Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Sorry it’s been so long since I have given an update.

We have had a great time in December with family coming to visit!

My Mom was here at the beginning of December for about 10 days…we had such a good time, and it felt soooo nice to have her here to celebrate my Birthday with me.

There is nothing like having your Mom to just sit and talk with! We took her to ride a camel and she got to experience a little fun in the sand dunes as well. After being here for a few months it’s fun to see the culture through someone else’s perspective. The local women here that cover were quite interesting to my Mom. When we first got here we felt the same way….you feel bad that the women have to cover up… but we have learned that to them it’s more of an honor. I saw a cartoon recently that made light of it…

Briana, Sierra, and Conor finally arrived here on Qatar’s National Day. That was quite the experience! Qatar does a huge celebration. There were amazing fireworks and the waterfront street (the Corniche) had traffic for miles. It wasn’t uncommon to see people sitting on top of their cars out the sunroof while driving down the road…some were even standing!

 

Briana and Conor were here for only one week so we tried to pack in as much fun as possible… here are some of the pictures

                                         Singing Sand Dunes

                                          Campfire

                                         Camel Riding

                                         Jet Skiing

                                         The Souq Wakif

                                                                                                   …and of course true love!

Christmas

                              Justin in his new Qatari Thobe

We also have been going to see some great events…

The men’s Tennis tour came to Doha and we enjoyed watching some really good-looking Men in tennis shorts. They were also pretty good tennis players. (Women’s tennis is next week)!

Natasha Bedingfield came to sing Tim a few songs…great concert and we had quite the experience!

Lexi has joined a local Football (Soccer) team. She is of course one of 3 girls on her team that is not Qatari. Tim and Justin are not allowed to watch as the ladies that play remove all of their Abaya’s and Birka’s (Black robe/dress and head covering scarf). It is quite the sight to see all of the beautiful Qatari women come into the field. They are done up from head to toe. Usually, in high-heels, and designer attire. Their hair and make-up look professionally done. Their maids come also, trailing behind carrying their backpacks and bags.

Justin is doing well in school and has had the opportunity to learn some great cooking skills from our friends John and Rhonda. He has been grilling, making appetizers, stock, a few chicken dishes, and beef bourguignon. All amazing!

    We are soooo excited to be leaving next week to go back to Alaska for a visit! On the way we will stop in Dubai for 2 days as Tim has to be there for meetings. While there weare planning to go to the Atlantis Resort, see Cirque du Soleil, and of course go to the Mall of the Emirates :-)

That’s all for now hopefully I have caught up and it wont be so long for the next update. Miss everyone so much!

Trish

It's a cloudy day!

 Its a cloudy day today!

          Hahaha just kidding! Every day is a sunny day here. We are all doing well. Our shipment arrived :-). So we are busy unpacking.
         Lexi has started her UAA online classes. She has an English class and Journalism class. One of her first assignments is to write a paper on the Kardashians....who knew watching that show was going to come in handy! Good thing she did some research before she left. She has also joined a Phillipino volleyball league. This should be fun for her. They will have two practices a week and one or two tournaments. Her practices are outside in 90 degree weather! There is one other "import, as they call them" or white girl on her team...so communication has been interesting :-)

        Justin thankfully has started school. He has been extremely bored and has been wondering why we moved here. He pretty much thinks it has been to ruin his life! We went to a back to school day though and saw some pretty cute girls:-) I think he's going to be OK. He started out taking 21 century IT ( I'm pretty sure he thought that was going to be Facebook class...turns out it isn't!) he now wants to take Jazz Band....and play what you might wonder...I did too! He said the Trumpet. I thought to myself wow we don't have one. We did have one that I (Tim) paid for, for about three years....that I sold to a man for a very good price at my garage sale!!! Thankfully one is being provided by the school :-)
He is making new friends and seems to like his school. He does an amazing impression of his homeroom teacher Mr. Furness who is from South Africa! He is working on an Indian accent now...There are two freshman classes with about 15-20 kids in each class. None of them are from the US, and he is the only one in his whole school from Alaska (big surprise!) 
       I have enjoyed meeting some new people and trying to get things like the cable and internet hooked up. You know when you call tech support and try to explain your problem to someone....well that is pretty much everyone here. They all say" yes... no problem" It usually is a problem. I love the driver that comes to pick us up though. I call him to ask him to come and get us and whatever I ask he says " Okey dokey....no prrrrobliim madam!" 
     Since I started and stopped writing this blog, I have met some really nice ladies that live here in our compound. One has started teaching a step aerobics class twice a week...its killing me but is a lot of fun. I'm also going to a cooking class tomorrow morning that another one of the "Compound Ladies, there is a FB page :-)" is putting on. Should be great! I have also been on many adventures with my friend Stayce. She has been a lifesaver in so many situations....she always seems to know everything I have questions about. We have had a lot of fun getting together with their family. Justin even has a buddy at their house :-)

       We went to the movies the other night. That was an experience I don't think we will repeat. They cut all of the love/kissing scenes out. There were kids getting up and walking around...talking, and I'm pretty sure no air conditioning. To top it off Justin went to the bathroom and saw a HUGE cockroach!
       Stayce bravely lent me her car for the morning last week and I attempted to drive here. Wow....don't think I will be driving through those round-a-bouts again any time soon. They are 3 lanes wide and you can make a right hand turn from the middle lane....if you use your blinker :-0 
      Tim has been busy at work, but thankfully has been taking the weekends off to spend with us. We have had a lot of fun laying by the pool and relaxing. He is taking his drivers test tomorrow....hopefully he will pass. We hear that almost no one passes on the first try. It will be nice to have our own transportation :-)
     Things I love about Qatar:
1. Spending time with my family 
2. At all of the restaurants they have bendy straws ( I love that!)
3. Laying on our Floaties by the pool
4 Crispy Kreme is right down the road
5. No Termination dust yet
I 'm not going to list all the things I don't like about it here....

We all are homesick and miss our family and friends!!! Love you all

Our new home

                    After 3 plane rides and 26 hours we finally arrived in our new home! Thankfully all of our luggage and bins arrived also. When we first got outside it was so hot...the wind was blowing and it felt like someone was holding a hair dryer in our faces...such a big change for us Alaskan's. We have been very jet-lagged...waking up at 5-5:30 in the morning and being wiped out by 8pm. Today I slept in until 7 :-( We have been going to the pool every day and then doing some shopping in the afternoons. The pool is beautiful and it thankfully is cooled. The kids have been wondering why no one else is at the pool during the day....I told them not many people are crazy enough! It has been anywhere from 108-116 degrees. I am learning how to dive...the kids and Tim have been very entertained by this. They thought my first attempt could have earned them lots of money on Youtube. Thankfully for me that one wasn't on video!!! I am determined to have it down in the next few weeks without doing a belly flop!
                  It's very challenging trying to find everything we didn't bring or hasn't arrived in our shipment yet. We have been to so many malls and stores my head is spinning. Our things should be here September 7th. Can't wait for it to get here and make it more cozy and homey. I got a sim card for my phone and used up the card by the time I got home...so we have finally found a cell plan that should work. It is very expensive and you don't get very many minutes or texts included. Skype is really the best way to stay in touch. Our Skype name is balesfamily6  .

                   

Our new home :-)

             The kids are adjusting pretty well. They of course miss everyone, but they seem to like our new home. Our house is really great....huge though! We need an intercom system. You can yell from downstairs and no one upstairs can hear you....not that I yell or anything :-) I found a doorbell yesterday and I'm hoping it works. The one we have is a phone that rings only into the kitchen....since it has a huge door that keeps it separate from the rest of the house we cant tell if anyone comes to the door. The floors in the house are mostly marble except in the bedrooms they are a wood laminate. Its 2 flights and a few extra stairs up to the second floor and two more to the third. I have tripped up those stairs about 3 or 4 times...I'm hoping no one falls down them!!! The second floor has all four of our bedrooms. There are two on each side of a living area. They each have a door that leads to a hallway  that has closets and a bathroom then leads into the bedroom. It feels like your own suite :-) There are 3 more bathrooms in the house and a maids room and storage room. I'm hoping to find some help to clean all of the bathrooms and floors! Lexi might be it... although she has heard you get paid for playing on a soccer league ...also she was offered a job handing out Redbull (her favorite drink).....I'm thinking both of those jobs sound way more appealing!!!! You can't see very well in this picture but I have a flower box by the front door that has little pink flowers in it :-)
           We were really excited to find out there is a family here that we know! Wimberly and Lexi went to school and played volleyball together in 3rd-5th grade until her family moved to China. They have since moved to Doha and have been here for 2 years already. Wimberly has a younger sister, Callie, and her parents are Mark and Stacye. Wimberly saw a post that Lexi put on Facebook and messaged her to tell her they live here too :-) They have all been so nice and friendly! It makes moving here much better! The girls have invited Lexi and Justin the last couple of days to hang out with them and their friends. Stacye has taken me all over town to see things and find all the things I need. We had dinner with them last night and have had a great time! I feel like God has prepared the way for us! I'm so thankful!!!

                  
                

Bales family on the move

        Let me first warn you...I'm not a writer. I wanted to start a blog to keep our friends and family updated on our adventures, as part of our family moves across the world. That said... hopefully I will be able to be honest, sometimes entertaining, and always just a little bit crazy!
      So just an update on where we are all at. Tim has been in Doha, Qatar now for about 2 months. He has already moved into our new house(pictures later when I get there).  Briana is still living in Seattle and is working for an elderly couple doing home health care. Which brings me to the rest of us still here in Anchorage.... We have just moved out of our house this week. I have been so busy with the move I haven't had much time to feel sad yet... I feel so blessed to have an amazing group of friends and family. They have helped me and been there through my first big move. One whom I won't mention her name (Tammi) even helped me to feel "empowered" as a woman by going to the dump! I explained to her I really didn't want to feel "empowered" I much prefer to be "taken care of!" Seriously though without everyones help I would still be sitting in my house crying while the new family tried to move in! I soooo appreciate everyones help and advice. Moving while your husband is gone is no picnic! I realize how lucky I am to have a husband that has taken care of me. So as of tonight our  house is empty and ready for the new family that will move in. They have 3 beautiful children and love the house. It makes it easier to go knowing they will create new family memories in the house that has been such a blessing to our family.  
       Sierra will be staying in Anchorage and is living with her Aunt Cindy, Uncle Bill, and cousins Aubrey and Miles. I know she is in a great place but my heart is breaking thinking about leaving her here :-(     
      Lexi, Justin and I are staying with Tim's parents (his Dad alternates between calling us roommates and homeless people) for the next 2 1/2 weeks until we join Tim in Qatar. After being here for the last couple of days I'm thinking it's good it's not longer....His Mom has cooked for us and it has been wonderful...however I'm not going to look good at the pool if I stay any longer!!!