Weddings and Festivals!

Seeing these toys never gets old over here!

I have officially mastered the art of the french braid! I'm so proud of myself!!

Elise's school had their spring spectacular. They set up each booth to represent countries of all the children at the school. The kids love it and the food is amazing.

All of us with Love and Ofie!

 We have been doing the photo booth every year since we've been here!

My big girl is getting so excited about Dr. Seuss week at school!  She wants to bring all of our Dr. Seuss books to school!

Elise opening up some early Easter presents!

So, Josh and I had the interesting experience of going to a  Saudi Wedding. We were so excited that our friends were invited and we got to tag along! No, the boys didn't have to wear thobes to the wedding, but the Saudi men think it's very cool when Westerners try to do things like that! We knew this wedding would be like nothing we had ever seen before, so we were all very anxious all week!

We had heard that it was a good idea to get a bite to eat before the wedding, so we did just that! We are very glad we did, otherwise we would have been very hungry.

So, the men and women obviously don't mingle during the wedding. The mens wedding started at 8 and the womens side started at 9 30. That's right...it starts that late! The mens wedding consisted of the groom and his dad and the bride's dad sitting down and all of the men would go up and congratulate him and shake his hand. Josh said it was pretty boring with just a bunch of men sitting around talking and drinking coffee. Their part of the wedding was over at 10 30...where as ours was just getting started!

When we walked in to our side, our phones were immediately taken (Which we knew would happen) and we could take off our abayas. Pictures are pretty much strictly forbidden on the ladies side, however they did have a professional photographer. 

When you walk in there is a narrow stage where women are dancing to Bali type music. The women..wow! If you ever want to know what Saudi women look like under their niqabs and abayas, watch Sex and The City Part 2 it's all true! The women are all in very fancy dresses and expensive shoes. Their make up was unbelievable! It was like you were in a room full of Kim Kardashians. Some were kind and others not. The majority just stared at Heather and I. I had to remind myself not to take it personally because a lot probably don't speak English. 

So the first two hours is just women dancing (with each other) and dates, coffee, and tea being passed around. There was also an abundance of chocolates...however, no bride was to be seen! 

We had to wait until 11 for the bride to come in. They played a special song and she walked in the door slowly, similar to an American wedding(with no groom or father). She was gorgeous and had on the traditional white, wedding gown. A lot of the women put on their abayas and covered as soon as she walked in. I didn't understand why until I asked. One of the girls told me it's because of the photographer. None of them wanted to risk having their picture taken. 

Fast forward an hour later and the groom walked in. I will say this was probably the best part of the night. Up until this moment, it really felt more like a bachelorette party (minus the booze and condoms). Before he comes in...mass chaos of throwing abayas on and covering faces starts happening. We politely ask, what is happening--another lady tells us the groom is coming, you must put on your abaya. I ask, "Out of respect, should I cover my face as well?" Picture it...EVERYONE in this room of 150 women has their face covered...except the grooms mother, the bride, the brides mother....and Heather and Lauren...

The lady starts laughing and in a very condescending way, explains to us that Saudi men treat their women like diamonds...they are very protected and cared for-that's why they need to cover--so no other man can see their beauty. We politely nodded as if to agree (This is where the no alcohol thing was a good thing for me). She proceeded to tell me that since we are from America we don't need to cover our face.

In the groom comes--with his father and the bride's father walking ahead of him. The men were actually so kind and gracious. Even though they couldn't see the women in the room they were blowing kisses and smiling. You could see genuine happiness and love in their faces for this occasion. Then, the fathers sat next to the bride and groom on the couch to take pictures. The fathers were in the room, maybe 10 minutes before they left. The bride and groom stayed for a few pictures and then they also left.

So..by this time we are getting very sleepy!! Dinner is finally served at 12:30 AM!! We high tailed it out to our grooms who had been patiently waiting in the car for several hours! 

There you have it...a Saudi Wedding!

These are the types of dresses the women were wearing.

I love the expression of my Dad's face in this picture...

It's a good thing we took the advice of a friend and ate dinner before the wedding!

Josh was able to have his phone and he snapped this picture!

Since we didn't get home until 3 AM, my friend Linda watched Elise for me in the afternoon so Josh and I could take a nap!

We were super busy this weekend! We were also invited to a Hawaiian party at the consulate! We were super excited because the consulate parties are always a lot of fun! You can't bring your phone in, but we did get this photo booth picture!

Elise loves soccer night!