Our Church

JUST CLICK THE ABOVE PICTURE AND YOU CAN SEE MANY MORE PICTURES

Above are some pictures from the past and some from the present. I ran across a few picture I haven't posted from Melinda and Dennis's trip. You will also see a few picture of Dragon Mart. I spoke about that in the past, that is were you can buy just about anything. We got some drapes from there.

Then you will see some picture of our church. I can not describe why it has been hard to get motivated to go to church here. I can just say that it is different. Our first trip to church kind of spoiled it for us because we went at the most crowded time and Camille was tired on top of that. there is no cry room, so we thought, how are we going to do this. Every time we go now it just gets easier and better. We have gone to different times and even some that were held in the hall. We have always stood in the back of the church because we have Camille in the stroller and it is so crowded. We may not be exactly on time every time, but we make it there. I posted some picture of the church and hall on the above link so check it out. What is so crazy about this place is it is located on the "churches area" this is the only area in abu dhabi that has any other religion other than Muslim. Although, right next door to the catholic church is a muslim mosque. There is also a episcopal church and a church of England. Everyone prayinga and worshiping on harmony in one block. It is pretty amazing. We are so lucky to be in a country that allows other religions to practice.

Well on Friday we went to the morning mass and then went to the Al Raha Beach Hotel were I read that they have a lunch buffet. It was fantastic. There was everything on the buffet you could imagine....lobster, crab, lamb, Indian food, Lebenese food, etc. There was even a seperate buffet for children. No, this is not like Golden Coral. It was really really nice. A view of the water, live music, even entertainment for the kids. I have pictures for you to see. Oh and the desert buffet was so beautiful. I could have ate it all.

After we ate lunch, we went to Dubai to pick up my living room drapes we ordered last weekend. Today we hung around the house and hung drapes. We booked our flights to come in for the holidays. Then we had reservations tonight to eat with some customers of Lance's who are coming in for the Formula One race, but there were running way too late for dinner. We already had a babysitter, so Lance and I ate dinner together. We had a nice and quiet evening.

So this weekend is the big Grand Prix Formula One Championship race. Courtesy of Lance's work we are going tomorrow for the final race and to see Prince in concert. The race is over 3 days and there is concerts all over the city. The city is hopping with things to do for the Formula One. I will take pics for all of you to see. I am really excitted to go and experience it. I don't know if I am as excitted to see Prince, but it should be entertaining. My babysitter, Anna, is not availabe tomorrow, so I have been in a dilema to find a babysitter. I did find someone today though and it will all work out.

Evelyn is out of school all of next week because it is the second Eid holiday for the Muslims. Many people take vacations during this week break. We thought about going somewere close, but decided to lay cool this week. We are going to take some day trips to places near by and maybe work in the garden aka flower beds.


WHAT IS DIFFERENT IN ABU DHABI: No one can own a home here except the locals, so everyone rents. Rent is very high and is paid one year in advance. To live in an appartment or villa (house) that is comparable to the average home in the US, you would spend around 200,000 AED per year which is a little less than $55,000 US.