S'Mores ....... Finally

Finally we have a fire pit, locally hand-crafted. Finally we bought Hershey chocolate bars. Finally we remembered to bring back marshmallows from Canada. Finally there are graham crackers available (not real ones but a close facsimile). And finally the weather is cool enough that we can enjoy our time outdoors.  Unfortunately a real fire is still just a dream -- but we have made it work! A new Saturday evening ritual.

Homemade Tortilla!

Last week Lisa was invited to join a group of wonderful women learning how to make authentic tortilla at home. It was a fun and educational morning. We fed our bodies and our souls.

The secret to perfect tortilla is not the recipe, it is the technique. Nettie's grandmother's recipe for tortilla is similar to my grandmother's recipe for biscuits but the method of mixing, slapping, rolling, grilling makes all the difference.

Birthday Wishes

This week Tim celebrated another birthday. It was a quiet evening of comfort food (spaghetti, garlic bread, chocolate cake) and interesting conversation. 

New Sport, New Adventure

Simon #8 blocking

This Fall Simon took on a new sport and really enjoyed playing Volleyball for the first time. He was on the Junior Varsity Volleyball team that traveled to Amman, Jordan for an international tournament. The team finished in third place and Simon received a mention in the Akbar for adding "strength and power" to the team. He was also selected for the Tournament Team -- a collection of MVPs from each team to form a "dream team" of sorts.

What are those? 

The highlight for Simon was a side trip to the Dead Sea at the end of the tournament. The team traveled outside the city in order to view and swim in one of the world's saltiest lakes. The world's oceans are about 3% salt and the Dead Sea is about 33% salt. It is also the earth's lowest point at 400 meters BELOW sea level.

Simon said that it was a unique experience to float standing up! He could see Israel on the other side of the Dead Sea and caught the sun shining off the Dome of the Rock at the Temple Mount.

Desert Song

This was a full and unique weekend for Max and Simon. On Thursday evening we attended a concert by Lecrae, a hip hop artist from the U.S. We had seen Lecrae in concert a couple of years ago at SoulFest in New Hampshire and we have a couple of his albums. It was also exciting that Max was asked to play bass guitar in a band that opened for Lecrae.

Then Max and Simon went on a desert retreat with the Youth Group, Lecrae and his friend Adam. Lecrae didn't sing or rap during the retreat but he and Adam spoke about living a life of impact. What is most impressive about Lecrae is not his awards and honours (which include two Grammy's) but his story and his heart.

Paralympics

Qatar has decided to make a name for itself as a world-class host for international sporting events. This means that we are privileged to witness a variety of amazing sport competitions -- and usually for the bargain price of $5. The last 10 days Doha has hosted the International Paralympics Competition for Athletics.

We attended one evening and watched cycling, running, shot put, high jump, discus. The facility was spectacular for this sort of competition. And the announcements were very educational in informing the spectators about the events and the categories of disabilities. The classification system is for athletes with impaired muscle power, impaired intellectual capacity, impaired vision, limb deficiency etc. It was very interesting and humbling to watch these athletes compete.