Our Painted and Decorated Villa

We had our villa painted.  Our maid's husband started painting in May before we left for the summer.  We had them live in our villa for the summer and he was able to paint when it was convenient for him.  WOW!  What a great job he did.  I''ll post some photos.  There is a whole album on my facebook page.

This is the hallway view coming straight into our villa. The orange/red wall (on the left) is part of the foyer/entry way. On the right you can just see the back of a dining room chair. You see the stairs on the left . If you keep walking back there is a bathroom on the left and "Dave's Cave" off to the right.

At the end of the hallway is the kitchen.

The foyer/entryway room. This is our outdoor wrought iron furniture set. We brought it in for the summer. Its way to hot and sandy to sit outside right now. Abe likes to sit here and do homework, and Solomon & Triniti like to partake of snacks here.

I'm standing in the foyer looking into the front room. We've made it a living room/dining room combo. It's huge. That frees up the back room which David has made it into a theater of sorts.

Now I'm taking this photo standing directly in front of the two story window. If I point the camera up I can see into the upstairs loft room. It's where the kids mostly hang out. (TV, Wii, computer desk)

From this angle
you can see
both levels. 








Solomon and Triniti
are waving at me
from the upstairs
family room.

This next photo is is mostly to show you my abaya (the covering I wear over my clothes in public) that is hanging on the back of the front door.  I keep one on the door and one in the car.

The Kitchen

Welcome to the smallest and busiest room in the house... the kitchen

Counter space is at a premium

The yellow on this wall was WAY too bright so we had our painter to a rag painting affect with a lighter, softer yellow on top.  I really like the way it turned out.  This wall hanging is from Africa.  It is made a seeds.  David has had it since he was about 17 years old.  He had it hanging in his door room in Ivory Coast Africa, during his senior year in high school.

Last Day of School

Here is a snippet of Solomon's third grade class singing a song on the last day of school. The tall boy wearing black is Aaron, he is Solomon's best friend. His mom is the principal at my school. We visited them in Ohio just a few days before leaving the states for Saudi Arabia. That visit gave us a huge feeling of peace before the start of our great adventure.

Pool Time

Poolside BBQ

Solomon and Annika enjoying the pool

Stand by Me

Here is a 2 minute video of Abraham performing in the middle school band "Spring Concert."  This is his first year playing the trombone. Kim Butler, our band teacher, has done a fabulous job teaching these young kids to play a variety of instruments. "Thank You, Thank You."  They are playing "Stand by Me," the trombone section is strong on this song.  I love watching Abe... he is really booping out the song, looking over his shoulder at his friend Evan and the other veteran eighth grade trombone players with occasional glances at
Kim as she is conducting.   

International Day at DEMS

This is a great event at our school.  The students wear the traditional dress of their country to school. We have a parade for the parents.  That evening there is a big event for everyone with songs & dances from many of the countries at our school. The Korean costumes and dances are BEAUTIFUL!

We had a hard time coming up with "traditonal" clothing of the USA.

    

I love this photo and no matter how many times I turn this photo and save it it reverts back to a side angle

The Dunk Tank

Our school, DEMS, (Dhahran Elementary Middle School, has an annual walk-a-thon.  The students that raised money got to try to dunk our principal and vp as a reward. Here are a couple pictures of Triniti enjoying the reward with the rest of first grade. On the left she is sitting with her friend, Nika. She has made great friends on th ecompound and at school.  It has been a great first year in Saudi.  In the picture below it is Triniti's turn to try and dunk our principal, Jana Barnhouse.

Jana Barnhouse

Walk-a-Thon 2007-08



DEMS hosted it's second annual Bruce Hudson Memorial Walk-a-thon.  Boy was it a scorcher of a day, especially since we were outside from 8:30 to about 2:00 with a few moments inside.  This is an awesome event that raises money for charity.  DEMS previous principal, Bruce Hudson, passed away last year while undergoing surgery in the states.  Norma Hudson, his wife, is the superintendent of ISG, International Schools Group.  She hired us and made it possible for us to begin this awesome adventure of living and working overseas.  Here are a few pics from the day. 



Solomon at the start of the day.



  

Abraham as he passed by me.  I was walking he was not.

Triniti at the end of the day

David is passing by in the background. 
Parents joined their kids for a hot dog lunch.

Tammy cheering on her team during the relay race