Paris!

The first week of December Steve and I went to Paris. It was so beautiful and I loved the sidewalk cafes, flower shops, sites and the lights. It was decorated for Christmas. This was a great celebration for our 30th wedding anniversary and my 50th birthday.....until, my wallet was stolen! The hotel was great and helped me cancel the credit card and atm cards. After that we were a bit short on money but when you are vacationing with your "best friend" in Paris how can you go wrong. We loved it! We took many more pictures but here are some to enjoy.

Cathedral



Snowman decoration for Christmas



We took a river boat on the Siene this was one picture



Art is a large part of Paris. The ballet items are for our daughter Ashley.



Degas paintings and ballet statue





Orsay Musuem we liked this musuem a bit more it wasn't so large and had painters names we recognized.




Ferris Wheel and Champs de Elysees at night. Our hotel was on this street if we walked uphill 2 minutes we were at the Arc if we walked downhill for 4 minutes we were at the Ferris Wheel and could see the Eiffel Tower. Perfect location.





Arc de Triomphe




Eiffel Tower





Steve on the second level of the Eiffel Tower



Sunset at Concorde Plaza with Eiffel Tower in background.




Palace at Versailles





Gardens at Palace of Versailles. It was awesome what a party you could have. Just imagine in the spring and summer when the flowers were blooming and fountains going.




The Louvre Musuem This is so large you just can't see it all.

First day of Ballet Class!

This is Maddie ready for her first day of ballet! Ashley teaches ballet at several studios and so Maddie is going to take ballet at one of the studios she teaches at. Aunt Ashley is so excited for Maddie and so are the rest of the family!

Doha Days....Christmas Present Gone Bad!

Well....in my last post I told you about how I got a new satellite dish and subscription for Steve as his Christmas present so he could watch sports especially the Utah Bowl game. Guess what, they lost the contract for FOX Sports so as of today we have no FOX Sports. Steve does not get to watch the game at all! You know this is the time I get frustrated with this Land of Sand!

Doha Days Christmas Present!

I decided on December 22 to surprise Steve and get another, yes another, satellite dish and subscription so we could get "Firstnet" which provides ESPN, FOX and FOX SPORTS. This way he could finally see football, golf and Utah play in the bowl game. I told the man it was a present for "our Christmas" so he agreed to have the installation people come on the 23rd. They arrived on time, 4:30 PM which is amazing. He looked around at things and then asked for a ladder. He knew the satellite dish would go on the roof and they did not bring a ladder! Well, we live in a compound, in a furnished house with workers that do all the maintenance work. So we have no ladder...we don't even change the light bulbs! I called the office and asked for a ladder to get on the roof. She said, you can get one if you come down and get it. At this point, Steve had arrived home from work so I sent him off to get the ladder. A few minutes later Steve comes walking back with no ladder. I look a bit behind him and there is a worker on his bike carrying the extension ladder. He thought it was too heavy for Steve to carry so he put it on his shoulder ( a heavy metal ladder) and rode his bike. So we are ready for the Utah game! GO UTES!

Stamp Creations

These are my latest stamped creations for my card exchange. A little early for Valentines but we try to be a bit ahead of the holiday.

Grandkids Christmas Picture!

I had to share this darling picture of our Grandchildren! They are in their new Christmas outfits. Max, Maddie and Tyson

Update! Soldier Service Project Again!

I have several posts to make over the next few days. To update a bit...we had Thanksgiving dinner at the church with all of our members. Great food and good company. Then on Saturday and Sunday I started baking. I organized the "Solider Service Project" again in Qatar. Many women from church and work baked and baked. We could have had more this time. The timing was not great since it was just after Thanksgiving. But all in all, it was a success. As usual they were thankful beyond thankful! My contact Rick is being deployed home soon and I certainly wish him the best. He has a contact for me so this will go on!












Stay tuned and come back...I have more pictures of Oman trip and our Paris Adventures to come!

We're So Proud!

I got a telephone call and heard a little voice say, hi Grandma! I said, Maddie? She said I went potty! This is our celebration....hooray! She is officially tiolet trained now!

Oman Pictures of the Lehi Trail Tour!

All the pictures below were taken by Scot F. Protor our great tour guide.

Notice the camels crossing right by the camel crossing sign. Right on cue!


This is the tour group we joined up with in Muscat. They treated us so nice! They included us right away. In fact, we had a name given to us "The Pleiadas" which means seven sisters. This group shot was in front of Ali's home the man who has done all this research about the ancient writings on walls in Oman being the same as the writings on walls in Colorado. Therefore, giving more proof that a group of ancient people, (Nephi and his group) traveled from Oman to America. This was probably my most spiritual moment of the trip. Ali is the man in white in the center on the second row. Musselin our Omani guide is in the back right in tan. Warren our other guide that has researched the Lehi Trail is in the blue shirt leaning on the pole and he is from Australia. Scot Protor our other guide from the US is taking the picture.


This is a cave that they think is similar to what Christ was born in. This is what they mean by a stable. Our Omani tour guide Musselin was born in a cave like this.


This is a Bedouin women we saw at the camel farm.

It never goes the way you think it should!

I know you thought we were finished with the Doha Day about banking. Well...guess what we are not. Here is the final part of the story. So, Steve gets the text message we go to the bank the next day. Steve goes to work late so he can go with me. First thing is the account number he text messaged Steve is NOT our account. Surprise! So they have to spend time looking it up. We make our deposit and that goes well. Next, we go to another window to the ATM cards and they not in yet. Of course, this is Doha we should have known! This is always the way things go. So, today I go back to the bank and the ATM cards are finally in! Hooray only one week late. This is the Land of Sand!

Follow up on Doha Day!

I thought you all might be wondering what happened with our new checking account from my last post. Well, this morning Steve received a text message on his cell phone with our account number and when and where to pick up the ATM cards. Just a little bit different, uh!

Here is a Doha Day!

We currently bank with Commerical Bank of Qatar who has been great but they now decided to hold our US checks for 45 days before giving us credit; even though my check clears our US account in 10-12 days. As a result, Steve's company has arranged another bank HSBC and they will credit our account in less than a week. First, I had to get a letter from the company and then arrange an appointment to open the account. After calling the man Aadel, he said, can you come in today? I said, no my husband works out of town a 50 minute drive. So what he said next just blew me away! Can I come to your residence or meet you at a coffee shop? I said, tonight....you would come to our villa? So tonight at 6:00 PM Aadel, a nice young man, showed up at our door had all the paperwork, explained the accounts and ATM card, credit cards etc. He asked which branch we wanted to house our account at and to pick up the cards. As he left, about 35 minutes, he said he would call me tomorrow with our account number and then call again when I could go "collect" the cards and deposit a check. Amazing!

Back from Oman and update on the grandkids!

Okay, I am back from my Oman trip which was a fantastic adventure! I have to compile my stories and download pictures before I can post. I will do the Oman trip with the Lehi trails journey in a few days. Upon my return my kids posted these darling pictures of our grandkids and so for now I must post these.


Tyson and Mom at pumpkin patch


Max in the canyon


Maddie in the canyon

Here's a funny Doha Day!

Today we had a baby shower for three ladies. We each live in different compounds. As you enter the compound there are guards and you must provide information about what you are doing, who you are visiting and then your name and ID card. I told the guard villa 16 on 3rd avenue for a "baby shower". The car behind me was also going to the shower so they apparently did the same thing. The guard then responded....enjoy the "baby washing"! We had a good laugh at that one! We are not sure what he really thinks we were up to.

AWA Bazaar is coming!

Wow the pressure is on! I have one month, Nov. 8th before the AWA (American Womens Association) Bazaar. I have a booth along with a friend Wendy. We talked today about our projects and I am excited but have to really get stamping and crafting. Here is a sneek peak of the garland, it's one of my favorites.

Ramadan is over EID started!

Tonight at 7:00 PM the moon was right so it was declared EID starting tomorrow morning! This means Ramadan is over and three days of vacation start. Steve received a text message on his cell telling him not to come to work in the morning. Crazy place this is! He has already made plans to golf Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. He leaves on Friday morning for a business trip to Houston. I am a bit sad, I guess its my turn but I don't have to like it!

A Glimpse of Life in Doha through Photos!

Sunset in Doha


Twin mosque towers at sunset


Jeep on two wheels, one day they may not live to tell.

Our 30th Wedding Anniversary!

This is my tribute to my husband Steve. He is the absolute best man on earth. He had a beautiful bouquet of 30 roses delivered to me this morning! I cried. He is a very good father, a great grandpa and a wonderful husband. He puts up with alot of "crap" from me. He works very hard at everything he does. I can still remember the day we got married in the LDS Salt Lake City Temple like it was yesterday. I am very privileged to be his companion.


Steve at the Sand Dunes in Qatar.


On the St. Andrews bridge in Scotland...golfing of course.


Playing golf again in Scotland, his favorite hobby!

Look what is new in Doha!

I never thought I would see the day that "Curves" opened in Doha! I joined last week. It takes me 15-20 minutes to drive there each way but is worth it!

Photo gallery!

I have so many pictures to post so be patient. I ended up having to buy a new camera in the middle of my vacation and the new camera has a different card reader so I don't know how to download the other pictures yet. For now this will be the Stampin' Convention and the grandkids. Enjoy!


Isn't this the cutest office you have ever seen?! This was done with stamping the walls, decor elements for desk, chair and frame and look at the file folders on the wall! They are covered in decorative paper.



The first two pictures are done with decor elements on the picture frames and the last picture is the new "big shot" die cut machine! What a b-day party!


Maddie Saying "Cheese"!(She had a cookie in her mouth...oh well)

Mr Mischief Max!

Tyson watching the Olympics!

I'm Back and its Ramadan!

Well I am back and its HOT! Very Hot and Humid! Ramadan started yesterday and that is my least favorite thing here. It is were the Muslims fast from sun up to sun down for 30 days. They eat in the evening and all night,I mean all night long. For us, it is really hard. They close all the restaurants,fast food places and malls during the day. We are not allowed to drink, eat or chew gum in front of them or even in the car. If you want to eat during the day it has to be in your home. Other places like banks etc. are only open for a few hours in the morning. This is the time I quilt, stamp, read and hopefully get together with other ladies. I have pictures to post but will have to do that later. I am still suffering from jet lag!