Ever been to an Iraqi goodbye?

Well, neither have we, but we sure had a good time anyway.

This is Shane, he's married to Dixie.  He left yesterday for 2 MONTHS in Iraq. (Look how adorable my Mom is back there in the background.) 

Why you  ask?  Because apparently he's crazy good at teaching people how to teach, so ASU (where he works) is sending him over for 2 months to help Iraqi teachers be better.  He's being duly compensated, but I'm not sure any compensation is enough to go into such a scarey place.

Anyway, in the spirit of a good time and saying goodbye, Dixie decided to throw a "Have you Ever been to Iraq" so long party.  There was food, games, family and fun.

Some made attempts at "costume".  Eric does say that this is a real Islamic prayer shawl, given to him by a Muslim many years ago.  Their son Quin had an awesome prayer cap and a sweet mustache.  Sorry, no pic.

Tatum and Livy were sportin a totally hot face painted look.  Because everyone KNOWS that under those Burkahs are some sweet painted faces.

There was plenty of food, and a lot of eating.  My Mom, the rebel she is, decided that SHE'D show that darn Osama and Suddam, and she brought PORK for us to eat.  So take that you stinkin men!  Ok fine, so maybe the only semi middle eastern food there were some pitas and hummus.  Whatevs, we enjoyed.

Please note Max, and what a big boy he was, just kickin it at the table with his Homies.

And SOME people chose to sleep through the whole thing.

I totally forgot to take pictures of the "pin the beard on Osama" game, and the name the picture game.  There was also an Iraqi trivia game, which if you must know, we all failed miserably.  Well, except Quin, 'cause he cheated and googled all the answers.

All in all, a good time was had by all.  We will miss Shane, and we truly hope that he is safe and has a good experience.

HURRY HOME SHANE!

Baba ganoosh and hummus dreams,

Allyson

Just in case you wanted to see Maggie in all her Easter finery, with her spectacular hair (I was quite proud of).  Well, you can't.  'Cause this pic pretty much sums up her entire day!  What a peach!  However, with that said, I am planning a post to reassure us all that she really is funny and cute on top of punky.

Peace.