Cody hits the water & Devin hits the tub

It was warm enough this weekend where Cody wanted to take his chances in the pool. He actually stayed in quite a while. Starting to warm up here now, it was up in the 80's. It will remain like this until the end of April, then it will start climbing on up. Devin thinks he is swimming in the tub, although he sits and watches Cody jumping in the pool and he thinks he can do the same as brig brother. J & Let.

This is what happens when Dads away......

Normally, Jeremy comes home on Wednesday. However, today he had a conference call. He will be home tomorrow morning. Today after school Cody came home and did his homework. His class is working on similes and thesis statement. His thesis this week was "My Dad coaches me in soccer and I think I learn amazing things." I forgot to mention he received an awesome report card a couple of weeks ago. He informed me that he lost his tooth on the way home. For dinner he wanted his favorite *Spaghetti*. When dinner was ready Devin has to have what Cody is having but without the sauce. He enjoyed the pasta noodles much more than the egg. To be honest I'm not sure if any of the pasta made it to his mouth.....most of it is in his hair.

What's for Breakfast...

An egg?? Devin wasn't as thrilled about it as I was. I thought for sure he would love it (taste). However, he did have fun playing in it. It's all about texture.

We had a great weekend. I've unpacked all of the air shipment and awaiting the sea shipment. It should be here in a couple of weeks. We now have a TV with plenty of channels. It just took 4 days to install! When we purchased our Television I didn't realize that the audio/video cables were not included. Our Tahoe was delivered on Saturday and Budget picked up the rental. The church we attend is called Saar Fellowship. We absolutely love it. Devin does good but he cannot make it thru the entire sermon. He gets so excited and starts screaming (laughing). At this time they don't have a nursery. So Jeremy & I rotate by taking him out.

Cody has been playing outdoor soccer at the Rugby Club. They have a tournament this Friday. Their first game is against a Saudi team. We'll keep you all posted.

Jeremy, Devin & I tried a new Italian Restaurant. It was very good. Cody was at school. We still can't adjust to the Mediterranean style. People eat so late...

Best Bros

Devin just grins from ear to ear every time he gets around his big brother and in front of the camera. This is out by our pool next to our Villa. Still a little chilly to get in now but should be able to do some swimming in a few weeks. Cody is ready now. Devin got to start trying out his bouncie that Ma got him for Christmas. It didn't take him long to get the hang of it and he loves it. Jumping and Jumping. Building up those basketball and soccer legs. Dad.

Home Sweet Home at Least for a Little While

Lettie and boys got moved into Villa this week. We are back to high tech now, Vonage phone is back up, internet, and now have Bahrain line also. The Villa is great. We could get spoiled to this pretty easy. We provided a couple of snapshots of the outside garden area and front of the Villa. I bet you all thought we were living in tents in the dessert hugh? Below is our address that we have for our new home away from home. More inside pictures to follow. Cody has soccer tonight at the Rugby club and we are picking up new Tahoe today. Love, Lancasters

Al Dar Garden

Compound No. 1536 villa no.11

Road No. 3363 Block no 533

Saar Kingdom of Bahrain

The Move

We are officially moving into our villa today. Yeah!! The furniture will be delivered this morning. Please note that we will not have internet and vonage phone service for a few days. If there is an emergency please email Jeremy at lancaj@saudichevron.com I apologize for the inconvenience. I will post a blog once we are up and running.

Fun Family Weekend

Cody had his 1st outdoor soccer game on Thursday. He had a good time. There are a few of the same kids that play against him at EZ Fit (indoor league). The league here at the Rugby club is not as competitive. We became members of the club last Thursday. However, they made an exception to allow Cody to play. The season was already in session. Afterwards we had dinner there at the club. Jeremy went with his usual Peppercorn Steak. Devin had his usual mashed potatoes. Cody also had a steak and I had a salad w/soup.

Yesterday, we went to church. Afterwards, we had lunch at a Japenese Restaurant. It was very tasty. Cody tried some of our sushi. In which he liked. This was our Valentine's Dinner. By the way Happy Valentine's Day to all. Believe it or not, Valentine's is as big as a marketing hit as the U.S. You see flowers, candy, and stuffed red hearts for sale everywhere.

Saturday is the big move in day, we are in the process of moving over to our new Villa and it looks great. New carpet, fresh paint inside and out, and new furniture. What more could we ask for other than family and friends making the trip over to see a bit of paradise in the Middle East. New Villa photos to follow.

First Sand Storm Experience in Saudi

Okay, we can't post beautiful pictures everyday. I experienced my first sand storm at work this week in Saudi. Jeremy

Location, Location, Location

As you all can see Devin is into everything! He is putting his best foot forward in his attempt to crawl. It is so funny because he will pound on the carpet in hopes that the object that he is after will come to him. He is making progress and is very determined! And of course, whatever, his brother has he must have.

For the last couple of weeks, we've been attending church. We meet on Fridays at St Christophers School. I would say there are probably 200+ that attend. We're enjoying it very much. St Christophers is probably 3 min from our villa. You know what they say location, location, location. We're blessed because so far, the villa has been in the center of our activities (Church, Cody's school, shopping and Soccer fields). This is helpful because as you all know Devin does not like his car seat.

Texas Soccer Connection strikes Silver in Bahrain

As mentioned before, we had our first 5v5 soccer tournament this past Friday. The boys had to play 8 indoor games in 1 day. I had the easy part, as always, of coaching the boys from the sideline. We ended up going 6 wins, 2 losses and taking second place in the tournament. Not bad for a group of 5 Bahraini boys and 1 Texan who have just started playing together. The first place team was from an Academy in Bahrain that plays together year around. They went 7-1 and yes, their 1 loss was to us. We beat them 2-0 the first game and they turned around to take the championship by beating us 2-0 at the end of the day. Cody played outstanding and they are proud of their first team medals as a group. Proud Dad (and Coach)-Jeremy

Busy Day of Buying

I started out this morning back at the Chevy\GMC dealership and finalized a deal on a 2009 Tahoe. We chose Black again (imagine that), 3rd black vehicle in a row for Letti! Only catch is that the new shipment has just come into the port and will be offloaded and brought to dealership sometime next week so we should have in possession within the next week to 10 days. I think we got a pretty good deal on it and Chevron has a pretty good assistance plan for us.

I then went and picked up Letti and Devin and we hit the furniture shopping again. The guys at work had told me about a very nice place that carried Ashley, Thomasville, Bassette (Nice American made). 2 hours later we walked out purchasing a new bedroom, living room, and dining room set. Pictures will follow. They are very nice and will look great in the house back in Kingwood. As Letti mentioned, furniture prices are very reasonable here compared to same items back home.

We went for lunch at an authentic Japanese Sushi restaurant and it was great. And yes, Devin was the hit again with all of the Oriental ladies waiting on us. He gets more hugs and kisses than one could ever imagine where ever we go.

The evening was completed by us dropping by and going in our new Villa since the previous residents had moved out today so we got to go check it out and see how the furniture we picked out would look in it. We think it will all go together well. After leaving the Villa we went to the Rugby club which is only a few minutes from our Villa. They had soccer games going on there for all ages (we were told about this). We had dinner and placed our membership there on the spot. Cody will begin soccer training and games there Thursday nights. This is the biggest soccer club on the island. Membership is very cheap, we paid 135 BD for the year which is about $300.00. The clubhouse was grilling steaks and burgers so we staid for dinner. Devin also had his first mashed potatoes. Jeremy

Furniture Dilemma

We are counting down the days until we move to our villa. We can't wait. There is still so much left to do. Last night, the boys and I went to the mall to try to find furniture. At this time, we are just concentrating on a bedroom set. I can say that there is a big selection. However, you have to purchase by the set (bed, dresser w/mirror, two night stands and 6 wardrobe closet). The wardrobe closet is causing a big fuss. It is soooo big. I've asked if they would consider a purchase Ala Cart and the answer was oh no Madame we can't do. So now, I am on a mission. The alternative is to wait until mid March for our furniture and sleep in sleeping bags. Or shop until we drop. Sounds like fun!? Jeremy will be home tonight, Yeah! He has asked some of his buddies at work for other furniture stores. We've visited one furniture store at least 3x's. They have a very good selection of furniture, appliances, dishes, frames, etc. And the boys have been very good! Cody said that he could walk the store with his eyes close. Bless his heart. Devin enjoys every bit of it. He'll just sit in his stroller and people watch. People here in Bahrain are so intrigued by Kids.

Soccer Double Header

We had 2 games this past Friday at Cody's indoor soccer league. First game we played the number 2 team in the league in which the new team Cody joined had never beaten. We got up
2-1 in the second half but ended up loosing 6-4. Cody did great again. I am playing him everywhere as needed during the game. He played goalie up to half-time where he held the team to only 1 score on him. I moved him to forward in the second half. He has scored at least 1 goal in all 4 games we have played. We bounced back in second game beating the team 8-4. We have the 5v5 tournament coming up this Friday. It will be tough to pull odd a semi-final appearance in which we have come so accustom to in the past. One of our better players (11 year old) is playing with some friends from school. We will see how it goes, I think we still will be competitive in every game. Cody has looked really good playing against kids from Bahrain, England, Saudi, and Germany. He has represented the good ole U.S. well and caught some eyes in the 4 game he has played. Proud Dad.