Rolling with Ramadan

She exited the plane with the words..."and remember no eating, drinking or smoking in public from sunrise to sunset, " ringing in her ears.  Marganne came to visit right in the middle of Ramadan.  In two short days she experienced Doha full on.

My compound is decorated for Ramadan. 

 Traffic, sandstorm the whole time, heat, and no restaurants open in the day.  Summer can be intense over here, but summer with Ramadan is a whole different thing. It was so fun to have her here. Even though she was here during the harder time she got to see why we like it here, too.

A trip to Doha is not complete without a visit to a mall, especially one all decked out.   

She met a few of our terrific friends( who haven't left for the summer). She ate at some fun restaurants (after sunset, of course).

Jet lag kicked in after a great dinner at our favorite Persian restaurant with some good friends. 

 And for 48 hours lived a bit of life with me.  (Meanwhile, Mike was in Dallas driving her car and hanging out with our terrific Texas friends. He gets back on Wednesday. In fact, he returns to Doha on the same plane that Marganne is taking to Dallas. Makes my head spin.) Since I'm not going to Texas until August, it was fun to have a taste of home even though it was way too short!

See you in August! So glad you dropped by! :) 

Wrapping it Up

Max, Jaeden, Robert and Tejas. Last discipleship group before summer break. 

Hanging out at the Museum of Islamic Art

The sun was just coming up as we piled into the car on Monday to head to the airport.  I'd been up since 3 am. dreading the day.  Robert climbed up front with Mike so he could plug  his music from his phone and Sallie and I sat in the back.  She leaned her head down against my arm and I just sat there stroking her hair.  These two weeks with her flew by and I was barely holding it together.  And this time Robert was heading out with her.  Mike and I avoided talking about the looming departures all weekend before they left.

We did things differently this summer. Sending Robert ahead with Sallie, me staying here with Mike for the summer, this is a first.  Once I get used to the cave like quiet and no more taking to or picking up from school crazy drives...I'm sure it will be nice.  Not really. But I'm still glad to be here with Mike.  Summers apart get awfully long and this one has started out particularly challenging.   There have been sweeping lay offs across Doha.  Many of our friends have found themselves jobless and are packing up to leave. Mike is also needing a new project to go to as his is wrapping up and he is to be off it by the end of June.  We are praying for a position here but so far it's pretty quiet.  

Yes, we will miss her. She makes us laugh. 

After we hugged the kids and sent them thru customs we had coffee and waited for some friends who were on their way with their college kids as well. Daniel, one of Robert's closest friends, just graduated and Mike and I wanted to give him one last hug as well. Lori was barely holding it together but we all got thru it without embarrassing the kids too much.  

And we will miss Robert and his buddies making noise upstairs. Laughing, and hanging out. It is just way tooooo quiet. 

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

June.  End of school. Birthday fun.

Birthday Lunch

Goodbyes. Less traffic. Ramadan. Heat. Squeezing fun into every last minute.  Squeezing Sallie when she got off the plane.

Slower pace ahead. Maybe too slow.... That's what I'm thinking about as I think of June.

Friends gathering to say goodbye to the Gehmans

This year I will stay here with Mike until August then head to Dallas to be with Robert and Sallie. Robert will return to Doha on August 23rd but I will be there until October.  Mike joins us mid September when we will gomto New Orleams to attend my nephews wedding. It's a crazy way to do things but well, it is what it is. Sallie and Robert leave Monday and Mike and I are dreading it.

Belated birthday dinner. Wanted to wait until Sallie got here! Steak dinner at a great Argentine Restaurant. Bored the  kids with childhood stories. :) 

  In the meantime we have had lots of goodbyes this month and lots of socializing before great friends leave..either for good or for the summer.

Daniel, second from left, graduated this year. Joey far right, moving back to Houston. Friends for life.

 Although this is usual for the summer season in the Gulf region,,it's also been more intense this year.  Lots of long time friends are leaving due to the economy here in the region. It's been a dark time for many reasons.  Several friends are still in the waiting mode to hear if they are being laid off.  Lots of prayer.

Grace Youth Group 2015. New faces will come. Others will be gone. Everchanging. Always special. 

Time in Thailand

Last week Mike and I left Doha for Thailand.  I was excited as this was my first time in Thailand.  On top of that we were going to see dear friends who live in Chiang Rai then meet up with more dear friends in Phuket.  Today our trip is fast winding down.  It's been great.  We needed some time out of the desert and boy! This is not desert. Most of the time I feel like we are part of the Jurassic Park movie set. It's green everywhere! Bull frogs, lizards, flowers and more flowers. It's beautiful. As it is the beginning of rainy season we have had lots of that as well.  But the Hones are from Phoenix and all of us are enjoying the rain. :).

I'm so glad we visited Chiang Rai.  Harry and Pattie have been in Thailand for 9 years and to finally see what they have built here. It was great.  They have a goat farm that is serving the community there and they are working hard to grow this business and reach out to more and more people.  The potential,is exciting to see. And although I was very hesitant to drink the milk, I will say it was excellent. I can be a milk snob but this was out of the park. I think ice cream should come soon.  We had 3 and a half days with the Brittans and everyday was special. Really glad we made it out there and hope to return soon.

Our time in Phuket with David and Mary has been great, too.  We were neighbors in Dallas before moving to the Middle East and it is like no time has passed.  Lots of laughter, playing cards, and heart to heart talks have made this vacation fantastic.  All of this in a beautiful place. We are grateful to have this chance and to be with dear friends.  And it's a great way to celebrate 32 years of marriage!

Our time in Phuket with David and Mary Hone was relaxing and a wonderful place to spend our anniversary. Although Mike questioned our sanity when we entered the Tiger's den....