Goodbye Dubai! It's been a crazy wonderful 4 months! I can't believe it's already over! I'm sad to go but excited for what's next!

Things I will miss about Dubai

1. Being around lots of different cultures

2. Maid service!! Having clean towels and trash out everyday, and sheets changed, room dusted and vaccuumed every other day!

3. The convenience of having pretty much anything right across the street at the world's largest mall!

4. Three gyms and three pools within a 2 minute walk

5. Caramel/salted popcorn at the movies

6. The wonderful friends that I have made here!!

I'm sure there is more, but that's all I can think of now!

Here are some more pictures from around town in Dubai! Enjoy!

Sheikh Zayed Road

That's Sheikh Mohammed's face on the building! You see this lots of places in Dubai!

Almost everything delivers in Dubai. This is the way the drivers get around!!

The gas stations have attendants to pump gas for you!

So hopefully you have a glimpse into life here in Dubai! I'm sad to go and leave the friends that I have made here, but I'm looking forward to being back home with family and friends! 

It's definitely a time of celebration! He is Risen! Yesterday I went to an Easter sunrise service on the beach. It was a great morning!

Some of the girls at Easter Sunrise Service!

Pastor Jim read Matthew 28 and spoke about the life and hope we can have through Jesus Christ and the fact that when we die it's not the end of our lives, it's really a beginning in a way. He shared about Winston Churchill's funeral and how he had planned every detail of his funeral requesting to have the song "Taps" played on the bugle at his funeral. "Taps" is the song that is usually played at the end of funerals or memorial services in the military. But Winston Churchill also requested they play "Reveille." This song is played to start the day in the military. He wanted to play this song as well to symbolize that death doesn't have to be the end. That because Jesus Christ died on the cross, but not only died, but that he arose again, that he defeated Satan and overcame death, that just because our life here on earth is over, that we can live in eternity with God in Heaven. That definitely is cause for celebration! At the service, they had three wooden crosses. We decorated them with flowers to symbolize the life that we can have through Christ!

Also, there were a few people who were baptized that day in the Arabian Gulf

 A friend, Scarlet, getting baptized!

Saturday night was also a great night! Some of the girls took me out to dinner. Where we were going was a surprise to me and a couple of the other girls. We finally made it to the restaurant (after a few missed turns which added about 45 minutes to our trip!!) They were going to take me to Billy Blues which is a barbecue place, but unfortunately it was closed. Apparently, it's closed every Saturday. News to us. So we went to a good tex-mex place called Cactus Cantina that was right next door! Yum!

 

I know I haven't written in a while, alot has been going on! Mason turned 6 a couple weeks ago! He had school that day so Ashlee took a chocolate cake and he had a party with all of his friends from school!

 Mason blowing out his candles!

Playing with all his friends on the playground!

After school Mason had MMA. I might have told you before, but he's really loving MMA and he tries to practice his moves with Ashlee and I and sometimes the twins! The first thing he goes for is the neck and he tries to take us down! We've told him many times that he's not supposed to fight with girls or the babies. He needs constant reminder!! For his birthday, Rod and Ashlee gave him a Nintendo DS. He opened it and said "What is it?" I guess it's good that he didn't know. But he's figured out how to play it and is on a lot!

For dinner, Mason was able to pick whatever he wanted for dinner. He picked sushi. I think that's the first time I've ever heard a 6-year-old ask for sushi for his birthday dinner! Usually it's pizza or cake, or like my nieces and nephews, IHOP!

My niece, Georgia, also just turned 6 years old. I am disappointed that I was not there, but I'll have to make it up to her when I get home! For her family celebration they went to Magic Time Machine. (Like I said, it's usually IHOP!) But I don't think she knew what she was getting into! She's a shy girl and, from what I heard, she wasn't enjoying it at first. But then my sister and her husband took her around to see all the different tables and all the waiters who were dressed as different characters. I think she enjoyed that. Then she had a beauty party with her friends another day. And she got to get her ears pierced!

Mason is on Spring Break and today he got to go to KidZania. It's an "Edutainment" Center where kids can "experience the world of adults." They have different cities and areas where they can learn different skills. They can be a pilot, dentist, doctor, race car driver, firefighter, etc. I did not go in, so I can't tell you a lot about it, but I can tell you that Mason had a lot of fun as a race car driver!! He also got to make a Coke-a-Cola. (He asked what a Coke-a-Cola was!! Mason, it's just a coke!) Here's the link to the website if you want to know more...http://www.kidzania.ae/city_tour.php?au=1

This link is to the city tour. You can click on a certain city and then you can pick a career in that city and it will show you some pictures!

This past Saturday was the World Cup. It's the big horse-racing event here in Dubai. Rod and Ashlee went and Mason, the twins, and I watched a little bit of it on TV. To start off the event, they had a fireworks display and then video screens that mimicked the glow-stick adorned dancers.

They have several races leading up to the World Cup race. Toni Braxton closed out the evening with a concert. The fashion is similar to what you saw at the royal wedding. The woman in dresses and the main focus are the hats!! Style awards are given out for best dressed couple, best dressed woman, best dressed man, and best hat! Here are a few pictures that I found of hats from this year!

These have to be my favorites! The left is the Burj Khalifa and the one on the right is obviously a horse! Very creative! I think the horse one won the best creative hat award!

You ask what does somebody win if they win the best hat category?! Oh, just to drive a Jaguar around for a year. No big deal!!



The best dressed couple with their prize!

The big winner of the night...Sheikh Mohammed. He's the Vice President of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai, is the owner of the Godolphin Racing. He puts on the World Cup race. His horse, So You Think won the big race, the World Cup.

 Sheikh Mohammed watching the races!

 Sheikh Mohammed being presented with the World Cup 









Now for the light-hearted part of the other night! The Desert Safari was fantastic! I went with a few other girls. Natasha and Brittany are best friends from South Carolina who are now living here in Dubai. And then Amy and I are both from Texas! Holla! Amy had been on a desert safari before but the other three of us hadn’t. It was also Amy’s birthday weekend so we were celebrating that as well! Our driver Hamoud, came and picked us up in a Land Cruiser with Jill and Steve (the couple I told you about in the other post) and we made our way out to the desert. We’re pretty much already in the desert but we just drove further out into the desert!! We drove to the first stop and they let us get out and take some pictures of the sand dunes. Then we headed off on the dunes! Brittany and I were stuck in the back so we got rocked around quite a bit more than everybody else!

Nat, Britt, and Amy!

When I laid in bed that night, I still felt like I was riding in the car over the dunes! You know that feeling after you spent the day at Six Flags or an amusement park riding roller coasters? That feeling that you are still going? That's how I felt! It was tough getting pictures because we were bouncing everywhere, but I tried my best!

Natasha screamed a few times and so to make it more fun, Hamoud drove a little crazier! On our way, we even saw some camels! A baby camel too!

Then more dunes! We got to stop and run around and take pictures, then we loaded back up and headed to the camp.

Amy and me

 Britt, Nat, and Amy all running in the sand!

St. Patty's Day 2012!

The camp was in Bedouin style and had tables set up all around a little platform stage area and we sat on cushions for the dinner.

Then they have a things to do around the perimeter of the camp. You can try on the abaya and the dishdash, try the Sheesha (Arabic smoking pipe), and falafel. A lady also does henna tattoos.

You could also hold a falcon. The falcon is the national bird here in the UAE.

They also had sand-boarding and camel rides outside the camp.

After a little while, the belly dancer came out! She was good, but I could go without seeing that again!!

The dinner came next; salads, Arabic bread, hummus, rice, chicken, fish, spaghetti, and more! It was a huge spread! And very good! After dinner came another dancer. I don’t know what he would be called, but he was probably the highlight of the night!

He was so good!

All of us girls!

Nat, Britt, me and Amy

Overall, I would give the Desert Safari 5-stars!! Definitely a must if you come to Dubai!

I wanted to share a video with you. It has nothing to do with Dubai. I was recently introduced to David Dunn’s music. He's a brother of a girl I went to college with. He also auditioned for The Voice this year. Unfortunately, he didn't make it. But I really like his music. This is a video of a new song off his new album that will come out tomorrow the 22nd. I love the message of the song. Check it out!