It's Happened

That's right, I'm now an embarrassment to my 3-year old son.

Last week:

Me: "Kai, can I have a hug?"

Kai: Nods.

Me: "Biiiiiigggg hugggg!" I finished off with a nice big kiss on the cheek.

Kai: An enthusiastic and resounding, "YUCK!"

Where did he even learn that???

It was a sad day in the Cherri household.

Big News!

Well, I guess I should post this on my blog.

Shawn and I have finally set a date to return home to the States. He has to be back in the States for an interview process with a fire department in Oregon the first week of March. Because of that, we will be leaving just a bit sooner than anticipated--March 1st.

We are so excited about moving back to the US. It has been a very interesting and meaningful experience living here, but we're ready to go home.

By Popular Demand

People have been asking for belly shots to show my expanding waistline. Sooooooo here they are......

This is me today, at a day shy of 14 weeks.

We are the Champions!

Okay, so really they were second place. This weekend Shawn was in the NSA Bahrain MLK Memorial Basketball Tournament. Here is the team he coached, "The Hustlers."

Our Babies

Quinn all dressed up....but still no hair!

Asleep in her car seat.

Kai in his car seat.

Trying to get the camera!

Stomach Flu Blues

Thursday evening and Friday morning, Kai had a touch of the stomach flu but seemed otherwise fine. Saturday when Shawn and I got back, Quinn looked a little bit peaked, but didn't have any fever or anything. Kai had recovered and was back to his boisterous self, minus his usual appetite. Around 9 or so, Quinn started throwing up and after it seemed to get worse, we were worried about dehydration.

Shawn took her into the ER near our house and they admitted little Quinn to the hospital. Above is a picture of her in her hospital bed. We ended up trading out in shifts. Once Quinn started getting IV fluids, she got much better. By midday, she was her usual, happy, rowdy self. That evening, we all finally went home.

Fast forward to Tuesday evening. I was sick. Wednesday Shawn and I stayed in bed pretty much all day.

Now, we're all on the mend and our household is getting back on track.

Desert Safari

The second day in Dubai, we went shopping in the morning, then were picked up for our Desert Safari. We drove over the sand dunes of Dubai and crazy speeds, fearful for our lives, but having a good time.

A picture from the back window of our car. Note the other safari-goers in the caravan following. The Arabic text on the window reads, "Ma'shallah" which means basically, "praise be to Allah." It's a very common bumper sticker.

Shawn is at the top of the sand dune of our little desert safari village trying to sandboard down the dune.

Shawn getting the sand out of his shoes at camp.

It's a very blurry photo, but on the ground on the green stage, Shawn is bouncing a cane off of his abdomen. There was a belly dancing show after dinner at the desert safari. Shawn and a few other men got pulled up on stage by the belly dancer and she was trying to get them to belly dance. The other two guys didn't really fare so hot, only managing to look utterly ridiculous and making the crowd laugh. Shawn, on the other hand, just shook his belly and butt like a belly dancer. The crowd thought he was hilarious, gave him lots of applause and laugther, and one Arab woman yelled "YIYIYIYIYIYIYI!" (It's a strange thing they do. I guess you'd have to hear it to know what I'm talking about.) Anyway, right before the desert safari, our camera battery started to die, so unfortunately, I couldn't get more pictures.

Skiing in Dubai

After checking into our hotel, our first stop was to the Mall of the Emirates. We split an appetizer at Chili's, then went to Ski Dubai. Shawn had never been skiing before (only snowboarding), but since he is pretty athletic, I thought he would do just fine. I was a little worried about myself, though, considering my "interesting" performance when Celeste and I went in October.

I guess when I'm with Shawn, I get a little bit competitive. With Shawn watching me, I managed to remarkably improve over the skiing abilities I displayed with my sister. Plus, the baby slopes were closed and I didn't get to practice on them the day Shawn and I went. I just had to wing it.

We had a ski pass for two hours and had a blast!

A view from the middle of the medium slope.

Our skis on the lift.

Me trying to decide whether or not I should really attempt the big slope.

Me skiing down the hill.

Going to Dubai Again

Shawn and I wanted to go to Dubai together before we left the Middle East, so our anniversary gave us the perfect excuse to go. During our trip there, we skiied at Ski Dubai.


Me putting my skis on .

Getting my chapstick fix before hitting the slope.

Shawn on the ski slope.

Just Hanging Out

Quinn silently protesting her winter wear.

Quinn walking!

Kai using an earplug for some strange reason.

Kai and Quinn hitch a ride together in a double-seated grocery cart!

Finding a Pearl

About three weeks ago, Shawn decided to go snorkeling at the beach near our house. As he approached the beach, he noticed some older women picking up something out of the sand and throwing them in bags. They were oysters. So he got the idea to take some home and try to open them up to look for pearls.

For those of you who don't know, Bahrain used to be one of the largest pearl producers in the world. They produce real, all-natural pearls. You can take pearl diving tours around the island where you get to keep what you can find.

Here is the pile of oysters Shawn found washed up on the beach.

Opening the shells.

At last! A pearl. In all those oysters, this is the only one he found.

Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today, Shawn and I got married. It was one of the best times of my life. We had a wedding where we met--on our family's land. It was such a wonderful event, with all of our family there to share in our joy.

Us with our family on our wedding day--one of my favorite pictures.

THE Kiss. Check out those "unity torches." So much better than unity candles. You were right, Mom.

Us with our wild bridal party. Note we're related to all of them! What does that say about us??