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Bizim Türk Kız – *Our Turkish Girl*

18 Saturday Jan 2014

Posted by Lesa Burgess in Basketball, Family, Kids, Travel, Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Ava, birthday, Turkey, Ukraine

5 years ago both Ava and I had the experience of a lifetime.  I have told this story to some close friends, but thought it a fitting time to share.  Chris helped me write this the eve of Ava’s birthday.  It was amazing for me to sit in peace after the kids had gone to bed and reflect on this story with him.  Thanks for helping me Chris.

Ava first started as a little bean in Puerto Rico.  We had a little scare when I woke in the middle of the night with immense pain, which resulted in an ER visit to the hospital.  Some time and an injection later, everything was fine.  I believe it was that night that my Ava was telling me what kind of girl she would be.

We then spent some time in Utah during the end of summer wondering where this little bean would be born.

Chris had a few contract offers that year.  He was excited about an opportunity he got with a team in Ukraine and I voiced my concern, but hesitantly agreed to go and try to be positive, a tough thing for a pregnant woman who worries.

Four months into my pregnancy, we arrived in Donetsk, Ukraine and immediatley Chris’s translator, Konstantine, had the fun job of finding any doctor who could speak English.  The first doctor was located in a somewhat decent looking hospital so I was optimistic.  However, when we walked into the doctor’s office he quickly took one last long puff and threw his cigarette out the window.  I tried to hold my breathe through the smoky office and without feeling guilty told Konstantine that this doctor would not do.

On to the next. This time we pulled up to a hospital that looked straight out of a black and white movie from the 30’s.  I was shaking my head but still trying to be positive.  There were women patients walking around both inside and outside the hospital in their bathrobes and slippers.  This hospital did not have any working heater, so it felt 25 degrees inside.  The hallways were cold and as we were sitting and waiting to see the doctor I noticed a spider web in the corner and then a cat ran down the hallway meowing.  Ummmmmm, NEXT!

The following hospital was slightly better than the last two so I told Konstantine “OK.”  The female doctor sort of spoke English, so she arranged some blood work for me as well as an ultrasound.  The blood work was done at the hospital.  Konstantine and I were directed to a line where we waited at least twenty-five minutes and did paperwork, and then we walked through another freezing cold hallway, where we sat in a line of at least twenty people for forty-five minutes.  Finally they called my name and Konstantine ushered me forward.  Having had my blood drawn numerous of times, I sat down thinking I knew what was coming, but instead I went through the most interesting unexpected fifteen minutes.  The nurse wrote “Lesa Burgess” on four pieces of yellow tape. She then wrapped the tape around four open glass vials and then inserted these vials into a holder to keep them upright.  She then proceeded to stick my vein with a syringe and sucked the blood out of my arm, like you would medicine out of a bottle.  Then, she pushed the blood out into one of the vials, then stuck me again.  This continued until all four vials were adequately full.  Then I was dismissed.  Perfect.  All I could do was laugh.  I wish I would have had an iPhone back then so I could snap a picture and post it to Instagram.  I was then informed that my ultrasound would be in a couple days.

The ultrasound was a bit better, how bad can it be… cold gooey gel on the belly, a little wand, a screen, and boom, I’m done.  Might have not been the best one ever, but good enough.

My next appointment with the lady doctor was fine.  We spent twenty minutes talking and having no idea what either of us was saying to one another.  I was given a tour of the post-delivery room I would stay in after I had the baby to make sure it would suffice.  I wasn’t expecting much at this point so it seemed okay.  A tiny room with a small flat bed about five inches off the floor, a chair, and a window.  Good enough I guess, but still, something just didn’t feel right.

At this point Chris and I had discussed the situation and I was contemplating going back to Utah.  I was now six and a half months along and time was ticking.  I prayed so hard to know what I should do.  Chris and I had promised each other from the very beginning of his career to stay together if we could.  When I prayed, I didn’t feel good about going back home to Utah, yet I didn’t feel good about being in Ukraine either.  At this point, I was completely confused.

Meanwhile Chris was having some issues with his Ukrainian team.  A couple weeks later, Chris and his agent negotiated a deal to be released from his contract and within forty-eight hours had signed a new deal with a team in Eregli, Turkey.  When the deal in Turkey was negotiated, the team wanted Chris to play in their next game, which was in twenty-four hours, so the team had purchased tickets for Chris and our family to fly out in three hours. Chris told me this over the phone and I immediately started throwing everything in bags.  To get an idea of what I had to do to prepare for our move from Ukraine to Turkey, I had to pack seven 50lb suitcases, a carry-on, a diaper bag, stroller, and a car seat.  Not to mention, I had to get our two little girls Kelli Jo and Zoey ready as well as Jango, our fifty-five pound weimaraner dog in her kennel, along with her paperwork to travel.  With the clock ticking for our departure, I did all of this in forty-five minutes.  Amazingly, the only hick-up we had was Jango’s travel paperwork not being completely done, but nothing four hundred Ukrainian Hyrvna couldn’t take care of.  It pays sometimes to fly your dog, whose paperwork isn’t complete, out of a corrupt country. We had lived in Turkey the season prior so we felt good about going to a familiar country.  A year earlier, I had gone through a miscarriage and had surgery in Istanbul and knew there were good medical facilities there.  Was this all an answer to a prayer?  I felt it was.

However, instead of living in a big city like Istanbul, we would be living in a small working village on the Black Sea, a city called Eregli, which was in the province of Zonguldak.  Erdemir was the name of Chris’s team and they were a steel factory there in Eregli and it was a three and a half hour drive away from Istanbul. At first I thought I could make the drive for my doctor appointments, but it just didn’t end up working out that way.  I wasn’t comfortable with my doctor being that far away when I could possibly go into labor when Chris was on a road trip, so I decided to find a doctor nearby.

The greatest part about being in Eregli was that Chris’s old Turkish teammate from a year ago was also on this team as well.  I knew his wife Nilufer a little bit and she spoke English!  She accompanied me to my first few doctor appointments at the local hospital there until I got the hang of the procedure (more steps than seemed necessary… but that’s how a lot of things are overseas).  My doctor would be Dr. Ulker (oo-ker).  He spoke English and seemed alright.  I was not totally excited about this small city and small hospital and the whole situation, but honestly I finally felt at peace with delivering my baby here so I just went with it.

The best part about being pregnant overseas is that most of the time you get a quick little ultrasound at every appointment so you get to watch your little bean grow. I loved that.

I started into labor one evening while Chris was in town (yay!) but at practice.  When I knew it was time to go to the hospital I texted Chris, left my kids with Nilufer, and drove to the hospital, which was only a few minutes away.  Dr. Ulker didn’t really believe I was in labor and had a nurse hook me up to see if I was “lying about my close contractions.” Shockingly, I was telling the truth.  He had the non-English speaking nurse, hook me up to the monitors and he told me he would be back later.  The nurses and I played charades for a while until Nilufer came to join us.  Chris showed up after he took the kids to another of his teammates house for a slumber party.  Being in a traditionally Muslim city, they did not want Chris in the same room as me.  However it was late at night and nobody else was there so Nilufer convinced them to let Chris in the room.  He only had to leave when they checked my cervix, which he was fine with.

He did leave at one point when we found out that this hospital did not have any of the newborn necessities for the baby once she was born.  Chris went to the house to pick up some clothes, diapers, wipes, etc.  He then went to the store to buy some baby formula and bottled water, because I wasn’t going to be breast-feeding.

Finally it was time for Ava to come.  I had not been given any pain medication and planned on receiving none for the duration of my time there with Dr. Ulker.  I sat on a chair/table/bed that was sort of upright, but quite honestly I’m not really sure what to call it.  Whoever made it was thoughtful enough to have bars put on the side of the table for me to hold onto and squeeze while delivering.  As I pushed, and I won’t lie, screamed, Chris stood behind me wishing he was Muslim and had the law enforced of the male not being present during delivery.  However, like the good Christian he is, he stayed with me the whole time and helped me through the painful delivery.

I will tangent for a moment here to say that Chris’s Turkish teammates thought I was crazy for having a baby here.  They thought Chris was crazy for letting me.  I think the short conversation he had with his teammates was “Baba, you and your wife are crazy.”  But I knew everything would be fine.  When I prayed, I felt without a doubt that we would be watched over.

That’s why when Ava finally made her appearance with the cord wrapped around her neck twice and completely blue, I sat there calmly and watched her knowing she would be ok.  Dr. Ulker grabbed her two feet together in his hand and swung her up onto the table like you would a rabbit trying to get away.  They unwrapped the cord and started rubbing her furiously.  She let out a marvelous cry and slowly turned pink. They wrapped her in one of the diapers, that we brought, blankets, that we brought, and the attention quickly flew back to Dr. Ulker when he started stitching me up.  He had to cut me during the delivery and he was now stitching me up….. WITHOUT any local anesthetic. I felt every single stitch.  I was clenching my jaw and screaming again doing my best not to hold still and not kick him upside the head.  He made a fabulously funny joke about me sounding a lot like my daughter but I didn’t laugh.  Finally all done with that and his job was finished.  He said “goodbye, see you tomorrow.”  Ya ok, see ya Dr. Ulker!

Ava was born at 12:15 AM in Eregli, Zonguldak, Turkey.  Because of the time difference, it was the afternoon of January 16th back in the USA.  Therefore I always count the 16th as Ava’s ‘kind of’ birthday and the 17th as her real birthday.  I wonder if Dr. Ulker would agree with this logic.

I was anxious to know how much she weighed so I was persistent in asking them to weigh her.  Nilufer finally came in and explained to Chris and I that their baby scale was broken.  Chris thinks Dr. Ulker stole it because he just delivered an infidel baby.  I asked several times if they had another one but nobody seemed to care, which greatly upset me.  They handed me the clothes that I had worn to the hospital and told me to get dressed.  I put my clothes on and they handed me Ava and instructed me through Nilufer not to bathe her for at least a week.  She was still all gooey from birth and I nodded to them knowing full well a bath was one of the first orders of business when we got home.  I was then wheeled to my room.  Image

There in the room, one of the nurses brought in a bathroom scale and had me stand on it.  They then handed me Ava and said “üç kilogram”, which translated into English as three kilograms.  Or in non-metric using countries, 6 pounds 9 ounces.

Having a game the next day, Chris went home to get some rest and sweet beautiful Nilufer stayed the night with me to help with Ava since the nursery was non-existent.  For some reason I hadn’t had Chris bring a bottle and I forget why I didn’t make him bring one back, but for that evening, my little Ava was fed with a dropper.  She did great.  Bless Nilufer for staying that night with me.  I was exhausted.  I don’t know who I was mad at more, Chris or Dr. Ulker.  Just kidding, I understood Chris had a big game that day and needed a few hours of rest before tip-off.

I woke up a few hours later and was exhausted from both delivery and lack of sleep.  Nilufer went home for a short time and Chris returned to be with me.  The owner and general manager of Chris’s team came to visit me and brought a small Turkish pin that they pinned on Ava’s blanket.  This is a Turkish tradition that they do to ward off evil.  They also brought a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  Still waiting for a gift form Dr. Ulker.

Dr. Ulker came back for a quick visit to make sure everything was good.  He said, “everything is good?  I said “yes.”  Then he lectured me for five minutes on my duties of being a mother and how I am not fulfilling them because I was not breastfeeding.  I nodded as he lectured me and said “Okay” when he was finished.  This was my third baby.  I knew at this point what being a good mother was, and I knew I was one. Image

It was about time to go when Nilufer had come back and was telling Chris that he needed to go with her to pay the hospital bill for Ava’s delivery.  The bill needed to be paid in full before we left.  Because we didn’t have any insurance, Chris asked Nilufer if they would allow him to spread the payment over a couple credit cards, assuming the bill would be very high.  Nilfer said “Yes, I’m sure that’s fine.  No Problem.”  Chris was given the bill.  614 Turkish Lira, which is roughly $275.  Just so we are clear, that’s two hundred and seventy-five dollars.  Chris laughed and said “Oh, I’ll just pay cash.”

Just before noon we left the hospital to go home, just shy of twelve hours after I gave birth.  There were no wristbands to check.  No car seat checks.  We just left and went home.  Thank goodness we had the only white baby or who knows if we truely are Ava’s parents.

A couple days later Nilufer picked Ava and I up to go get shots at a clinic.  Nilufer told me the immunizations they were going to inject Ava with and I gave them the thumbs up to go ahead with them.  Now I was told it was my turn, which confused me. What shot did I need?  “Tetanus” Nilufer translated.  “Just in case everything wasn’t sterile.”  Oh, gee, OKAY.  Shoot me up and while you’re at it maybe have the hospital sterilize their tools now and then.

I got home later and told Chris the tetanus shot story and he then proceeded to tell me that while I was walking from labor room to delivery room, Dr. Ulker had stepped out to the stairwell for a pre-delivery smoke break.  Chris then said “I hope he washed his hands after, but I don’t know if he did.  I was too busy shielding your view of him smoking while you walked to the delivery room.”  A mini storm started in my head.  I thought about all the things that could have gone wrong and what could have happened.  I then looked at my sweet baby Ava sleeping away and knew what had happened.

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My prayers had been answered and I had been comforted.  I knew without a shadow of a doubt that both my baby and I would be watched over and protected from harm, and we were.  I knew Eregli, Zonguldak Turkey would be Ava’s birthplace and that it was right for us at that time.  I felt that Ava was my little miracle.  I know that sounds dramatic.  I know there are stories all the time of real extreme miracles, but nonetheless, I felt like Ava was my little Turkish miracle.  I think it was partly her strong will and fierceness that got us both through that.  Two qualities that continue to shine through in her.  I hope next time you bite into a piece of baklava or any other Turkish delights, you will think of my story of Ava and her birthday in Turkey.

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We love our little Turkish girl and are blessed every day to have her in our family.  Doğum günün kutlu olsun Ava!  Happy Birthday Ava!

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March 2013

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Lesa Burgess in Basketball, Birthday, Family, Kids, Travel

≈ 2 Comments

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Abu Dhabi, Beckham, Easter, Zoey Birthday

I don’t spend much time online these days.  Blogging is on the bottom of my long list of things to get done in a very short amount of time.  However, I don’t want to get too far behind, so just like the last time, I am going to do a quick catch up.

Beckham spent a good 2.5 months with Chris in Abu Dhabi.  He got a lot of attention and did a lot of fun things.

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But it came time for him to come home… so I took a long weekend and flew to Abu Dhabi, spent 30 hours there packing him up, catching a game, getting some hugs from Chris, and spending time at my favorite Dubai Mall, then flew home with Beckham.

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These were the moments of peace.  There were a few here and there, but mostly it was incredibly difficult.  Imagine a 17 hour flight with a 1 year old (then a layover and another flight).  Fun stuff right? It’s even harder than it sounds.  Because of jet lag while in Abu Dhabi and just because of the shear anxiety about the trip home I got about 6 hours of sleep in 4 days.  Perfect for a 24 hour trip with a high maintenance little booger like my Beckham.  But alas, we made it home safe and sound on Sunday night.  I had to get up and go to school the next morning.

My amazing mom once again came to my rescue to help with the kids.  Zachary still wakes most nights…. boo.  Beckham had started crawling out of any crib you tried to contain him in, so not only were we changing him from an 11 hour time difference (don’t complain to me about daylight savings time), we were switching him from a crib to a bed.  It was a rough week, but we were consistent and made progress daily, and the day finally came where he would stay in bed without getting out and got his inner clock changed and slept all night.  It all really only took a couple weeks and now he’s golden.  I couldn’t have done it without my mom.  Love her to pieces.

Once everyone was feeling a bit better we took care of some things.  Haircut, doctor’s appointment (not surprisingly we learned that yes, Beckham is very BIG for his age), got reunited with his little brother, and was taken to show and tell by Kelli Jo who was beside herself happy that he was back home.

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Some other things going on… Zoey won first prize in her grade at school for her poster for Arbor Day.  I outlined the letters but she did everything else.  It was definitely a favorite.  Good Job Zoey.

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Zachary is sitting now and got his first 2 teeth on the same day.  Unless you felt his gums, you wouldn’t have even known he was teething.  He is the best baby.  He brings me so much joy.

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Easter crept up on us.  We had an Easter egg hunt with some fabulous friends.

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Easter Morning after finding their baskets.  In true Beckham style, he threw his to the ground and then went for Ava’s (his favorite target). I know this isn’t the prettiest picture, but it’s daily life here.. messy hair, Beckham making things tough, nobody looking at the camera… normal life.. Easter or not.

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Beckham before church… (Can you say Euro Jeans?)

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The girls after church. Can you tell those are Ava’s favorite leggings?

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Even though it was Easter, we took the afternoon and evening to celebrate Zoey’s birthday with family.  She requested pizza for dinner (her favorite food) and that was just fine by me (and everyone else for that matter).  It was a beautiful spring day and everyone enjoyed playing outside.  Kelli Jo and Zoey had gotten double dutch jump ropes in their Easter basket, so those were put to good use, as well as jumping on the tramp.  Grandma Burgess brought a bunch of plastic Easter eggs filled with candy.  Kelli Jo and her cousin Madison hid them and then all the kids were able to have a little Easter egg hunt.  They, of course, loved that and quickly gobbled up candy right before dinner.  Zoey wanted to open her gifts in front of everyone and since I was going to be at school the next day (her birthday) I thought it was a great idea.

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After dinner, we sang Happy Birthday to her and to my Mom, who’s birthday was a few days prior (the 29th of March).  We let her blow the candles out a couple times to make sure she got a good wish and then everyone enjoyed some ice cream cake.  The kids played and played until it was time for the evening to come to a close.  It was a great day.

Zoey was born on April Fool’s Day.  It could not be a more fitting day for her.  She is our little goof ball.  She loves to be loud and crazy and loves to make others laugh.  She lives life full and fast.  She has broken her arm 3 times and that just proves who she is.  She is a bit of a drama queen, but we are working on calming that a bit.  She loves to sing and loves to smother her little brothers and boss around her little sister.  I love her to pieces and am so happy she is my April Fool’s baby.  Happy Birthday to my big brown eyed girl.  We love you!

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And that’s about the end of the update.  I’m still in school and staying incredibly busy.  Chris is still in Abu Dhabi playing basketball.  We are not sure when he will be coming home so we try not to think about it yet.  The girls are absolutely loving school.  Beckham is a full time job, and cute Zachary is a better baby than I could have asked for.. now if he would just sleep all night!  My mom continues to be my rock that I lean on more than anyone will ever know.  I don’t know what I would do without her.  I pray that one of these days I can get a full night’s sleep on a regular basis.  Is that even possible as a mom?  I can always hope.

Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi

17 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by Lesa Burgess in Family, Kids, Travel

≈ 1 Comment

While we have been busy here, there has been plenty happening with Chris and Beckham in Abu Dhabi….

They are getting lots of quality time together and Becks loves his dad.IMG_2411

He likes to pretend he’s a little angel…IMG_2419

But don’t let him fool you.  He is, and most likely always will be, a handful.

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Chris bought him some official UAE garb…IMG_2386

And since Chris is in charge of everything.. his wardrobe has made a change to ‘everything superhero.’IMG_2305

Chris is taking a couple online courses working towards his degree.  One of them is a photography class and has taken some cool pics of Becks….becks2_b&w

Grandma Burgess went to visit them for a month!IMG_2559 IMG_2422

She made him an afghan..IMG_2496

Grandpa Burgess joined them for the last 10 days…IMG_1574

They did a lot of fun things together.  They went to a ranch with some animals, a playground, and then had dinner on the ground on a big rug. Looks like the cats may have thought Becks looked like a good snack.IMG_1597 IMG_1599 IMG_1619 IMG_1624 IMG_1625

meanwhile.. he had his own snack..

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They went to the Falcon Hospital….(with a fake camel in the lobby)IMG_1733 IMG_1747 IMG_1741 IMG_1750

They went to the Burj Khalifa (world’s tallest tower) and went up to the observation deck on the 124 floor…IMG_2553 becks

They also went to the camel races.  They didn’t see any races but were able to go back to the sanctuary and see (and pet) a lot of the camels…IMG_1758

It has been a crazy and busy month for them.  Becks got sick in the middle of it and it was hard as a mom not to be there for my baby but Chris has done an awesome job of taking care of him and I’m so happy that they have had this time together.  Grandma and Grandpa Burgess will be leaving in a couple days and am sure they will be missed.

I miss my chunky little monster, but love that he’s with his dad and loving it.

Last Month and a Half

17 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by Lesa Burgess in Family, Kids

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Since we have been home from our trip to Abu Dhabi a lot has happened, but I have been extra busy and have not even thought about blogging.  oops.  So here is a quick update to what has been going on in our world….

We got over jet lag.. IMG_2288 IMG_2290

I started full time school at the Utah College of Massage Therapy..IMG_2326

and am loving it.

Ava turned 4!!!IMG_2360 IMG_2375

We had some huge snow storms… IMG_2343 IMG_2347

Kelli Jo dislocated her pinky finger…IMG_2353

and got braces…

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Zachary continues to be a good baby.  He started eating solids..IMG_2463

He falls asleep while playing on the floor sometimes…IMG_2384

He turned 5 months old and is such a happy, cute, little guy.  He is in the 97% for legnth like all my other babies have been, but he’s more slender like the girls were (about 2.5 lbs lighter than Beckham was at this age).  IMG_2429

The girls helped make their own Valentine’s boxes.  First time ever…IMG_2544

and sent this pic to Chris for Valentine’s Day…photoblur

Snuggles, Hugs, and Kisses

31 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Lesa Burgess in Family, Kids, Travel

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Beckham, Chris, Goodbyes

Saying goodbye is always hard.

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Usually it’s just Chris saying goodbye to everyone else.  This time I had to give one more goodbye hug and kiss than usual.  After a lot of thought, discussion, and prayer, Chris and I decided it would be a great thing to have Beckham stay in Abu Dhabi with Chris.  I know that a lot of people won’t understand this, and think I might be a bit crazy as a mom to do this… but that’s OK.  We feel that this decision is what is best for our family right now and that’s what is important.  During our month’s stay in December we worked out all the details for the help that Chris will need to take care of him while he is working.  He will be attending a day care from 8:00-2:00 three days a week to give him some social time with other children and also give Chris some extra time to rest as well as get schoolwork done, etc.  Even though I knew it would be hard to leave him there, I felt great about the day care and about the nanny and know that Jenn Florentin, my new great friend, will help make sure he is taken care of and give him lots of momma hugs.  Beckham craves attention and he will get a lot being there with Chris.  I’m excited for the father/son bonding time that will be available and know Chris will do a great job with him.

We left the Florentin’s house to go to the airport at 4:30 AM so we left him sleeping at the house with Jenn while Chris took the rest of us to the airport.  Therefore, I gave my Becks goodbye snuggles and kisses the night before when I put him to bed.  I held him extra long and didn’t want to let go.  He eventually reached for the bed and wanted in, so I reluctantly let go and rubbed his back some more.  I finally let go and left him knowing he was in good hands.  So far I just keep feeling like I’m missing something.  Because I am.  I miss my chunky little monster so much already, but am so happy that he’s with his dad and so happy that Chris has the chance to be with him.  It will be months before I see them both again and that’s hard to swallow, but I just know it’s right and that it’s good.

I will miss my little man so much.  Chris will have to send me pics every day.

His little brother will be a lot bigger when he comes home

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Beckham and his dad.. quite the pair

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I love my big boys and can’t wait to see them again… whenever that may be.

Our trip home this time consisted of 2 legs.  One was a flight from Dubai to Los Angeles which just happens to be #5 on the list of world’s longest flights, only 1 hour less than #1 on the list.  It totaled 16.5 hours.  It was LONG.  Our flight from SLC to Dubai we flew East.  Then this time, our flight from Dubai to LA we again flew East.  So… in the last month we technically flew all the way around the world.  We then had a long layover, which ended up being a good thing because one of our bags didn’t make it and it was 2 hours after we landed when we finally cleared customs and were headed to our next gate.  We had to go through security again, which took it’s normal amount of forever.  Then at the American Airlines desk there was an issue because of the whole changing of paper tickets on our way over, blah blah blah, what’s new.  We made it on the flight which was only 1 hour 45 minutes and finally made it home 27 hours after leaving.  Now to conquer jet lag once again.  Love it.  Hopefully tomorrow my lost bag shows up somewhere.  Inshallah!

Friends Are Blessings

31 Monday Dec 2012

Posted by Lesa Burgess in Family, Travel

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Abu Dhabi, Florentin's

During our month long stay in Abu Dhabi visiting Chris, we stayed with some new friends Chris had met in church, the Florentin’s. They were so super sweet to invite us into their fabulous home since Chris just had 2 bedrooms and a living room in his apartment to fit 3 adults and 5 kids.  We had so much fun with the Florentin’s.  I didn’t get enough pics taken around the house while we were there but I did get a few…

Giving in to jet lag in the living room

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Dallin (14) changed his first diaper, and put Zachary in his pajamas…

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Collette loved snuggling Zachary…

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Movie night…

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Kelli Jo, Zoey, and Ava playing in their pool

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Right in their backyard is a canal with a great sidewalk area.  Grandma Zollinger took Beckham on a lot of walks along it.  I only got a bad picture in the evening..

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It was an awesome month and am so happy to have met and become great friends with such a great family.  I feel so blessed to be part of their ‘family’ now.  Thanks so much Florentin’s!  We will miss you.

A Day in Dubai

21 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by Lesa Burgess in Family, Travel

≈ 1 Comment

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Dubai, Fountain, Global Village

Chris is playing in Abu Dhabi this season.  It’s just a quick hour trip to Dubai… our stomping grounds a few years ago.  Since Kelli Jo and Zoey were old enough to remember some things from when we lived in Dubai they had some requests of things to do while we are here.  One of my favorite things to do while living in Dubai was to walk around the Dubai Mall and watch the Dubai Mall Fountain Shows.  My girls loved it as much as I did.  That was one of the things requested.  I think I was as excited as they were to enjoy that again.

Waiting patiently for the show to begin..

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It was worth the wait.. No pictures will do it justice.  For me, it really is like instant meditation.  It gives me a very zen feeling straight away.  I think that’s why I watched it so much while living in Dubai.  It will forever be one of my favorite things.  The combination of music and water is so soothing.

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All 7 of us in front of the world’s tallest tower.  The Burj Khalifa

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There is so much to do at the Dubai Mall.  We did a couple of the favorites.  Rode some rides at the Sonic Republic and watched the fish swim in the Dubai Aquarium.

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When we were finished at the mall we skirted on over to Global Village.  I got a few items from the Turkey portion of the village and the girls went on a couple rides.

One of the entrances…

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Inside Global Village.  Every time I have been there, it’s filled with people.  Each of the different buildings is a different country and sales things from “home”.

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Wild Mouse ride..

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Ava isn’t a fan of scary things, so she opted for the little swings…

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This time I remembered to take a picture of the best baby I have ever had.  My sweet little Zachary who happily hung out in the stroller all day….

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And once again, it wouldn’t be a normal day out and about without Chris getting some photo ops with random people….

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We could have done a lot more, but with all the littles in tow it was a pretty successful day out.  I heart Dubai.

 

Santa in Abu Dhabi

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by Lesa Burgess in Christmas, Family, Travel

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Tags

Abu Dhabi, Christmas, Santa

Santa made it to the Middle East!  We saw him at the Abu Dhabi Mall.  Unlike the states, we had to pay $11 per kid to see him.  However, also unlike the states, there was no line!  Worth it.  The girls thought he was “totally fake.”  He didn’t say ‘Ho Ho Ho’, but he DID tell Zoey not to tease her little brother.  Either way, it was great to get a pic with Santa and hear some Christmas music.  The kids even got to go through Santa’s grotto afterward and choose a little gift.  Merry Christmas from the Middle East.

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Some of the nicest little elves I have met.

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Beach Day

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by Lesa Burgess in Family, Travel

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Abut Dhabi, beach

We had a beach day with some other families.  It’s kind of like fall weather here right now.  Just really nice during the day and even kind of cool some evenings.  There is just something about sand and water that keeps the kids busy for hours.  It was windy so there were some people kite surfing which was fun to watch.

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When I got home I realized that most of the pictures I had taken were of Beckham.  I was just so impressed with how content he actually was the entire time.  It was a breath of fresh air.  Plus, how can you not want to take pictures of that squishy little body.  Zachary who was not in any pictures could not have cooperated any better and slept the entire time we were there.  Good boy.

Abu Dhabi Heritage Village

19 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by Lesa Burgess in Family, Travel

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Abu Dhabi, camel

The Abu Dhabi Heritage Village gives you a glimpse back at the past here in Abu Dhabi and other emirates.  It was very educational and interesting.  It helps  you understand their culture and even why their traditional garb is what it is.  DSC_0334

Inside a tent

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Mountain people’s stone homes

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A well to get water

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And of course, the camel

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A view from the past, to the future.

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It was a great time, but very dirt and I’m happy for the homes I get to live in.

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