The Making of a Birthday Present!

Well it's birthday time again and we just can't believe it was two years ago we welcomed little Miss Sadie McLean into the world! Last year we had the idea to make her a little kitchen and Stephen was planning on building it from scratch. A few weeks ago I was in the market with some friends, where I set my eyes on this little tea lady stand (that were being mass produced!). Here, women use these little stands to set up their tea and coffee to sell. But our little one has her very own kitchen now! Who needs Toys R Us or Wal-Mart when we have Sooq Shabby!

The original product....

Daddy working on the sink...

Blood and sweat went into this project (look closely at his hand!)

Then off to the welder to add the shelf!


And the painting begins...

The detailing...



and then..................

The finished product... with extras and all!!!


Little Missy, happy as a clam in her new kitchen!



HAPPY BIRTHDAY Miss Sadie Mac... you are precious and thank God for giving you to us!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Happy 4th!!

Happy Birthday America!! Hope all of you had a wonderful time of cookouts and fireworks!! We sure did here in the land of sand. On the 3rd we went and had a cookout with a group of Americas and had relay races and lots of games. We enjoyed hamburgers and good fellowship. (Sadly, these pics were too large to upload.) On the morning of the 4th, we went to an International Club here that has a great pool. Sadie Mac is a little fish and LOVES the water! Some friends sent us some floaties for her and she did great swimming in them! We spent several hours there, so like many of you we got too much sun! After that we went home for naps, then headed to a friend's house for a cookout. Our plan was to enjoy a BBQ on their roof but sadly a dust storm came through which kept us indoors. But, we still had a great holiday and are thankful for the freedoms of our home country!



Little Missy heading to the pool...


(Note: Due to problems with our computer we have lots of other pics and posts we want to update you with... but we have to wait a few more weeks for our new computer to arrive. So, hang in there while we have few and far between posts; You'll get a slu of them when we start updating at the end of July!!)

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Well, it's not what we call the "most wonderful time of the year" for sure. Yes, it's Haboob (dust storm) season, when the dust and heat come swinging in and take everything by storm. There is some kind of excitement and it makes me feel like a "snow day"... we all run inside and hunker down waiting for the dust to cover everything we had cleaned the previous day. Yes, my snow days as a child were much much different... Stephen reminds me that the snow actually melts and not everything is left with a layer of a thin, brown powder. But, still there is a fun excitement. Not everyone here feels this way, but that's ok too.
We have had several night dust storms which aren't as fun because you have to wake up, close all the windows (therefore cutting off any possible breeze you had outside of your fan if the electricity is working) and just hope the storm doesn't cut the power. We have been really blessed this year with very limited power cuts!!! Keep your fingers crossed for us that this continues!
We hope you enjoy the pics of our wonderful weather. I have lived here for 2 1/2 years and never gotten pictures this good. My friend who had been here 2 weeks got them and said I could use them!! Many thanks to her!

Good Clean Dirty Fun!

A few weeks ago we had some good friends come over for dinner. They have a little girl who is only a few weeks younger than Sadie Mac and they play together great! We are so thankful for them... and their little girl! After dinner, we were talking in the living room which has windows out to our balcony. Stephen thought he noticed dirt flying (not in the sense of a sand storm...) and he peeked out there and said, "Amanda, get your camera!" This is what we found!! Too funny and too cute!


I think she started it.... ?!?!?

Um, we can explain.... ?!?!?

Planting of my life...

A few days ago, Stephen was cleaning the balcony and all he needs is a bucket of water and a squeegee. I was working on my flowers (or my garden as I like to call it!) and Sadie took a lot of interest. First, in the dirt and decided to dig in the pot of dirt and make a muddy mess. She wasn't such a fan of being covered in dirt and mud, so she decided to plop herself down in the water to clean up and I'm sure cool off. She was as happy as a little clam. My heart just smiled as I thought, well... I'm planting my life, my heart, and my children here in the sandbox. What a blessing.

She's a Dancin' Queen!

Hello everyone... I'm the Princess... Welcome to my dance party! As you can see I'm VERY HAPPY you are here... I didn't want to hold back, so I have on the full set: tutu, tiara, and princess dress! Hope you enjoy the pics!


Mr. Roboto... Rockin' out the Robot?

Now everybody FREEZE!!!

We're HOME!

We made it back in and were welcomed by dust and heat!! Temps the day before we arrived were 120, but we felt blessed that a dust storm came through and delayed our flight, but also cooled things down a bit for our arrival day. Yes, the dust all over is a bit of a trade off... but we'll take it. Arriving into our own place was so nice and just felt like "home"! The first night our water cooler wasn't working in our bedroom, so Stephen and I slept out in the living room and ended up pulling Sadie Mac out there too because her room wasn't getting cool enough either. But, my handy man fixed it so we have been sleeping comfortably (and even have been chilly because of that amazing cooler) some nights.
A few nights after we arrived, some friends got together and gave us a little "welcome home" party which was wonderful! We were so thankful to have them all come together, so the next month we're not tracking everyone down. We are thankful for not only our national relationships, but also other foreigners like ourselves. So, Sadie Mac has not only friends from here in the sandbox, but also from America, Germany, and Switzerland too!



This is my little "helper" in action. It seems now like wherever I am, she is also. Helping me unload trunks, wash dishes, or doing laundry. We're working on the "independent play" aspect in her life. She's not a big fan of it so far. She will pull on my (or Stephen's) hand and say, "C'mon"... and if we try to leave the room after she has us there, she pitches a fit. We're learning to pick and choose our battles!


Unpacking all our trunks, well, it's like Christmas... again! Several things we saved up from when our parents came. Some of this was good, and some of this wasn't so good. My mom came in Oct. and brought us Lance Crackers and I thought this would be perfect for the sandbox... a quick and easy snacks. Well, they are stale. But, I'm still enjoying them!! Can't let a little treasure like that go to waste!

Enjoying R & R

Well, before we headed down to the land of sand, we decided to enjoy a day of R&R at a hotel in Cairo. We left Alex on Thursday and within an hour of us leaving, a package we had been waiting on for Sadie Mac arrived in Alex!! Of course it did! On Thursday, we had to do a few random things in Cairo, and Friday we had planned to take the day off and enjoy the pool, sun, and time relaxing. We have some good friends brought down the package to us on Friday so we could take the goods back with us!
Friday was a good day of rest. We woke up to what we thought was going to be a rainy day... but thankfully by noon the clouds were breaking and we could lounge around. The pool was cold and Sadie Mac would hardly get in. This is a shocker because in the sea, she was shivering... but the pool, she wasn't interested. She would clap for me when I would swim under and then come up to her. This little girl is too funny!

Leavin' On A Jet Plane!

All our bags are packed we're ready to go... Sadie Mac is standing here outside our door. It will be sad to wake her up at 5:30 a.m. to let her say "good bye". But the dust is waiting in the early morn'... the taxi's waiting and of course blowing his horn... Cause we're leaving on a jet plane and we're not sure when we'll be back again!!!
So, you get the picture! We're going home to the sandbox!!! We have our bags by the door and we're excited, ready and a bit nervous about hitting the heat on Saturday morning. We have been checking the weather and it's going to be about a 40 degree temperature change for us... ugh. It's the home of dust, sand and heat... and it's also the home of the Rhynes! Ready or not, here we come!

Ready for fun in the Sun!

Somebody has been ready for summer for a while! Last week, Sadie Mac kept finding her bathing suit in her closet and insisted on putting it on for about a week or so. That weekend, we decided to see how cool the water was and how warm the sand and sun could keep us. We headed down to one of the local beaches with a picnic in hand and enjoyed the day in the sun. The weather was beautiful and the water was a little chilly, but not too cold for her and Stephen. She would dip her feet in at first, but when Stephen decided to go in... she wanted to go too. He held her in the water and after a few minutes her little teeth were chattering. But when we tried to take her out she would just cry out, "NO!!!" I have a little water bug on my hands... We built sand castles, slid down the sand banks, and of course enjoyed the water... on and off.


Picnic over... let's hit the waves!

Me and Daddy...

The struggling little legs to get out of the water and not get pulled down by the sand!

Cheetos and sand toys... what else does a girl need?