Volunteers Needed Over Here in the Desert!

Do you have a long Christmas vacation, extra days in February or a Spring Break you need to fill?
As we move into our new hospital we need lots of help! If any of you think you might be interested in helping all you have to do is give us a time frame of when you could come, fill out this application and buy a ticket!
We will put you up in a house and feed you while you are here.
Check out the application here!

The Excitement Builds

We are building a new facility at Oasis Hospital. Our current building will be torn down and over the period of about 4 months we will all shift to the new place! When I moved here in September there was a giant hole where this massive structure now stands.

Recently we celebrated the "Topping Off" of the new building! The construction team is working hard to finish this huge project quickly.

In the new building there are:

2,530 tons of steel
1,670 truck loads fo concrete
7 miles of ducting
9.5 miles of pipework
372 miles of cable
7,400 lights
Here I am with Trey (he made me wear that hat backwards!) And below is our President and the Irish Ambassador to the UAE literally topping off the building with a final concrete pour!

A change of heart?

These past few days I have been dog sitting. Yes, Me. Most of you know that I am not the first person to be excited about a new puppy or any sort of pet for that matter. This past week I took on the task of dog sitting. I was dog sitting for corgi dogs; Marley To Die For and Rosie ( I can't remember the rest of her name). They act more like humans than most teenagers do. They have a strict schedule:

8:00 AM Breakfast, Vitamins and Outdoor Time
1:00 PM Bathroom Break
5:00 PM Dinner and Exercise
9:00 PM Bathroom Break
10:30 PM Bedtime Snack (1/3 of a slice of cheese they share) and Lights Out
I actually enjoyed watching them for a few days and I think they won me over.

Here I am with Rosie. Marley refused to take a photo.

JJ Gonzalez is born!

We have been waiting for my sister to have her baby and he decided to come a month early! He was born July 11th just 3 days after Jess's birthday.

Jeziel Miguel Gonzalez, Jr. Born July 11th at 12:40 am 5.3 lbs

Here is Jess. Not just my sister anymore. Now she is JJ's mom!

His dad, Jeziel Miguel Gonzalez (he was named after his dad- that's why he is a junior)

Here is Jared holding him- the coolest Uncle around!

Look at this fabulous grandma! My dad promises to get a picture with him soon!

Baseball: The Great American Pastime

The next day after the baby shower we all went to a Red Sox game. And whatta ya know those sox won it for us! Thank God! When you travel half way across the world to see them play they should win.

It was a sunny day in Boston and we all a good time. We met up with Jessie's sister for the game and then met some of my friend's down on Newbury Street for lunch.

Here we are- like I said it was sunny day so we have some eyes closed! My dad took the picture so he got left out!

Home Sweet Home was so sweet...

So, this will come slowly but here it goes.... this was home!

On the first Saturday that I was home we had a baby shower for my sister! It turned out to be such a great day- perfect weather! I was able to host the shower with my mom, Jessie, Marisol (my sister's mother-in-law) and Aunt Louyse!

Everyone showed up and most people followed the instructions to "go green" and not wrap their gift!

The cake, Noah's Ark themed, thanks to Sarilia our really good friend!

Desiree and Jessica, this is one of my favorite pictures of the shower! Desiree and I have been friends for about 13 years and I just love that she and my sister go to church together now and have become friends outside of me. She is a great friend to have and is always a good time and up for a long chat!

Marisol (Jessica's mother-in-law) and my Mom

The party favors were sugar cookies with a "G" on them for Baby Gonzalez. Jessica and Jeziel are still working on a name so leave any good ones here for them to check out. Jessie made all these cookies with her mom and then we decorated them the day before shower. They didn't come out exactly how we planned, but they looked just fine and tasted so good!

The Hulsey girls (sort of) Jessie, my Mom, Jessica and me! We are missing Aunt Weesie here!

Waiting

I left my camera in the UAE when I went home and now I am just waiting for friends and family to send me all the pictures they took when I was home. As soon as I get some I will post all about my 2 weeks at home!

Waiting for you guys...