13 years

On May 1st, David and I celebrated 13 years of marriage. 

This weekend, we went out to dinner to celebrate.

We had so much fun together.

We went out to Babel, a new-ish restaurant here in Kuwait...

It's an impressive looking building...

We had a really nice time chatting. It seems like May started off crazy and hasn't slowed down since. I've got multiple To Do lists, and both Dave and I talked about how we've been having dreams about luggage and missing flights and such.

May is almost always nutty, especially when one of you is a teacher, but this year is particularly insane because I also work at a school, our kids are in school, (so, all four of us are "finishing up" the school year and all that that entails) and, ya know, we're also preparing to leave the continent in less than a month. 

It felt GOOD to sit and talk for nearly three hours, and was very centering for both of us. 

  

...and I geeked out at all the Lebanese cuisine, like almonds-in-ice snacks while we looked over the menu...

Our food was tasty, but nothing so stunning that we'll need to be back, which is good because I doubt the opportunity will present itself ;). 

When we asked for the check, our waiter said "I am not allowed to give you the check until I have cleared your table and brought you the fruit and dates to finish your meal"

Not allowed???

Weird, but hard to argue with.

He then cleared our dishes and came back to the table with one of those comb looking devices used to scrape every single crumb and spec of dust off our table cloth.

Then he brought a sampling of dates and jellies, a boat of fruit, and a dip made of something milky with a drizzle of caramel and cotton candy (yes, really) on top...

Meanwhile, back at our apartment, our kids were having a blast with one of their PE teachers from school as their babysitter...

I'm so grateful to celebrate 13 years of marriage. 

We've seen so many of our friends and family walk through painful divorces.

Marriage is hard.

Ours is obviously not perfect.

It's not even perfect-adjacent. 

Full stop.

I'm thankful that we're ending our expat journey on a high note in our marriage. It has not always been easy for us as a couple to be over here, and we've had some low, low (LOW) points. In this moment though it feels like a great success story, and I'm able to see how (mercifully) many of our hard times have forced us to work more as a team, or forced one of us to rely heavily on the other while we sorted stuff out. I'd like to think we both trust each other more to carry the other - and our family - through hard times than we did two years ago.

Thanks be to God. 

Family Pictures

While David's parents were here, we had a sweet - and incredibly talented - family friend take some pictures for us.

I'd been wanting some family pictures at this particular spot to have as a memento of our time here in Kuwait.
This little crescent of beach is where the kids and I used to walk to all the time after finishing our school work last year during homeschooling, and we've logged many, many hours playing in this sand and this water. 

Early April was a perfect time for outdoor pictures as it wasn't too hot yet (it's early May and averaging 105*F these days, and climbing) and sunny.

We met my dear friend on a bright (hence some squinting you'll see in some pictures!) Friday morning, and she somehow transformed a semi-crowded beach into a private, candid session of us...

SO many great ones to choose from, and I already know for sure I'll be getting a big print of this one to hang up in our new home in Portland...

Thank you, sweet Z for this most precious of gifts. I'm so very grateful. 

All the Souks

We knew we wanted to take Papa and Gaga to the Souk Mubarakiya while they were here this visit. 

While we were on our way there, we thought to stop by the Souk Sharq and show them the pretty views of the Marina and the backdrop of downtown Kuwait City, so we started there.

The water clock inside the mall...

At this point, Dave has pretty much nailed the selfie of six...

 A panorama of the Souk Sharq marina...





 Around the corner of the marina there is a little playground we decided to visit before we left...






This picture makes me smile every time I look at it...it's taken by my mother-in-law, who is watching David and I watch our kids...

I just thought this was a Kuwait Moment to capture...this worker here is sweeping the grassy area with a fallen palm frond...

These kids sure love their grandparents!

We left the Souk Sharq and headed to the Souk Mubarakiya.





I'm kind of in love with this candid shot Dave's dad took of the four of us strolling through the Middle Eastern market we've come to navigate fairly well...





As we knew this would likely be our last time there before we left Kuwait, we picked up a few souvenirs to bring home for friends and family.

We also just wandered around and took in all the sites, sounds, smells and COLORS =)...

Here's another pic that makes me smile...this captures much of our time at the souk on this particular afternoon; the kids wandering ahead, Pop waiting patiently for David and I to sort out which direction we should be going or have already been...




...perhaps we haven't learned to navigate the souk so well after all ;). 



David and his dad doing a little shopping...






Two cuties and a Liberation Tower...

We found this fountain that we'd never seen before...

We spent the afternoon and evening enjoying all that the Souk Mubarakiya has to offer...

...and were so glad we did =)