Christmas 2019

This year was quite the contrast to last year's Christmas, which was spent in Sri Lanka. We had the house totally decorated, attended church on Christmas Eve, made gingerbread houses, and spent Christmas Day in pajamas opening presents and watching movies and having a perfect family day.

We dressed in matching red and took some photos before heading to church. Afterwards we did homemade pizzas, opened their Christmas pajamas, and watched Home Alone.

 

Christmas morning two of the girls woke up and we had to wake the third when breakfast was ready! After a delicious meal of homemade cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon, and homemade salsa.

Afterwards we moved onto the stockings the girls were patiently waiting to open followed by their presents. We don't do big presents - we stick with the following rhyme for Christmas gifts:

Something you want,

Something you need,

Something to wear,

Something to read,

And something fun for everyone.

We got the girls different gifts for their "want", neck pillows for traveling for their "need", Christmas pajamas for their "wear", and a Lego set and shrink-a-dink set for their "fun for everyone". I am most excited about their "read" which is three books written by local expatriate authors in Qatar! 

We also have decided not to do Santa Claus as a family. We discussed with the girls the "character" of Santa that people believe in and how it's based on a real person, but he isn't any more real than Mickey Mouse or the Disney princesses. We also firmly discussed how it's not their place to tell anyone who believes otherwise so hopefully they adhere. 

We did't forget our feline family members and they "opened" their stockings for cat toys and wet food which the girls gave them right away. 

That afternoon each girl decorated a gingerbread house and had a blast. Surprisingly Madi gave up quickly saying she was done and Evelyn and Olivia spent another 30-45 minutes adding intricate details to theirs. However, I think the one Jason and I decorated is the best. #totallybiased

We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas from the Stingerie crew!

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

Read more...

Eye Rock

This December we've made a point of trying to get outdoors and explore outside the city. We stopped by the Torba Farmer's Market for snacks and to meet up with friends before heading out to the desert to find the Eye Rock. 

We had the place mostly to ourselves and spent a few hours climbing, taking pictures, having a picnic lunch, and just enjoying being outdoors with friends!

The kids headed off without hesitation to find the absolutely most-challenging route up to the top. 🙄

Then we took turns taking individual and family shots on the eye. 

I think Madi and Ezra did it better 🤣

The formations are so amazing and neat to explore. There are hills (?) like this all across the desert.

We got a fun group photo before we left and are thankful to have friends who love being outdoors with us. It's amazing how much more fresh the air is outside the big city. 😁

Read more...

Qatar National Day

Qatar celebrates its National Day on December 18th and they do it big. Across the city at the beginning of December we start seeing Qatar flags and lights and decor pop up all around the city. They have a huge parade (which we have not braved attending...yet) along the Corniche that closes the entire road along downtown. All of the schools celebrate, including ours, which brought in a camel, falcon, and activities like henna for the kids. It does not disappoint!

There are also special events across the city and one of those we jumped on the sign-up when it came out - a free cooking class at Eataly. It was our first experience with their classes and it did not disappoint! The setup they had was adorable with chef hats and aprons. They taught the kids how to roll their pizza dough and make a pizza then baked them, delivered them to the table with fresh squeezed orange juice, and finished them off with ice cream. These girls had a blast and we would definitely look at going to another class at Eataly because of how well-run organized the event ran.

 

Each year they also setup a fair (festival?) called Darb al Saai for National Day. The event and all its activities are free (including water bottles all over!). We spent an afternoon there and barely skimmed the surface of what they had to offer! We will definitely be coming back next year as it's setup for a couple weeks around the holiday.

Happy National Day Qatar!

Read more...