Best Nine 2020

 It's that time of year again to look at some of our Best Nine pics of 2020 😀

Family Best Nine

Stingerie Girls Best Nine (x2 😉)

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December Diaries

In the final month of 2020 things started to open up here even more and we are very thankful. (Keep in mind Qatar implemented a very strict lockdown process earlier in the year that has allowed things to ease up as numbers have decreased in the country.)

1. Madi got to attend her classmate's birthday party and had such a blast!
2. We hosted Friday church with a group of friends. 
3. Part of the activity for Friday church was making a temple. Zoey liked it. 😂
4. Checking out the drive-in cinema for Peter Pan! We inflated the air mattress and stuffed pillows all around the back of the truck and it was 👌🏼
5. Teacher gifts for the girls to bring to school!
6. Checking out a new park that opened near us. 
7. Meeting up with Evelyn's class at MIA Park for a playdate!
8. The gorgeous view of downtown from the park.
9. The girls were invited to a fun Christmas party, but got distracted heading to the friend's house. 

The mom drew Christmas trees on canvases for the girls to paint and had other arts and crafts along with cookie decorating kits for them! It was so organized and fabulous and the kids had so much fun!

1. We snuck away for a boat date one Thursday when all of the kids were in school. We picked up breakfast on the way and enjoyed a relaxing morning of sunshine and great company with friends.
2. Madi and her ever-present companion during a class call. 
3. Evy and Daddy matching race car shirts. 😍
4. A couple sweet friends brought me back some American magazines to enjoy this holiday season!
5. A fabulous girls night out with these gorgeous ladies. ❤️
6. If you give a cat a box...
7. This month the Bethlehem star (the planets Saturn and Jupiter) were converging closer than they had been in the previous 800 years. We were able to see them during our camping trip in Zekreet, but then a friend lent us a telescope to use on the peak evening when the planets were the closest. It was spectacular! You could actually see the rings of Saturn through the view finder. The picture does not do it justice!
8. The picture we were able to get of the planets in close alignment. 
9. A fun evening of hot chocolate and a sad going away for a dear friend. 😢

Jason purchased kayaks a few weeks ago, but we hadn't had a chance to take them out on the water yet. We fixed that this month and met up with some friends who also kayak for a morning of fun and exploring in the Mangroves. 

We made a repeat visit to the drive-in cinema when they released new times and showings later in the month. We wore our matching Christmas pajamas and made hot chocolate bombs that everyone loved! 

When the school break started we had friends over and all made gingerbread houses! It was a great way to start getting into the Christmas festivities. 

Jason and I were spoiled with a fabulous evening out with this group of friends! It was the first date night we've had since our anniversary I think (yikes!) and such a great time catching up and enjoying the delicious food at La Mar and stunning backdrop of the city dining out on the pier. 

We had a great Christmas and we will head out to the desert for another camping trip to celebrate New Year's! It's been a fun month with great weather for spending time outdoors and I think we did a good job taking advantage of that. 😊

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Christmas 2020

 We started our Christmas morning by waking the girls so that we could video call grandparents back in the States. We are so thankful for the technology that allows us to stay connected to them and for their willingness to stay up late and be the first to wish us a Merry Christmas! 

Believe it or not (and most people fall in the latter), this is the first year that Jason and I have gotten pajamas to match the girls. They requested it multiple times last year and and I love a good matching family photo clearly so we made it happen. 😏 And of course it then had to be documented with a fun photo shoot 😂

                              

Some of this year's decor 🎄❤️

and Christmas cookie decorating!

Everyone was so good about waiting to open presents until we were done talking to family. Each girl got a fun Lego set (including me!), a stocking of small goodies, a large beanie boo (IYKYK) and a couple group gifts from us. 

After a relaxing morning we headed to a friend's house to cook our Christmas meal together and let the kids exchange presents. The meal was divine and the company was great - we are so grateful for friends like family to do life with in Doha!

We wish everyone a Merry Christmas from the entire Stingerie family (see the cats?! 😂)!!

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National Day Camping Trip in Zekreet

 There were lots of fun activities to do last year for National Day, but with covid-19 and things just starting to open up here in Doha there wasn't a lot happening. That made our decision to go camping over the long weekend an easy one and a great way to celebrate this country that we feel fortunate to call home right now. 

The girls celebrated National Day during the week at school and wore these fun outfits that I bought last minute 🤭

We headed out after school closed towards the Zekreet area. We hoped the nature reserve would have opened back up, but no such luck so we grabbed a spot we'd camped at previously.

After we got setup we took some group and family photos. I have been experimenting with my vinyl cutter more regularly and decided to make shirts for all of us that said Camping Crew. I love how they turned out and everyone was excited to wear them (even the guys 😆). 

We also let the kids have some fun posing for pics and jumping for them as well. 😉

We camped for two nights and spent our days playing in the water, mud, and then exploring the rock formations semi-close to our campsite. The kids have a ton of fun together being outdoors and we are thankful they entertain themselves and create imaginative games to play. 

Happy National Day Qatar! 🇶🇦

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Christmas Card 2020

 I absolutely love designing and mailing Christmas cards (and also receiving them!). However, being overseas it's been one of the challenges we've faced in logistics. Thankfully I found a postcard mailing service that will allow me to upload my own design, along with a spreadsheet of addresses, and take care of mailing them on our behalf. This has been the most cost-effective and seamless way of sending them and we've done it for the past few years without any issues. (I will also print a handful of cards in-country to give to people we see regularly face-to-face and send some electronically to friends in other countries). 

Here's our Christmas Card for 2020!

If you're curious to see previous years' cards here's the line-up: 2018 2017  2016  2015  2014  20132012 (A moving postcard in lieu of a Christmas card) and  2011 (along with pictures of the pre-blog cards from 2008 - 2010)

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