Back to Reality

OK... now it's back to reality. All of us are back to school again... and back to work... and back in chaotic traffic. It was a nice change of pace to drive 150 clicks on a smooth road with slower people "keeping right" and people following the lane markings. Coming back to Cairo we found the temperatures down in the mid-40's at night with highs in the low 60's... yeah, compared to Germany that's still warm... but in Germany everywhere you go inside has HEAT... here... Egypt isn't built to heat anything... it's built with stone that's meant to be cool in the hot summer season, so it radiates the cold. Oh well... winter here only lasts a few weeks... so the thermals will get a little more wear this year :-)

A Week Away

Hello everyone… we took a week off from Cairo and went to Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany for a week of skiing (for the kids … and snowboarding for me)… just getting there was stressful … we had given our flight info to our travel agent… who proceeded to wait to book the flight as we requested… which caused Mia and Mommy to have to follow a day later to Germany… well… when we were flying over Austria this was what we saw ... high peaks of snow... the whole reason for a ski trip. Because I didn't post while on vacation... but did write a little recap of each day... the week actually follows in order...

Who Stole the Snow?

When we were over Munich… this is what we saw… oh no… where’s the snow… we saw little patches of snow … and ice… but where’s all the snow we’d been seeing on the webcam for Garmisch? Did we come all this way to watch winter rye grow?

Monday in Garmisch

Well… Angela and I made the best of Monday here … Angela was on the house slope getting reacquainted with everything … and I just spent the day in the Kreuwankl 6-pack area getting comfortable again with being on a snowboard.

Monday evening Sandra and Mia arrived in Garmisch after catching the train from Munich to Garmisch… which was not an easy trip to make with each of them having a suit case and going up and down stairs to different train tracks… but they were real troopers to catch the train instead of Angela and I having to drive back to Munich to get them… it’s 1 ½ hours one way to the airport (and that was on Sunday, I can't imagine who long it would take to drive there on a weekday)… It rained all day Monday… which made for some very rough/icy conditions on Tuesday.

Mia only has one week of previous skiing experience… and actually at the end of that week at Butternut in MA she was coming down all the “mountain” at that place without any problem… but here… they don’t have “hills” like in MA… the top of the house-slope at Hausberg is a black diamond in MA… so… here’s Mia on her first day on the house-slope. She was doing pretty good on the first day, and if she had been there on Monday she would have made it up on the main mountain with another group… instead she was “stuck” on the house-slope the whole week. (sorry kid… I know you enjoyed yourself but I wish you had had the chance to get up on the real lifts). Sandra gave skiing lessons a chance here… but it just wasn’t quite meant to be and turned all the gear back in.

Tuesday in Garmisch

Tuesday I saw Angela at the exit of the Hausbergbahn… and that was it until the end of the day … she was off enjoying all the smaller enclaves of the 6-pack and t-bar areas around the 6-pack area for the day.

Wednesday in Garmisch

Wednesday saw Mia actually getting some “air” on the house-slope with the jump she made here..

After the day on the mountain as we returned to the hotel area… this was the view we saw.

Angela made her first run down the Olympia today… a 4,000 plus meter long run… and when you ride it on a snowboard... out of shape… the thighs really have a way of screaming at ya’ that you must be crazy to take this run… (but it was fun nonetheless)

Thursday in Garmisch

Thursday we saw much shorter lines on all the lifts, looks like more peoples holiday has come to an end… along with cooler temps which just made the day so much better all around… and since it was a clear day … here’s about the best pic we could get of the Alpsitze which just topped the day off as a banner type of day... God's creation really is awesome.

By this time Angela is actually working on “whirly-birds” and Mia is making it around all the house-slope.

Friday in Garmisch

Friday saw a sunrise that looked like this from our hotel room balcony…. Conditions on the mountain were very nice… again it was a day with short lines… and for the most part slopes that were well groomed… first thing in the morning always seems to be the best time to ride… and then the chop seems to set in… I got to chance … to trail Angela’s group for a little while after lunch today… which was pretty cool. Of course the last day of ski-week has the “race” for the week. All the races were on the house-slope since the mountain was setting up for an event this weekend. Angela did well in her heat and Mia did just as well in her own event against her peers. For Angela her week saw her skiing on the Alpspitze while Mia had mastered the t-bar and the descent on the house-slope…

Angela also got to ski “Kandahar downhill” a few times along with the Olympia downhill which really are quite primer downhill sites.

From 3 to 4pm… all three of us were on the house-slope just enjoying some time together … and it was indeed so very nice to ride with the girls and see them enjoying themselves on the slopes :-) … and that’s what this trip was all about really… them enjoying it.

Mom's Still Got Some Fight in Her

It's hard to believe that my Mom has been fighting cancer off and on now for over 15 years... and here she is again fighting... she recently had a hysterectomy to get the last round of cancer that appeared, and just the surgery itself has really taken its toll on her as the healing of the incision is going very slowly with loads of pain still.

If you're just passing by here today... I'd ask that you take two minutes and agree with us in prayer for healing for my mom Peggy as God uses her where she is today to witness to those around her.

Yeah, Mom has always been a fighter... and it's at this time that I pray for God's hand of mercy to be upon her. For His hand to heal her for His glory to be seen where Mom's at today and in the lives of those that are around her.

Our God is Awesome

Psalm 104:5-9... "He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.

You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.

But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.

You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth."

What's so amazing to me is here we were in the desert and here we're finding what looks like coral in the middle of the desert... along with tons of other shells... and here we see His word tells us these things took place... and this would be one of those times when the evidence is right before our eyes. It reminds me of when Jesus was telling the people that "even if you don't believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father" (John 10:38)... All creation really does cry out that we have a perfect Creator.

Happy New Year

It's hard to believe that it's 2008 now... but why have a become a "Blog Slug"? Sure... for a while business kept me from posting... but then... laziness took over ... So what have we been up to here in the last month? Angela and I both joined the choir for the church Christmas performance. The Three Wise Men always seem to steal the show... this year there were actually four "wise-guys" on camels... and yeah, they were still a big hit this year too.

It's funny how even here in Egypt there seems to be a lot of Christmas parties that happen... and yes... it's great that even here we've had the chance to celebrate our Lords birth with both believers and non-believers.

Since Mia learned to bike in the basement we've gone out to bike two more times now... once to the Victory College compound (where she found a broken bottle with her front tire... and now knows not to ride over glass on her bike) and then just the other day to Wadi Digla... that was very nice to bike out there on the packed dirt and roads ... biking until the girls had had their fill.... then the girls took turns driving the truck on the roads out there as we headed back.

The girls schooling efforts have been going well... and my own courses went well this last semester too... We've had time off with the Islamic "Eid Feast" ... which was something I don't remember last year but I actually went out and saw this year... the "blood letting" that Muslims still do (because of Abraham's sacrifice of, they believe, Ismael)... it was very interesting to say the least.

Ant Farm Escapees

As parents you always want to give some educational things at Christmas... and one of those gifts this year was an ant farm. Since we can't get the "factory" produced ants shipped to us here, we set out some pineapple juice on the counter and collected half a dozen ants for the farm. Pretty cool watching them run around and all. The next day, there's only four ants... then the next day... they're all gone.... and we just kept looking at the "farm" wondering where are they going. Well... after catching one poor guy and watching him for a while today... now it's become clear... these dudes are "squeezing" out through the pin hole air vent... I guess the ones you order from the company must be HUGE ants... I mean... the guys we're catching are the carpenter type ants... not the little black sugar ants... but even these guys are making the "great escape". So far that seems to be the only educational thing we've learned... how crafty these little guys are...