We're Here!

We are HERE!!

It was a LOOOONNNGGG flight but worth it!!! We went:

Muscat - Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi - Chicago (20.05 hours)

Chicago - Cleveland

We were in Abu Dhabi waiting, waiting, waiting for our next flight. We sat at Costa and I looked up and saw Hexagons EVERYWHERE!

Here we are on the plane and Amal was so tired she was sleeping and drooling all over herself. Ali and I had so much fun with her! She is a good sport even though she hasn't seen the movies I took yet. This is Ali's cheeky smile!!

Here is Amal with my parents. My dad is pointing at the henna and making a face because he does not like henna. He doesn't see the beauty in it at all. He was humorous and nice though.

My parents again as I was giving my gift of Omani silver earrings to my Mom.

Oh. My. Gosh!!! I was so excited to see all the magazines! I bought three. I think. Maybe two. I need to see them again. It is quite different here than at home where it is just the kids and I most of the time and here there are nine of us. It is hard to get on the computer for any amount of time and/or read anything without a gazillion interruptions!! It's all good though! I am so happy to be home!

We have been trying to walk very early in the morning every morning and after dinner. My nieces want to come along and have whipped out their scooters. Ali in the back, then Sofia and then Melina all coming toward me! Amal is walking next to me.

There are certain things that I miss dearly and those are the things that I forget about over in Oman or just remember from my childhood. One of these is the Daddy Long Legs spider. Isn't he just darling!

And blackberries! Wild ones! I wanted to get these shots posted that I did not take the time to edit any of these photos; but here are blackberries all along the road. We had fun picking them.

I remember picking them with my Mom and Dad on our after dinner walks. Then, my Mom would cook them down (she got to them before I could watch) and serve my Dad a plate of them on top of cream cheese!!???

Oh, I miss all the flora and fauna. Here in the field was a lone white flower. Is it a weed? I have no idea but would presume so!

Here is a little flower peeking through the blackberries! How sweet!

Ooh, a good few.

I was determined to fill this little container.

Amal really got into picking them and they stain your skin! Here is a picture of her and my hands.

As soon as we got back to the house, we left and my Mom came and cooked them down. Isn't the color beautiful!?

On one of my outings; I found this cool 2-egg microwavable egg poacher. I thought I would give it a try and we love it. I must remember to go and get another one before we leave! Amal likes an egg on a piece of 12 grain bread. The healthy kind that South Beach allows!

Oh. My. Gosh! It IS true! They have now made a red velvet box mix! Well, you KNOW I have to try it! Wednesday will be my 45th bday and so I will make my own cake! I talked to my friend Bootsie from Texas and then we skyped eachother and she gave me her recipe for 7 minute icing. I think I will use that instead of the cream cheese icing. Yummy!

I came back from the store at some point and had my breakfast. I had a little bit of that blackberry thingy my Mom made on my toast. It was really good!

The color is so pretty. I wonder if people ever used this fruit to color or stain their clothing??

My Dad is the cook around here and he whipped up some Quesadillas for the kids. It was so good! Now, of course, I make them too but it must be the ingredients that are different and that he made them!!

On one of our outings we spotted a white male deer! He is so beautiful!

I'm home. Come on! I love sweets so I had a hankering for pie. So, my sister took me to the famous restaurant, Perkins, to see and maybe taste but I did not like anything they had. They are supposed to have a yummy breakfast.

Black cows!

We went ahead and bought our tickets for ECLIPSE!! I'm so stoked! Once a fan, always a fan!

We went to my BIL's family's house for a birthday party for one of the little ones and my crew watched the game. My dad is hard of hearing and at home; he has this cool apparatus that he puts on his head and he can hear without having to blast us out of home and hearth. Here, at Aunt Donna's, he is a bit lost even though he could see the game. Maybe he was just chilling really good. He scared me because he has 'episodes' all the time because of his heart and I thought he was going into one but he did not, thank God!

Aunt Donna had a few quilts laying around the house and this one caught my eye. It is like a Double Wedding Ring with spikes or something. She could not remember the name. I think it is stunning.

It is hand quilted and the batting is thick and fluffy. I think I use thinner batting in the Middle East as it gets so hot but because it gets so hot; we crank up the A/C so I might buy some thicker batting as it sure does feel cozy! There are hearts quilted in the middle of it.

Another deer!

Thanks for stopping by. I took some pics of my niece helping me with my hexagons. I'll post later.