Christmas in the Desert :)

    So the night after snowshoeing in a blizzard I packed up my bags and rushed to the airport (I really need to learn how to not wait until the last minute for packing!).  Fortunately, I made it on time to the airport even with all the crap my lovely oldest sister sent along with me ;)  I was probably the only person to check a stroller without a kid!!

    After a 6 hour flight I went from the cold snowy weather to the hot and sunny desert of Dubai!  Serge picked me up from the airport and we headed to Ras Al Khaimah where Tanya, Serge, Julian, and the newest addition Etienne live!  My mother was also in town visiting so it was nice to see family and be in the warmth!  Julian is of course a little chatter box and oh so adorable!!  We vegged out being that my sister just had a baby about 2 weeks before....but it was nice to relax and do a little bit of shopping and lots of eating!!
    Christmas Eve we all ventured into Dubai to the Palm Islands to the Atlantis Hotel for their Christmas Eve Brunch....Yummmm!!!  We ate and ate and ate some more....it was goooooood!!  They had some asian food, pizza, Indian food, and lots of yummy desserts!! We were all stuffed!!  After Atlantis, we headed over to the Burj Kalifa (btw Julian is only 3, but that kid is smart!  From the highway he points out all the landmarks - he will say Hey!  There's the Dubai Mall and the Burj Kalifa)....anyways, so we went to the Armani Hotel to get a Christmas log from the pastry chef at the Armani Hotel (a friend of Serge's).  While we were there we had some hot tea, pastries, and watched the very cool fountain show in front of the Burj Kalifa - it was really pretty!  It was a great day - and I was still in disbelief it was Christmas Eve, given the fact that it was about 80 degrees outside!

    When we got back to RAK, I helped Julian put the cookies, carrots, and milk out for Santa and his reindeer and watched Etienne and Julian (well Serge opened for Etienne ;)) open their xmas eve pj's.  It was quite a day!!  We all went to sleep and woke up Christmas morning to see lots of presents Santa left us!!  It was awesome to see how EXCITED Mr. Julian was...gotta love that Santa!!  Julian was very psyched for all the great gifts he got!! I think he also enjoyed opening Etienne's presents since Etienne was a little too small to open them himself :)  Later on in the day, Serge's friend Jocelyn came over and we had a nice big Christmas feast!!  It was a different, but wonderful Christmas in the desert!!