Port "A"

After visiting my Dad, our next stop was Port Aransas, TX, with Shane's Mom.  We rented a house that was located about 10 minutes (walking) from the beach.  It was nice to have a little vacation within our 'vacation' home.  We ate a lot of seafood, made sandcastles, played in the waves, swam in the pool and got some sun (some of us got a little too much!).  At the end of the week Kim and Joe joined us.  Joe hadn't seen Shane since we moved to Doha!

Relaxing in the beach house

Eating at a local seafood restaurant

Walking to the beach

Sunset

Wading through the sand

On the beach

Playing in the waves

Building sandcastles

Walking back to the house

Playing in the surf

Playing on the beach

I love this picture!

  

Swimming with a noodle - by himself!

Amanda and Kim

Group photo

Our Texas visit

A few pictures from our recent trip to the Houston area:

Playing at the park

Making music with Joseph

Wow, those are huge steaks, Joseph!

Adam LOVES to swing!

I got to hang out with Bailey's brother, Raider

Mugging for the camera, as usual!

All that's done must be undone

I have spent the last few days 'undoing' all the things that we had done in preparation of our move to Sakhalin:  airfare (including the dogs), hotel reservations, packers/movers, pet relocators, etc. Maybe when we have to do it all over again next month it will be easier...as they say in Doha, insha'Allah (God willing).

Since our move is being put off for at least another month, Shane is going to Houston to work at the Sakhalin project office for 3 weeks.  Adam and I are going to tag along and see friends and family.  Hopefully we will also get some R&R before we have to come back to Doha and start the moving process all over again.  It will be good to 'recharge my batteries' before making another big move to another foreign place, and being away from Doha during the holy month of Ramadan doesn't sound too bad either :)

Wow, 10 years!!!

Our 10th wedding anniversary is tomorrow!  I can hardly believe that we have been married that long!  In 10 years, we have lived in 7 residences, 3 cities, and 2 countries.  I recently took a trip down memory lane and went through all of our pictures from the last 10 years.  I put our scanner to work and now have all of these photos on our Picasa site.  I also scanned in photos from our wedding album.  To view the wedding album, click here.  For the other album, click here. 

Listen for the bell...

Margaret and Vic with Adam (7 weeks old)

Today is Victor's last day of radiation treatments!  Vic is the father of my best friend, Kim.  Their family "adopted" me when I was young and they haven't been able to get rid of me yet!  Vic was diagnosed with Sino-Nasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma (SNUC) earlier this year and has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation.  So far, things are looking up, as the chemotherapy shrunk the tumor down to nothing!  The radiation treatments have been hard on him, leaving painful ulcers in his throat and mouth, making it difficult for him to speak or eat.  Earlier this week, his temperature rose to a scary 104, and he was admitted into the hospital.  He is doing better, and his white blood cell counts are back up.  His last radiation treatment is scheduled for today at 1:00 pm Houston time.  Once that happens he will get to ring his "Vic"tory bell (literally - there is a bell outside the radiation room) and be able to start the healing process.  I look forward to hearing that bell, Vic - and I will be listening for it around 9 pm (in Doha)!!!  

The Doha Zoo

Yes, Doha has a Zoo. It isn't the best Zoo I have ever been to, but I have to say it is nice and peaceful - which beats going to the Houston Zoo anyday!

Today is my brother's last day here, and we decided to take Adam to the Zoo. One thing Joseph noticed was how good you can see the animals. The zebras actually came right up to the fence where we were - we could have pet them if we wanted to!

Inland Sea

We took a day trip down to the Inland Sea, which is down by the Saudi Arabian border. It is an area of sand dunes that circle around an inland sea, which is formed when the tide comes in. It is absolutely breathtaking to look at, and any pictures we take out there do not do it justice. Once we reach the end of the road (about half-way to the inland sea), it is nothing but sand dunes ahead. We were in a Land Cruiser driven by a Palestinian guy that frankly didn't know what he was doing. We went last year and that guy was great. This guy bottomed out in his truck so many times that the front bumper nearly came off! It was great fun in spite of that, but it would have been better if the driver knew what he was doing. Adam had a great time, which I was glad since I didn't know how he was going to react. It is a bit like being on a roller coaster - except we weren't on a track! After we visited the Inland Sea and took some pictures, the driver took us to a camp where we had a traditional Arabian barbecue (lamb, beef and chicken kebabs) and could relax by the sea. I will post more pictures and maybe some videos after I go through them all...between us we had 3 cameras and a video camera!

Trip to the Souqs

We took Nini down to the Souq Waqif (Old Souq) and the Jewelry Souqs on Thursday. The Old Souq has changed so much since the last time we were down there (before summer). They have paved all the dirt areas and added little cafes and sitting areas. She really like the jewelry souqs and even found herself some little trinkets to take home!