Wahoooo!

When Papaw and Grammy were here they asked Cody what he wanted to do for his birthday? He decided that he wanted to invite a friend and go to the indoor waterpark! Needless, to say he celebrated his birthday thru the month of November! The waterpark is located in the mall. The majority of the rides are located inside. However, there are a few outside. As you can see from the pictures, Cody had a blast water boarding. I must say he's pretty strong for an eleven year old! Thanks for the entertainment, Codeman! Grammy and Devin enjoyed their time together! It was too cold for me! Thank you, Grammy, for always being a good sport! Love and miss you guys!

Happy Happy 90th Birthday, Grandad Banta!!!

Grandad with birthday hat (Colts) and showing some bling!

Special 90th birthday cowboy hat cake for the Cowboy

Family photo and friend

Grandad with his girls

Grandsons: J, Pat, Jason

Great Grandsons: Cody, Devin, Tyler, Buddy

Letti finally in a picture

Grandmother taking a break

Still going strong together

Santa made an early visit at the front door

Best friends

Day of departure heading back to Houston

Shack, Cody, and Devin in the snow

Best Bros

Cody, Devin and Ma hanging out at the airport!

Our short holiday visit to the U.S. started with a great trip for us travelling up to Indiana for a pre-Christmas birthday celebration for Grandad who turned 90 years old.  Grandad and Grandmother are both amazing in how they both still get around and get things done. There was snow on the ground which was great and a first time for Devin to see or touch snow.  The boys also got to spend time with their cousins Tyler and Buddy.  It was also great for me (J) to see and spend time with cousins Pat and Jason whom I have not seen in some time.  More good memories for us all that will last a lifetime.

Dinner at the Ritz Carlton (Trader Vic's)

The weather was great when we got back to Bahrain and we had dinner outside at Trader Vic's.  Food was great and so was the atmosphere.  We finished the night by singing a belated Happy Birthday to Cody by request from Papaw and Grammy.  Grammy picked out some special appetizers off the menu which included a beef on a stick that we could cook ourselves on a fire. It included a special dipping sauce that Grammy said was " to die for".  (Fuel on a stick) Right Grammy! HA. When leaving we passed by all the "reserved parking" cars so Cody took a pose by his future birthday car which was a 2010 Yellow Ferrari.

Papaw & Grammy's Saudi Visit

Papaw and Grammy had a safe trip to Bahrain! The flight is around sixteen hours. Jeremy was able to get them visas to travel to Saudi. It's really difficult to do but he was able to do it. We traveled to Saudi upon their arrival. It's a two hour drive (depending on traffic/causeway). It worked out great! We arrived in Saudi at 3 a.m. The guys stayed up to watch the Chicago Bears game which started an hour later. The Bears won! Later that day, Jeremy grilled some awesome steaks! Grammy and I went to water aerobics and meet several Ladies that live in the compound. Luckily, the pool was heated. The kids were a little disappointed because the scooter wasn't holding a charge. So Papaw had to push 'em around. The following day we had a picnic by the pool. For dinner, we enjoyed a new Chinese Restaurant. On Sunday, we headed back to Bahrain. We allowed Cody to "skip" school to spend time with the Family. All in all we had a great time.

Ceramic Studio

My good friend, Lucy N, is getting married. For her "hen do" we went to Studio Ceramic. I had so much fun.....I had to share it with the Kids! Cody's on holiday for Eid. Eid ul-Adha "blessed festival". So to greet someone you would say " Eid Mubarak"! (Eid refers to the occassion itself, Mubarak means blessed.) We spent a couple of hours painting our ceramic of choice. Devin did a great job! He went from painting his ceramic to painting himself. At the end of the session they all did a great job. Afterwards, we had a late lunch at Johnny Rockets. We were celebrating Qosai birthday a month early. This was just to get them to dance to "Stayin' Alive" by Bee Gees

RVIS - Percussion Jam 2010

The Fifth, Sixth and Seventh graders performed a "Percussion Jam"! A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration. The term usually applies to an object used in a rhythmic context or with musical intent. Wikipedia   The different grades performances were awesome! Devin enjoyed it so much, he was mesmerized! For the grand finale, the girls performed "We will Cup You"! I for some reason didn't take any pictures of the finale. However, they all sat in a line and slammed the cups to the rhythm of "We Will Rock You" by Queen. At the end, they threw the cups to the audience. Good Job, RVIS!!