Kaitlynn's 9th Birthday

Kaitlynn was lucky enough that her actual birthday fell on a holiday in the UAE. Eid al-Fitr is the national holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, so most people had 2 days off from school and work. Kaitlynn was able to sleep in and then jump right into the opening of her birthday gifts!

One of her gifts was a special necklace with her name spelled in Arabic. She was surprised and loved the necklace! Of course, we found out later that the spelling of the Arabic name wasn't certain. I learned that there is not a long-A sound in Arabic, so her name is actually pronounced "Keet-lin" and there are a couple of different spellings that are accurate. I found it funny that I had asked for Connor's help (since I know nothing about the letters or language) and we still managed to mess it up, ha!

For over a year, maybe even two years, Kaitlynn has been asking for a mermaid tail. One of my sweet friends in Dubai was able to help me order it from Amazon and bring it in luggage all the way from the US for her. It was by far Kaitlynn's favorite gift and has managed to provide HOURS of entertainment since. She loves it!

We decided to meet Jeff for a birthday lunch for Kaitlynn but unfortunately our first choices weren't an option due to the limited hours of the last day of Ramadan. We managed to find a restaurant that was open - Pizza Express - and Kaitlynn enjoyed a special birthday treat.

As if that weren't enough birthday fun, we had one more fun activity in store. Jeff and I were able to join Kaitlynn in her classroom on the week after her birthday for a little celebration with her classmates. Kaitlynn requested for me to make brownies to share with the class, and they were a big hit. After singing and eating, the class seemed quite enamored with Jeff and all stood around telling jokes. It was so cute to watch.

After all the fun, Kaitlynn's 9th birthday was finally a wrap!