Blog 2 Print

I started this blog in January of 2012 with several motivating factors in mind:

Factor Number One: I thought it would be a great way to keep all of our friends and family in the loop of what was going on in our lives here in Saudi.  It was beginning to get very time consuming and difficult to email everyone with pictures of Savannah, so blogging became an easy solution.  Everyone could go to the same place to check out the latest news and pictures.  

Factor Number Two:  Several of my close friends here in Saudi have had blogs for years prior to moving.  When they moved here I saw not only how they were able to keep their families updated on their lives, but I also discovered a really cool product that they both used.   There is a company called Blog2Print that can create a book from the blog posts that you create.  It is literally as simple as typing in the address of your blog and setting a few specifications on the time frames you would like the book to include.   You do all of this online and boom.... a few weeks later your book arrives in the mail.  I am not a scrapbooker,  I tried to pick it up in high school and hated it.  I have done photo books in the past and enjoy those immensely, but was never able to explain what was going on in the pictures as much as I would have liked.  A blog book sounded like a great product and a solution to having a way to document what is going on in our lives.  Some of you may wonder why I post some of the stories I post because they may be completely uninteresting or so trivial that it doesn't seem important, but it is part of our lives here and something that I want our family to remember and I knew that I wanted to create a book.

Those two factors set me out on a journey to try to blog for an entire year. Our website www.brentandlaurarailey.blogspot.com was created!  My goal was to try to get at least four posts done a month and include the highlights of what was going on in our lives as well as some of the fun things of every day life.  Sixty-two blog posts later, I reached my goal for 2012.  I had actually documented our year!  You have no idea how impressed and pleased with myself I am!  For someone who doesn't scrapbook and has a hard time doing a photo book, I felt entirely accomplished!

I knew that I wanted to create a book, so I asked my friends for their advice and they reminded me which website they used.  I also lucked out with a 15% off coupon too!  Thirty minutes after opening their webpage, I place my order our first blog book.  Two weeks later, it arrived at Brent's office and he brought it home.  I AM SOOO PLEASED!  It turned out beautifully!  I am so thankful that our family will have a physical book to look back and reminisce about 2012!   I love the idea that long after I am gone, my children will be able to look back at the pictures and words that I wrote to them and the blessed life the Lord gave us together!  I plan to hopefully continue this tradition and create a book for each year of the blog.

So, if you find yourself wanting to create some tangible memory book for your family and you like the idea of blogging, a blog book is a great way to do it!  :)

Want to have a peak at our book?  Here it is.......

The front of our blog book.

Inside the book!

Dubai 2013- Day 3 and 4

After a great day at the mall, we totally switched gears and headed out to the Atlantis resort on the other side of Dubai.  Have you ever heard about that island they built in the shape of a palm tree?  The Atlantis resort is at the very farthest tip of the palm and that's where we spent the next two days!

After checking into the hotel, we got settled in, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed out for fun!  The Atlantis hotel has some incredible amenities- multiple restaurants, an indoor aquarium, a beach, multiple pools, and a WATER PARK!  I honestly can't remember the last time I have been to a water park so I was looking forward to it.  :)  We found the kids area of the park and hung out there for the rest of the afternoon.  Savannah seemed to enjoy herself about 70% of the time, but was very unsure about certain areas of it.  She has a very cautious personality by nature, and unfortunately she got splashed a few too many times to make it a total success.  All in all, it wasn't a bad first run at a water park and I'm so glad we got a chance to do it!  

Needless to say our little pumpkin was pooped after a few hours...

Fell asleep on Daddy!

That night we had a delicious Italian dinner with our friends and dessert....COLD STONE ICE CREAM!  Brent also found an ATM that paid out in gold coins, bars, and jewelry- seriously, I'm not kidding!

The Whole Gang!

Family picture!

Gold to Go!

Ahhh!  Heavenly!

The next day we decided to do something a little different.  We rented a cabana on the beach and decided to let the kids play there for the majority of the day.  THIS WAS AWESOME!  The last time Savannah had been to a beach was last fall, so she didn't really remember what it was like.  She was very uncertain at first, but quickly warmed up to the sand and the water!  We had the most wonderful day together with the kids playing at the beach!  

Hmm, what is this stuff?

This is cool!

Family shot with downtown Dubai in the background.

Sweet girl!

This is FUN! 

Dads and the kids! 

Queen of the mountain!

All the kids piled up on the hammock with Lindsey.

Sperling Family

Throughout the day, the adults also took turns going to the water park.  The guys went together in the morning while the moms stayed with the kids and then we took our turn after lunch.  I was 18 weeks pregnant when we went, so I was mindful of being careful with our newest addition, but was able to ride several of the water rides.  Before you freak out- I promise it was nothing crazy or even remotely dangerous!  My sweet friends Stephanie and Lindsey were so patient and kind with me checking things out before I'd ride.  :)  They were totally willing to do all of the "wimpy" rides with me like the very exciting Lazy River!  One of the "slides" took us a quick meander underneath/inside the aquarium.  It was really cool to go zipping along the fish!

All in all it was an absolutely fantastic day!

Standing in front of the iconic Atlantis arch!

While we were planning the trip, the adults decided to try to have an adult only dinner.  The Atlantis offers a nanny service where a sweet little lady will come to your room and watch your kids while you enjoy the resort.  I was a bit nervous at first, but decided that if we did this around bed time I'd be comfortable with it.  That night our nanny showed up, headed out to the Seafire Steakhouse for an adult only dinner.  We had a great time with our friends and really enjoyed a special dinner together!

First belly shot of the pregnancy- 18 weeks

When we got back to our room sweet Savannah was sound asleep and everything had gone off without a hitch!

The next day was checkout day, but we weren't leaving until later that afternoon so we took the opportunity to make a quick trip to the pool.  Savannah didn't care for the adult pool, but she had a great time exploring the kids pool!

View of the pool area from our room.

After a few hours at the pool we got cleaned up, checked out of our room, grabbed some lunch, and tried to go to the aquarium.  Unfortunately, Savannah had had enough sight seeing at this point, so the aquarium didn't last long.  She was more interested in visiting the gift shop!  LOL!  We did let her pick out a little stuffed fish that she LOVES!

Overall, the Atlantis was an AMAZING getaway!  Brent and I had done two trips to Dubai prior to Savannah's birth and hadn't ever given Atlantis much thought.  Boy were we wrong!  It is a wonderful place for old and young!  It truly has something for everyone, but I know I enjoyed it even more because we were able to share such a special place with Savannah!

As we left the Atlantis, we got one last group picture in front of the massive sculpture that is in the lobby.

What else can I say?  It was an amazing trip and I'm so thankful we were able to share it with some awesome friends- a definite highlight to our Saudi experience!

Dubai 2013- Day 1 and Day 2

Early last fall, my friends here on the compound came up with an awesome idea of taking a group trip together to Dubai, kids and all.  We all loved the idea, but when it came down to it, that many of us taking a few days of vacation at the same time was going to be a challenge to pull off; however, after much discussion, changing dates, and time, we made arrangements to go.  We joined the Sperlings and the Perrys for a four day trip to the UAE to Dubai.  All in all, we were a party that consisted of six adults and five kids.  All of the booking credit goes to Stephanie Sperling for finding all of our lodging/flights and getting things arranged.

We rendezvoused with our friends at the Damman airport on Monday, March 11th and headed out to Dubai.  It was quite comical to watch all of the kids play at the airport and get ready to go on the airplane.

Grabbing a bite to eat before going through security!

The adults waiting for the plane.  

Savannah and Gavin looking out the window trying to see the airplane.

We finally arrived in Dubai late that night and got settled into our hotel room.  Our hotel was right next to the Mall of Dubai and the adjoining Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.  When we looked out the window of our room we caught the last two minutes of the Dubai Mall fountain show.  Savannah was fascinated!  Our hotel ran out of baby beds that night, and delivered a twin bed for Savannah to sleep in.  After butting it up next to our bed and surrounding the other sides with chairs we finally got our sweet pea to bed.  She wasn't sure about it at first, but eventually exhaustion took over.

The next morning we met our friends and walked to the Dubai Mall.  On our way we posed for a quick picture of all of us in front of the Burj Khalifa.  We had a good laugh because we looked like the Baby Jogger stroller convention!

The Perrys, The Sperlings, The Raileys

When we got to the mall we split up and headed in separate directions before lunch.  Brent and I took Savannah to check out a few of the highlights around the mall for kids.  One of the most impressive sights is the indoor aquarium that is three stories tall!  Savannah loves fish, so we had really been looking forward to showing her this.

We then found a great indoor kids play area.  Most of the games and rides were geared towards older children but Savannah found a car that she liked sitting in.

We caught up with our friends for a delicious lunch at Potbellys- boy was it good!  Then we split up guys and girls and did some shopping around the mall.

That night we ate dinner at PF Changs-DELICIOUS!  Two awesome treats from home!  After dinner Brent chased Savannah around the waterway.  She had a blast!

 

After dinner we caught the fountain show right outside of the mall.  These fountains are absolutely incredible!  The fountains are choreographed to music and are a stunning sight to see.  According to Wikipedia, the fountains cover a 30 acre area (yes, they are HUGE) and can shoot water up to 500 feet in the air!  During our previous trips to Dubai we have always enjoyed seeing the fountain shows and Savannah really enjoyed them!

A bit of a funny picture of all of us in front of the fountains.

Brent's shot of the Burj Khalifa at night.

I didn't snap any pictures of the fountains during the show because I just wanted to watch Savannah take it all in.  :)  Once we returned to our hotel room, another show was about to start, so Savannah watched it from the window.  I was able to get a couple shots of that.  :)

It was a great way to end the day!

The Backyard Fence

Savannah loves being outside and with the weather being so nice in the Spring, we try to get her out for a good while every day.  Our villa here in Saudi has a great little backyard for her to play in.   She got a water table and a slide for Christmas, so she has really enjoyed making good use of them.  The one downside to our backyard is that it wasn't gated and is about 100 yards from the playground.

After two trips to the playground, Savannah had memorized the path that she needed to take to get to the fun!  While I loved the fact that she wanted to play on the playground, we weren't always able to go when she wanted to because of various factors.  There were many nights when we wanted her to play in our backyard, but soon found ourselves chasing her down the sidewalk as she was booking it towards the playground.  As you can imagine, our 20 month old did not appreciate being brought back into the backyard instead of going to the playground.  We soon found ourselves starting to avoid going in the backyard because we didn't want to have to disappoint her.  As soon as I realized this, I decided to contact our compound about putting in a fence.  Several of our friends have also had fences put in at their villas, and the time had come for us to do it to.

At the beginning of March, the workers came and measured the gaps in the hedge, and built the fencing.  A few days later they installed a beautiful white picket fence complete with a swinging gate.  IT IS WONDERFUL!!!  The first time Savannah went outside after it was installed, she walked up to the fence, looked back at me slightly confused, and then found something to play with in the yard.  No fuss, and no fight.  We are now able to go into the backyard, enjoy the back deck, and play with Savannah without constantly trying to chase her back into the yard.  All of us have thoroughly appreciated the new addition to the yard!  I should also take a moment to brag on our compound.  They do an amazing job of trying to meet the needs of their residents.  I am so thankful for the job that each worker puts in for us every day!   We are truly blessed to live in Murjan Village!  :)

The back fencing and gate.

One of the side fences