Kimber Turns Two

I kept waiting until we had Kimber's pictures loaded into the computer to blog about her second birthday. But, with another move, Father's Day weekend, and Jet starting school, I thought it would be better if her birthday pictures are to come. In lieu of her birthday pics, here are some snapshots of them laying around our new home...notice a common theme?

I got off work a little early on June 3, and we got balloons, a cake, & some fried chicken and took it to the house. We sat around munching, and we sang "Happy Birthday", which Kimber loved. Her daddy picked out the coconut cake, and it was the perfect size for the four of us with two little pink candles on top. On Saturday June 6th, Jason's parents, Joe and Mini Pyle, came over and brought some food from Black Eyed Pea. Kimber opened presents, and then got to take a ride in the pink Barbie jeep that her daddy bought her.

This brings up a couple of other updates...we moved. We bought a house in Kingwood very close to where we were living. Also, Jet started part-time preschool last week. He's going two half-days each week, and he's really having a good time.

Dubai

Jason and I took our first vacation alone together since June 2006, and it was a vacation amongst vacations. Jason's mother, brother, and sister-in-law watched Jet and; Kimber Elle for the week while we went to the other side of the world. What a humbling, amazing place to see...I think after seeing the wealth that our gas money creates, I'm going to invest in a Vespa!

We've loaded some pictures for you to see, although they don't nearly do the city justice. This is a land of wealth like we've never seen before...fortune...palaces of marble, granite, gold...a land of estimated birth around 3000 BC while the city's estimated birth was around 1977...muslim culture ~ a land of shieks. We got to see Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Outside of the Atlantis Resort on Palm Jumeriah Island.

At a traditional Lebanese Dinner, complete with a belly dancer and a Shisha pipe (aka Hookah Pipe).

In the aquarium tube.


In one of the many shopping malls ~ a wall of water.

The same shopping mall as above (with the wall of water).

Dates and figs are the candy of choice in the region.

Tapestry.

An indoor/outdoor restaurant with a local menu.

Our Hotel.

The air is filled with spices.

It's not if you will hookah, but what kind of hookah...the decorative ones on the left w/ the beading are from Lebanon.

The Burj, the tallest building in the world~ words cannot describe. This was the view from our hotel room. The buildings amonst the Burj are not small...

The Dubai airport.

Christmas 2008

We've Been Tagged

One of my old friends, Kelly Errington, tagged us. From what we understand, the premise behind "tagging" is that we need to share 10 or so interesting, but mundane, facts about ourselves. Here goes...
1. Jason hates the penny and thinks that it should be disinvented.
2. Mariah has extremely high arches in her feet.
3. Jet's favorite activity is anything that his dad is doing with him, even if it's just putting on his shoes.
4. Kimber's favorite activity is snuggling. Mama's girl...
5. Mariah's first home was a La Quinta.
6. Jason loves to eat in bed.
7. We don't get television reception of any kind. We have TV's, but we use them to watch movies together as a family. It's one of the best decisions we have made, but our guests don't like it very much.
8. Jet loves to do puzzles, go to the Museum of Natural Science, go to the zoo, and ride his bike. We use the money we would be paying for cable TV for memberships to the zoo and museum.
9. Kimber is on an atkins diet. She will eat meat of any kind, she prefers steak, along with veggies - salad, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, peas...but she won't touch mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese.
10. Mariah hates pizza. Jason, Jet, and Kimber all love pizza.

Hurricane Ike, Jet's Birthday, Halloween, and More

After arriving in July, Hurricane Ike hit with a vengence, which made us relocate to Ft Worth for a week - good times! Here's a picture of Mariah & Kimber Elle wondering how that tree didn't hit the car. Thank goodness for Jason's brother Joe and his wife, Mona. They took us in for the week. While we were there, we celebrated our wedding anniversary ~ not what we had intended, but we all know sometimes God has other plans. During that time, we caught up with friends and family, and Jet & Kimber got to spend time with their cousins.

Jet's birthday was a hit...total suburb-style with a bounce house and party favors. Knowing that it would be the first birthday he'd probably remember, we made it count. June and Breezy came in town, and Granddaddy & Grandma Pyle were there, so it was the first birthday that Jet had 4 grandparents attend! Also, Mariah's two close friends, and former UH swim teammates were there with their children. Kids, sugar, enchiladas and margaritas for parents, hotdogs and Capri-sun for the kids...

We thought we knew Halloween, but we had no idea. Kingwood makes it a night to remember ~ Jet had invites to the "fall festivals" that the churches put on in the area from his neighborhood friends, but we didn't even have time for that! Kimber was a bumble-bee and Jet was a pilot, both were their costumes from last year with modifications.
Complete with a pillow-case, we set out to trick-or-treat like we did when we were kids...white-trash style. Jet preferred the pillowcase to the Halloween pumpkin bags that other kids were carrying because he could put so much candy in it. Cops were out on bicycles, the neighborhood watch in golf carts, people sat on their front porches with a glass of wine and appetizers handing out candy, a band played....fun! We all got home happy and wired.

Check out the website wasatchmonk.com. Jet and Kimber are both featured on it, and our good friend, Jerry Reed, is the photographer. His portraits are amazing and artistic! I've never seen anyone photograph children as good as he does. For the past two years, Jet and Kimber's birthday in Utah were Jerry, his wife Abbie, and their beautiful, smart, and sensitive 6 children. You'd think we're kidding, but Breezy and June know better.