Party Of Five in Dubai: Merry Everything!

It never quite seems like the holidays here in Dubai, but we always try our best! We've made it an annual tradition to go with friends to the Madinat Jumeriah. It is beautifully decorated for Christmas with train rides for kids, bounce houses, snow machines, ice skating, snow ball making and a bungee trampoline! The boys really enjoyed the train rides, but were none too thrilled with Santa, which explains why we didn't get our picture taken with him this year. Maybe next year!

This year all of the boys were super excited about opening up one present on the night of Christmas Eve. The twins received toy guns (because we don't have enough of those around here)! And Mason got a mini NFL football helmet collection! Needless to say, everyone was happy!!

Cash's new "cheese" smile!

The boys are ready to go hog hunting! Too bad we don't have many of those around here!

Christmas morning was super fun this year! The twins were really excited and understood that Santa Claus was coming and bringing them presents. Jake was ok with it as long as he didn't have to actually see Santa himself! After opening up presents, we had some friends over to our place for Christmas lunch. Caroline introduced me to a website called Room Service Deliveries, and you can choose from over 50 restaurants in Dubai, and they deliver it right to your door. You can even choose from multiple restaurants and have everything delivered all at once, which is exactly what we did. A friend brought the turkey, so we ordered beef tenderloin and all the sides, along with a cheese and fruit basket and a few desserts! It worked out perfect, and I didn't have to slave all day in our bare minimum hotel kitchen! I later realized that I was too busy trying to be a good hostess, that I completely forgot to take pictures during our lunch, nor did I take any family photos! One of these days, I'll get it all together!!

The boys waking up to all the Christmas goodies!

Jake got a blue scooter

Cash got a red one

Mason was thrilled to get a new baseball helmet

And Cash was thrilled to wear it into battle

They were not too sure about the Talking Ben dog

So they decided to shoot him down!

Brothers Unite!

Christmas morning is not complete without one of Cash's meltdowns! ha!

Enjoying their Christmas dinner with Erin and Emily

Sweet Baby Eva was a trooper and slept through most of it!

Followed by a game of dodge ball in the hallway!

I'm sure our neighbors must love us! Good thing our friends Emily and Erin are one of our neighbors!

Our little Christmas tree! I sure do miss all of our decorations back home!

New Year's Eve is always a lot of fun here in Dubai, because we have an amazing view of the Burj Khalifa right outside our window. We had a pre-celebration with the kids, popcorn and juice, followed by a dinner at friends house with bubbly and watching of the fireworks. It never gets old!

Cash & Jake with their buddy Liam

This cheeky monkey was more interested in his own photo shoot! Lord Help Me!

These two are thick as thieves!

Burj Khalifa fireworks!

Front pages of local newspapers. No idea what it says, but loved the photos!

We were blessed with beautiful weather on New Year's Day, so we enjoyed the day at the pool! This really isn't such a bad place to spend part of our year ;)