Thursday, August 16, 2012

Marathon Des Cedres 2012

Post Race Family Photo
The boys loved handing out Gatorade (despite the look on Gabriel's face), and the runners were shocked to see it in Morocco!

Marathon Des Cedres is a 56 mile, 4-day, stage race through the Atlas Mountains.  Congratulations to Jamil for completing this major accomplishment in June!  We want to thank all of our family and friends who donated to the High Atlas Foundation.  HAF is a grassroots organization that works on much needed developmental projects in rural Morocco.  Because of you, we were able to raise $2,625, and the group raised $8263 total!!!  Congratulations to Christina Bembenek (Morocco 2010), Megan Hallinan (Senegal 2010), Brian Henserling (Brussels 2011),  Paul Rogers (France 2011), Dave Saunders (Morocco 2011), and Ken Wainwright (Israel 2012) for working together as a team and creating an unforgettable Olmsted experience!

Special thanks to Brian for putting together a video with some of the amazing pictures taken along the journey.  Please click on the link below:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvAS-8Yxm6w
Jamil in navy shirt and white hat crossing the finish line!

Special thanks to Tera Dellow for taking these pictures and for bringing her two boys to Ifrane for a wild road trip and hotel slumber party with the Musa boys!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

32

After returning from a 3 week adventure through Portugal and Spain, we headed back to Morocco just in time to celebrate my 32nd birthday.

That morning, the boys woke me up extra early at 6:45.  Jamil took the boys, and they kindly let me sleep in only to wake me up again at 7:30 (right after I feel back asleep) with an almond tart cake, candles, home made cards and lots of love.  One of the best things about this year's celebration was the sound of hearing both boys sing Happy Birthday.

With Ramadan in full effect, we spent the day relaxing at Ghita's beach house.  That evening Jamil surprised me with some earrings I had admired at an antique shop in Madrid (You can get a glimpse of them in the iphone picture above).  Jamil and I then went out to celebrate the iftar (breaking of the fast) at The Sofitel.  The beautifully chic atmosphere and getting to relax with my husband in the lush gardens more than made up for the quality of food and service.  I kept reminding Jamil of that throughout the evening, as he was a little disappointed.  He always works hard to make sure that my birthday is extra special.

All in all, 32 was a great birthday.  30 was fun, fresh and new, and 31 just kind of felt the opposite.  The thought crept into my head that all I had to look forward to was 40... 40!  I couldn't quite wrap my brain around that thought! ;)  I desire to embrace each year as they come, but sometimes it's just hard to believe how time flies!  32 feels confident, content and still young.  Here's to another year full of possibility, wonder, and forever feeling young!