these months here getting to know the way it was and being part of the way it is going to be.

Grace Fellowship Doha, Qatar

Thanking God for many great years here, and His provision.



   

And on Friday Sept. 27, we celebrated our first service in the new building. This buildiing is located in an area called the Religious Complex outside of Doha. There are several other churches out there, including the Catholic church, the Orthodox church,  and I don't even know who else. Our building is shared by many other denominations. If Friday was any indication it's going to be a busy place all week long.

Welcome to the new building!

Relaxing with Lori and Ibrahim

To celebrate Mike and Robert and I joined some dear friends for our first visit to the Sealine Beach Resort here in Doha.

Daniel buries Robert

 

Where Robert received his first jelly fish sting!  Hope it's not the last time Robert gets in the water here...but I wouldn't blame him. :)  

Off to School!

We are well into Robert's first week of 10th grade at ACS Doha. A homeschooler no more. He is up at 5:45 and we are on the road by 6:25. His life has changed!  There are 16 kids in his section of 10th grade and there are 3 sections. His teachers are from Russia, England, Canada and the Middle East.

First Day!

School has meant several changes for me too.  One of them being I am on the Doha roads a lot more than I used to be. Although I was pretty confident and comfortable driving in Abu Dhabi, I am not comfortable driving here in Doha. I may have mentioned in other posts that Doha is  about 15-20 years behind the Emirates in development and logic. (driving being one of these issues) :)  Everyday I get in the car and pray for protection on the road through the 5 roundabouts and several lights. So far so good.  Just dropped Robert off for day 3. 

On the way home this morning, I glanced in my rearview mirror(over here one drives with eyes in the rear view mirror as much as looking out the front windshield so you aren't surprised by someone blowing past you to cut you off) and I noticed a laborer transport bus pull up behind me at the light. The driver's assistant or coworker was pulling his seat belt out.  "Wow." I thought to myself. 'He is buckling up. Unusual!" Oops. Nope. Spoke too soon. Using the belt as a head rest to take a nap. silly me. 

Safe travels, everyone!  

On the Hunt

 Mike celebrated his birthday in August. It was just Robert, Mike and me. Yep. We are still missing Sallie around here. 

We did finally find a place we have been hunting for since we moved to Doha. We were told it is the place to find unique items that aren't the common items found in most of the stores. This was our 3rd attempt to track this place down.  All we knew..the name: The Green Door. We passed this green gate several times before I finally poked my head in, wondering if I was about to walk in on some family having tea.  Unique it is. The owner came out after we browesed the maze of rooms and we all had tea while we discussed the sad happenings in this part of the world. 

No. We didn't buy anything. Not this time. But we know where it is now. Right behind the green door. .   

Six Years and Counting

It hit me yesterday when I noticed the date, that we have been in Doha for one year.  Six years in the Middle East. So today I pulled out my hard drive with lots of old pictures on it and started going down memory lane. (Not really a good thing to do on the same day that my daughter is heading off to her first college classes.)

 In honor of our 6 years in this region I decided to post some of these pictures.

      Departure Day. August 7, 2007.

Our first week in Abu Dhabi.  

In the first months camels were a novelty. Now we have them for neighbors. 

Our first Christmas in the UAE. 

   

Our first Christmas in Qatar.

Summer's End

After a summer hiatus, it is time to blog again.  My last blog was May 31st. Since that time the Hildebrands have traveled several thousand miles, mostly by air but also by car, seen lots of family, even more friends, packed and unpacked 6 or 7 times, and said hellos and goodbyes over and over again. Pretty much a typical summer for anyone we know living over here.  

This weekend about 60,000 people are expected to be coming back to Qatar. Last weekend there were about 45,000.  I am pretty glad we came early as the lines at the airport immigration desks will be miserable. Oh and the parking has pretty much disappeared. Not fun, even on a normal weekend.  Apparently there are some changes being made.  No one knows when they will be done. Kind of like the new airport...Supposed to be done by December, just not sure which year. :)  

My goal this summer was to make sure Sallie was ready to start her community college classes in Dallas, get a license, and prepared for life back in America. She is living with some dear friends of ours who visited us in Abu Dhabi several years ago, and have been great friends over the years.   Although  we didn't have time to spare...We did finish what we needed to do.  Sallie is a legal driver(got her license the day Robert and I flew out), she is moved into her new  home, enrolled in college and has her own bank account. Victory!

We saw our Kansas family and celebrated our niece's wedding. I drove to Houston to see where Russell has been living the last year and see his friends. Met my sister in Lubbock for a visit with Ryan, where we got to see where he works and she got to see his house.  Mike and I even got a few days in the Colorado mountains with our good friends, Tom and Bonnie. (Tom is our hero as he spent the summer teaching Sallie to drive...Everyone needs a Tom. )

As always, the blessing of catching up with so many friends and family was the highlight for me. Every time we reconnect with our loved ones we are reminded of how blessed we are with amazing people in our lives. Thanks to everyone we saw, everyone we stayed with, and everyone we hugged and laughed with...WE had a great summer!

  

  

Senior Scenes

Prom 2013

Noor and Sallie being themselves

It is the end of the year. Regardless of the fact that I have done this twice before, it is still difficult.   This week I have thought about how fast time has flown. Partly it is because several friends have had grandchildren born recently.  Coupling that with Sallie graduating ..well, it has made me pensive. I remembered back to saying goodbye to Russell the day we left for Abu Dhabi in 2007. the picture of him standing at the airport, waving as we went thru security.  And the group that was standing beside him..all yelling..We love you Hildebrands. And they loved on Russell as he continued in college while his folks lived halfway around the world.  Then I thought about Ryan and his graduation. How lonely the apt. felt after he left. How empty.  For all of us. I remember how he said to me.".Mom, I'm not dead. You'll see me at Christmas." :) Something I have seen these new moms share on facebook is the phrase,"..Now my heart lives outside my body." Next to the picture of their newborn. You know, that is true. And when your heart is halfway around the world, it can hurt a lot. I keep hoping it will get easier but it hasn't so far. So, here are some pictures of our baby girl. Just a few shots of her senior year. We couldn't be more proud of her. Moving here as a senior. Making new friends. Working hard. She even won a drama award at school. Pretty cool for only being here a short time.

Spring Break Nepal

 

Senior Night at Youth Group

Youth Group again..covered in eggs, shaving cream and flour. 

Sallie's Drama Class

Seniors waiting to be prayed for in church. Last Friday for many of them.  

 Graduation is June 7th.  I did not cry today at church when we all prayed for the kids but I am not promising that on Graduation Day!

A View to the Future

In honor of our upcoming 30th anniversary Mike and I traveled to Jordan for a few days this month. We joined our good friends, Pattie and Barry, in Petra and at the Dead Sea. It was a quick getaway and we didn't get to see everything in Jordan, but we did have a wonderful time!  For several years Mike has been wanting to go and this worked out to be just right. Sallie and Robert managed on their own in Doha for 5 days and we relaxed and uncovered a bit of Jordan. :)

The views( very different from dry, desert Doha), the weathe(much cooler than dry, desert Doha), our good friends, and seeing parts of the New and Old Testament history come to life were all part of what made this visit special.  Mike and I are so thankful for our life together and we could not think of a better way to celebrate than with a trip like this.

And did I mention the views? Just couldn't get enough of them. Here's to the next 30 years!

View of the Promised Land from Mount Nebo

View from our hotel balcony at the Dead Sea

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

Sallie watches the rain.

It was fun to celebrate Robert's 15th birthday last weekend.  Robert, our Cinco de Mayo boy,  invited 5 buddies to go see Ironman 3 and then spend the night.  Highlights of the celebration included..video games.. no surprise there... pizza...again no surprise  and ...Playing basketball in the rain!  Big surprise there.  

Mike and I are having trouble believing he is 15, but we are so glad for his new friends and our continued adjustment to living here in Doha. Friends make all the difference. :)  

Mike and I wanted to go out for Mexican dinner as many places hosted special Cinco de Mayo evenings, but Robert said he wanted Stroganoff and yellow cake with chocolate ice cream for his family birthday dinner. So that is what we did. 

Feliz Cumpleanos, Roberto!