Christmas Day 2010

Merry Christmas to you and yours!!!!

This photo was taken in the Serengeti during our African Safari Honeymoon this past September :)

I could hardly wait for Christmas Day this year.  I don't know if it was the gift I was giving Eric that made me so excited but I was seriously like a little kid.  I almost broke down and just gave Eric his gift about a zillion times.  So happy I waited.    

We woke up on Christmas morning at 6:30am...and immediately called our families.  It was so awesome to be able to talk to all of them.  They were cleaning up from their Christmas Eve Dinner and we were getting ready to cook some more and open gifts. 

Our tree on Christmas Morning

Hot cocoa goodies Brooke and Eric gave us

Self timer baby!

Eric holding one of my gifts-a  Dean and Deluca lunch bag

So those of you who know Eric well, he rarely indulges in things for himself.  He is always thinking of other people and even if he wants something, he'd never buy it for himself.  So, he'd been talking about an iPad for months so I really wanted to buy this for him.  We were even at the Apple store when we were home in November and I asked him if there was anything he needed or wanted - he, of course, replied no....little did he know that I snuck the purchase and got him his very own iPad.  The surprise almost got foiled a few times through airport security going back to Doha but luckily it made it just fine.  I wrapped it in boxes within a box to throw him off :)

First he thought I got him a globe

Then a.... filing cabinet?!  He's thinking, 'great gift Jennie!"

Then a Louis Vuitton something or other?!

Almost there!

 He was blown away and very surprised.  Now that he can subscribe to magazines, etc via iPad we'll save quite a bit of money on the usual $12/magazine here in Doha.  His only problem will be keeping me away from it !

We were literally done with opening gifts by 8:30am!   Two little kids I tell ya!

We continued the feast with a delicious breakfast of eggs, blueberry pancakes and homemade cinnamon buns...below is the before shot, I had no idea how much they would rise!

We spent the day mostly in our house watching Christmas movies and just enjoying some R & R together.  In the afternoon, we decided to take a run at Aspire Park.  It was good to get the blood pumping but a little sad to see all the non-Christmas celebrators just hanging at the park like it was a normal day.  I'm happy we stayed inside for that reason.  It was wonderful to be able to speak to our families again later in the day.  The video phones and skype sure do make it feel like the world is a lot smaller and we're really not so far away.

We hope your Christmas was as enjoyable as ours and all the best for 2011!

(Next up, Mom & Dad Marras' arrival the 30th of December :) )

The beginning of the holiday-Christmas Eve 2010

Not being home for Christmas was a decision I thought we would definitely regret leading up to the holidays..luckily since we were just home at Thanksgiving, it made not being home for Christmas much easier.  We had planned on going away but Eric's job got much to busy and we decided it was best to stay here.  Eric took his first 3 day weekend since we've lived here and we had just the best weekend!  We had some friends who were in town (grounded, literally due to upcoming baby arrivals) so we invited them over for some dinner and cheer.    We had a wonderful time just relaxing, eating and drinking lots of food :)  It was a really nice evening.  

 S

Nick, Jocelyn (due Feb 7) and Brooke and Eric (due early Feb with twins, a boy and a girl :))

Grandfather Eric?!

Christmas Eve dinner table


Since I'm really enjoying cooking, I was excited to cook for everyone. 


Christmas Eve Menu


Hor'Doerves
Crudite with Hummus
Shrimp Cocktail
Marchengo cheese, aged yellow cheddar and parmeggiano reggiano with toasted rosemary crostini
Mushroom Quesadillas


Appetizer
Coconut Carrot soup


Entree`
Meat Lasagne (my dad's sauce recipe)
Veggie (minus the veggie) Lasagne (my dad's sauce recipe, sans meat)
Boston salad with dried cranberries, walnuts, julienned anjou pears and gorgonzola (one with out gorgonzola for the pregnant ladies)


Dessert
Carrot cake cupcakes with home made cream cheese frosting
Brooke made a delicious Apple cranberry crumb dessert a la mode and whipped cream
Jocelyn made delicious pumpkin bread which I forgot to serve but Eric and I enjoyed every last bite on Christmas day :) 

It's the holiday season....Christmastime in Doha

Christmas time in Doha has been a lot better than one would think.  There has been Christmas music in the malls, Christmas trees up in countless places and even a Santa Claus sighting.  We've heard it's gotten better over the years.  Luckily we bought a tree from our dear friends who moved from Doha...but if you're up for spending some serious cash, you can get a real Christmas tree delivered to your door for 1100QR (just shy of $300 USD).  Luckily, Eric and I found some amazing smelling "winter forrest" diffusers from L'Occitane and the same scent in candle form so our house is smelling very "Chrismassy"   

I probably made around 10 dozen cookies over the course of a week.  Just a sampling

Doha Tree

Our front door 

And Santa Claus!

Literally on the side of a busy Doha Street 

 When in Doha.....

Talk about Pride! Qatar's National Day- December 18, 2010

If the catchy slogan "Expect Amazing" is any indication of how the World Cup 2022 will pan out, it sure rings some what true for Qatar's December 18 National Day.  It's like our 4th of July except with a lot more going on than just BBQs.   It's the Qatari style of Parades, driving around E V E R Y W H E R E  with Qatari flags, kids hanging out windows, kids sitting on the roof of the car, sword fighting, and the culmination of fireworks (in all seriousness, they were actually the best fireworks I've ever seen in my life).    So, Qatar went all out, with a month long set up on the corniche with chairs and a special VIP section for the Emir and other high ranking Qatari officials (Red velvet chairs, no less), Qatar flags adorning the ENTIRE city (on all the lamp posts) plus businesses, etc, tents set up all over for the ritual sword fighting, camels on the side of a main thoroughfare and the like.  Yes ladies and gents, this is Qatar's way of celebrating.  And they've got plenty of dough to back it up.

 Since we'd seen the set up going on for weeks, we knew we had to make it to the parade.  In Qatar, everything runs a little late (Qataris are not known for being prompt) so when we heard the parade started at 8:30am, we figured arriving at 8:30 was good enough for Qatar....we were wrong!  We missed most of the parade, and the corniche was jam packed with people...so needless to say, we didn't enjoy it to the fullest.  Actually, it was more like being pushed around like cattle...

Arriving at the corniche for the parade..not so many people now

Decorations on the palm trees.  They are lit up at night and it looks really beautiful. 

It's usually hard to take photos in Doha of people, but on a day like today, everyone was more than willing (maybe not the people in this photo).  We've even noticed that many locals are much more friendly to us.  I had a man dressed in a full thoub with what I can only assume were his two wives try to run with my on the corniche one day a few weeks ago.  It was quite the sight. 

Pride

Fighter Jets

Just a fraction of the people who were there

See the helicopters?

Some of the outfits were pretty amazing.  

Qatar's colors

People lucky enough to have gotten a seat on the other side of the corniche facing the water.

Best seat in the house

It really is a beautiful skyline

Tired and hot

Not the most exciting part of the parade, but it's what we got to see.  We missed the camels, horses, tanks and army

This photo doesn't quite capture it but the sweater vest that this man was wearing looked like it was sparkly..mind you it's about 25 degrees celsius.  I laugh out loud when I see lots of workers wearing ear muffs and down coats.  I mean, it is a bit chilly compared to what it was, but not compared to a lot of places..it's all relativity, I guess!

Locals love their phones

This exact photo of the Emir is EVERYWHERE!  

 Now we will dedicate a portion to the crazy cars we've seen here lately.   Just amazing how some of the most expensive cars (and not so expensive, too) have been transformed to show their pride....not only for the bid nod, but also for National Day.  

This is nothin'

Yup, that's right, on the windshield

View from the back

 The rest of the day consisted of tons of locals (and non-locals alike) driving around the entire city beeping their horns and showing their pride.  

That night, we decided to go back for more and enjoy the fireworks.  We parked right where there was the ritual sword fighting going on...not the greatest photos, but a taste.  

 While walking to the corniche, we saw many more cars...

These guys were more than happy to pose for me....not a usual occurrence

Football fans much?!

Arabic Sign

The English Side 

There are no words. . . 

 We finally made it to the corniche and were surprised to find a nice spot on the grass to watch the fireworks from.  It was an impressive 20 minute show.  Will do my best to figure out a way to post the video.  

Lauren and Rob 

Nick and Jocelyn

We're happy we had a chance to participate in this holiday.  It gives us a bit more insight into the pride of the Qataris and hopefully gives you a bit more of a "picutre" of what our life is like here...and how it all looks :)