Merry Christmas and End of a Year.

First, the highlight of the whole day was getting call from Doug. He called from his mission around 0900, and we talked for several hours. It was awesome and we had fun hearing about his mission and the people there. Afterward we opened presents and I have the funniest video of Matt and his disappointment. Matt had been trying to guess, and stating he knew what all his presents were, so when he guessed, and assumed he was getting and XBox 360, Kaylynn pulled it from the box and rewrapped the box with a cement brick and wires to make it sound the same. We kept telling him we couldn't affoard a XBox 360 and to stop assuming. So when it came time to open the box, well you will see his reaction.



Traek Malan was over and gave Matt a year subscription to XBox Live. Matt nearly fainted. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up and playing with new stuff. Later that day we went to Grandma & Grandpa's house for a dinner, which was really good. Thanks Tanaya (sister-in-law)! It started snowing again and dumped another 5 inches of snow while we were at their house, and Kaylynn was in flip flops and she had to put plastic bags on her feet to go to the car. That's what she gets for wearing flip flops in December.

The day after Christmas we spent the whole day looking or "easter eggs" on the DVD of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog." It is a very good video. You should check it out.

The previous days were nothing but work and getting ready for Christmas. More to follow.

My wife mentioned that in blogtime and blogspace we were still in the Middle East and asked me to correct that. We have returned!

Well, I have waited to update this for far too long. We returned to the US and I got a job with Lockheed in Utah, as the Site Manager for the Industrial Product-Support Vendor program. It is interesting and very challenging. A lot has happen since then. It is Christmas, and Kaylynn and I are doing well. I am teaching in Church and Kaylynn is working in the Library. Beth and her girls have moved in with us. More to follow on that, and maybe sometime I will be able to write what I think about it. Until then I am going to keep quiet. Doug has moved from his current area to the other side of his mission. He isn't too thrilled, but the Mission president has full confidence in Doug, that he will do a great job helping an area that was destined for closing. Matt is dating girls and just finished his Eagle Scout rank and his Duty To God. He is waiting till March to do his ceremony so that Jeremy Zaugg can return from Afghanistan to present it to him. Tori is involved in "Showboat" and she just turned 16 years old, so pull the kids off the sidewalk.
Beth and the girls, Sarah, and Emily have been a joy to have around the home. We are thinking about renovations to the house so that we can accommodate everyone. I really am enjoying being with my children. It is like learning the "dad" thing all over again. I hope Beth is enjoying staying with us too. As the days go on, she will eventually want to move away, but I am hoping that won't be for awhile. She is planning on going to Weber State University to become a High School teacher (crazy girl). Anyway. I will try to keep up with the blog, as my wife has been very disapproving and disappointed in me about it.

The Whirlwind Tour of the Middle East

I am sorry to have to have waited so long. Let me catch you up. I have since moved from Oman, and have to change the name of my blog, but here are some of the things Kaylynn and I did while we were in the Middle East. We spent time seeing some of Oman, visiting the sunken city of Ubar, and the 3rd Century ruins of Sumharam. Khor Rori (Sumharam) is an Early Southern Arabian archaeological site near Salalah in the Dhofar region of modern Oman. The small fortified town was founded as an outpost for the kingdom of Hadramawt in modern Yemen around the turn of our era, but the site shows signs of Hadrami settlement back to the third century CE. The settlement was probably abandoned in the seventh century. After visiting there we flew to Amman, Jordan, where we went to the Roman ruins of Jerash. The picture to the left is us at the Collanade of Jerash. Jerash is known for the ruins of the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa, also referred to as Antioch on the Golden River. It is sometimes misleadingly referred to as the "Pompeii of the Middle East or Asia", referring to its size, extent of excavation and level of preservationn (though Jerash was never buried by a volcano).

Jerash is considered one of the most important and best preserved Roman cities in the Near East. It was a city of the Decapolis. In AD 90, Jerash was absorbed into the Roman province of Arabia, which included the city of Philadelphia (modern day Amman). The Romans ensured security and peace in this area, which enabled its people to devote their efforts and time to economic development and encouraged civic building activity.

In the second half of the first century AD, the city of Jerash achieved great prosperity. In AD 106, the Emperor Trajan constructed roads throughout the provinces and more trade came to Jerash. The Emperor Hadrian visited Jerash in AD 129-130. The triumphal arch (or Arch of Hadrian) was built to celebrate his visit. A remarkable Latin inscription records a religious dedication set up by members of the imperial mounted bodyguard "wintering" there. The picture above is that of that of a re-enactment of the 6th Legion that fought with Caeser against Pompeii. The picture to the left is Hadrian's Arch, which the Emperor came through on his visit to the city. There were so many thing to see. I wish I had more time to stay and study the ruins, but we were on our whirlwind tour. After visiting Jerash we went with our guide, Ghazi Alawneh, to a Crusade Era castle, claimed to have been built by Saladin's nephew, but looked very european. (I guess they borrowed a building technique or two.) We climbed around the castle, and you could see the countries of Syria, Israel, and Irasacked and taken by the Iq from the castle mounts. It was very cool to see and I have some really great pictures of the castle and the mounts. There was a mosaic on the floor that was covered up, and it didn't look like it was covered with very old dirt. If you look carefully at it you can see a figure with an outstretched arm. Interesting.

The Trip to Ubar: The Sunken Lost City

Many centurys ago there was a city of trade specializing in Frankincense at the end of the Empty Quarter. This city had all roads leading to it. Traders from around the Persian Empire would come to trade goods and make money. Then it all was gone, sunken into the sand and buried by time. The Quaran says that the city was corrupt, and Allah swept his hand over the city and the sands washed it away. The story of Ubar was passed down from person to person to become a legend, then a myth. In 1985, the European Space Agency was taking pictures of Europe for global mapping and looking for oil reserves and noticed lines in the terrain. They sent teams to dig, and found nothing, but ancient Roman concrete. The roads made by Rome, were still seen from space. A researcher who was looking for the mythical city asked NASA to have some pictures taken of this one area in Oman, which he suspected was the location of Ubar. When the pictures came back they revealed the scars of trails and ancient roads leading to one spot. The researcher came to Oman in 1992, and started to dig. Ubar was found. We got to go there yesterday. Off the paved road and down a dirt road we arrived at the site. A friend Mark, and two other guys, Matt and Tony, came with us to check it out. It was very, very hot, 120 degrees. I took pictures and we went down to the bottom of the sink hole, but it goes even deeper than that. The real reason the city sank, was that it was built over a water well, which led into a thin aquifer chamber. Over time the chamber just collapsed and down came the city. The people explained it as the hand of God taking vengeance for corruption, but it was more like a natural disaster. Enjoy the pictures.

Kaylynn in Oman: The Adventure Begins

Kaylynn arrived in Muscat the day before yesterday and it was very good to see her. I was talking to someone I knew from Thumrait when I saw her come through the outer terminal door I said, "That's my wife!!" and I ran off without saying goodbye to the guy I was talking to. It was rude, but hey my wife was here. We took a taxi to The Chedi Muscat, and were treated very well. We had dinner that night and the food was outstanding. I was very impressed. The weather was nice and even though Kaylynn was a little tired she was happy to be with me too. She did get to travel business half the trip and she got spoiled.

The next day we went to church at the LDS Branch in Muscat. It was a small group but they were very welcoming and adopted us into their branch quickly. Too bad I am now leaving. We went to a baptism of an Indian woman who is a teacher in Muscat. She and Kaylynn hit it off, and it was very cool to see a baptism done in the Persian Gulf waters. The Church is not recognized in Oman yet, but they are working on it.

After the baptism, Kaylynn and I went to the Elders Quorum President's house for the confirmation and some chili. The food was good and the company was too. The spirit was there as this woman received the Holy Ghost. The man accompanying the Indian woman was her brother, and Kaylynn assumed they were husband and wife and was making comments about them getting sealed in the temple next, until she was corrected about the family relation. It was funny and Kaylynn was a little red faced.

After the baptism and everything it was time for a nap and dinner in the room, where I had an awesome Rib Eye steak. Unfortunately the day was marred by the news of the invasion of the country of Georgia by Russia, and that became the 'must watch' thing for the night, besides the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremony, which was kinda cool. Kaylynn is an Olympic junkie, and she was a little upset about being over here and possibly not being able to see it. Well Al Jazeera is showing it, so Kaylynn is happy now. The next day was pool time and getting ready to leave for Salalah.

That is just water in the glass. Kaylynn really enjoyed this pool. It is very close to the beach. There was no one there at first, but later on other families came. We lounged in the pool till it was time for lunch and check out. The food was excellent once again and we were full. We went to the airport and waited for our flight to Salalah. When we finally arrived in Salalah, I could tell Kaylynn was not impressed. I have been trying to make it more enjoyable, but she is seeing the conditions here, that I have been working under, first hand. After a few disappointing things we headed up the mountain to the air base to stay in my room. It was like taking her to a bachelor pad. When we got there she was really tired, and she went right off to bed, but the next day she CLEANED MY ROOM! I told her she didn't have to do that, and she said, "Yes I do." OK, well today we are going to go see some other things, and that I will save for the next blog.

Well, I guess as the first song on my blog states, "I am coming home." At least it looks like it is going to happen. About a week ago, I got preliminary news that the 2 year contract that Lockheed Martin had submitted to continue maintaining the aircraft (pictured to the right), was awarded to a different company. That means I am leaving here, as of right now, that may change, not sure when, or if, but it might happening. It is very frustrating doing this contract work, but I love my job and my company. I have been wanting to work for Lockheed Martin for many years. My boss has given me some options and has shared my resume with some other parts of the company. I put in for a Field Representative position at Hill AFB, Utah, so I may go home. My boss submitted me for a Deputy Director job in UAE, and says that there is work for me to head up a bid for Inspection work in Portugal. Eventually I am being tapped for the Program Manager job for Romania when that comes around late 2009.

Anyway, it is freakin' hot here. I went down to Salalah to do some errands and stopped over to in Al Mughsail and saw the huge waves and blow holes in the rocks. Kaylynn will get to see that when she gets here next week. The sky is foggy and you think it is cool outside. Nope. You are wrong it is just as hot, but humid to the point you can taste the salt in the air. Kaylynn won't be happy about that, so good thing we are only here for 2 days before we head back up to Muscat. Our whirlwind tour starts in 6 days, and I can't wait.

Today is a rest day. I am going to watch movies, eat lunch and chill out today. I have some of my guys coming back from vacation and I have a couple heading out. We have a good-bye party set for the 6th of August. This whole thing is bittersweet because I do like the team I have, unfortunately I have to send them elsewhere in the company.

Sunday in Thumrait

Another Sunday rolls by. Today I met the new F-16 Maintenance officer, who is supposed to be very much in tune with what we, as Lockheed, have been trying to do. It will be a breath of fresh air to have someone on the same page as us. I hope he will work out. I found out that the Omani dropped a screw in the cockpit, and I had DJ, ground the jet, till it was found. I hope that the Omani will really look for it. I doubt it, but I hope they do.

My first blog

Well, since everyone is doing this I thought I would give it a try. I have been very off and on about keeping a journal and maybe this is a way to do it so my kids and grand kids can see what I did while I was in Oman. I have been in the Sultanate for 9 months. I work for the aerospace defense contractor Lockheed Martin as a Program Manager. I work with the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) on the F-16 fighters that they bought three years ago. After 3 years of training it comes down to this, they require more training. I supervise a team of F-16 experts who train Omani to maintain the aircraft, so that the planes will fly safely. This is my charge and so far we have been diligent in making sure that they are flying safely. Through the next few weeks there will be several rants and raves and discussions about the goings on in the middle east. I will have some first hand knowledge by moving around the area in the next two weeks. My wife is coming over for a visit, and we will be touring Jordan, Isreal and Egypt. I hope you look forward to the pictures as much as I do.