January was just a massive blur and then gone. Mostly, I'm just glad to see it go- we've had sick kids, a trip cancellation, and major back issues (Brian). Here's hoping February is better despite already having sick kids again and continuing back issues. Here's some January highlights:
Brian's had back issues on & off over the past several years. Usually some visits to the chiropractor does the trick and he's "back to normal" (so puny!)- however over the last couple of months it's been getting worse. Early January, Brian woke up and was in so much pain- he ended up at the ER twice. (Hooray for 100% medical coverage- major perk to living here). We had to cancel a daddy-daughter trip to Dubai for Mina. An MRI shows a ruptured/bulged disk in his lower back. He's met with a neuro-spine specialist- he says it's a 50/50 chance surgery will be necessary. The past month has been lots of doctor visits, pain meds, physical therapy, and a cortisone shot. We are trying to avoid surgery but it might be inevitable. We are so lucky to know a physical therapist from our fellowship group- she has come over to our house twice a week to help Brian- all free of charge. At present time, Brian is hopeful that he's on the road to recovery. And if surgery ends up being the route we need to take, then the cortisone shot will help bide our time so we can explore all of our options and feel confident about the next step/decisions we need to make. (This photo pretty much sums up what Brian was doing the first couple weeks in January...sitting was way too painful- he either stood or laid down.)
Brian bought this back inverter which has helped a lot.
Mei celebrated her 4 1/2 birthday on January 6th. She requested a horse cake with yellow frosting.
We got a dog. Oscar is a maltese-terrier mix (we think). The girls took care of Oscar over the summer and were thrilled when the owners decided 2 dogs were too much and offered to give us Oscar. He's house trained, nearly 5 years old, rarely barks, and is very gentle with the kids. We've had him about a month and it hasn't been terrible like I thought.
Emiko and the rest of the 5th graders made hot air balloons out of tissue paper and invited family to come out for the "launch" party. It was so fun to watch- Emi's hot air balloon flew over the entire grass field and into someone's backyard.
These aren't great quality (screenshots of a video I took) but it gives you a little bit of perspective of size and distance the balloons flew.
Kaiya flew with the youth group to Stockholm for a very quick tmpl* trip. As a group, they did 966 bptisms*- most of them being family names. We heard it was an amazing experience and everyone had a great time, despite the cold! Here's the whole group at the Stockholm airport.
The Stockholm tmpl.
A photo of the Beehive group.
While Kaiya was in Stockholm for the 3 day weekend...the rest of the kids stayed home with Elspeth (a friend we've met here- she works for the same company as Brian) and Brian and I flew to Yanbu to snorkel/dive in the Red Sea. This was a very last minute trip as Brian's back made us question whether or not it was a good idea. In the end, Brian convinced me that most of our time would be in the water and the added buoyancy would help his back. We went with another couple, the Ammons. It was fun to get away and see another part of Saudi. This first photo Elspeth took of the kids & Oscar when they went to explore the jebels on camp.
The boat marina in Yanbu. Abayas are required until you're out on the water quite a ways...then swimsuits are ok.
We snorkeled at this beautiful beach. The water was such a pretty blue and we had the entire beach to ourselves.
Dinner in Yanbu at a Pakistani restaurant with the Ammons and Stu, a guy that helped us book the boat trip and came along diving with us.
And now that I'm finally finished with blogging about January...it's already nearing mid-February...!
*Living in this country requires us to be respectful of customs, laws, and Muslim culture. We try to be very careful in how we word or spell things so as not to raise any concern or show any disrespect.
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