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 😉)
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
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.)
- Madi got to attend her classmate's birthday party and had such a blast!
- We hosted Friday church with a group of friends.
- Part of the activity for Friday church was making a temple. Zoey liked it. 😂
- 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 👌🏼
- Teacher gifts for the girls to bring to school!
- Checking out a new park that opened near us.
- Meeting up with Evelyn's class at MIA Park for a playdate!
- The gorgeous view of downtown from the park.
- 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!
- 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.
- Madi and her ever-present companion during a class call.
- Evy and Daddy matching race car shirts. 😍
- A couple sweet friends brought me back some American magazines to enjoy this holiday season!
- A fabulous girls night out with these gorgeous ladies. ❤️
- If you give a cat a box...
- 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!
- The picture we were able to get of the planets in close alignment.
- 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!
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. 😊
Saturday, December 26, 2020
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!
Sunday, December 20, 2020
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 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! 🇶🇦
Sunday, December 6, 2020
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)
Read more...Monday, November 30, 2020
November Notes
November was a pretty jam-packed month for us, but with lots of fun things. We hosted the girls small {make-up} Frozen 2 party for the girls' summer birthdays, celebrated my birthday, and also co-hosted Thanksgiving with a few families. We also did some more exploring inside Doha and lots of outdoor fun!
- Madi's dress up day at school!
- The twins' dress up day at school and of course they picked Elsa and Anna. 😊
- For the first time since March, all three girls went to school together. Jason and I celebrated with a breakfast date at Marsakatara!
- The delicious spread of food and drinks. 😋
- My forever date. ❤️
- Cece having a rough day.
- The twins tackling the Frozen 2 castle we got them for their birthday.
- Our neighbors were moving and gave us this trampoline - score!
- My first adult coffee date with a friends since probably February, haha.
One Saturday morning we had free we decided to visit the Museum of Illusions. We took the metro downtown and got to the museum right when it opened. They allowed you to take off masks for pictures and the staff walked us through all of the exhibits taking pictures for us and explaining to the girls what each display was showing. The girls had an absolute ball and were amazed at the illusions! I would highly recommend visiting if you are in Doha.
- Evelyn enjoying a playdate with her school buddies (most of whom also live in our compound!).
- Sisters make the best friends. 🦄
- We headed up north to visit the Al Khor Park, a small zoo and outdoor park. The girls enjoyed seeing the animals.
- The girls with their Daddy. 😍
- Hanging upside down during a break on the bicycle track that goes around one of the malls here.
- New cup with handmade resin coaster. No drama llama.
- Jason built a fire pit this summer and we have loved using it as the weather has started cooling down.
- S'more time!
- They are basically pros at this point and we were fortunate that one of our pilot friends gifted us some American graham crackers and marshmallows.
The day after Thanksgiving we loaded up the car and headed to the Inland Sea for a night of camping. We had a good flat spot on a dune, but it was a bit crowded and ended up being quite windy during the evening. We didn't sleep super great and were woken just before sunrise when some other campers walked by our tent playing music, but we got a beautiful sunrise viewing afterwards before packing up to head home.
It's been a November full of some wonderful things and lots to be thankful for in our lives. We are looking forward to December and more time outdoors together as a family.
Read more...
Thursday, November 26, 2020
Thanksgiving!
We were very fortunate to have a group of five families get together {safely} this Thanksgiving. We did a potluck outdoors in order to be compliant with Qatar's regulations and we wore masks when inside getting food by family. It was amazing to be able to celebrate the holiday with some of o ur American friends and share what we are thankful about in our lives. It's definitely been a different year this 2020, but there is a lot of good in our lives and we are focusing on those. 😊
Happy Thanksgiving 2020! 🦃
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