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Father's Day and Life

We are wrapping things up around here for the summer.  Praise God we
made it through the sandstorms!  We had constant winds and sand for
over 2 weeks and off and on for 2 months before that.  It made
playing outside difficult and swimming wasn't fun because the pools
were too dirty!  There was a break in the weather and we can see the
clear blue sky now with no brown haze on the horizon.  It's soooo
nice!!!  
Thankfully, we are on the final countdown now with only 7 sleeps to
go and Isaiah keeps telling us how he wants to get on a plane and fly
to America and go to 'tucky (and Tennessee, Mimi. It's just too hard
for him to say still).  Ben and I are wholeheartedly agreeing with
him all 999 times a day that he says it.  
We are managing to finish much more strongly than I thought we would
this summer because we've had a "guest under the stairs" keeping us
entertained for the last week, the boys have had a summer program at
school, and the haze kept the temperatures down a little.  As for our
guest, we sent Natalie and the kids back to California but Dave had
to stay and finish up some stuff so he has been sleeping under our
stairs!  We are calling him the "guest under the stairs" or "Dave in
the Cave."  Having him here has sure helped this last week go
quickly!  It's too bad he is heading out tomorrow but I am glad we
still will have another family in country with us for the final
week. I am sure we'll be seeing a lot of them! In the previous
summers we've been 'left behind' in the great exodus in the summer
months. However, this summer has been different and we are soooo
thankful!
The pictures are:
1-Isaac 'belted' into a chair at a restaurant that had no high
chairs. He wasn't too pleased, as you can see.
2-Isaiah reading a book at the same restaurant. We rarely go to
restaurants without play areas or ones that don't give paper and
crayons upon entering. However, on Father's Day we tried a Malaysian
restaurant in the Souq and they apparently don't expect kids there at
all. However, the service was fast and the food was different so we
had an enjoyable time. It helped that we got fresh juice and ice
cream just across the sidewalk afterwards!
3-The last 3 pics are at Bennigan's outside playground. You can see
the sand floating in the air from all the haze and storms we had but
that didn't stop the kids (including Ben) that night. The
temperature was actually not bad b/c the haze kept it down a bit and
we were able to enjoy the playground before and after dinner. Aren't
Isaiah and Ana cute?
4-Dave in his cave!

School's Out, Teachers Let the Monkeys Out!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, BEN!

We sent off some of our dearest friends to move to Kuwait this
morning and I was so distracted that I almost let Father's Day go
unnoticed in our house. I feel terrible about it. Ben is so amazing
at doing so many things with our boys! I am posting a few pictures
here to honor him for his amazing ability at being a dad (not to
mention a great husband and best friend)! I cannot wait to see how
he is with our Baby Girl due in October!

Hey! Did you hear?

We're having a baby sister!

Makin' it...

Sorry for the major delay in a new post. I have become one of those
who didn't update for over a month. I can't believe it. Oh well,
here we are again. This last month has been a bit of a challenge
since we've all been sick at least once and some of us more than
twice! We are asking God for the same divine health the Israelites
had wandering in the desert for so many years! I mean, we are God's
people and aren't we wandering in the desert as well? Anyway, you
can pray with us for SLEEP IN THE CRACE HOUSE! I am going to find
some pictures to post but right now I don't even know where our
camera is so I'll have to do that another time.

We are on the countdown to leaving Qatar for the summer and, as
usual, traveling to the U.S. can't come soon enough! Okay, not the
actual travel part but the being back with family part! We cannot
wait to meet our newest niece, Bella. It's hard to believe Rebekah
and Cody are now parents! I say that not because they aren't the kid
type b/c anyone who knows them knows they are the kid type! I say
that b/c I've known Rebekah since she was 10 and last summer she got
married and this summer she is a mommy! Yikes

Well, thanks for listening to me ramble here. Check back for
pictures later!