That is what big brother's do

Julien decided to teach Logan how to make eggs this morning, 

"because that is what big brother's do" he said. It was quite cute!

Cooking away!

Julien made sure to teach Logan that after cooking and making a mess in the kitchen you must clean up.  Julien made sure that Logan got the funnest part of the cooking experience, cleaning up!

Watermelon picking

Jon really wanted to buy a watermelon from one of the street vendors so we stopped. I could not go with him since I did not have my abaya on so our driver Radish said that he would go help him pick a good one, and help him bargain for a good price. It was so funny watching them put their ear to the watermelons knocking, trying to find the BEST watermelon. They actually picked a pretty good one!

Saudi compounds

Not sure if I talked about this before, but in Saudi most westerners live in compounds. 

The compounds are usually fully surrounded by walls with barb wire on top. There are guards at every gate checking cars and ID's of the passengers. This is done for security reasons.

At first it was quite intimidating, but after a while we got use to it and it just felt natural.

I will say that I have never felt unsafe living in Saudi. In fact, I feel quite safe.

Our beautiful oasis of a compound!

I must say, having drivers is quite handy! 

Having an extra set of hands to carry kids or groceries is nice...

This is our Friday driver, Mr Muhammed Muneer.

Happy Father's Day!

For Father's Day, Julien and Logan made Jon his very own junk food cake.

They did a good job! It looked good, and Jon really liked it!

Surprised! Happy Father's day to Jon!

Eden's first father's day card!

Jon does so much for our family. 

He is a very good dad to Julien, Logan, Kia Ora, and Eden. 

We are so blessed to have him in our lives.

I am also grateful for my dad. He is an amazing person. He is smart, knowledgeable, wise, and has a cute sense of humor. He is very caring an will always be the first to help anyone in need wether or not they ask for help. I love him very much!

Nerf Wars

What do you do when it is 120 degrees outside?!? Well you have fun inside! 

Alex is a high school GRAD!

Today my youngest brother Alex graduated from High School with high honors! This kid is such a hard worker and such an amazing young men. I am so proud of him and am so blessed to have him as a sibling and amazing uncle to my children,

Way to Go Alex! We are all so proud of you! 

A Beautiful Garden for Me

One of the reasons I absolutely love this compound is because it is so green (for Saudi that is); full of trees, bushes, and flowers. The gardeners do a very good job landscaping, and keeping the plants nice and green.

One of the gardeners Cowza (not sure if that is how you spell is name) told me that he would like to landscape the area in front of our villa.  He created the cutest little garden, with sunflowers, aloe plants, and a vine archway over a cute little path. 

I loved it! And so did everybody else on the compound!

Kiki liked to help Cowza watering the garden and planting flowers.

Bus Duty

My friend Abby

In addition to the Collins family, we have been so lucky to have our other good friends James and Stacy here in Saudi with us. Stacy and I have been friends for close to 3 years, and Jon and James have been friends/ co-workers since we moved to Texas. Kiki and little Abby (Stacy and James' daughter) are the best of friends. It is so cute to watch them play. They always have to give each other at least 2 hugs every time they say goodbye.