Won't you be my neighbor?

Our wonderful neighbors and best friends are moving at the end of this month :( So now comes the time to find new neighbors. Their house is beautiful, all the other neighbors are great, the ward is lots of fun and there are several parks near by. If you know anyone interested in moving to Springville check out spagtimes.blogspot.com and look at the pictures of their house.

Eid al-Fitr

Oct. 1 was the second day of Eid al-Fitr here in Afghanistan. I was invited by several of our interpreters to come to their dinner celebration. It was quite fun. They had a couple of authentic dishes to eat, like rice and lamb shishkabobs, and plenty of Afghan music. It is interesting observing some of the cultural norms of the Afghans. The men dance... a lot! And it is a little too strange, if you know what I mean. The females don't usually dance in a more public setting like we were in. I didn't grab my camera from my Hut until near the end of the party.
Here are some pics with me and a couple of our interpreters. They are great people and I have enjoyed getting to know them. They have been doing an excellent job for us. I am not going to put any names, for security reasons.

Face to Face

I hate to admit it, but I was part of a piece of history. I have been able to be directly involved with the preparation and implementation of the new Face to Face program here in Afghanistan. It has been interesting seeing it go into effect and the atmosphere proved exciting during our first actual Face to Face day last week. There has not been a lot of reports on it, but I wanted to share with everyone this article from abcnews: http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=5862998
I am in charge of the intelligence operations involved with the Face to Face meetings. I don't have much to do yet, but I have made a lot of signs so that people know where the exits are and which waiting room is for the women and children, and which one is for the men. But once we have everything in place, we will be quite busy trying to figure out what everything means. I hope that is vague enough, because I don't want to get in trouble. Hush hush, you know.
Hope all is well, and I love you all!

I do exist!!!

Andy has been getting after me for pictures of me. Usually I'm the one behind the camera so that gets tricky. My dad took some unknown shots of the family at the park. Tomorrow I'll teach Sadie how to take pictures of people from the waist up instead of the waist down and see if I can get better ones of myself...okay Andy? I love you!!!

Kodak Moment

nose to the air

I look at their faces and to me they have the perfect stuck up snobby movie star look going for them. Hollywood is calling their name!!!!

DRAMA QUEEN

Sadie is full of personality and energy. Her mood can change in a instant...Andy says she gets that from me. Maybe he's right. These pictures were taken at my Dad's birthday party and truly reflect her many moods. ps.... some moods might be fake.

Riding off into the sunset

Our neighbors were so nice to let Sadie and Braden test out their motorcycle. It was really funny to watch them walk with heavy helmets on. Braden turned into a bobble head and it was hilarious! Aren't they a match made in heaven?

Lights, Camera, Action!!

Andy sent me a new camera for an early birthday presents. Now I definitely have to be better at taking pictures. Thanks you so much babe for the wonderful present. I love it already and promise to do better and letting you watch your daughter grow one frame at a time!! Here are the first pictures I took with my new camera.

Dr. Doofus

This is Sadie on her first day of school. She was playing with a Doctor's kit and found these nice glasses. She wore them for quite awhile and I think she forgot they were on. It was really funny to watch her go about the day looking like Simon from the Chipmunks.