Friday, April 22nd, 2011
We got up and went to church Friday morning. With church being on Friday it was basically a Good Friday service. Since Chad had been hired earlier that week they wanted to introduce us at both services and let Chad say a few things in front of the congregation. During the first service, Mitchell was in kid's church and they put our picture on the big screen and Pastor Jim introduced Chad and said he was here with his wife Jill "and DAUGHTER" Mitchell!!! We were cracking up! Luckily he got it right during 2nd service because Mitchell was with us! He wouldn't have liked being called a girl in a room full of people!
Easter Sunday, April 24th, 2011
Our church had a sunrise service on the beach at 6AM. UGH it was HARD getting up early enough to get ready and get there that early! Luckily the beach where the service was held was only about 10 minutes from our house AND we had driven around to find exactly where we were supposed to be the day before so we wouldn't get lost on the way and miss the service...pre-planning Dubai Style! We all brought breakfast items so we could have breakfast together on the beach after the service. We dropped off our store bought croissants, muffins and juice on tables set up on the beach and were each handed a daisy. We headed up to the area where the service would be held and there was a large wooden cross in the sand. We could see the Burj al Arab not too far in the distance...although it was called a "sunrise service", the sun was already up before 6AM thanks to no daylight savings time!
We sang songs, heard a message and then were asked to bring our flowers and put them on the cross to turn something of pain and suffering into something of beauty. We sang songs as the crowd of about 400 people made their way to the cross. When the service was over, we all gradually made it up to the tables of food and had a small brunch together. We stayed and visited until about 9am.
About 2PM that afternoon we went to the home of our friends from church (Bobbie & Kent Boston - not actually from Boston!) for a late Easter lunch. There were a total of 4 couples and 8 kids. As soon as we walked in the door, Mitchell was off like a shot playing with my friend's 8 year-old son and the other boys. We all ate a little while later, kids in the kitchen and adults at the dining room table! We just sat and visited the rest of the afternoon! Everyone was so nice and fun it was like we had known them for years.
Right before we left, I remembered I had stuffed Easter eggs for Mitchell and Gabe to have an Easter egg hunt (great idea from my mother AND since I had brought about 40 plastic eggs from the US, I thought I would put them to use!) By the way, good call on my part brining them because it cost about $5 USD/dozen here vs. $1 in the States! We quickly hid the eggs and the boys loved it! They weren't very good finders so one of the other moms would go near a hiding spot and start humming and/or whistling so it wouldn't take all night for them to find the eggs!
We finally got home, thoroughly exhausted at about 7PM! It was a wonderful day with new experiences & new friends! We are truly blessed to have met such amazing people so quickly!
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