Time's a Flyin

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you made special memories this year. Scott & I had a very nice & different Christmas this year. We spent Christmas Eve at our friends Gael & Vince's home. There were about 60 of us! Vince made delicious gumbo & we pigged out. After Gael & Vince's celebration, we went to a candle-light vigil service at the chapel. As we entered the chapel there were two female greeters. One was a younger Asian lady & the other was an older German lady. They both greeted & welcomed us and then the German lady started telling us to go on to germandeli.com to buy excellent German food, especially the schnitzel. This was so random. Scott & I just stood there & the other greeter was shaking her head. What was hilarious was that we heard her telling more people about it. We think she had a little too much egg-nog before church. It was really funny & just so "out there." The first reading was done by a little girl, about 9-years old. I was excited because I always love it when kids participate. As she started reading, I couldn't believe my ears. She had one of the worst lisps I've heard in a long time. I wanted to run up there & cue her to keep that tongue in her mouth. Aside from the lisp she did a great job with her reading. We really like the Chaplain. The service was very nicely done & the choir was great, as were a few solos. After church, we came home & ate our Christmas meal. I made a lamb roast, potatoes, peas and yogurt sauce. It was absolutely delicious! I used my mom's lamb recipe so it couldn't have been bad even if I tried. We called our families to wish them a Merry Christmas and then went on to open our gifts. Apparently Scott & I were nice this year because we received some really nice gifts! Benny was a pretty good boy this year. He made out with a new snowman ball in his stocking. He loved it, but then again, he loves any ball we give him!

On Christmas day, we took Benny on a nice morning walk. Scott and I then went to the Gulf Hotel for a buffet brunch. It was amazing. The food was so delicious, the decorations were beautiful & the entertainment was entertaining. It was an eclectic group of people. We were surrounded by many Brits and Bahrainis. There weren't very many Americans, surprisingly. Anyhow, the food included classic middle eastern food, Thai food, Indian food, American food, & a fresh seafood buffet where you hand pick your fish and tell the cooks how you want it prepared. They then bring it out to you to eat. The breads & salads were amazing as were the desserts. I must admit that we both went overboard. It's hard not to go overboard at a buffet. I felt so gross the rest of the day that I couldn't eat dinner. The thought of it grossed me out. Scott on the other hand, had some leftover lamb. I don't know how he does it! He's so darn skinny. It drives me crazy! I weighed my self this morning & I am happy to report that I weigh the same as I did yesterday. This is good news! I bought The Biggest Loser for wii. It is literally kicking my butt! That Jillian is a real drill sargent! I will have to step it up the next week or two. There's still all the eating on New Year's Eve...ugh!

Other than a rainy Christmas Eve, the weather has been ideal. I feel like I'm in LA right now. Breezy, sunny days in the low to mid 70's. Can't get better than that. It is supposed to start cooling off into the 40's in January & February. We'll see if that happens. I'd like to wear some of the scarves I've been knitting. I'd also like to wear some sweaters & boots. Scott & I went to do some after Christmas shopping this morning. There were no sales at the mall. Oh well! We went grocery shopping instead. Today and tomorrow are days of mourning here in Bahrain. We were specifically warned to avoid certain areas due to demonstrations. Odds are very low that anything would happen, but it is better to be safe than sorry. As long as the weather cooperates, we will Take Benny to the beach tomorrow. We really like just hanging out at the beach & Benny loves playing fetch & splashing in the water.

It's hard to believe that 2009 is pretty much over. Time is really flying by. Scott & I know that every day together is a blessing. We hope that 2010 will bring all of our family and friends good health, safe days and tons of love!

p.s. I know the pictures look like they are randomly placed & that there aren't many paragraphs. All I can say is that before I publish the posting it looks perfect. Oh well. I'm just shocked I am able to write a blog at all.