Day 2 -- Touring Dubai

We both woke up around 4 a.m. and attempted to get back to sleep but it was futile. At around 5:15 we decided just to get up and start going. We’re going to grab some breakfast and see what we can do to play tourists for the day. –continued--

We grabbed breakfast ($30 each – ouch) and found out from the concierge that the mall and the tourist bus we planned to catch didn’t start until 10 a.m. However, with full tummies, we decided we might be up for a nap so we took one. We both slept pretty hard. We woke up about 10:30 and decided we’d better start moving if we were going to see anything today. We packed up and headed out on our adventure.
The heat of the day had only just begun. Luckily our hotel is only about 3-4 blocks from the Mall of Emirates (home of Ski Dubai) so we found our way over there, dodging a little traffic. The mall wasn’t overly crowded but we managed to find Ski Dubai fairly easily. There are a lot of information desks and almost everyone here speaks fairly good English. Seeing Ski Dubai in person was pretty neat. I didn’t realize how big it really was nor that it had a lot of things for the younger children. People on the hill and sledding seemed to be enjoying themselves. Though it was tempting to "show them how it’s done," we decided that we’d better continue to play tourist.

We looked all over for the “Big Bus Tour” and even asked around but couldn’t find it. Rather than keep endlessly walking around we took the Metro to the Dubai Mall which is also close to the Burj Dubai aka. Burj Khalifa (world’s tallest building). We made our way through the mall and found the ticket booth to “At The Top”. Kelly figured it was his good looks but Serah got us tickets to the 1:00 entrance which was sold out. We drank some yummy limeade while waiting the half-hour, tried unsuccessfully to connect to the internet (you have to still register and they send your PIN to your mobile – ugh), and then made our way to the top. The elevator was incredibly fast. You only felt your stomach drop for a second and then the windowless elevator (they have screens that play advertisements) takes about 60 seconds to make it to the very top, ears popping along the way. The view from the observation deck is phenomenal. For $30 ea. I think it’s still worth paying for. You can see The Palm with Atlantis on the end, Bur Al Arab, and the “World” islands. Of course, from that height, you can see everything for miles, and miles and more miles. This city truly is an Oasis. Dubai goes from straight desert on one side to instant construction of buildings. You can never stop counting the number of cranes you see at any given time. Its expansion is massive and obviously over the top.

We made our way down and managed to find the main entrance and purchased our bus pass. It’s a double-decker bus that includes ear-phones that you can wear to hear a narration about the city and the UAE in general. From the Burj, we went downtown and saw some historic buildings, a linen Souk, more historic buildings (unfortunately missed the Gold Souk – it was getting too late) but made it to an Arabian Dhow Creek Cruise. Dhows are wooden boats used primarily for trade between Arabic countries. Ours was of course outfitted for tourists, but dozens and dozens lined the creek sides packing everything imaginable (cars, grain, TVs, clothing, air conditioners, appliances,) for their next voyage to Iran or maybe Pakistan.

After the Dhow Cruise the night was fast approaching. We caught the Metro (very clean and efficient) to the Mall of Emirates. We fell in love with a family with gorgeous little girls and laughed along the way with them. We were tempted to return back to the Dubai Mall so we could see the fountains (like the Bellagio) but we were far too hungry so we headed back to the Emirates Mall. As you can tell, they say Dubai is a Shopper’s Paradise. I lost track of all the shopping malls they have. What’s even more amazing is they are packed all the time. We found the food court (KFC, Subway, Papa Johns, Hardees, McDonalds) and chose McDonalds as the line was short and we knew the food would be fast. Maybe we were really hungry, but that food was awesome. We thought the fries were the best. We enjoyed our food and sat and people watched. I think Dubai is the biggest melting pot in the world. You see every race there is just in one food court (with us whities being the minority). We particularly enjoyed watching one Islamic mother playing with her twin 20-month-ish boys. She was teaching them sign language and feeding them food. It made us long to see our three children.

We left the mall and walked back to our hotel after a long 10.5 hour day. I actually feel safer here than Salt Lake at any time. The people are generally very friendly (maybe it’s because we’re curiously very white) and I never once felt we were in danger. The tour guide said Dubai is one of the safest metropolitans in the world. There’s a very good military and police presence and I think that along with stiff penalties keep everyone and everything safe.

The weather is starting to get very, very warm. A gentleman in our elevator last night said to give it another month and it will be so hot we’ll lose half our weight walking around. The humidity is bearable but it wasn’t “dry” like I thought it was going to be.

Back at the hotel, we arrived very exhausted but happy with the progress we made. Short of Atlantis, the beach, and the Burj Al Arab, we’ve seen almost everything we’ve wanted. Since tomorrow is Friday (Islam’s Sunday) most things will be closed downtown so we’ll stick more around our “neighborhood” and go see Atlantis and the Burj Al Arab.

Good night – Love you all.

All Is Well

Arrived safe and sound. Having a wonderful time in Dubai. Will post more tomorrow morning. Love you all. - Kelly & Lisa

Day 1 -- Travel to Dubai

We woke up, got ready and Livia, mom and dad knelt around JJ’s bed for a quick prayer and gave hugs and kisses. Becca came just in time and we loaded the luggage into our car. While doing this Kelly twisted his ankle a little but he’s toughing it out; he said it doesn’t’ feel broken or anything. We made it to the airport in plenty of time thanks to Ernesto’s chauffeuring abilities.

Each of our four checked bags made it just right under the 50 lb. limit. The flight from SLC to JFK (NYC)was really nice. Thanks to a friend, we had an exit row seat which made the 4.5 hours much more pleasant. We arrived at JFK just fine and followed the masses to get to terminal 4. We discovered the transportation method forces you to be outside the security so now we would have to go through and reenter once again. Waiting outside the terminal, the seating was extremely sparse. So after grabbing some KFC to hold us over, we went to find the Partner Lounges so we could chill there. We splurged and paid $90 to Delta’s Sky Club program so we could use the place later in the morning in SLC as well as for our long layovers in JFK. It was really nice. They had free WiFi and all the sodas, juices, cheese, crackers, etc. you could ever want. Lots of seating too unlike the masses outside.

We started getting nervous of the crowd that was developing inside the lounge, figuring there must be a larger crowd outside who are trying to get through security. Though it was 2.25 hour early, I was tired of waiting. We made it through without a hitch. We sat next to another couple who are also on their way to Ethiopia to pick up their 2 year old daughter. We exchanged pleasantries and questions but didn’t really engage much in a conversation.

We boarded the plane at about 10:15. They almost tried to take Lisa’s carry-on bag because it looked too big (wasn’t anywhere overstuffed at all). I got it to fit in the upper bin with no problem. Little did they know Tim’s backpack that folds into a briefcase weighs, much, much more. The flight itself was really nice. I like the plane (777-300) and the staff seemed really friendly and always asking what they could do. We had some dinner (chicken or lamb) both of which tasted fantastic and then we went to bed. Though the 1200 channels of entertainment were tempting, I succumbed to sleep. Before we knew it, we were once again getting ready to land.

Disembarking the plane you could feel the almost instant “oooo” from all the passengers as the heat and humidity hit you. The airport sure was nice. Lot of really cool architecture including huge fountains sliding down walls. We waited for only minutes for our four our bags and we got them all. Remember how I was freaking about the “butt-Paste” leaking all over, well they didn’t. However, it turns out someone else’s bag leaked some sort of clothes washing detergent on our suitcase. Good think we packed all those clothes in the space saver bags. They wouldn’t have been ruined but still a nasty task none the less.

After trying to get swindled from a “taxidriver” who was really just a guy with a car, I told him his rates seem far excessive so we went out to the que and waited in the real line for about ½ second. Our driver, Solomon was a very nice gentlemen from Sudan. He took us on a quick drive and gave us a pretty good orientation where our hotel is compared to bigger land and water sites.

We got all checked in to the hotel and walked around the corner to a little quicky-mart that had drinks for far less than the hotel (and the U.S. for that matter). It was a little hard but we finally managed to figure out how to charge our computer. It’s working now. We’ll lug it around with us tomorrow as we tour around until we can find a Starbucks or a place with complementary internet so we can post on our blog and maybe connect the cell to WiFi and call home and talk to the kids.

Tomorrow morning’s plan is to wake up (not jet-lagged and walk five minutes over to the mall to see Ski-Dubai and then catch the tourist bus that runs between all the sites. I think it will be far cheaper than doing taxis plus we can get on and off as we want. On our list are the World’s tallest building, Atlantis Aquarium and maybe their beach/waterpark. We want to see the gold and spice souks too.

Off to bed. See you in the morning. Love you all

On Our Way

We leave early tomorrow morning to begin the last step our adoption journey to bring little Gutu (Samuel) home. Lisa and I are pretty much packed and ready to go. Anxiety is building a little but so is the anticipation of being united with our little Gutu. Special thanks to Aunt Becca, Uncle Nathan and Nana and Papa for watching the kids while we're gone. Thanks to our friends, neighbors and family that are going to fill in the holes too. We're blessed to have all of you be a part of our lives.

We hope to keep everyone updated via this blog. It may not be daily but will all be dependent on internet connections, power and computer availability. Thank for all you kind thoughts and prayers.

Patience Paid Off -- TRAVEL DATE!

Our prayers (and patience) have finally paid off. We're leaving at the end of the month to go pick up little Samuel Gutu. We'll have him in our arms on May 1st and we'll be home just in time for Mother's Day (how appropriate). Thanks for your prayers and support. We're very excited the roller coaster is coming to an end. Stay tuned for travel posts, etc. Wahoo!!!!

Still Waiting -- Thoughts on Patience

It'll soon be six weeks since little Samuel has been officially a part of our family and there's still no end in sight. We are still waiting on the embassy to provide us with a travel date. It could be several more weeks or months. You can easily say we're learning some patience...

Here's a few thoughts from Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave in a recent talk I heard that I believe was written just for me (many of you know patience has never been my (Kelly) best attribute):

"Nevertheless, without patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect. Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace."

"There is an important concept here: patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"

"The children of Israel waited 40 years in the wilderness before they could enter the promised land. Jacob waited 7 long years for Rachel. The Jews waited 70 years in Babylon before they could return to rebuild the temple. The Nephites waited for a sign of Christ’s birth, even knowing that if the sign did not come, they would perish. Joseph Smith’s trials in Liberty Jail caused even the prophet of God to wonder, “How long?”

In each case, Heavenly Father had a purpose in requiring that His children wait.

Every one of us is called to wait in our own way. We wait for answers to prayers. We wait for things which at the time may appear so right and so good to us that we can’t possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer."

The last sentence was my favorite...something "so right and so good to us that we can't possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer." I know our answer will come eventually, I just hope it's not until I've perfected patience as that would be a very, very long time.

Please keep Samuel and us in your prayers. Thanks for your continued support.

Here's another pic...

Here Are Pictures Of End of Sept. into Oct.

We had a lot of fun with friends and family this fall. Here are some of the things that we did. We were able to have Sammy sealed to our family. That was a beautiful day! Livi had her Birthday Party, crazy girls. We went horse back riding with the Workman's and picked pumpkins. Later the next week we carved the pumpkins with the Workman's. We went to Gardner Village with a group of friends. We went bowling with Kelly's mom. We also went trick-or-treating. Sammy learned that one really fast!

Birth Certificate Rec'd

We received a copy of Sammy's birth certificate today. It's a relief to see Lisa and me as the parents; It's starting to feel a little more real. We'll need to adjust his birth date when we register his adoption with Utah. It shows he was born in December even though we saw his pictures in October and his medical information says he was born September 21st. I've heard before and this confirms that birthdays aren't so much of a big thing for them I guess. Now we're one step closer to bringing him home. We'll keep you all posted on our travel plans once we receive the embassy date. Thanks for your continued prayers and support.