The Camel Riders - ركاب الجمال

Terrible Claws

2011-10-12T22:00:00.001+02:00

stinkin' cute! she saw a movie called "the gruffalo" and she speaks of its terrible claws!

The Monster at the End of this iPad

2011-09-28T19:35:00.002+02:00

We loved reading the Sesame Street book "The Monster at the End of this Book" to the kids. I found that this book has an interactive version of the book in an app for the iPad. Kenzy calls it "The Monster at the End of this iPad." They're so stinking cute!

Sweet Kiddos

2011-04-25T08:22:00.000+02:00

Kenzy had this cute dress that she never got to wear, so last month I decided to get some pictures of her in it before I put it in the give away box. I always get super frustrated taking pictures of the kids, but I usually manage to get a few that I like. Darling!

Check out those freckles!

Jo jumped in for a couple of photos as well. To get a clear pic of him is a miracle in itself as he never sits still! His goofy camera smile cracks me up!

Happy Easter 2011!

2011-04-24T15:44:00.003+02:00

We had 2 Easter brunches and egg hunts this year. The kids had a lot of fun and got lots of candy!

So, the dress Grandma Claudia brought for Kenzy made a great Easter dress, and I made her a hair bow to match.

Kenzy's so big she go to wear a 4T dress to our first celebration!

I had some outfits put away for the boys, and they were so handsome. I can't believe how big my babies are.

Check out that killer smile!

baby bump cake

2011-03-24T19:31:00.000+02:00

I gave this shower back in January, but I was so happy with the cake I wanted to show it to those of you who aren't on Facebook. Enjoy!

Princess Kenzy

2011-03-24T19:22:00.001+02:00

This is our little princess in the dress Grandma gave her for Christmas. She is such a girl!

I love you too much!

2011-01-19T23:19:00.002+02:00

Kenzy has been so incredibly cute lately. She's all about telling us that she loves us sooo much! We tell her we love her just to hear her say it back... so stinking cute. It's actually quite ridiculous. We love our boys so much and we always had wished we got a little more cuddle time with them. We're getting our cuddle time with Kenzy. She always comes up and says, "I wanna swuggle." Then the boys tell us they want to snuggle too cuz they're jealous.

Home Improvement Extravaganza

2011-01-19T20:33:00.008+02:00

The "guest bathroom" was long ago stripped of it's bathroom fixtures (toilet and bidet) and turned into a laundry room. The problem was there was always stuff all over the floor and it was hard to maneuver in. This was my first project. I just got a fire inside to get this going and I thought about it, drew out what I wanted, took it to the carpenter and I installed it the same day. Now there is plenty of room inside with all the storage up top.

There are two shelves up top. One directly above the door with all the cleaning products, extra TP, etc. and the food stuffs on the other side.

We can walk around and even keep the water bottles on the floor in here now. Hey... there's a sink in here? Cool!

So organized :)

Finally put a range hood up too! I'm amazing!

Yvonne's new scrapbooking station... We have this little nook behind our bedroom door. We've always already had her stuff back there but it was all on top of the desk

with no room or light for her to work on her craft. Now it's all nice and tidy and organiz

ed. I installed the light on the bottom of the shelf above the desk and screwed some jar caps into the wood and then she can put stuff in them and just store them there by screwing the jars into the stationary caps.

Kenzy's Sweet Giggle

2010-11-13T18:20:00.002+02:00

Kenzy was really cute tonight playing pee-a-boo with her Daddy under the photo studio. Her giggle cracks us up. Enjoy!

Landon is 6!

2010-09-08T20:52:00.001+02:00

I can't believe my baby is 6! He's so big now.

Landon had a pirate party, and he has been so excited about it. Nana sent all this great pirate party stuff, costumes, and giant pirate coloring books for the boys. Mommy made a pirate ship cake with Pirate Larry at the wheel, and we had the makings of a great party. Then, today (his actual birthday) Daddy made him French Toast for breakfast, he got to watch as many movies as he wanted, we went to the pool at his request, he got his presents from us, and we had a steak dinner (which they all loved minus the green beans :))

Landon lost his first big tooth!

2010-08-09T20:36:00.003+03:00

Landon lost his first tooth tonight... it was so loose and he refused to rip it out like he did his two bottom teeth so I tied it to the front door and had him close it! Great job Landon!

So Landon Thinks He Can Dance!

2010-06-23T19:13:00.002+03:00

We like to watch So You Think You Can Dance. The other day Yvonne was at a doctor's appointment and I had all 3 kids in the car with me. To fight the bordom I put on some old school Michael Jackson and told Landon to boogie down. Check out his moves...

The upside-down wheels on the bus

2010-05-24T20:27:00.003+03:00

I went in to kiss my boys goodnight and they were singing, "the wheels on the bus" when I came in. I looked up to Landon's top bunk and there he was... upside-down but still doing the hand motions as best he could. Hilarious.

Princess Peek-a-Boo

2010-04-18T08:51:00.002+02:00

Here is a really cute clip of Kenzy playing peek-a-boo in her princess outfit. Enjoy!

Landon's Job Shadow Day

2010-03-28T18:38:00.017+02:00

outside the vet clinic

riding on the truck to go check out a new-born camel... only 18 hours old.

mama camel

mama and her baby

drinking fresh camel milk... not half bad. pasteurization smasteurization.

Landon didn't enjoy it quite as much.

baby camels are up and walking within 3 hours! on those lanky legs.

checking out an x-ray of a cat

red blood cells under the microscope

talking about drugs for camels and goats.

just plain cute.

listening to a kid's heartbeat (baby goat)

planting a geocache on the way home.

Finally On the Move!

2010-02-15T20:31:00.002+02:00

Well, it certainly took her long enough, but Kenzy has finally decided that walking is better than crawling. It it so much fun to see her toddle around everywhere. Enjoy!

Peek-a-boo!

2010-02-15T20:09:00.002+02:00

So, today Kenzy was playing peek-a-boo with her shirt and it was just too cute. Here it is...

Kenzy's Christmas

2010-01-23T15:47:00.001+02:00

Here are some cute photos of our girlie this Christmas.

Christmas

2010-01-23T15:26:00.003+02:00

Here are some pics of the kids this Christmas!

Believe it or not this is the best of the family pics we got.

Kenzy's First Birthday

2010-01-23T08:26:00.000+02:00

OK, so I'm 2 months behind, but here they are finally...

Snowball Fight!

2009-12-25T10:50:00.001+02:00

Merry Christmas Everybody! We love you all!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Here's one for my brother ;) Enjoy that bro-fro!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

I love this girl...

2009-12-09T12:03:00.003+02:00

I was sitting at my desk and she just came on over to say hi. I love her so much!

another installment of kids...

2009-12-08T16:10:00.003+02:00

Why am I wearing this mom?

so stinkin' cute.

Checkin' out the flowers :)

Lemme outta here!

the teapot song...

2009-12-06T20:07:00.002+02:00

Landon's been all about the "I'm a little teapot" song. His Australian teacher at school taught the class and Landon loves it.

Here's a cute video of him...

Talkin' it up...

2009-12-05T11:35:00.003+02:00

Kenzy has really been talking it up lately. Here is a cute video of her "talking."

Fun with the home studio...

2009-11-13T22:08:00.005+02:00

Before leaving America we bought a home studio. It has a backdrop holder, light boxes and a remote transmitter. Here are some pics from our first time using it.

This picture shows the boys' personalities so well! Landon is our calm boy and Josiah is a rascal. He looks like he is scheming right now... rubbing his hands together like Mr. Skinner in the Simpsons "Exxxxcelllent!"

I just love this expression. I don't know why it's so funny to me but I just crack up everytime I look at it.

I told Landon to do a funny face and this is what he came up with.

For anyone who watches the great show, "Community" it reminds me of Senior Chang calling himself the Spanish genius "El Tigre Chino"

Landon's knowledge will bite your face off! Ya bit!

Landon is soooo good with Kenzy and she loves him so much.

Cute kiddos!

the plauge is over...

2009-11-13T22:05:00.001+02:00

We recently had a plague of flies. I'm pretty sure that they were the descendants of the the plague of flies in Exodus.

"There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies."

I bought some fly paper when I saw 15 swarming around my daughter's face when she was trying to enjoy a bottle. The final fly death toll was nearly 175!

Here are a few pics of the flies:

Misc. Cute Pics

2009-11-13T21:25:00.005+02:00

Check out these curls. Too cute!

The hair is geting longer!

Landon was sick the other night and he was throwing up in the sink. Afterwards he laid down and fell asleep underneath it.

On halloween Landon went to school as spiderman.

Josiah wanted to dress up too.

Landon also has these batman pajamas that have a cape. Josiah is very jealous of them so we gave him a cape... a dish towel hooked on his back with clothespins.

Josiah's 3rd Birthday!

2009-11-13T20:36:00.007+02:00

Yvonne made this awesome birthday cake for Josiah. I'll upload a video of us singing soon. It is so great. She put a firework candle in the center of the volcano and when we lit it up it was way cool!

Josiah's shirt says, "Warning: I am three"

One of his presents was this ball with a spinning motor in it. I think it's usually a fun toy for pets but Josiah is pretty wild so it works well for him. ;)

Plastic snake = rockin' present

The grandparents chipped in for this "Sand and Sea" table. It has a sandbox on one side and a fun water channel on the other. Ther ei s apecial doohickey that makes the water move around and push boats. There is also a cool water tower.

But as always... nothing beats a box to play with. Look for the feet.

New Tattoo Idea

2009-10-28T10:00:00.000+02:00

Here is the new tattoo idea. I'd like something in between these two. I want to see that there are stone pieces and the grout lines of the top one but perhaps a little more of the shape of the bottom one. The idea is a mosaic of the tree of life.

Tickling Kenzy

2009-10-25T09:42:00.002+02:00

Happy Belated Birthday Landon!

2009-10-19T21:29:00.003+02:00

Sorry it's so late, but here are pics of Landon's birthday (September 8). He is 5 now and very proud of that fact. We had a small party at home, and we took cupcakes to Landon's school. They sang to him in English and Arabic, and he got to pass out the cupcakes to all his classmates. I think he felt pretty special. Isn't he a cutie!? Thanks Grandma and Grandpa and Nana and Papa for the fun gifts!

Here's a video of Landon at school when they sang him Happy Birthday in English and then in Arabic.

the kiddos...

2009-10-15T14:17:00.005+02:00

Here ya go mom... now get off my back!

love those eyes!

Kenzy has always made this cackling noise when she is happy. It's kind of a laugh or... or something.

I don't know what precipitated this dancing session but these children are wild.

Visited some local ruins...

2009-10-15T12:42:00.006+02:00

Sorry for the absence...

2009-09-30T08:58:00.004+02:00

Hey everyone... sorry for the silence lately. We moved down to the coast about 6 weeks ago and only got decent internet about a week ago. Pics of the kids coming soon.

Here is the view from our sidewalk just up the steps from our apartment.

View of the Red Sea

View of the mountains right behind our house.

Fun with ruins

2009-08-18T22:14:00.002+03:00

We have so many great ruins of ancient times here in the Middle East. While we were living in Egypt we got this great shot of Landon. We were at the Step-Pyramids and were allowed to touch pretty much anything. How cute is this? He was just over 2 years old, still in diapers, and playing on the ruins of 5,000 year-old Egyptian ruins!

In Rome, you can walk around and see the ruins... in our part of the world you can climb on them!

Landon Pyramid

2009-08-11T11:37:00.002+03:00

On our recent trip... ya know... the one where Josiah practiced his base jumping skillz... Landon was swimming and the owners of the hostel befriended him and made a pyramid in the pool with Landon being the top. Fun pic...

Lovin' these pics...

2009-08-10T23:09:00.006+03:00

Whoa there Landon! Calm down!

This is Jojo in his "cowboy hat".

The Ooma is working and it's rockin' my world!

2009-08-02T16:37:00.003+03:00

We've been using VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) with Vonage deal since April 2004. It worked when we brought it overseas and hooked it up to the DSL and everything! We've loved it and Vonage has always been great.

It was with hesitancy that I made the switch from Vonage to Ooma. Ooma is just like Vonage in that you hook a box up to high speed internet and hook a phone up and blam-o you have a US phone number. The difference is that with Ooma you pay a larger up front cost for the hardware (215 USD) and after that you can either use their basic services for no monthly payments or upgrade to the premiere service for 99 USD a year. I made the switch and even got to keep my phone number. One other thing I love about Ooma is that you can get your voicemail by email or online (like vonage) but there is also play controls right on the box with a speaker. Much easier!

Want to call us? Write me an email and I'll send you our phone number!

We've Witnessed a True Miracle...

2009-07-31T10:08:00.006+03:00

As many of you know we went down to the coast this weekend for some fellowship and flat hunting. The time with friends was really great although we did have a scare. I took Yvonne and some friends up to a dive shop that I use regularly. We also had Landon and Josiah with us since Yvonne was going to do a “discover scuba diving” deal to see if she was interested in getting certified.
While we were filling out paperwork, we heard a thud and our worst nightmares were confirmed when we heard screaming from below. I ran to the ledge and saw someone picking up Josiah after he had taken a 10 ft. plunge. Somehow he walked, ran, jumped... we don’t know... off of a 10-foot ledge to the staging area below where you get ready to go out on your dive. There was a railing there, but it was right up there with most Arab specifications and the slats were about 18” apart. There was a bench in front of most of that ledge but somehow our boy found that money spot that was dangerous. There was a van below about to be loaded up, an old school van where the front is nearly flat and the engine is behind the front seats. Well, Josiah hit the van’s windshield on the way down on the back of his head and his shoulder! This windshield is at a very steep angle so he didn’t crash down super hard on it, but rather he careened off of it. When he hit the windshield it flipped him over so that he landed on his rear end!
It was no surprise when Josiah wailed for a while. Meanwhile we were checking all his bones, and his head and feeling all over his body trying to find any obvious injuries. There weren’t any... and he stopped crying after 10 minutes. He was pretty needy still and didn’t want to leave either of us... but after an hour I asked him if he wanted to swim with me in the pool. His eyes lit up and he smiled and exclaimed, “yeah!” He seemed to be back to normal. We hooked up with some new friends in town to look for flat, and the wife is a pediatrician. She checked him out a few times while we were down there. We also spoke to a doctor friend of ours up in the capital city who contacted his pediatrician here in town. Everyone was in agreement that we should high-tail it back home and have him get some X-rays and a CT scan. Although there were no visible problems with Jo, he never lost consciousness, never vomited and his eyes dilated equally and appropriately, if there was a slow bleed on the brain it could take a few days for it to build up to a dangerous point and then it would go downhill very fast.
So hightail it we did and arranged for a friend to watch Landon and Kenzy while Yvonne and I went to the hospital with Jo. The unfortunate part of the CT scan is that it would require general anesthesia because most 2 year-olds can’t stay still enough for the procedure. They gave him some sleepy-time medicine, but little dude was not affected. He got sleepy for about 20 minutes and then he got hyper! So in the end we had to teach him how to “freeze!” and I went in with him, wearing a lead apron, and held his head still for the scan. About one minute later it was done, 10 minutes later the film was developed and another 15 minutes later the doctor came, reviewed the films and told us that there is absolutely nothing wrong with him!
We believe with all our hearts that God did a miracle with our little boy! There is no way he would have come out of this unscathed like he did without a miracle.

Going flat hunting...

2009-07-26T10:58:00.005+03:00

We are heading down to the coast tomorrow to spend some time with friends and to do some flat hunting. Our main purpose is to hang out with friends but we're going to squeeze in some flat hunting for sure! We are hoping this will be the final time we go down to look for flats and that we will sign a contract or at least have an agreement with a landlord this week! Hope alongside us!

I'm also hoping to get a couple of dives in as well.

Share This Post!

2009-07-26T07:43:00.003+03:00

No... you don't have to share this but I've put some buttons at the bottom of every post that allow you to share that particular post.

As always the email post icon is still available for you to shoot a post to a friend.

If you're a Facebook user you can click the Facebook icon at the bottom of any post to share it on your wall or you can direct message it to someone.

If you're a Twitter user you can tweet our page by clicking on the Twitter icon.

The del.icio.us button allows you to store online bookmarks so that you can access them from anywhere. You can add keywords to find the page you want easily.

No matter what you choose to share or where... don't forget to be wise.

"I Just Said a Prayer"

2009-07-25T14:11:00.002+03:00

So, today as Landon was helping me clean up, he randomly says, "Mom, I just said a prayer, but I said it very quietly. I said 'thank you for fruit, thank you for hugging, and thank you for kissing.'" I love my loving and loveable little boy! Thought you all would enjoy this little tidbit. Wouldn't it be great if I prayed more simple thank yous while cleaning.

The New Look

2009-07-24T22:07:00.002+03:00

I got a wild hair today and decided to recreate the header of our blog... which led to recreating the entire blog. It was a lot of fun seeing it take shape and I'm really happy with the results. It should
also make it easier for Yvonne to post pictures and make changes. you can click on her email link to the right to encourage her in her blogging. Let me know what you think on the poll to the right.

What Will They Do Next?!

2009-07-23T23:40:00.002+03:00

The boys keep us on our toes, but provide us with plenty of laughter too. They love making "houses" out of the cushions and hiding in them with their "doors." Josiah closes his and yells, "Where are me, Mommy?" before popping out with a crazy grin on his face.

This suitcase has become the new favorite toy. They carry it all around the house, Landon asks Josiah if he wants to get in his House and put his seatbelt on.

Like Father, Like Sons.

The boys found the Play-doh stash the other morning without Mommy knowing. This was my discovery.

Patriotic Fun

2009-07-23T23:30:00.000+03:00

So we had a little shindig to celebrate the 4th. It was the first time the boys had sparklers, and they LOVED them! JO would start spinning every time he got a new one until he made himself really dizzy. It was stinkin' adorable.

Check It Out, Grandma!

2009-07-23T23:20:00.001+03:00

So, Grandma got the kids these cute robes while we were in the States. They love them and look so adorable in them. Landon wants to sleep in his.

And There's More...

2009-07-23T23:07:00.001+03:00

These were taken since our return. She is so precious!

Here you go...Our Sweet Girl

2009-07-23T22:57:00.001+03:00

Well, I'm FINALLY getting everyone some pics of Kenzy...these were taken while still in the States.

Help me out here...

2009-06-23T06:55:00.006+03:00

If you don't know what Fail Blog is then you don't know what you're missing. It's a great collection of user submitted pictures and videos of things that just aren't quite right. I have submitted a photo a guy in a mullet, or better put: "skullet" and for it to make the home page and get exposure it needs your votes. Click on the link below and give it a rating of 5... the more votes the more likely it will get exposed on their website!

Click here and vote!!!

Here is the photo...

Great scuba pics...

2009-06-22T20:08:00.004+03:00

Here are some pics from the same dive as the sea turtle :) I bought a Sony w290 camera and the marine housing for it before leaving. I did two dives on Saturday but only took pictures on one dive. I took the housing down without the camera on the first one to test it to make sure it didn't leak. Well it didn't so I took it down with the camera on the second dive. Great photos! Love my purchase!

Hey Kids! I saw Crush!

2009-06-21T18:13:00.003+03:00

Hey Kids,

I'm sorry I didn't get to hang out with you guys today on Father's day. I'm trying to find us a new house to live in. I love you all so much! You make me so proud to be a father and I could never ask for anything more. God has given me your mommy and you three kids and all of you are the best gifts I could ever ask for!

Guess what!?! I saw Crush from Finding Nemo yesterday. Daddy went for a dive and we saw a sea turtle! He was really big so he must have been really old. I brought my new camera so that I could take pictures for you to see. Here is a video so you can see him too.

Our little booger...

2009-06-16T20:12:00.004+03:00

From pickin' his nose, to telling us everyone's names and his interest in the pall to payer... enjoy!

Pics before leaving America

2009-06-13T17:16:00.001+03:00

We got a new camera recently to bring back with us and got an entry-level fixed lens for especially for portraits. Here are some shots from it...

About us...

2009-06-10T12:22:00.002+03:00

We're Tim, Yvonne, Landon, Josiah and Kenzy Semmens.

We left the US to live in the Middle East in 2005 with one child and 10 suitcases. We've been here a few years now and we have three children, each born on a different continent!

We live along the Red Sea coast and Tim works some Graphic Design and Advertising consulting on the side and is also continually working on upgrading and using his PADI Diver certification. He will be beginning his Dive Master training soon and then in another year or so go for his instructor's license.

Yvonne is pursuing her love for studio photography with our children to maybe start a photography studio here. She is great at it and we hope that we will be able to do this.

Landon is entering Kindergarten this year!

Josiah is a wild man!

Kenzy is adorable!

Where in the World Have We Been?

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Kenzy's 1st swing...

2009-05-22T03:53:00.002+03:00

Tonight at the park we decided to see if Kenzy woudl enjoy a little time in the swing. She kinda liked it but wasn't smiling all that much.

Trip to the park...

2009-05-22T03:50:00.003+03:00

We hit up a local park after dinner tonight with Nana. Got some cute pics :)

Easter Egg Hunt

2009-04-05T04:42:00.005+02:00

Today we went to a huge "Easter Egg Drop." It was called a "drop" because not only were football fields simply littered with eggs, they were also dropping boxes and boxes full of eggs from a hot air balloon above the field.

I had figured that they would be launching the balloon directly next to the field and somehow tethering it. We went on a hot-air balloon ride in Sedona, AZ duing a vacation for our first anniversary and I knew that those balloons are completely unpredictable and are at the mercy of the winds. So as we had figured, the balloon was tethered to a 4-wheel tractor (gator) and pulled into position to drop the eggs above the first field. They had a little issue getting the balloon to stay at the right tension on the rope. They didn't want it to be pulling too hard but they also didn't want it to be coming down onto the filed... which it did once (see video below). There were going to do a total of 4 fields I think... what do I mean by "were"?
Well... first a rope that a guy was haning on to got tangled in the stadium lights of the soccer field so he had to let or get carried away... then the tractor was pulling the balloon away from the field when the tethering rope snapped and off went the balloon. All the other fields had to live with no "drop". It was pretty funny :) Enjoy the video of the kids hunting eggs and the balloon smacking down on the field and on top of a bunch of eggs.

Video #1: The balloon having altitude issues and smacking down on the eggs

Video #2: The kids gathering eggs

Video #3: Bye Bye Balloon

Just the 5 of us!

2009-04-01T17:03:00.001+02:00

Here is the most recent family photo.

Having Fun Together

2009-04-01T17:00:00.001+02:00

We've had a lot of fun in the States so far....bubble baths. wagons, and just being together.

watch me grow!

2009-04-01T16:56:00.001+02:00

Love those polka dots!

Cute as a button!

Pretty as a picture.

Melts Mommy's heart!

Enjoying family

2009-04-01T16:44:00.001+02:00

Landon and Josiah are having so much fun with all their cousins...

and meeting some for the first time.

watching some football together

long time no blog

2009-04-01T16:30:00.002+02:00

After we came back, it was almost time for Christmas, and Kenzy's first one! Look at those handsome boys!

Landon (4)
Josiah (2)
Kenzy (1 month)

No one could complain about getting this little chunk in her stocking. (2 mos.)

Looking so pretty in her Christmas dress. (1 mo.)

Pretty in pink. (2 mos.)

More pics of Kenzy

2008-11-25T17:39:00.004+02:00

After may requests and fighting of exhaustion I have got another slideshow with more pics of Kenzy up. She is an angel :)

Passport time...

2008-11-21T07:31:00.003+02:00

Yesterday we brought Yvonne and the baby home from the hospital. I had a friend of ours stay with Yvonne for a few hours so that I could go get Kenzy's birth certificate done. It is not like in America where the hospital issues files everything and then you get the official birth certificate in the mail or anything. Here you get a proof of birth form and you take it to a special office. Since we're Americans I had to have our marriage license translated into Arabic then turn in all our paperwork. So I got her birth certificate and had to have it translated into English for the US Embassy. We will go there first day they're open next week. I wanted to share with y'all the picture that will be on her passport for the next 5 years... and she is 2 days old in it. :)

Kenzy has arrived!

2008-11-18T14:17:00.004+02:00

This morning at 9:40 (GMT +2) Kenzy Ashlyn joined our world. She weighed in at 7 lbs 7 oz and is 20 inches in length. Enjoy a few hospital shots while I'm home for a few minutes.

Jo Jo's 2nd Birthday

2008-11-09T20:31:00.005+02:00

Our little guy is 2 years old!

Here is the invitation we sent out to our friends.

And her is a slideshow of his birthday party...

My Little Star

2008-10-06T18:01:00.004+02:00

Josiah has really begun to love music lately, and his favorite song is "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Although not every word is recognizable and the motions seem to be a little too complicated to sing with, it sure is cute. Enjoy...

teaching JoJo to kiss...

2008-09-14T15:20:00.003+02:00

Josiah has been kissing for quite some time in the form of just opening his mouth and pressing it up against you. So we have been teaching him the kiss sound and he hasn't quite mastered it yet. His interpretation of the kiss sound is to make the raspberry spitting sound at your face. Here is a video of an example of him doing it...

fun in the pool...

2008-09-14T13:53:00.001+02:00

Just thought y'all might enjoy these cute pics of the boys in the pool from this morning...

Landon School Update

2008-09-12T10:31:00.003+02:00

Well Landon's first week of KG1 is officially over. He seems to have had a great time. We are so excited that he is enjoying it. We were concerned because he can get kinda shy and most of the kids there are speaking mostly Arabic. But he is doing great. He gets on the bus no problem in the morning and comes home with a smile.
His first day sans parents was his birthday. They made him a crown and sang him happy birthday and made him feel real special. All the kids got a "first day" picture and his was in his crown. Here it is...

Landon's 1st day of KG1

2008-09-06T16:28:00.000+02:00

In this part of the world the kids have 2 years of Kindergarten. It really is more like preschool but we really wanted him to go to help him learn Arabic better. He has 2 teachers... one who speaks only English and one who speaks only Arabic. It seems like a very good program and we are excited that our big boy is getting to go to it!

Landon's 4th Birthday

2008-09-05T23:24:00.000+02:00

Landon turns 4 on the 8th... but we were having some friends over today with kids anyway, so we just told Landon that today was his birthday. haha.

Here are some pics from the party...

Due to super annoying music... I have moved the post here.

now say hi to puffy...

2008-09-01T10:31:00.003+02:00

I got to do some scuba diving on a recent trip to the Red Sea. A Romanian guy that was on the dive with me took a picture of me with a puffer fish. He had to email it to me and I just got it... so enjoy!

Say hey to Kinzy

2008-08-20T11:15:00.003+03:00

Some of you know and some don't that we are having a baby girl this november.
Her name will be Kinzy Ashlyn. Kinzy is Arabic for "my treasure.

Here is a video of the 2nd doctors sonogram.

the artists...

2008-07-31T11:16:00.001+03:00

the boys had a great time drawing on their dry erase board. Landon had a great time drawing on Josiah.

cowboy jo

2008-07-31T11:10:00.002+03:00

Here are some fun pics of Jo having fun as a cowboy.

A Happy 4th

2008-07-05T09:47:00.005+03:00

We had a great time yesterday celebrating our home country's independence day :)
We had lots of friends over and had burgers and dogs along with all the good fixins... like baked beans, corn casserole, and potato salad. Of course there was also plenty of sweet tea and lemonade on hand and a healthy desert selection (healthy meaning lots to choose from... but not healthy at all).
I also ran around the day before and found some fireworks. It was a cube of 25 mortars with one fuse and it put on quite a show for us. I particularly loved the name of the fireworks... make sure your mind doesn't read it the way it should be (I didn't notice for a day or so). The mortar tubes lobbed the rounds about 100 feet in the air and it was very nice :) Enjoy the vid.

Oh on another funny note... back in the states, when it came to fireworks, you would always hear adults say that they are not a toy. Well here... the word for fireworks is الالعاب النارية, which translated means "toys of fire." That just cracks me up.

the polite little one and a half year old

2008-06-28T19:31:00.004+03:00

We were eating dinner out on the patio tonight. When Yvonne was pouring herself some sweet tea both Yvonne and I distinctly heard Josiah say, "May I have some please". We both looked at each other with a look that said "did you just hear that?". So we decided we might as well encourage him and so now he has to say it before he can get something from us. Landon says it already so we know that the little guy was picking it up from his polite older brother. In this video it isn't as distinct as it was the first time... but it is still cute.

Here is a cute pic of Landon at the same time...

And another funny pic that we took of Josiah the other night when he passed out at the dinner table. Too cute :)

Look mom... they gots perty

2008-06-28T18:53:00.006+03:00

While my mom was in town last month we planted all sorts of plants and flowers. Well they're getting pretty so these pics are for mom to look at.

Yvonne makes this really great Chicken Marsala sans Marsala and it calls for fresh basil so we panted some seeds and they're doing great.

This bushy little plant was about 25% this size when they left. He is affectionately called "cousin it"

Hikin'

2008-06-24T17:36:00.005+03:00

So I like facebook for lots of reasons. One reason is meeting new people... not just finding old friends. I joined a group here that likes to hike and an American friend of mine and I joined them on a great hike through the canyons about an hour away. Most of the hike was through a stream and it was totally fun. We stopped at a waterfall and later climbed up it and jumped into the pool below. Enjoy the pics...

Landon's 4th Birthday

2008-06-05T14:25:00.001+03:00

Landon turns 4 on the 8th... but we were having some friends over today with kids anyway, so we just told Landon that today was his birthday. haha.

Here are some pics from the party...

Eastern Easter

2008-05-05T10:59:00.006+03:00

We thought that Easter had come awfully early this year... but we got to celebrate it twice. The dates on this side of the ocean don't necessarily line up with those of America. Lots of the Christians on this side of the pond are Orthodox/Coptic and have their own days of celebration. We got Landon a bike which he really enjoys. Here are a few pictures from our celebration here. I uploaded a few of them with them facing the wrong direction and I don't feel like fixing it so learn to enjoy them sideways.

Anybody want a 1 year-old?

2008-04-04T08:48:00.002+02:00

weird words

2008-03-18T17:20:00.002+02:00

so there are times when i just laugh at how words work in Arabic.
for example... in Egypt, trunk of a car is the same word as a bag. so i have actually asked if i could put my bag in the bag when i stopped a taxi.

so today i saw a billboard here in English and it was an advertisement for the billboard advertising company. they have several versions that all push outdoor advertising. one of them shows a woman with a space saucer over her shoulder (it's all in this 50s style art) and it says "there is no escape from outdoor". Of course their point is that everyone is outside a lot so outdoor advertising makes sense. the fact that it should have said outdoors instead of outdoor made me think of the word itself.

outdoor. it the place once you go out the door. people learning English must think that outdoor is such a goofy word.

my finger's cup ranneth over...

2008-03-10T21:23:00.008+02:00

yesterday i had to go to the police station for nearly two hours to file a formal complaint against the plumber who installed our water heater (yes... you go to the police here for that). well i'll blog that story later. after i got home, i paid my cab driver and hopped out of the taxi. i then proceeded to slam the cab door on my left index finger! it hurt so bad!

*** the story and pics that follow are not for the weak stomached folk ***

well i ran inside and ran it under some cold water which helped little. honesty i think jumping up and down and slamming my foot into the ground repeatedly helped more but the water helped too. i took a bag of peas and for a couple of hours was icing it. yvonne said i had to ice for 15 and then go without ice for 15. i couldn't do that. it was excruciating anytime i didn't have the ice on it. so anyway... to make a long story short... i called a friend and we agreed that the pain was coming from pressure built up behind the nail that couldn't escape... so i went to his house and we took a black and decker drill to my nail and drilled a hole in it to relieve the pressure. the drill was a one speed all or nothin' drill so it was going fast... can you hear the sound in your head? it was awesome! well after we broke through, my finger's cup ranneth over (if run becomes ran then runneth must become ranneth... or is there even a past tense to runneth?) and within two minutes my finger's heartbeat was not nearly as strong.
enjoy the pics below.

it has got to be in their mission statement...

2008-03-07T08:33:00.002+02:00

as i am using the new version of microsoft office 2008 for mac it has struck me. for the umpteenth time they have ignored arabic script support. the stinkin' text edit ghetto program that comes with the system can do it! i am convinced that somewhere in microsoft's mission statement it says "we will be lame and stupid and do our absolute best to annoy tim semmens as much as possible." they have hit their mark once again. congrats microsoft.

the water heater vs. the bidet... the epic battle

2008-02-28T18:45:00.000+02:00

water heaters over here aren't quite like they are in the states. they are either electric or gas and either way they are mounted on the wall of a bathroom. the electric ones look like big eggs up high on the wall. they actually look pretty cool... except when they come crashing down and destroy the bidet by breaking it into a few hundred pieces.

see the carnage...

what are we teaching our kids???

2008-02-24T19:38:00.002+02:00

so i was reading to landon last night before bed. i chose the book, "jack and the beanstalk" thinking it would be a throw-back to my childhood. it is absolutely amazing that i ended up a well-rounded law abiding adult after being exposed to such a felonious tale!

the kid is supposed to sell the cow but trades it for 5 beans... Thou shalt obey thy mother and father. STRIKE ONE
the kid climbs the beanstalk and steals a bag of gold from the giant... Thou shalt not steal. STRIKE TWO
the kid after stealing a bunch more stuff gets caught by the giant, who while in pursuit, falls victim to a dastardly act of premeditated murder! STRIKE THREE

This kid is lucky he lived in a stinkin' fairy tale or else his rear-end would have landed himself in a federal supermax prison where he woudl only see sunlight one hour a day!

and we read this filth to our kids!

We got lots more snow!

2008-02-07T22:28:00.000+02:00

Last week... sorry for the delay... we got about 10" of snow over a 2-day period. Now being from Colorado that meant that school was still in. But this ain't Colorado y'all. Nobody here really understands how to drive in snow so all of the taxis weren't out working for nearly 3 days. On the 4th day a buddy of mine and I went out to pick up our new computers and it took 45 minutes to an hour to make a trip that normally takes about 7 minutes. The traffic was near unbearable because of snow alongside the road and scared drivers. It's all over now but Landon had some great times out in the snow building a snowman.
Yvonne and Landon made us all some snow cream... a friend of mine here couldn't believe that we ate snow but I explained to her that it was clean snow (i.e. not yellow) and we added some milk, sugar and vanilla and it was great. Here is a hilarious video of Landon talking about it.

This is one of Landon up on the radiator just amazed with all the snow that had fallen the night before.

Here are some more pics of Landon outside making a snowman. enjoy.

it's snowing here!

2008-01-22T23:35:00.000+02:00

Well it was my turn to get up with the boys this morning and when my half-opened crusty eyelids peered out our family room window i saw white stuff. i figured it was just those little sleep cookies that get caught in the corner of your eyes kinda floating around in the muck after rubbing my eyes... but i was wrong! it was snow!

here are some pics of us enjoying the snow!

how it is snowing @ 34 degrees beats me... but just enjoy the neat-looking weather widget pic.

"what is this white stuff!?!?!"

he was actually having fun... just a weird moment picture.

i'm melting!

the skullet... in all it's glory!

2008-01-22T23:20:00.000+02:00

i was having trouble sending this pic to a friend... so i decided to just post it on the blog. we went to washington dc a few years back and a buddy of mine snapped this baby.

the mullet was a real fashion statement in the late 80s/early 90s. it has since gone out of fashion... the way of z. cavaricci, black turtle necks with gold chains and tight-rolled jeans.
may the skullet live on forever!

a new year's miracle!!!

2008-01-04T16:35:00.000+02:00

i went to the local etisalat building (communications company) to setup my DSL. i wasn't terribly shocked to discover that it was going to take 2 weeks for them to make their way out here to actually start it up. well 28 hours later i received a call saying that they were on their way! they sent two guys who each had about 1/2 of a clue... so in the grand design they were supposed to compliment each other. the problem was that these two both had the same half. regardless... i knew what i was doing so i set it all up myself and had it going in just a few minutes. my mom said that the service was obviously better here than it was in egypt... i wish that were the case... i know that i just got lucky... or was it more than luck?

Our New Flat...

2007-12-29T23:26:00.000+02:00

Here are some pics of our new flat! Yay! We have a home again!

You can click on the slideshow to take you to the site where they are stored and see bigger versions :)

Christmas

2007-12-29T23:18:00.000+02:00

Here are pics of Christmas... the actual one as opposed to the Christmas in November.

You can click on the slideshow to take you to the site where they are stored and see bigger versions :)

Christmas in November

2007-12-29T22:29:00.000+02:00

We celebrated Christmas in November... when we were home in the states for Thanksgiving. Yvonne's parents, her sister and her family, and my mom were all there.

You can click on the slideshow to take you to the site where they are stored and see bigger versions :)

Merry Christmas Y'all

2007-12-26T00:10:00.000+02:00

Christmas is on the 25th... today is the 25th... and this is my 250th post on the blog.
Coincidence? I think not!

get out my grill foo!

2007-12-05T23:48:00.000+02:00

Camera phone tour...

2007-12-04T20:25:00.000+02:00

We invite you to take a look at some pics that I took over the last 2 years using my cell phone. There are a good many of them. I wrote captions for many of them. It may only show a little bit so hover your mouse over the caption and it will show you the full text.

Phone Pics

i can't sleep...

2007-12-03T02:16:00.000+02:00

well as many of you know we went back to America for thanksgiving with our families. it was a great time of decompression and refreshment. you really have no idea of some of the stresses that you live under until you are out from under them. we're back in country now and adjusting back to the middle eastern time zone. it is really messing with me.

we got in about midnight a few days ago and we got the boys in bed around 1:30 or so and we went to bed at 2:30. they have some stinkin' sweet shutters in our country where you can lower them and the interlocking slats block out any and all light from the outside... it can seriously be pitch black in the bedroom at high noon. it's wonderful. the phone woke us up and when yvonne saw the clock in the family room, she thought it was broken because the time was exactly the same as when we went to bed. my cell phone was still set to eastern standard time so i called my buddy here and said hey and asked him what time it was. he told me it was 2:30 in the afternoon... the clock wasn't broken, it was just 12 hours later exactly.

the night after that though we didn't get to bed until 5am and woke up at 9:30. last night we got to bed at 3am and woke up at 11:30 wishing we had set an alarm to help us adjust to the time difference. so tonight we went to bed at 2am and set an alarm for 9am. it is now 3:10am and i just watched an episode of 24 because i was wide awake.

jet lag is seriously lame.