What a difference a year makes.

How did it get to be February already?

I've barely put the Christmas decorations away and here it is February already.  While Australia is being battered with bushfires, heatwaves, floods and tornados we are enjoying the coolest winter we have had in the Middle East. 

The girls have never seen fog, or frog as they often call it.  Most mornings for the past two weeks have been very thick fog. Photos of fog are difficult because well, its foggy!  But I love this image of Dubai in the fog. 

2012 Al Dhafra Camel Festival

I won't bore you with a million camel photos from the camel festival.  We went to this festival two years ago with Laura and had a fabulous time so we saw it was on again while Renee and Gerhard were with us.  Bert had hired a van to get around in while they were here so we headed off into the desert to the camel festival.

We had fun, it was smaller than last time we were there, probably because it was mid week but it was still great.  This picture is my favorite from the day. 

I will try and include a map just to show how remote an area this camel festival is.  You drive to the middle of nowhere (Madinat Zayed) then go about 20 kms past it, turn left and drive about 5kms into the sand and you are there.  The middle of nowhere.            camel festival in the middle of nowhere.

And so that was Christmas!

We had a fabulous Christmas 2012.  Our friends Renee and Gerhard Plenert came from Saudi where they are temporarily staying to celebrate with us.  Saudi is not exactly a hot spot for Christmas cheer.

In addition to the great company, it was the girls first Christmas.  Last year they think they got a postcard, and they have told me Christmas was so great because they got a bottle of coke and an orange. 

We tried to keep it as low key as possible so as not to overwhelm them but in the days leading up to the big day there were a steady stream of friends and neighbours arriving with gifts for girls until we had an enormous pile of gifts under the tree. 

Tamirie singing away in a manger at the church Christmas eve programme  She did great, we were worried she was going to turn it into the first ever song and dance rendition

Christmas eve, good friends and German food.  What's not to love?

 

Helen and Rose, opening their presents, their first ever mobile phone

I love this photo. Tamirie is just such a joy of a child.  Always full of smiles and fun.  This is her gift to her Dad, a water pistol.  We thought it would be a great new discipline method and Tamirie seems to agree.  

 

I'm back.

A lot has happened since May when I last posted and each time I went to post it was all too big to put into one small update. 

These three girls explain my absence online.  Helen on the left Rose on the right and Tamirie in the front are the new additions to our family.  Bert and I legally adopted them from Ethiopia on July 18th 2012.  It has been an "interesting" six months getting them settled and we still have a very long way to go.  However, when I consider 6 months ago these girls had never eaten with a knife and fork, never seen hot water come out of a tap, and they could speak no english... I am amazed at how far they have come. 

I have promised my lovely friend Renee that I will update more often, so watch this space!

why are we still here?

because making the blog private did not go how I expected it to!  So its in the too hard basket for now.  We are home from a fabulous ten days or so in Germany and Austria.  The weather was perfect.  The lilacs were in full bloom everywhere, chestnut trees were in flower and everywhere is so GREEN! 

We stayed in a 600 year old guest house run by a guy Bert went to school with.  People in these parts don't seem to move far from home.

                                                           lilacs in bloom everywhere

                                                   chestnut trees in full bloom

goodbye, farewell, Auf Wiedersehem!

We are about to embark on a new and exciting phase in our life.  You are welcome to join us and follow our journey but for reasons that will become clear it needs to be done in a private blog.  As I said you are most welcome to join the new blog(in a week or so once Ive got it organised ) but you need to email me your email address and who you are and I shall give you access.

We are off to Germany and Austria for a few days break, I shall do this when we return.

Email us at bankdschmid@gmail.com