The packers came and went! It took them all of 4 hours to box up our belongings and put the on the truck. Claire is always asking where certain things are. I will ask her, "Where do you think it is?" ""On the way to..TESSESSS (Texas)!" The girls are so excited to be heading there and see MIMI AND PAPA and of course TIMBER!!!!

We leave Salalah tomorrow morning and head to Muscat for a night. Then leave LATE that evening!

A lot has happened this week! It has really been an amazing week for me. Joel had his farewell dinner with his squadron last Monday night. It was very nice dinner. All the f-16 and jaguar pilots and other officials joined us. We started out with drinks (fresh squeezed juices) in the parlor and then moved into the dining room. I was seated between the General and Joel's squadron commander at the head table. Joel was seated opposite of the General. The salad came and I sat there waiting for the General to "dig in" (you know...trying to use my good manners). A few minutes went by and Khamis (Joel's commander) leaned over and said , "They are waiting on you!"

"ME?!!!" I felt so dumb!!!! OH Yeah...Remember that it is Ramadan...And they are all fasting during the day so they were probably starving at 9 o'clock at night!!!! Needless to say, we had a wonderful time! Joel was greatly appreciated in the Omani squadron and he will be missed there.
Wednesday was the best day of my military spouse life!!!!! It was Joel's fini-flight! We spent all day with him and the only time we left his side was when he stepped into the jet. Tears ran down my proud face as I watched him run through his check list and I wondered if this would be the last time he would ever have a flight in the F16! I watched him taxi, take off, show off, and land! The kids had a blast watching their Daddy do what he does best! I will never forget that day! Have I ever mentioned how much I love my husband?? Thursday night we had a friend farewell at the Oasis. It was an amazing turn out. We had friends from all different countries come to say goodbye to us. The food was great and the chocolate cherry cake was divine!!!!! But seeing our friends was the best of the night.

Friday, the church had a farewell service for us. I knew they were planning the service but I didn't realize how much they had prepared for us. They had asked me to sing and Dan accompanied me on the guitar. I sang Carry You by Amy Grant and His Eye is on the Sparrow.
After the service, Dr Wilson presented a gift to us on behalf of the church and Pastor Michael prayed for us and our travels. Of course I cried the whole time (and I am crying now). The choir sang a farewell song and the praise team sang a song I had given them to practice. That was such a big surprise to me. Afterwards, we had what they called a snack....It was a huge spread of Indian and Phillipino food! AND CAKE!!! It was so good.

We will definitely ALWAYS remember Salalah and all the people who have touched our lives in a special way.

But this journey is quickly coming to an end and a new one starts....TOMORROW!!!!!!