Christmas in the Kingdom!

As I've said before, Christmas 2012 was spent entirely in KSA, and for those of you who know me, you are aware that it is seriously my favorite time of year.  Having a toddler has added a whole new dimension of "specialness" for me and I wanted to savor each moment with Savannah and Brent.

Every day we tuned in to a Houston radio station that plays 24 hours of Christmas music via the internet.  We also introduced Savannah to "Charlie Brown Christmas" and she became a big fan of the music.  I worked for weeks on ordering her presents and making sure that they arrived in time for the big day!

Christmas Eve was spent with some close friends reflecting on the real reason for the season.  Celebrating on this side of the world gives you a whole new perspective on what is really important in life and eternity.  Praise God for His gift that He sent that Christmas day over two thousand years ago!

When we came home that night, Brent had the father's job of putting together some of Savannah's presents.  While he did a great job, we both did a lot of laughing, because putting things together is never as easy as it should be.  I think we will start a few days in advance next year!  :)

Christmas Day was on a Tuesday this year, which is a workday for Brent.  Since Christmas isn't a holiday in Saudi, he still had to go to work, but was able to go in late so we could open presents with Savannah.  We got our sweet girl up, fixed her hair, fed her breakfast, and were ready for the presents to be opened!  I think we were more excited than she was!

Christmas Breakfast

The tree and presents!

At first Savannah immediately darted to her big presents that weren't wrapped.  She knew those were toys and that she wanted to play with them.  When it came time to open the wrapped presents, she wasn't quite sure what to do with the paper, but she got the hang of it really quickly.  Now when she sees any present she wants to open it- whether it's for her or not.

Immediately checking out her first present from Grandmommy.

Our Christmas angel!

We love you Savannah!

Daddy showing Savannah how her toy works.

I love the looks on their faces! Who is having the most fun here?  Thanks for the present Grandmommy!

Standing at the top of her slide!

This is cool Mom!

Opening her book 

Loving on the bear that her Play School teacher got her.  :)

Daddy helping her get settled in her cozy coupe from Grandmommy.

I'm ready to go!

We had such a wonderful morning together!  Savannah and I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon together playing with her toys and skyping and facetimeing with family back in the States!  Thank the Lord for technology because it makes the distance between countries feel so much smaller!

That evening we went over to our friends the Perry's house for gumbo.  All of our friends that were in Saudi for Christmas gathered together and we enjoyed great food and great company.  We are so thankful for our "Saudi Family" that is here for us when we can't be with our family back home.

We were actually able to get all of the kids to sit together on the couch for a picture!

However, a good picture of the kids comes with a price...... here's what was going on behind the camera with all the adults....

Now you can understand why we were able to get that picture!

Heather, Me, Cherie, Lindsey, and Amber-  All the Moms

Matt

Savannah singing twinkle twinkle.

All the adults- our wonderful Saudi family!
Brent and I , Daniel and Amber, Brooks and Lindsey, Dan and Heather, Matt and Cherie

It was a Christmas like we've never experienced, but one that will go down in the books as very special, wonderful, and memorable.  We are so thankful to God for all that he has blessed us with, our friends and family!  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Party at the McGuires!

Christmas time for the Railey family was a bit different this year because we were going to spend the entire holiday season in Saudi. We started out celebrating, when our friends the McGuires hosted a Christmas dinner.  The McGuires have been our close friends since Brent and I moved to Saudi.  I met this wonderful family at school (they are both teachers there), and we became fast friends.  We are truly thankful that the Lord brought them into our lives.  We have enjoyed watching each others families grow and our kids grow up together.

In usual McGuire fashion, the food was absolutely fantastic and we had the most wonderful time hanging out with them and the Fiemsters.  :)  Savannah and the Aden were decked out in the Christmas best, and had a great time playing together.

Sweet Aden

Sweet Savy

Tara, Me & Luke, and Heather-  All the Moms 

Aden the acrobat!

The best picture we could get of the two kids sitting on the couch together.  :)

This is what all of the other pictures that we tried to take looked like

Playing under the glass coffee table

I don't want to go home Mommy!

It was a great Christmas party and a wonderful way to start getting into the Christmas spirit here in the Kingdom!  :)

Happy Birthday to a Great Hubby and Father

On December 15th, we celebrated Brent's birthday with friends here on the compound.  We had a fantastic time celebrating with our friends.  After the dishes were washed, the toys put away, and the last guest had left, I started thinking to myself....... Man, I'm seriously blessed.

For almost seven years, the Lord has blessed me with the most wonderful husband!  Nearly nine years ago, I visited a church in Baton Rouge, and I could have never imagined that I would meet my future man that night.  I remember thinking that this guy was pretty hot and being impressed by his obvious love for the Lord and intellectual prowess.  Years later, those qualities are still as strong as ever, but I have come to fully understand what a wonderful man he is.  Not only is he hot, Godly, and smart- he is exactly what the Lord knew I needed, even when I didn't.

Two domestic moves, one international move, and one amazing child later, Brent continues to bless my life.   Each night after work, he comes home and amazes me with his daddy skills.  I've never seen a better father!

Brent, thank you for working so hard for our family and loving us even more.  We appreciate you so much, and are so thankful for you.  Savannah and I can't wait for many more years to come!  We LOVE you!

Happy birthday Brent!

Christmas Photo Shoot

If you know me well, you are aware that I love pictures of my family and my child (for goodness sakes, look at my blog)!  Every year as Christmas rolls around, I genuinely look forward to snapping that perfect picture that will go on the Christmas card we send out.  Since having Savannah this has become even more special because it also documents our sweet little girl and how she has changed.  :)  Here is last year's family picture....

Several months ago I scheduled a wonderful photographer named Che Acord to take pictures of us in Novemember.  If you remember from my previous posts, we were sick most of the month of November.  The week of the photo shoot I had been sick as a dog, Brent was getting better, and Savannah had been spared thus far.  The big day of the photo shoot rolled around and Savannah woke up with a high fever, which turned out to be a double ear infection and our flu stuff.  Our sweet photographer kindly rescheduled us to take pictures the next weekend.  My hopes for some good pictures were still alive!

The next weekend rolled around and both Brent and I were better, and Savannah was mostly better.  We put Savy down for her nap (we were going to take pictures right after she woke up) and what is usually at least a two hour nap turned in to a measly 45 minute nap.  Are you kidding me?  Seriously?  Well, the show must go on.  We got decked out in our outfits and Che came over with her camera.  As soon as we got outside, all Savannah wanted to do was walk around herself and do her own thing.

We got to a nice green patch of grass and started taking pictures.  The light and the temperature were perfect, but it was CRAZY windy! Savannah was cranky and not nearly as smiley as she usually is.  She was perfectly fine with taking pictures by herself, but the minute we tried to get a family shot she was upset!  She wanted to move!  Che was SO patient and willing to do anything to capture Savannah's attention or pull a smile out of her.  I think at one point, all three adults were dancing, doing the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and singing If You're Happy and You Know It. It must have been quite the sight!
At the end of the session, I secretly thought to myself, "I'll be happy it we get even one good shot out of this."

Oh me of little faith!

On Wednesday night we got our proofs back...........HOLY COW!!!!!  I emailed Che back and asked her how in the world she was able to capture such AMAZING images with the crazy session we had.  THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!  I was sooooo excited to have such wonderful treasures of our sweet girl and our family!

I have to give a public major thank you to Che Acord for her amazing work!  If you live in Jubail or Khobar and need a photographer that knows how to patiently work with kids (even the cranky ones) to produce beautiful images, she's your girl!  Click here to go to her photography website.

Here are the pictures....