The Night Before the Games Begin!

The night before the games began, a lot of people were driving along the Corniche--kind of like "cruising state." They had banners and fireworks and music. It was fun.

The smoke in the picture above is from fireworks--YES, FIREWORKS in the middle of traffic. Real smart.

Nothing like leaving things until the last minute. The DAY BEFORE the games began they were still putting up banners, paving roads, and installing lights.

Torch Relay at Education City

The torch run for the Asian Games came through Education City (Qatar Foundation). Sheikha Mousa (she is like a first lady) was there to receive it and do a small lighting ceremony. The main flame lighting ceremony was at the opening ceremonies.

Some of my favorite buildings at QF

Card Class

This week for mutual we went to Kaylene Murray's house. She is a demonstrator for Stampin' Up, so she is very "crafty" and has access to a lot of materials. She helped the girls make some really cute cards.

The picture below is one I took from the church building porch last week.

Thanksgiving

The Reeds invited us over for "Thanksgiving Dinner" today. We also invited Belma and Roberto Igares, Jessica and Andrew Davis, Elenor Arcayan, and Amy. Marya made a turkey and stuffing. I made pies and veggies. Jon made mashed potatoes.

Of course no Thanksgiving Dinner is complete without football! We downloaded this off the internet and just watched the highlights.

Here are some pictures we took of Charly today.

Bye Bye Birdie

We went to see Bye Bye Birdie at the American School of Doha tonight. A lot of the kids in the ward were in it or in the orchestra. Tim Merkley played Conrad Birdie and Danielle Tibbitts was Kim MacAfee's mom. Richard and Melany Wilkins did a lot to help with the production and costumes. It was really cute. They did a great job.
-

Danielle Tibbitts, Melinda Weir, Tracee Tibbitts

-

Tracee and Keilani Paul

Family Visit--kind of

Today we had a chance to meet my Dave Johnson's dad, Gordon Johnson, for lunch. (Dave is my brother-in-law.) Gordon has business in the area, so he comes through Doha a couple of times a year. In classic "it's a small world" fashion, Gordon is also the old missionary companion of my boss, Richard Wilkins. We had lunch at the Marriott hotel--which was very nice. It was great to be able to see someone who is family to our family.

We were late meeting Gordon because we got stuck in traffic. I took this picture as an example of Doha merging. Who needs lanes!?

Sunset

These are some pictures I took of the sunset tonight from the roof of our house.

Buildings in Doha

For all of you who think we are roughing it here in Doha--here are some signs of the local restaurants and stores.

These are all in the same location that we call "Cholesterol Corner"

Other random buildings. We haven't tried Betos yet, but we hear it is good.