Sad and HAPPY...Birthday Time!!

The day after Kylie took her graduation photos, our landlord told Doug that we needed to move.  

He wanted to sell the house so that he could have money for his son who was getting married.  Selling the house would help them pay the bride price and get the new couple started in life.

Doug tried to convince him it would be hard to sell, and that if we kept paying rent, at least he would have some income.  No go.

On a side note, I'm writing this blog on April 7, 2021, and he STILL hasn't sold the house.  I was just over there last week!

The news about moving was also the same time that our language helper's mother died, so we went to her funeral. Death is an especially sad thing here for me. 

But a happy thing is celebrating one of our children's birthdays, and at the end of that sad week, we got to celebrate Karis turning 16!

She woke up to art that Kylie and I had made her for her room.  Knowing that after Kylie left for college, Karis would have her own room for the first time in her life, we wanted her to have pictures for her walls of things that she loved.

Kylie also designed a special piece for Karis, printed it, and had it framed.

Since Karis is lactose intolerant, the best cookie cake for her was a tahin cookie.

Tahin is made from ground up sesame seeds, and for some reason, it tastes better over here than the jars you can buy in the grocery store in America.  Kylie and Karis have perfected tahin cookies over the last couple of years, and this just happened to be a giant one.

Karis is a lot of fun to be around.  She keeps people laughing and has a great sense of humor.

She is so smart and works hard at everything she does. She is dedicated, independent, a very loyal friend.

As I write this, she only has one more year at home, so I'm trying to take advantage of the time I have left.

Happy birthday, Karis!

The DAY AFTER these pictures were taken, we had to go into a 72 mandatory lockdown.

It was the end of Ramadan, and numbers were rising. 

We had a graduation party planned for Kylie that was supposed to take place in 6 days, so we held our breath!

End of Ramadan and Dancing for the School Year

We celebrated the end of Ramadan with a family we've come to know better this last year.

My friend's mother came up from the south of the country to celebrate (and cook) too.

This year, Ramadan starts on April 23rd.  Did I tell you before that Ramadan starts about 10 days earlier every year because the Islamic calendar is different than ours?

The end of Ramadan also signaled the end of dance for the year.

Kylie and Karis gave certificates to their classes on the last day, after they performed for their parents.

Then, a few days later, they had a last performance of their own.

Parents are invited to attend, but since the class is mostly made up of expat adults, we are the only parents present.  The class calls us their "parents," and Doug videos them all and I take pictures to give to everyone.

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Karis, June 8, 2019

Kylie, June 8, 2019

With their teacher, Ms. Natalia.

It was truly a day to celebrate for all of us.  Kylie injured her leg October 1, 2018, and after a long recovery, we were so thankful that she could participate in this last class and be healed enough to travel to America the day after these pictures were taken to participate in a month-long ballet camp in Mississippi with Ballet Magnificat.

Karis worked so hard this year.  She took many classes alone because the other adults couldn't always make class.  Taking a class alone, getting rapid-fire instructions, and not getting any breaks while other students are corrected made for some long, exhausting nights for her, but she excelled!