Tomorrow we depart bright and early at 4:30am.  We are all packed up.  Exhausted, but content.  Sitting next to each other and reflecting on all those simple yet joyous experiences we've had living abroad between Canada and Qatar.  I want to remember this moment and sense of accomplishment so instead of going to bed early, I’m up writing so I can preserve these feelings.

It was hard.  Being away from one another many months at a time.  Trying to connect via facetime or skype through VPNs that made us want to punch a hole through the wall.  Being alone.  Then together again is a test to any relationship.  And while there were lots of ups and many downs as well, I think we survived and thrived.  With lots of help from Hayat!  

Qatar will always have a special place in our hearts.  Hayat spent much of her first year of life here.  She helped us see life here with much more focused and appreciative eyes.  Her first giggles, words and steps were taken here. This makes my heart swell with an abundance of rainfall-like emotions.  Gratitude.  Humility.  Thankfulness.  And a mission.  To continuously look at life through her innocent, curious, unbiased eyes.  Full of wonder.  Reckless abandon.  Millions of possibilities.  Always with a smile and a laugh ready to be bellowed out by any joke.  

We will forever cherish this time in our lives and hers.    

It’s now time to go.  We're coming home.