Home Sweet Home

Baby Jesus (and His pony?) in the Manger at my SL church

Okay....all the chicks, and the rooster, are in the nest. And the hen is blogging! It doesn't get any better! Two weeks down, two to go on our holiday homeleave. It has been wonderful so far and I am giddy thinking about how much fun is yet to come. Corny, but true! I have managed to decorate the tree and do some shopping. Notice the wrappped gifts under the branches! Earliest ever, I think. I do still have lots of wrapping left to do...but it's a start. (I should really consider my friend Sherry's suggestion and wrap everything in pillowcases!) I am spending my time doing much more important things, like hanging with the guys and having coffee with friends. (usually hazlenut or gingerbread latte, or something of that sort) Oh yeah, and did I mention eating out? Have had most wonderful lunches and dinners with some of those nearest and dearest to my heart. Parties? Did I say parties? Youth group party, grown up parties....even parties where the grown up ladies all wore matching Christmas ball earrings! (mine were purple!) Now, that is grown up! Christmas would not be Christmas without celebrating our Christmas baby's birthday. Saturday was Sam's 15th (soon to be on the roads!) and we spent the afternoon at the Toyota Center watching a double header basketball extravaganza. Texas played Michigan State and the Aggies played LSU. I will not mention the scores here. Anyway, we got all of our teams covered in one sporting event! Then there was the birthday dinner at Goode Company Barbeque....only in a Texas BBQ restaurant could you get a shot like this! (By the way, I am sure by now you have noticed Will's "Holiday Mustache". Just a vacation thing, he reassures me! Whatever...it's only hair, whether it's on a lip or on the head!) I cried at church last week. It was so beautiful...the music, the place and, most of all, the people. Makes me remember, no matter where you are, freedom to worship is a precious gift. One that I will not soon take for granted again. And, when I get back here to SL for good, will you guys help me remember I said that?? I am looking forward to the weeks ahead....I WILL keep you posted!

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The Sultans of Volleyball!

Last Wednesday Sam took off for Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, with his JV volleyball team, the American School of Doha Dragons. They were on their way to the end of season EMAC (Eastern Mediterranean Activities Conference) tournament. My friend Kristie and I were on the flight as well. No way we were going to miss our boys playing volleyball or miss the chance to visit Muscat! Play began on Thursday and the boys BAM! won their first two games handily. Keith arrived at the tourney on Friday morning, just in time to see the third game wrapped up by, again, our "boys on fire". The next game on Friday was not in our favor, but the boys were undaunted....and seeded second, I might add.

Championship Game Day....Saturday. The boys put a tick in the win column with their first game, which also happened to land them in the finals. And what a final it was. Neck and neck to the very end. The first score did not go in our favor. The next two did, however...26-24 and 16-14. Our team was #1!!! All the excitment was not so good for my blood pressure, or my watch crystal, which I broke by clapping too hard! Nonetheless, we came out the victors and pretty much have not come off of Cloud Nine yet! (BTW~kudos to the best cheer squad ever...Kristie, Keith, Lynne, Omran, Jerrell, Brenda and Rick!)

As an aside, the city of Muscat is beautiful. We did manage to do a little sightseeing one afternoon (thanks to Omran). The volleyball teams (boys and girls JV) got to do some sightseeing of their own before leaving for Doha on Sunday.

What a blast we had! Memories to last a lifetime. And....GO DRAGONS!

Sultan's Palace...any room for a few DRAGONS in there???

Our Sweet Rocky

Many of you know our sweet Rocky dog. He has been a part of our family for 10 years.....straight from the Humane Society to Rosebay Court. We were so sad that we were not able to bring him along when we moved to Doha. Boxers are on the banned dog list here! We kept saying, "If they only knew him, they would love him!" My dear sister and family adopted Rocky...he moved to San Antonio for a few months. Then, when Will graduated and moved back into our Sugar Land house, Rocky moved back home. Of course, we have been with him every homeleave. Best situation possible, given the circumstances.

Recently, very recently, Rocky fell quite ill. He began losing weight and was having trouble breathing. Since Will was out of town this past weekend, Mom and Don took Rocky to the vet and the news was not good. Our sweet dog would not recover from his illness and he was suffering. A tearful decision was made over the phone to let Rocky go in peace. We will return to Sugar Land for the Christmas holidays to a house without our Rocky dog.

I am smiling as I write this. Rocky was such a good boy and so much fun. The unresolved dental issues, the front door and back gate greetings, chasing the flashlight, walks around the lake that always involved duck chasing, family Christmas photos, sitting and laying down for treats, not to mention catching them in the air...just a few of the good memories.

We will miss Rocky more than we can say. We are so grateful for the fun and love he brought into our lives. Thanks for listening...or guess I should I say reading.


Love,
Kim, Keith, Will, Jake and Sam

Hook 'Em Horns!

There are just certain things that you miss when you don't live in Texas. Like Bluebell Birthday Cake ice cream. (I actually found it one time here, at Megamart, in the little individual containers, but I wasn't sure how many times it had been melted and refrozen, so I passed!) Fresh flour tortillas. (I have had fresh tortillas here a few times...homemade by friends in the know!) Seasons. (Okay, so we do have to break out the sweaters and portable heaters for a month or so in January/February!) A gas station on every corner. (Even if it just costs about 15 bucks to fill up my Accord!) Michael's and Garden Ridge. (The money saved by not having those places may be a blessing!) Maybe what I really miss is the convenience of all these things. We learn to make due here...I now always make my own Spanish rice from scratch and have learned that Australian torilla chips aren't that bad! You can get mums at the plant souqs and we even have a pumpkin patch at the school this week. The pumpkins are mostly small green ones, but they did import some large orange ones from Jordan, I think, and priced them out at only about $40 to $50 a piece! (Makes up for the gas prices....)

So what does all of this have to do with the Longhorns, you ask???? We do miss our football! We were even able to remedy that, in part, by bringing a Sling Box back with us from the US this summer. ( see http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/slingbox.htm ) What a treat when, last Saturday night, we watched the Texas - OU game LIVE! It was on at 11 am central, so that meant we could catch it at 7 pm here. In great excitement and anticipation, we gathered our plates of spaghetti and huddled around the computer screen in the study. (Yes, Will and Jake, we were eating in front of the tv....spaghetti, no less!) We were in Football Heaven! It only got better, though....45-35, game over! Sam dressed for the occasion the next day at school.

Now listen...some of my dearest friends are OU grads and fans, even if they do call me minutes before the game and blare Boomer Sooner in my ear. I love Aggies, too, and even have a few in the family. But, there is something about orange that sends chills up my spine, to this day. Maybe that's why I may spend that $5o for a pumpkin yet. (Not really, Keith!) Oh, the simple pleasures!

(Pic snapped by my friend Kristie and shows view of legs of Sam Shrull and Will and Jake Van Hoozer after volleyball practice one Saturday. Can you guess which shorts belong to who? Clue: Kristie was the caller that graced my ears with the OU fight song! )