Saturday, December 30, 2006

What We Did For Christmas This Year!






"When was the last time you did something for the first time in your life?" Christmas 2006 was full of many firsts.....first time away from home in Canada, first time away from many of our family and friends, first Christmas in the desert / Dubai, first time in a hot air balloon, first time spending Christmas Eve dinner in a Polyenesian restaurant at a dinner show, first time watching Brianne and Kevin ski dive on Christmas Day, first time sending so many Christmas wishes from so far away.

Rick, Brianne, Kevin and I flew to Dubai on the 22nd for a well deserved rest. Dubai is a short 45 minute flight from Doha so we were there by noon on Friday. Our rooms at the Dubai Sheraton on the Creek were ready so there were no delays with what to do with luggage, etc. Following a short rest, we headed to the Mall of the Emirates. The indoor ski hill looked intriguing but we didn't bother to experience the cold. After a few hours of shopping, we headed back to the hotel for a late dinner. We broke the news to the kids that they had to be in the lobby at 4:45 am for an early morning adventure the next day. They moaned a little but agreed to meet us there. Despite the sleepiness, Brianne figured it out when we handed them both a small gift box with a balloon in it. We had booked a sunrise balloon ride over the desert. Following a 45 minute bus ride in to the dark desert, we arrived at the launch location. The pilot informed us that we would be flying to a heigh of 3500 feet and would be up for approximately 1 hour. As we rose, so did the sun! The view was spectacular. Another balloon also joined us as you will see in the pictures. Rick was in his geographic glory....describing all the land formations below. We flew over a Bedouin village (a desert nomad village) and an archaeological dig where findings from 10,000 years ago have been discovered. As we landed we were greeted by a few camels casually travelling across the desert. Not being terribly fond of heights, I was surprised at how peaceful the whole experience was.

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