swim... and hello from bahrain...

swim graduation...

getting her "medal"

showing it off...

his "medal"

jamey's class

jamey...

i was talking to my mom about mail being sent to her house still (there are some things that are just easier not to change!).  she mentioned that my registration renewal just came.  i asked, "what state?" and she laughed, telling me what a commentary on my life that was.  i asked, truly not sure what state it might be! (well, i ruled out hawaii, since i had just gotten my registration renewal here!)  

Salaam Aleikum from Bahrain!  Sorry it has been a while since I have posted, and sorry also that this post contains no pictures- there have not been many good opportunities to take any.  The next post will have some more decent photos.  Since my last post, we leftSasebo, Japan, and sailed south to Singapore, where we stayed for almost a week to get some emergent repairs done on several areas of the ship.  I would have liked to have sent some pictures of Singapore, but unfortunately I did not leave the ship due to the fact that me, and about a third of the crew, had been recently vaccinated for smallpox, and were denied liberty by U.S. Seventh Fleet Policy- bummer.  Not to worry- I have been out in Singapore before. 

After that it was through the Straits of Malacca (busiest waterway in the world)- and through the Indian Ocean all the way to the Persian Gulf.  We are now here at the headquarters of the U.S Fifth Fleet- Bahrain.  This is my first time being in the Middle East- and to be honest, I am not a huge fan so far.  Everything is oppressively hot- it regularly rises to 110 degrees and above in the middle of the day, and they tell me here that it is not even truly “summer” yet.  Night is a more manageable 95 degrees or so.  The thing that is most difficult to get used to is the sandy, dusty haze that covers everything- our ship is coated in a layer of fine sandy dust, and you cannot see all the way to the horizon- more like 5-6 miles on a good day.  Such a contrast to the clear, open ocean steaming I am so used to. Bahrain is an interesting contrast- there is no grass, or really anything growing to speak of that is not artificially watered.  There is a beautiful, modern city of Manama, contrasted with numerous slums.  The Kingdom of Bahrain is about 1.2 million people- about 2/3 Shia Muslim and 1/3 Sunni Muslim (the ruling family is Sunni)- and recently wracked by sectarian violence.  We have seen several instances of protests and counter-protests by both opposition and supporters of the government.  Oil is everything here- the engine which drives all else (no hybrid cars to be seen- I think that would be sacrelige!).  Few side streets are paved, or even really laid out- just a random assortment of houses in alleyways of packed sand.  And there are no street signs!  I guess you just memorize where you go- I am not sure how directions would work without a map/GPS.

We have had a couple of fun nights here- one evening we attended a “rug flop”- in which a rug merchant will throw a party at a house and roll out numerous rugs that he has acquired from all over the Middle Eats and Central Asia- rugs from India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and of course Iran- it is widely acknowledged that the best rugs come from Iran, particularly the area of the holy city of Qom.  Some of the rugs were truly breathtaking- some with over 1,000 knots per square inch, which can take a family 3-4 years to complete.  Trade with Iran is illegal in the United States for merchants and companies, but it is OK for individuals, including service members, to acquire and ship rugs individually.  We heard numerous stories of rugs being sold in the States for 4-5 times what you might pay in Bahrain, Qatar or the UAE.  A potential lucrative side business…but truly breathtaking craftsmanship. 

The food has also been absolutely delicious.  From “Shwarmas”- meat and veggies wrapped in a pita-like bread- to kebabs, prawns, lamb and “hammour” (a local fish)- I have stuffed myself a couple of nights.  We said farewell to couple of our officers who were transferring here, and welcomed several new ones.  It was interesting to reflect that my own farewell to O’Kane will likely be here, inBahrain, in a couple of years. 

Thanks again to all those who have been praying and thinking about me- I miss all of you.  Your packages, emails and love have been much appreciated!

Thanks also for the wonderful binder that Michelle sent with me with contributions from all of you- again, I still have not even gotten 1/3 of the way through, so there is much left to be uncovered.  But I love so far Mom’s cards with old pictures and goofy poems, and the encouraging quotes from the Presleys, and Taylor’s corny cards.  And of course the touching letters and pictures from Michelle.  All fantastic!

Love,

DYH   

a weekend... playing catch-up!

at our focus meeting last week...  coloring with auntie ashley...

this kid looks SO OLD!!  and so big.  

my kids at the duke statue.

would you believe it's the first time i have ever seen it???  

duke is an olypmic swimmer, credited with spreading the sport of surfing.  

with my girl at her mother's day presentation...

with my babies on mother's day.  so sweet...  

autnie sarah came this weekend.  we have been having a ball...  with the exception of water leaking from our toilet into the family room.  (thankfully it was clean water...)  and, after some pulling teeth, i was able to get in fixed!  

and then, david's car stopped working!  i had to laugh.  and wait for the third thing... (you know how bad things come in threes???)  but, a good friend is going to come over next week to look at the car.  

and, wonderfully, we live in a house with maintenance provided.  and it livened up our saturday...  we cancelled our saturday night plans, but otherwise, it was okay.  we were going to nap anyway.  

church today.  again, feeling so loved and supported.  and planning for some fun this week with sarah here!!!

big boy...

look at him in the exersaucer!  he is loving it!!!

sweet, sleepy baby!

my two kids the other day!  love watching them play together...

sweet baby boy, waking up on sunday morning.  

it's 7pm, my house is clean (i mean, scrubbed the bathtubs, clean...) and my kids are in bed.  what to do with my night?  i am planning a redo of the living room...  

i got some things painted today... a new (free, saw it on my neighbor's curb) bedside table for david (honey, be surprised when you get home.  but now, you have a place to put your glasses and phone at night!!!)

also, my beautiful adirondack chairs.  per manufacturers' instructions (my amazing father in law who built them for me), they needed a second coat of paint.  but, then they were indoors in rhode island for 6 months, and then we got busy here.  so, they got painted today!!  

i also got a new (cheap, my friends are moving off island, but it's a great) dresser.  i am getting ready to paint that.  as part of the great deployment living room redo.  

i also am working on something for our bedroom.  it usually looks like a hurricane hit it, followed by a tornado.  seriously.  my friend came over and i think had heart palpitations at it!  (my mom ALWAYS does!)  i want to make it a nice, relaxing place...  but it's not so much redoing it as cleaning it and touching some stuff up (like the bedside table!).  

hmm... that's the short list of my projects right now.  did i mention that i have also weed-whacked, cleaned out the garage, gotten the oil changed on both cars (which is ALWAYS more expensive than when david goes!), hung some new stuff on the walls...  hopefully david recognizes the house when he gets back!!!  (just kidding honey!!)

i should mention.  the kids came home from school and went straight upstairs to play.  it was so sweet.  didn't want to make jamey go down for nap.  i did eventually, but i think he's giving those up.  the whole time he kept asking when he could get up.  so i let him up.  and we went outside to paint.  

the kids, again, played so sweetly outside.  they had so much fun.  sometimes i feel like i am only ever the bad guy.  the one saying, "clean up", "stop biting", "you lost that privilege".  i want to be the fun one.  i want them to know how much i love them and really enjoy them.  

a lot of life...

the rainbow as i pulled into school the other morning...

sweet boy in his bumbo.  

my kiddos in the new playroom chair!

hanging out with bethany hamilton.  as nora says, "she's a doll".

exhausted after our surfing day/night with bethany last week.

watching somebody's daddy pull in while we were at the beach.  

all three kids, playing so sweetly the other day!

two babies in a chair!

sweet cards that i got as a thank you.  remember paper krush? she did my logo!  she also does graphic design for custom cards.  like mine...  aren't they lovely?

just as a routine gets set...  we develop a new one.  chris has been waking up three times a night again...  now back to two.  but, if he wakes up after 5am for his last feeding, he doesn't like to go back to sleep.  and, he's learned to roll over!!!  except that disrupts sleep.  not so much fun!

and, david keeps moving further west.  so, just as i had my nice little emailing routine, it changes!  and, he's crazy busy this week.  but, just when i was feeling a little down, not even about him, we all got postcards in the mail!!  amazing how a little 5x7 piece of card stock can change a day!  

i have been working on a couple of orders.  and, realizing that a girly, bigger carseat needs recovered, because a not-so-little baby boy is going to grow into that one very soon.  i picked out some cool, hawaiian fabric for it!

my cough is keeping me up at night.  i go to bed tonight, hopefully adequately drugged, to not cough!  (only sudafed.... don't worry, i'll still hear the babies!)  i am not sure if my abs hurt from boot camp or coughing so much (quite honestly, probably both!!)...

that's all i got tonight... 

where we live...

driving towards the tunnel... i love these mountains!

at a party the other night.  with the beach and mountains in the background.  

so pretty.  

more of the mountains.  on the way to church.  

i am so thankful that this is where we live!  

i know... not really any of the kids today.  but i was marveling this weekend at the scenery that surrounds us.  and, it was the first time in MONTHS that i saw the tops of these mountains!  they have been covered by clouds!

we had our last "counseling" session today.  it went well.  the kids apparently are still afraid of monsters in the house and love when mommy does "family movie night".  i was having routine visitors in my bedroom each night, but it seems to stop on the nights i let the kids sleep together.  guess how they sleep every night now?  yup... together!

i hear so many stories of kids that "move in" to the parents' bed while daddy is deployed.  and then have a hard transition when daddy gets back.  well, now no one has to move!!!  and they are doing pretty well, most nights, sleeping in the same room.  james usually gets up first, and he doesn't wake up sissy anymore!!

mother's day.

my three sweet children. they have been so good this week!  

new sunglasses...  

nora's picture for me.  aren't i beautiful!  

nora's preschool "program".  her class had lunch for us one day this week, and they did this little short.  

about flowers.  i sort of knew that flowers were coming.  or anticipated them.  for a myriad of reasons.  the doorbell rang, and i ran to get them.  and they were awful.  carnations and star gazer lilies.  two of my least favorite flowers.  and they weren't arranged well.  and there was this stuffed bear with them.  but not part of the arrangement, just handed to me (well, nora grabbed it and ran off).  

so i was there, having such a bad attitude.  it was an ugly flower arrangement, but such a sweet note.  and, to my recollection, the first time my husband has SENT flowers  (he's brought them home...).  i was trying to be grateful that he thought of me.  that it was the thought that really counted.  and trying to decide if i should tell him, someday, the flowers that might rank higher on my list.  and the doorbell rang again.

the flower man was there with a beautiful arrangement of roses, white daises (and yes, a few carnations... but it's okay!), and told me that he gave me the wrong flowers.  i got the pretty ones!  

flowers.  

i had a great day at church.  (after, sadly, missing a phone call from my sweet hubby!)  lots of help and a great sermon.

we had dinner at a friends' house.  it was lovely.  i felt so loved and cared for this week.  i have really been seeing God's grace in my life.  not just in the exchanging of the ugly flowers for the beautiful ones.  but isn't that what God does?  take our ugly and make it beautiful!  (sorry if you were the one with the bad bouquet.)

but, i have been seeing God's grace a lot.  in the arms of friends, caring for us.  in my children, playing so sweetly.  in nora, thinking james was getting in trouble for something (wish i could remember what), asking to take his punishment, so he didn't get in trouble.  

in nora, telling james what communion was.  and having him come tell me.  and then having him come tell me how beautiful i am (although he does it on his own as well).  in james being able to say another whole Bible verse on his own!  (nora can, too...)  in christopher rolling over.  

the deployment is going.  i have been asked a lot recently how we are doing.  and we are doing really well.  i haven't felt (too) lonely, overwhelmed, sad, frustrated, etc.  those emotions come and go, but really i have been feeling good.  and having fun.  which is such a testament to God, because i didn't expect to feel this good.  

dancing...

nora was teaching james how to dance like a prince...

i woke up in the middle of the night last night with the worst sore throat.  i couldn't swallow.  i couldn't talk.  it was AWFUL!  i would have sobbed, except it hurt too bad.  i exchanged a few emails with david (since he was going to bed), and texted my mom.  i even got to chat for 2 minutes with a friend.  and went back to bed.

i woke up feeling a little better, and ran to whole foods to get some necessities.  we stopped by a friend's garage sale on the way home and my kids played for a minute.  she asked if my kids were always this good, so impressed with them.  i told her i wasn't sure who these kids were, but i was keeping them!

i really felt, today, like i had the grace when i needed it.  my kids slept in a bit.  they were wonderfully behaved.  i got to nap, after putting everyone in their bed.  i woke up to them playing, quietly and sweetly, in nora's room.  i don't think they napped.  but they were angels about it!

we went to a party for church tonight.  i got there, and someone jumped to grab the carseat for me.  someone else jumped to hold christopher.  dads played with the older two.  (it was one of those parties like i remember growing up.  the kids just played.  hard....)  christopher was passed around so i could mingle, eat, etc.  i didn't hold him for two hours!  people kept offering to help.

and others asked how they can help me in life.  what can they do.  i almost started to get a complex, like i looked like i was a hot mess!  (i did get home to mascara smudged under my eye, but i don't think that was it!)  i just felt so loved and taken care of.  one of the moms commented how impressed she was that i was there with three kids and no husband.  how hard it can be, even with her two and a husband.  i started crying.  i don't think i had even thought about it.  we were just going to go.  but everyone around me made it feel so easy!

i think because so many are military families, they get it.  they want to help, because they have been there.  and, those that aren't, just love us.  i have really been praying about where to be involved in the fall, as a family (not church, but like Bible studies, etc).  i got to chat with our pastor about it tonight.  again, i felt like God answered prayers.  ones i had been praying and ones i didn't even realize were on my heart!

and, it's 8:30.  i am going to bed.  and praying that this sore throat goes away.  but, feeling wonderfully loved and taken care of by the family i have here!