!!!!!!!EGYPT!!!!!!!

Day Two!!! We wake up bright and early to start our journey today! We both very tired with only about 4 hours of sleep! We start off having a nice breakfeast in the hotel... I had a cooked omelette and they didn't for some reason want to cook Josh's! But he still had a smile on his face!

We head out but first before we do our tour guide had to bribe the security guards to let us park outside of the hotel! Yes you heard me right! Next we start off on our 2 minute crazy drive to the Pyramids!!!
The entrance to the pyramids is highly guarded by police, military police, big guns and gates!
When entering the pyramids you have to get searched through security to see if you are caring anything and have to purchase tickets if you want to go inside one of the pyramids...
Our bus was waiting for us at the other side of security to take us to the parking area... Police officers were on camels back lucky I got this picture without having to pay him for it! The city of Giza in the background!
The parking area in the background is the middle pyramid it looks bigger than the first one but in fact it is actually smaller! We were lucky to enter this pyramid and we actually stood in the center of the pyramid. It was a big empty room but worth to go inside. Once we exited the pyramid we got harassed by all these people selling goods... poor Josh has sucker written on this forehead... he just couldn't say no. After they took 200 Egyptian pounds from him and trying to get us on Camel, side note, when they get you on camel they bring you out to the desert and steal all your money and cameras from you luckily we didn't get pulled onto one... but for Josh he couldn't say no so I had to walk away which helped... they offered Josh 800 camels for me!
Next stop our bus driver drove us on top of this hill so we could see all three pyramids! It was so AWESOME! Very hard to take a picture though because it was very crowded. They said though that business has dropped by 70% since 9/11 could you have imaged what it would have been like with that many more people up there! IMPOSSIBLE!
Next to see the Sphinx... The area we were in is where they would bring the mummy in and remove all the brain and stuff in this temple area and then they would continue there journey to the pyramid!

The Sphinx... our guide had told us that his nose was removed because they considered it ideal worshiping for the Christian religion since they don't believe in this they removed his nose and beard to make him look less like a human and more like a God... every tour guide told something different but this one made the most sense but I don't know if it was the Christian's you decide and become your own Egyptologist (if that is a word)
After all that hard work of seeing the pyramids it was time to eat. The food we ate was amazing!!
The women, preparing the food, it was very hot for them I am sure with there long dresses and being covered up to cook the food. Only men served us food though! This was the only time apart from working in the restrooms that we actually saw women working!
All the seats were handmade I think because the one that Josh sat in was really low to the ground! Mine was higher.
The food was so good as you can see by the expression on my face or that I am in a daze because we have gotten no sleep!
The entrance to the restaurant it was between all this rubble and the very very poor area of the city. It was a little bit scary at first you will see by the next picture... which was taken across the street!

This is right outside our room if you look you can see the top of the first pyramid!
After the pyramids we went and saw a laser and light show... it was very 1960's but was so amazing being at the pyramids at night! It was so peaceful amongst the hustle and bustle of the city that was finally waking up! We unfortunatly were growing very tired! I was hoping to see a ghost but didn't spot one sorry! No mummy rising for us that would have made the show very interesting!
Once we were done with the light show we got back to our hotel and had a traditional Egyptian meal! The food was AMAZING!! I have no clue how they stay so skinny with all this food we couldn't eat it all... our meal cost about $10. Can't beat that!! Thus ends day two of our amazing Egyptian experience more to come...

!!!!!EGYPT!!!!!

Josh and I were blessed to be able to explore Egypt!! We had 12 days of fun in Egypt. We started out our trip by walking to the train station in our village it is about a 5 minute walk but felt a little bit longer pushing our luggage along the path. We were so excited though! We rode on the train to the terminal very long but relaxing ride!Our first night we arrived in Cairo airport to take our bus to Giza to stay in a hotel right outside the pyramids for 3 nights. When we arrived to get off our plane many people greeted us at our gate yes our gate not the terminal exit. We had to go through customs of course but as you see security is not an issue I was able to take this picture at the passport check line upon arrival! Crazy huh!?! Just wanted to show the writing... This picture of the bus funny story... but pretty much this whole trip had stories... anyways... As you know I am blonde so I was attracting quite a bit of people because they don't see many blondes. I wanted to take a picture of this bus because I thought the writing was cool. Well this young man thought I wanted a picture of him and came running over to ask if he could get a picture of me and him. I was so scared... Josh had to step in the way and say no she doesn't want to have a picture of you. Lesson number one pictures mean money he was just trying to get a tip from me! Also was very excited I was blonde.

Finally we get to our bus so we could drive to Giza which is about a two hour drive depending on traffic. We arrived in Egypt about 11 at night but that is when the people are awake they stay up all night because it gets so hot during the day they are very lively at night. In the picture you see people just cutting you off and traffic is crazy they have no regards for lines and they will cut across 5 lanes of traffic to take there exit! Also people just walk on the highway!! We saw a lot of accidents in fact on our way to Giza our bus drive ended up hitting a sign and destroying the right half of our bus... another story! Some guy cut him off and he couldn't help but miss a sign and guard rail. Thus begins our first day in Egypt! Many more fun stories to come!

Alconbury

We had our first official game this weekend and I was so excited how they played I had to post!!! This is the half time huddle my girls at that point had 4 goals and the other team had zero!!!
This year my team is rocking it!! I am so proud of them!! Many people came up to me and complimented me on a job well done. We didn't have a very nice head coach last year and it really shows in the way they played. This year they are doing so well!! Many coaches have come up to me and told me that the team is night and day better and are amazing this year!! I am so proud of them!! They really have come together. My varsity team ended up winning 7 to zero with this team!!! That is a picture of me trying to coach!!
Some pictures of them on the field!! The other team was really ruff and kept saying to there coach we can't keep up with them they are just to fast... it's because they run a lot during practice!!
Number 31 is my best player on the team in this picture she took down the girl that was on the ground and ended up taking down this girl too... She is so good!! All my players are amazing but she is great!!! My JV team ended up winning against the team 3 to zero!! Go Lady Lancers!!! Can't wait for the rest of the season!!

Valentines Day

I had the most amazing Valentines Day ever!!!! I have the best husband in the world and he is the most wonderful man ever to walk the face of the earth!!!! I bought Josh a stress free massage and he went above and beyond!!! He bought me 7 bouquets of flowers because I just Love flowers... he made breakfast with strawberries so good!!! He bought me a popcorn machine because when I was younger we had one in our house and Mom and brothers and I would gather around this popcorn machine and joke and have fun so he got me one!!
Then if that wasn't enough he made this really cute and thoughtful coupon book and right away I used the shopping spree coupon I couldn't wait so he took me to Cambridge and being a great husband followed me from store to store till I found what I wanted and didn't complain at all!! Then we ate at Chilli's which doesn't sound that exciting but they have free refills.. all places here do not have free refills and give you a shot size glass that you only get to drink from and think that will be good so you end up over spending on drinks alone and we only order soda. But what a great Husband!!! Then when I didn't think it could get any better my Wonderful Brother and Sister in Law send me the cutest video in the world telling us happy Valentines Day!! What a Great Day!!!!! I have the most Beautiful Nieces by the way!!!
PS... this might be a while till we post because soon our lives will turn into a soccer life!! I was promoted this year to Head Soccer Coach so will be taking on more responsibilities so please don't think it is because nothing is going on we will try to update as best as we can but Soccer is really going to take over!!

Birthday England Style

Sorry we were really tired but I had the best birthday ever!!! The Hewson's in our AMAZING Ward invited us over to their house on my birthday to celebrate it and Sister Hewson made this amazing meal and home made Belgium Chocolate Cake that was so AMAZING!!! Before we went to their house I had a facial and spent a fun day with the Hewson's Daughter Libby and her son.
Even after making a great meal they still got me presents!!! What wonderful people!!
This is Libby and her son we were having fun with whip cream and her son loved the whip cream so we started spraying the cream in his mouth. He sure loved it!! She is so great her Mom is the one that threw the party or should I say Mum...
Just showing off my awesome presents while Libby makes fun of me!! So Funny but little did she know I knew she was doing that!!
Josh stuffing his face with that amazing cake as you see the slice is very small but that was all you could really eat!! It was so AMAZING!! After the already awesome party we played games and had a great time!! We are so blessed to be around such wonderful people and to have such a wonderful time!!

Snow Day

Thanks to Global warming we have had 10 inches of snow in the last week and have some great 2 hour delays from not having to go to work and sleeping in. The High School children seemed really upset that they didn't have a full day of school lessons but little did they know we did a full days work without the 2 hours... LOL!!! Well Dolche's little girl Bella our new little puppy took some naps and had a hard days work of playing in the snow we had to take pictures!!
The video is so funny I hope you laugh like we did!! Bella sure gives Dolche a run for his money and is not afraid to tell him!!! You can see how well they listen to us when Josh tells them to go inside!!!!!

Eye Surgery Adventure

Twas the day before surgery and waiting at the port to cross to France the snow was sure falling in hopes of Josh being able to see without the help of corrective lenses danced through his head. While I slept in the car getting ready to climb aboard the thought of Josh seeing and going to German help the dreams to come forth.
Our first stop was in Bruge, Belgium where we were greeted by a mystical creature called a golden troll who gave us the one finger salute. Okay enough with that... Josh was opted to get the free eye surgery called PRK was he ever excited he will no longer be needing glasses. Unfortunately we had to go to Germany for his surgery and drive there from England. Which sounds like a great adventure and it would be if it wasn't snowing. On our way to Germany we stopped in Bruge which has amazing shopping and is a very beautiful city and has great chocolate. But for some reason maybe because it was snowing and Cold we didn't get many pictures only this picture! The restaurant we ate at the building was built in 1614 which was really neat!! So once we bought our chocolate, Belgium waffle and took the picture of the troll we headed to Germany. Well it just happened to snow that day and the snow was coming down really hard and we had to stop for gas... The Tom Tom took us a wrong direction and we ended up getting stuck on a hill. The German people are so nice and so willing to help some guy stopped and asked if he could help us... but thank our lucky stars or Heavenly Father we got out!! When we arrived in Landstul which took us several hours to find the base we were so lost!! It sucked we put our emergency break on at the hotel not thinking anything of it... well bad idea our breaks got frozen and stuck. Not to mention the base wouldn't let us get gas even though we are military they wouldn't let us... We had had it!!! So we did what anyone else wouldhave done we went to a travel agent and booked a trip to Belek, Turkey all inclusive and WARM!! Since we had to stay in Germany for 2 weeks of those 2 weeks we only had to be there for 3 days we where able to take this wonderful trip!!!
Well Josh and I being the adventure types we didn't even know what we booked we were so excited to get out of Germany and go to a spa hotel we forgot to ask all the important things. But we were blessed to stay in a 5 star hotel!!! IT WAS AMAZING!! Since they are Islamic in Turkey you weren't aloud to walk around the hotel in your bathing suit you had to wear this robe and slippers and when you came to eat you had to be fully clothed and no swimsuits... of course the men could have worn whatever they wanted they could have been naked and that wouldn't have mattered LOL!! Our room was amazing and had amazing views of Belek!!!
So since it was a spa break we booked a spa deal for couples... it is a Turkish bath special they had going on... in the picture is a picture of the baths... we laid on top of this stone slab and in the rooms leading out of it was there baths that you could wash in but they brought the water to us... it was so neat!! They first scrub you down with Lemon scrub and they scrub your whole body they pretty much removed all of your skin!! It was like being reborn, skin wise!! Then they make these bubbles from the towels and throw a million bubbles on you and your surround by bubbles and they rub you down and massage you with this cream and between each step they throw the Turkish water on you... once they are done washing you down you go over to the baths and they shampoo your head and scrub your face down...
then they bring you to this room (VIP) and you sit in this bath that works as a aqua massage machine and you soak in anything you want from Chocolate and so forth we got the Cleopatra bath... that smelled like lavender!! It was so AWESOME!!!
Every night they had something going on!! Since it was all inclusive we would sit and drink soda's and wait for dinner or the next show that was going on!!
This night they had bingo and Josh won the grand prize!! HE IS SO AWESOME!! He won another aqua massage for two which we did in chocolate this time and free bowling that they had in the hotel we ended up playing pool instead, but after that we went dancing!! THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!! We ended up being the only ones on the dance floor but I don't care we had fun!!
This is the beach and you can see the mountains in the back round it was maybe 100 feet from our hotel room!!
We went into town and went shopping... did they ever have stuff to buy we wanted more traditional Turkish stuff to put in our house but a lot of people sold designer stuff that was priced way to high... but this boy we ended up meeting and it was on Sunday, and he is Muslim and he was showing us what they wear in there meetings. He was a little scared at first because the hat he is wearing is what someone who is high in there church or religion would wear. He told us to hurry up and take the picture but he did it!! Another thing here that was really inexpensive was jewelry!! Josh bought me some amazing jewels that are so awesome for like a 3rd of the price!! WHAT A GOOD HUSBAND!! But in the videos you can hear them praying over the loud speakers!! That was neat!! But this boy was one of the devoted workers and stopped work to pray he told us that but he stopped so that was cool!!
Yes they have phones... Just wanted you to see it!! It was outside of our hotel!!
All of the hotels has massive security you can see the guy standing guard outside of our hotel. When we arrived it was dark outside and we see all these hotels barbwire at first I thought they were military installations or prisons but they weren't they are our hotels... I guess they have a lot of problems but turkey is very very very poor... the jewels we bought from the guy which wasn't that much money, he was able to shut down and not have to work for the rest of the month and it was the beginning of January he was very grateful and kept giving us stuff for free.
This is inside the security part but outside of our hotel this is maybe 10% if less of our hotel it was so big and the grounds were Big, if you want you can see it on the Internet google susesi if you have time and want to go to turkey stay here!!
So funny story... the people were so excited about us for some reason... we were the only Americans to ever visit this hotel!! The only ones!!! They didn't even have an American flag flying outside of the hotel!! Anyways everyone thought that I was Josh's Secretary and he was a big wig boss and we were having an affair... funny!! I have no clue why but all the managers and higher ups would come up to me and talk to me... because I am so chatty and at dinner every night they had baklava which is mine and Josh's favorite desert in the whole world!! So this manager comes up to me and sees me getting it and is kind of surprised and I tell him I LOVE BAKLAVA!! (thanks to the Greek festival and awesome parents taking me to it when I was younger and Josh coming to it) We know what it is!! So this manager is really surprised and says do you want to learn how to make!! I am so excited and he tells me come down and we will take you into the kitchen and show you how to make!! It was so cool!! they took us into the kitchen which is the size of our house and then some and takes us in the back to where they make the desserts and show us how to make it!! You can see it on the video!!
Another food that the Turkish people eat is fresh honey! Josh's Favorite!! They had fresh honey out for us to eat all day and Josh would eat the whole thing comb and all!! It was pretty cool!! There food was MAGNIFICENT!!! This was the best hotel we have ever stayed in even our complementary shampoos and stuff was designer stuff!! Best treatment ever by staff... they ran out to the local town to buy me black tights!! How nice was that!! We loved it and if the future lets us we will return!!! It was neat seeing a new culture!! To bad we had to go back to Germany!!