Any Place I Hang My Hat: January 2012

Cairo Sightseeing

We've lived in Cairo for almost a year, so we figured it was about time that we did some serious sightseeing! We had seen the Giza Pyramids previously, but that is about it! So during our Christmas break, we got to be tourists in our own city for a few days, which was nice because it meant that we didn't have to pay for flights or a hotel room. :) Here are some of the things we saw...

The Step Pyramid

The Bent Pyramid

The Red Pyramid

The Citadel

Inside the Citadel

View of Islamic Cairo

A Cave Church in Garbage Village. This area is inhabited only by Christians, and they make their living by sorting and recycling the garbage from Cairo. Driving into this area, we saw people sitting and sorting in huge piles of garbage. Very eye-opening to say the least.

Inside one of the cave churches

Inside another cave church

At the recycling center of Garbage village

Coptic (Christian) Cairo...

We had a great time seeing Cairo, and we can't wait to take my parents to some of these places when they get here in a month-and-a-half!!

Christmas in Egypt!

This past Christmas was the third one we have spent abroad. It's hard to believe we've been out of the States for that long. Our first Christmas abroad was spent in Korea, with our amazing friends and church family. Our second Christmas abroad, we traveled to Taiwan for a vacation. And then, we spent this past Christmas here in Egypt! We had a wonderful time! And thankfully, we were able to skype in to our family Christmases back home too. I love living abroad, but I can't shake the sentimental and nostalgic thoughts of home, especially at the holidays. So we are thankful for Skype, which makes us feel closer to family, and we are thankful for our friends and family here in Egypt who helped make this Christmas a special one.

Here is a glimpse into our many Christmas celebrations...

#1- Christmas party with Norris, Angie, and Jovee

It was a hoppin' party, as you can tell! :)

Angie and I decorated cookies!

Jovee got some great gifts, but she liked the boxes best!

It was great to be able to celebrate Christmas with FAMILY!

#2- Christmas party at our house with our small group

Soups galore!

Christmas coloring!

Pin the nose on Rudolph!

Kinderjoy toys for everyone! Tim got a ninja!

Our group with our new toys!

We even made a "Gingerbread" house!

Christmas charades!

We are so thankful for our super fun small group!

#3- Christmas Morning

Stockings for me, Tim, and Vivienna!

Me sporting my new heart necklace from Tim!

Also sporting my baby bump (27 weeks)!

Skyping with my fam!

It was our last childless Christmas morning, and we could not be more excited about that! I think Christmas will be even more magical with kids involved!

#4- Christmas Afternoon/Evening at Heidi and Andrew's

Tim in his new shirt! (He's so cute!)

Heidi and Andrew's tree... looks so real!

We had a great Christmas Day at Heidi and Andrew's exchanging white elephant gifts, playing telephone pictionary, eating AMAZING food and hanging out with awesome people! We were so thankful that they opened their home to us!

So Christmas 2011 was a success! Christmas 2012 will look very different (but bring on those changes)! :)

November Celebrations

I love parties and celebrations, so November was a good month! I celebrated my 27th birthday, AND we had two separate Thanksgiving celebrations as well. Good food, good friends, what more can you ask for? :)

My Birthday...

Tim made me french toast for my birthday breakfast!