Red Road Report

Nana & Papa's Visit: July 2010

2010-09-06T02:23:00.007+08:00

We were so glad Jess's mom and dad got to come in July. We were all just certain Moses would arrive by the end of June, so imagine our surprise when he overshot his due date and waited just about 36 hours after their arrival in Istanbul to make his debut!

So, the first day, as bleary-eyed Nana & Papa got used to our time zone, we enjoyed a picnic at the seaside park:

complete with a soccer game

and rock climbing!

That night, labor contractions began, and by the next morning, they were holding their 8th grandchild in their arms-- Moses Henry had arrived!

Enjoying getting to know him...

...burp him...

...watch movies while holding him...

We were all so glad Moses had waited until after their arrival! It made it all the more special.

Of course the other kids got lots of Nana & Papa time too!

It was such a special visit, and we're all so thankful for the week we had together!

Moses Henry's Birth

2010-09-05T23:13:00.004+08:00

Our sweet little man arrived July 12th. I just realized I've shared pictures via e-mail and Facebook, but never posted them here... so here he is, in all his preciousness:

Our new family of 7, ready for action! :)

Bodrum Beach Vacation - 2010!

2010-05-27T14:45:00.013+08:00

...snuggling with Silas in the shade...

This year, for vacation we were fortunate to find a home to rent near a beach in southwest Turkey. We all enjoyed every bit of it!

The kids enjoyed having grass to play in... a yard all their own for this one week!

And while we all got in the pool to swim throughout the week, Baxter, Maranatha, and Silas had the most fun just sitting on the side and dumping water from bucket to bucket (and splashing Ethan and Daddy occasionally!).

The house had beautiful flowers around it... which Silas enjoyed "watering" with his water gun :)

(randomly, here's a pic of me in the garden @ 35 weeks pregnant, for anyone who's curious) :

While we all loved it, Ethan enjoyed the pool most of all and spent a good portion of every day paddling around in the water:

And we ALL enjoyed the beach-- our first time as a family!

Silas thought Doug's sea monster impersonation was hilarious! He couldn't stop laughing at Doug snorkeling around the bay:

A nearby island with ruins was attached to the beach by a rocky sandbar, so we trekked out through the water to the island to have a look, only to see a sign prohibiting us from actually entering the ruins site once we got there (bummer!):
But still, we made it out to the island and had a good time!
Sandcastling was a big part of the fun for Doug, Ethan, and Baxter:

Well, mainly Doug... :)

The various finished products of three days' work:

Ethan and Jess enjoyed swimming out to a buoy and back!

One day while we were at the beach, Doug found a crab in the shallow water and scooped it up for the kids to observe. That crab scooted around the bucket so quick, and Maranatha offered pretzels while Silas tried to feed him seaweed (he liked neither). We named him "Sandy Claws" (though Baxter was still a bit partial to the name "Mr. Crab").

Maranatha loved playing in the sand:

On the last full day, we took turns, each of us taking one of the older boys for a kayak ride around the bay:

Ethan burst with excitement and joy for the entire ride, and declared that it made him feel like a grown-up man to go on such an adventure.

Doug took Baxter out for his ride (with Ethan running out to see them off), and they had a great time too!

We're so thankful to have enjoyed this week as a family of six... cause it won't be long now until Moses makes his debut. :)

There and Back Again... tales from the road

2010-05-27T13:50:00.008+08:00

We had some adventures going to and from our vacation house ... on the way there, we got flagged down and the policeman said the road was closed ahead (yes, a "major highway" that's just two lanes wide... one each way) for the next hour, hour and a half. So we turned around and backtracked 5 minutes to see the gorgeous lake we'd just passed.

The landscape was a bit, well, like what you might think of as the wild west... dusty, jagged rocks, spiders, short scruffy trees... but for some reason it never crossed our minds that in just a few minutes Ethan would come tearing up back towards the car screaming "snake! snake! THERE'S A BIG SNAKE DOWN THERE!!!" Sure enough, Doug went to have a look and a nice long snake was there... 3-4 feet long, but about as thick as his forearm.

We hastily returned to the van and snapped this nice picture. :)
The wildflowers reminded us of home... though they're different varieties than what we'd see in North Texas, the roadsides were covered in them and made for such a beautiful drive.

On the return trip, we passed through some of the mountains in western Turkey and enjoyed amazing views of canyons, bluffs, train trusses, quarries, lumber yards, mining sites, and more... all kind of out-of-the-ordinary experiences for our kids who are growing up in a concrete city.

And our gracious Father, Who delights in giving good gifts to His children, showered our kids with opportunities to interact with all kinds of interesting animals during this week's getaway... including the peacocks in the museum, the owl that flew into the side of the villa and hopped around on the patio while Ethan and Baxter looked on, the crab we caught and observed one whole day at the beach, dragonflies buzzing around the poolside... AND in addition to all the donkeys, cows, chickens, turkeys, and horses they saw on the farms in our driving, there was one more little gift God gave us...

Doug saw a turtle slowly plodding along in the middle of the two-lane highway when we were returning. After he carefully drove around it, we looked at each other and knew we had to go back and get that turtle out of the road. So we did, but not before Doug took the opportunity to show it off to all the kids. Maranatha (as evidenced by her bedhead) even roused from her nap to have a gander. And "Mr. Turtle" popped his head and legs out several times during his short exhibition, to the great thrill of our kiddos.
And then we were on our way. We got home late last night and absolutely enjoyed our vacation-- even the all-day drives both ways. God provided us with so many interesting things to see and a few funny stories along the way. He is so good to us.

Two conversations I don't want to forget.

2010-02-14T13:48:00.006+08:00

Haven't written in a while, but that's OK. Does anybody but me even read this? :)

Anyway, I had two conversations yesterday that I don't want to forget, so I thought I'd record them here. If, by chance, anyone is reading, please don't think that this sort of conversation is representative of every day here or that we're something akin to the Walton's, always having heart-lifting moments at every turn. If it was that way, I wouldn't be recording them here as something unique and special. Anyway, here's the first:

MARANATHA: "the best thing in the whole wide world"
I was combing Maranatha's hair after a bath:

She said:"Mom, you are doing the best thing in the whole wide world, you know dat?"

Me: "What do you mean?"

Her: "Like, you take care of us, you brush my hair, you play with us, you read to me, you teach us so many tings, you love us, .... like that."

(Yes, she said tings, not things... I want to be able to remember just how she talked.)

I have no idea if she grasped the blessing she was speaking into my heart and life. But she's absolutely right. Though it's devalued by our culture as something meaningless, mindless, or something anyone can do, there's nothing I could be doing right now that would be as eternally or personally meaningful to so many people as "just" being mom and wife to these five, going on six, people. :) And on days when I forget that, I wanted to have this special minute of life recorded here to re-read.

BAXTER: About that bright sun
We were driving home from a mall after buying a birthday present for a young Turkish friend:

Him: "The sun is so bright!" [note: it really was-- it's been hiding for days after snow and rain... so it was particularly bright and shining right in our faces, bouncing off the wet road]

Me: "Yup, it is very bright today."

Him: "I'm so glad that in the next world, there won't be a sun."

Me: "God Himself will be our light and we won't need it anymore."

Him: "Yeah. [pause] Will He stop shining at night time when we sleep?"

Me: [slight chuckle] "I don't know. The Bible doesn't say anything about nighttime or darkness in Heaven. It only talks about days being divided up on earth. It does say that God is light and in Him is no darkness. Maybe we won't sleep in Heaven, but I'm not sure."

Him: "But then we will get so tired at the end of the day!" [keep in mind, this is our nearly 6 year old who still on his own opts for a nap every now and then... the kid likes his sleep. :) ]

Me: "Maybe not. It says He'll give us new bodies; maybe our new bodies won't get tired. Or maybe we'll be able to peacefully sleep even in God's light."

Him: "Yeah. Well, anyway, it sure is a bright day today!"

I loved that... the way natural life just flows right together with Scripture and anticipating Heaven in his heart and mind. I only remember this subject (about Heaven not needing a sun, because God Himself will be our light) coming up a time or two, and not recently, but his little five-year-old brain has stored away this important piece of information and faith, and I'm so glad.

And it WAS a bright day yesterday. :) In many ways.

A budding scientist?

2009-10-12T18:26:00.004+08:00

This past weekend, my (Jessica's) language teacher invited me to go to a nearby village with hot springs for a small trip, just the two of us. She told me that we would need to leave early in the morning to catch the right ferryboat and so I stayed the night at her house the night before our trip.

I hadn't worn my favorite shoes (pink converse low-tops) in a while, and so I decided to use them for the trip. As is the custom here, when I arrived there, I took off my shoes and left them on the porch. We had a great evening with dinner and meeting lots of her relatives. The next morning, we woke up early, packed up our bags, and headed out to catch our bus. I looked down and saw many shoes on the porch, but could only find one of my pink shoes; the other was missing. She and her mother looked all over for the other one while I sat on the porch hoping they'd be able to find it. They were unable to find it, and so her mom offered me a pair of wooden sandals to use for the trip, as I'd packed no other shoes.

They explained that about 2 years ago, a couple of dogs had come around for a few nights barking and waking them up, and they figured that it must've been the same dog that came and got my shoe and dragged it away.

Last night, as I was relating this story to my captivated audience (Doug & the children), I got to this part of the story and Ethan scrunched up his face and said, "THAT's not a very scientific theory. A dog came around and barked two years ago, and so he must've come back and eaten your SHOE???" We laughed and laughed. Maybe we have a budding scientist on our hands. At the very least, he's developing his logic skills. :)

We still have no idea what happened to my shoe.

Little Tomb Raiders :)

2009-09-01T01:07:00.005+08:00

We visited Saqqara & Dashur today and were able to go into three different tombs-- an overseer's, the King's butcher's tomb (this is us with statues of 5 of his 10 sons), and then a third one that we had to go underground through some tiny shafts to get into!

The kids all had a great time exploring and checking out this awesome site. Saqqara is pretty much the center for information/archaeology for Egypt's Old Kingdom (the dynasties of Egypt that ruled roughly 5,000 years old).

There were other sites, near the ones we went down into, that had not yet been dug out-- literally, hieroglyphic-covered stones sticking up right out of the sand:

They had fun playing in the dirt too. :)

Inside of one tomb (The Tomb of "Ti" for anyone who's interested), the walls were COVERED with "daily life" sort of hieroglyphics... truly breathtaking.

Walking Like Egyptians #1

2009-08-22T03:54:00.005+08:00

Well, we're here, on vacation in Cairo... and it is HOT! And full of amazing sights!

Here we are at the base of the Great Pyramid of Giza, which seems to infinitely stretch upward:

Here's the view of Cairo from the Pyramids:

Doug, Ethan & Maranatha enjoyed a camel ride...

... and we all got to see the famously noseless Sphinx:

It's quite an incredible thing to be walking around in Giza and glance up to see the only remaining wonder of the ancient world:

The boys actually climbed up into the Great Pyramid with Doug (climbing up a shaft to the Gallery & Burial Chamber for King Cheops):

Here's the view from our balcony (not too shabby!):
We all enjoyed watching the sun set for the first night of Ramadan:

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2009-05-14T17:32:00.007+08:00

Thought I'd share some pics of the kids & a few funny things about our new neighborhood:

(1) A popular star of a Turkish reality show lives just a street or two over from our new place. Though we have yet to see him, he's reportedly always surrounded by a crowd.

(2) There's a car that often drives down the major road in our neighborhood (it's the one our apartment faces)... and it has a horn that plays the theme song from "The Godfather". They honk it far too often, but it still cracks us up.

(3) This new neighborhood is full of people from all around the world, so it's fun to walk around and see the variety of people God has made. In contrast with America, Turkey (like China) is a nation full of mostly one kind of people, so it's unusual to have a place where there are so many different nationalities in one neighborhood.

(4) We live just around the corner from a place that serves one kind of food we LOVED from our old overseas home... loghman! (Click that link to see a large picture.) YUM!

(5) Though it's an older, more working class, neighborhood, it's right by the Sea of Marmara, so it's a great place to live-- fairly cheap housing, right near the water-- very rare in Istanbul!

We're enjoying the new place. Just thought I'd share some fun trivia about it!

And I say to myself, "What a Wonderful World!"

2009-05-07T13:33:00.007+08:00

Most of the time, living in another country, it's just "home". Once you get past culture shock, even if it's strikingly different from what you've always known, it becomes your daily norm.

But sometimes there are moments you look around and think, "my kids get to ride bikes by the sea, with cargo ships and very, very old history all around them?"

Or, "I get to make dumplings from scratch with local friends?"

Covered women admire my children while we're out for walks?

I shop at a local outdoor market where vegetables are this beautiful & fresh?

And in my Sunday shopping, I walk past shoe displays like this?

Our children have a perspective on the world that is unique among their peers...

... and we are blessed to be able to spend downtime as a family at parks with tulips and water all around.

And I say to myself, "What a wonderful world designed by an incredible God!"

A Kazakh Engagement Party!

2009-04-12T02:35:00.008+08:00

We were invited by some of our new friends to go to the engagement party (really, it's the time when the groom technically goes to "get the girl" from her family) of his cousin today. Doug and Ethan ended up going along, as Ethan is growing to be good buds with the 9 year old son of our friends. Because our friends' family lived in Brooklyn (yes, in NY) for the past decade, the son speaks both great English and great Turkish, which is excellent for Ethan. They've been inseparable the past few weekends.

You can see Ethan & his friend Barish here, as the groom's family went to "get" the girl.
(Click on any of the pictures to see them larger.)As the groom's party walked down the street, they met an old patriarch from his side of the family and stopped for a chat. This Kazakh elder was probably giving words of wisdom before the couple came together.
Here's the happy couple, meeting their guests together:

They served tasty fried breads, cookies, cakes, and muffins, and plenty of milk tea. It was the first time Doug had tasted milk tea since we lived in our previous home in Central Asia several years ago, and spent regular time drinking milk tea with Kazakh friends there. Milk tea is made with a special type of tea and milk is added, seasoned with salt and drunk from a bowl.

The couple and the party guests left the one house to go into the bride's family home for a ring ceremony and exchanging of gifts.

The house was packed; Doug said at one point there were nearly 100 people in the one apartment.

Their rings were connected with a ribbon, and they placed them on their fingers and the bride's brother cut the ribbon. We still aren't sure of the meaning of this tradition, but we'll keep asking questions and learning as we go.

Here you can see the lamb boiling to be ready for dinner. You can also see, up on the far left, what Ethan's friend Barish looks like from the front. :)
Yummy palao. It's been a while since we've eaten it, and it really is delicious!

It's very fun to begin becoming a part of the community here... Doug's brain is fried after hearing & speaking Turkish (& small bits of Kazakh) for nearly 10 hours today, but our hearts are full of joy to have friends and be able to share in the celebrations of their joyful moments.

One more note: we were excited to learn that the bride & groom will be moving to our neighborhood once they are married, so we hope to get to know them better as time progresses.

Amazing Ephesus

2009-03-25T01:14:00.005+08:00

I have no idea how I overlooked sharing these, but here are some of the pictures from our visit to Ephesus. It was a trip of a lifetime, to be able to walk where the Apostle Paul walked, see where Aquila & Priscila may have sold their tents, and sit on the benches in the ampitheater where the riot in Acts 19 happened. The boys had a blast exploring the ruins, and we all marveled at seeing history come alive. As one of the best preserved cities of that period, it is in amazing condition, and it was a real wonder to walk through the city and see the biblical setting in front of our eyes.

Everyday Things

2009-02-10T02:21:00.003+08:00

Here are some pictures taken around Istanbul, to give you the flavor of daily life here.

This first picture shows a classic outfit style worn by conservative women here-- black underclothing (fully length pants or skirt) with shoes, long overcoat, and headscarf:

Here's one of what must be hundreds of these little food shops found around Istanbul.
They sell simple sandwiches, drinks, and chips (and ice cream in the summer!).

A classic grandma type here in Istanbul
(in front of a Starbucks, which are also fairly plentiful here):

She's less conservative (see the pants? and the hair showing?).

Fishermen are plentiful here:

I may have mentioned this before, but cats are everywhere here. And I mean everywhere. To people who are new to the city, it takes some getting used to... but I can tell you-- I'd much rather have cats than rats. And though I've seen plenty of the former, I've never even seen one of the latter. :) So give me cats anyday!

And this last picture is of the gypsy class here... they often carry around these big trash bags (you really can't get the scale of it from this picture- it's very large when full) and dig through the smaller dumpsters in each neighborhood/alley to find recyclables. We sort our recyclables separately so they won't have to dig for ours. So virtually nothing goes to waste in this city that can in any way be reused or recycled!

Baxter on future plans, money, & work

2009-01-25T01:53:00.005+08:00

So I (Jessica) was in the kitchen talking with Baxter (our 4 & 1/2 year old) the other day, and asked him, "Do you think you might be a daddy one day?"

B: "Yeeesss..."
Me: "How many kids do you think you'll have?"
B: "Sixty-seven or ninety-four"
Me: (raised eyebrows) "Hmm... how will you make money to feed all those children?"
B: (confused look on his face) "I don't know."
Me: "Well, it takes money to buy food, and that would be a lot of kids to buy food for. What will you do to have enough money to buy food for your family?"
B: "I will ...(pause)... just walk around ... (pause)... and look and find it on the ground."
Me: "Hmm. That sounds neat, but pretty unlikely. What will you do for a job?"
B: "Like find treasure... gold coins... and dollars, stuff like that."
Me: "That'd be cool... But what kind of job do you think you might like to do?"
B: (another confused look, and a long pause)
Me: " How will you make money? What kind of work will you do?"
B: "I don't know what you're talking about, 'work'."

Hmmm... we have a lot of training in reality ahead of us. :)

Evidence

2009-01-10T18:09:00.004+08:00

Sometimes when people leave your house, you'll find evidences of their visit: a toothpaste tube left behind, a note left on the table, or mussed sheets asking to be changed.But here's the evidence Nana & Papa left behind:

a freshly cleaned kitchen, from Nana as a blessing to Jessica
a little girl who, while coloring, pauses every few minutes to mention Nana & Papa because they took time to stop and color with her so many times while they were here.
a baby who probably wonders where that man who flew him around like an airplane a bajillion times got off to.
a full coffee cup, that Papa meant to drink but left behind because he was busy doling out hugs and loading up bags
tears in the eyes of this daughter who is so overwhelmed by her parents' love for her children.
coloring pages on the fridge for the children, colored expressly for them by loving grandparents.
hearts more full than they were three weeks ago, made full by lots of love and lots of memories of special times together.

THANK YOU, NANA & PAPA, for coming to visit us. We LOVED getting to have you in our home for the past three weeks. We love you!!!

Ephesus: Road Trip

2008-12-30T17:46:00.008+08:00

We drove down to Ephesus for our family's first major road trip here in Turkey on the three days following Christmas, and WOW! It was GORGIOUS!!! We passed many shepherds and sheep...

... and so many fields of olive groves, grape vineyards, and mandalina orange orchards on the way.

The kids had fun and plenty of distractions with Nana & Papa on the trip!
And some people slept, since the trip both there and back was long:

We saw many beautiful country homes and pastoral scenes...

... and stopped at an outlet mall to grab some coffee at Starbucks! :)

On the way home, we came up the coast, passing Smyrna & Pergamum and going through the mountains south of Troy, which had lots of snow.

And the Aegean coastline is absolutely awe-inspiring. Even in the dead of winter, it takes your breath away with its beauty. It was incredible to imagine the Apostle Paul's ships sailing along these coasts.

And we even saw a Mount-Rushmore-in-the-making. Ataturk (his name means "Father of the Turks") is the founder of modern Turkey, and is honored throughout the country in pictures, monuments, and more. But this mountainside homage of Ataturk in Izmir was by far the largest tribute we've ever seen:
Next up, I'll share pictures of the ruins in Ephesus-- it was AMAZING!!!

Christmas Gifts

2008-12-30T05:37:00.000+08:00

Jess's Mom made this Swarovsky ornament for our Christmas tree!

These soft chewy balls from Papa are PERFECT for our little teething boy.

Maranatha enjoyed checking out her jewelry made by Nana...

...and immediately loved a doll from GranBren & GranPere.

Jenner & Fanny sent the perfect gift... we had a Christmas cross that we brought with us to China and it cracked in our move there... so this one is PERFECT! I love it! Thank you!!!

LSU hats from Nana & Papa were a big hit with the boys:

And they each got a watch from a sweet Sunday School class back in Texas... obviously, Ethan LOVED his. :) (Baxter did too... but this jump was over the top, so I had to share this picture!)

And the kids enjoyed our Christmas tradition (borrowed from Aunt Jill) of unwrapping various members of the Nativity set as Christmas approaches, and hearing their stories as it draws closer to Christmas day:

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

European Day Trip

2008-12-30T05:18:00.006+08:00

Living in Istanbul makes trans-continental trips a breeze. Just hop a ferry or cross a bridge, and you've gone to another continent. We live on the Asian side, so last week, we took Jessica's parents to the European side for some sightseeing.

In front of the Blue Mosque with the grandkids

Inside the Blue Mosque

Nana & Ethan love the roasted chestnuts sold here in Istanbul (and then of course they sing, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" ... "chestnuts roasting on an open fire...")

Our family in front of the Hagia Sophia through a gate in the courtyard of the Blue Mosque

Visitors From Afar!

2008-12-22T17:16:00.004+08:00

NANA & PAPA HAVE ARRIVED IN ISTANBUL!!!

We're so glad to have them here... for Christmas, New Years, and a quick trip down to Ephesus. Three weeks will afford us a nice long visit with much-missed family!

Everyone's so glad to have them here!

Texas #2: "And Friends are Friends Forever..."

2008-10-09T16:49:00.000+08:00

... no, I won't actually quote the cheesy Michael W. Smith song. Though surely those of us who lived through the 80's/early 90's and went to any church camp during those times could never forget it, huh? :) Well, here are a few highlights from our trip to Texas and the time we spent with friends there:We enjoyed one really wonderful day with Christi & Courtney!

And we were able to enjoy a few visits with the Bainters:

Chana & Maranatha camped out on the couch with books:Tylan & Silas:

And Caedin enjoyed holding him too!
We were thankful to have this time with sweet friends.

Texas #1: Thank God for Family!

2008-09-28T16:26:00.007+08:00

In case you hadn't heard, Jessica, Maranatha, and Silas were able to travel back to Texas for a 15-day visit. We had a great time... and though the food was great and it was so nice to be under that wide open sky, the sweetness of spending time with family trumped every other part of our trip! Here are some highlights:

Maranatha and Nana shopping together:Dance party with Papa (watching an ELO video-- talk about old school!)
Silas and Maranatha after dinner with Uncle Mike & Jennifer:
Maranatha and Silas with cousins Max, Beaux, and Jaxon

(Beaux was so very enamored with Silas-- it was so cute to see!)

Maranatha and I got to go out to see the horses with Granpere:

Silas was so fascinated by the waterfall in Nana & Papa's pool:

And Silas is the first of our kids to not crack up at Papa Taylor... he just stared, trying to figure out this funny man making all kinds of silly faces:
We had a good time at out GrandBren & GranPere's "Flying Hat" Ranch:
Aunt Doc taught Maranatha how to do a Jack-in-the-Box:
Dad & I at dinner at Razzoo's (our favorite!)
Dinner with Aaron, Jill, Max, Beaux, Jaxon, Nana, Papa, and Grandpa Sweeney:
Silas learned pretty quick to clutch Nana's necklace to help him feel better!
We all had a great time with family and are glad we were able to make the trip!

Kid Logic

2008-09-02T17:29:00.006+08:00

Ethan: "Mom, is this our oldest Bible book?"

Me: "No, someone gave that to us this year."

Ethan: "Then why does it say, 'My First Book of Bible Stories'?"

:) Now that he's reading well, we're getting lots of questions like this. And yes, that is a red play-doh Stonehenge in the background.

To see more recent kid pics, you can check out my Facebook photo albums.

This is NUTS.

2008-08-16T14:08:00.004+08:00

Seriously. NUTS! This little guy is not even five months old yet. (He will be next week.)

Silas totally blew us away this week by starting to crawl.
Within days, he's up on his knees:
Wonders never cease.

City Sights

2008-08-15T14:49:00.000+08:00

Here's what it looks like to walk in our city...

A street ice cream vendor:

Dried peppers and vegetables colorfully decorate various booths:

Kids & the Thrills of Summer

2008-08-05T16:40:00.010+08:00

Here's Silas-- my new Mr. Blue Eyes-- handsome as can be:

Ethan and Silas hanging out

The other day, we looked down and realized that Silas had shackled himself with his baby rings. Poor little jailbird!

Maranatha absolutely loves her new summery skirt & sandals (Thanks, Meos!).

Ethan's riding without training wheels now!

So, in light of Ethan's new skills, Baxter came up with his own new way of riding bikes. :) Ever the little comedian!

I (Jessica) took the kids out for a picnic last night while Doug had a language lesson, and Ethan climbed a tree for the first time all by himself. Baxter was a great "partner", keeping him well-armed with stick "rifles" and such.

They had a blast exploring and running around. We're so grateful for a large scale forest/park near here, since we're without a backyard!

And Maranatha LOVED finding green berries...

The kids are all growing like weeds, enjoying the thrills of summer!

Can they REALLY be Four & Six???

2008-07-13T21:39:00.005+08:00

Last week, Ethan turned six, and this week, Baxter will turn four. It's hard to believe our sons are this old. In some ways it seems like yesterday that they were each born, and in other ways, it feels like a lifetime. Here are some pictures of them showing off and enjoying some birthday gifts:

Enjoying a horse "Buckaroo" game:

(Pointing to our "home" here:)

Thanks grandparents for such fun birthday presents-- the boys are having a BLAST!

Family Praise Band

2008-07-02T15:49:00.005+08:00

Introducing Ethan, Baxter, and the Heater Harps:

Featuring Maranatha on vocals!

(They took extra-large rubber bands, stretched them over the ends of the radiators, and were so proud of their new "instruments"! ) Praise God for the creativity of children!

A Trip to the Harem- JUST Visiting! :-)

2008-06-23T01:57:00.008+08:00

Jessica's friend, Lindy, came to visit for a short break between some summer classes, and so we did a little sightseeing this last week. It was a real treat, since we live in one of the oldest continuously-lived-in cities in the world.

One of the first things we did was go to Topkapi Palace to tour the treasury (which was full of really huge emeralds, all kinds of royal gifts, Ming vases, and ancient relics) and the harem. Since we couldn't take pictures of the treasury, and the Harem was the most interesting part anyhow, I wanted to share some pictures from our peek inside the royal Harem inside the palace! I am not exaggerating when I say that we were gasping in amazement at the beauty nearly everywhere we looked as we toured the harem.

In use for hundreds of years, the last of the women left in 1909, just a hundred years ago.

In the entrance to the harem, there was amazing mosaics and tilework:

That section led to where the eunuchs (black African guards for the King's women) would sleep, eat, and guard the harem. This courtyard shows the windows into each individual eunuch's room:

As we walked through, we noticed that there were not (of course) any areas which were accessible to the outside... everything was either well-protected (if it was a courtyard) or completely enclosed, so as to keep the harem women from being spoiled by outsiders. This is a picture of the ceiling (letting in sunlight) as we walked down a hallway.

There were two large mirrors in the transitional hall between the eunuchs quarters and the area where the women lived. One can just imagine all the primping that these mirrors have seen!

A view of the closets and dressing area inside one of the harem rooms... only the most beautiful and intelligent women from the empire were chosen for the King.

Here, you can see a closer view of the closet door design, which was intricately detailed in mother of pearl. We probably saw at least a hundred of these doors throughout the harem... it was so lavishly decorated.

The stained glass in various rooms were absolutely beautiful-- but this one (for me) stole the show-- each one is probably 20-30 feet tall:

Here's another example of the tile artistry we saw throughout the harem:

This was the main living room/salon area of the harem, with plenty of seating for many, many women and their children. Being there, it was so easy to visualize all of the catty conversations and one-upping that must have taken place throughout the centuries of this harem's usage:

And of course, all the windows were barred. Here's a view of Istanbul through the "eyes" of a woman in the harem.

Two, Going On Twenty

2008-06-05T23:29:00.007+08:00

Our little girl turned two yesterday...

...blew out the candles on her own...

... had a great time at her party...

...couldn't wait to use her baking set from Nana & Papa...

...and absolutely LOVED her doll from GranBren and Granpere...

...was so glad her friend Mukadesse could come...

... and a great time was had by all...

To see more pictures from the party and other recent pictures, click here.

Expressions of Maranatha: She's 2!!!

2008-06-04T00:01:00.002+08:00

Our little princess... spunky, expressive, and delightful! And today, she's two! Thanks to God for this precious little girl who adds so much laughter, fun, and sweetness to our family!

Birthday Bikes Seven Weeks Early

2008-05-31T23:47:00.004+08:00

Ethan will turn 6 in six weeks, and Baxter will turn 4 in eight weeks, but they got their birthday presents from us today. Why? Because we got them bicycles, and we didn't want them to miss out on half a summer of riding bikes. I don't know if we've ever seen the two of them as excited as they were this morning!

Even Maranatha had a good time running after them and trying to "help". :-)

After dinner tonight, they decided they wanted to get in a little more riding... so off they went!

Being a parent gives so much insight into the nature of God... because as their mom and dad, we were so delighted to give them these gifts that were so well-suited for them... but how much MORE God must love us with the amazing gifts He gives!

Trip to the Island

2008-05-31T19:56:00.002+08:00

Last weekend, we went with some friends out to an island for our group worship/church time.

It was so beautiful, and afterwards, the boys each got to ride horses with their friends.

Here's Ethan and Cole, riding away:

And Baxter peeking around his friend Drew:

Near where we ate lunch was a huge gathering of a minority group here that sang songs, danced in line dances, ate together, and had a rowdy good time:

Even the boatride home offered a beautiful view:

What a great day!

"Green Space" in the City

2008-05-28T01:57:00.006+08:00

Because space is such a luxury here, people who have gardens in or near their homes really keep them up nicely. Virtually every yard in our neighborhood this spring has been blooming with rose bushes, honeysuckle, fruit trees (cherries, oranges, and more!), hyacinths, tulips, and all kinds of flowers that I haven't seen before. Even very small homes make their gardens (bahce, pronounced "ba-chay") a priority... they'll have patios under wisteria vines or bright flowers lining the walkway, and they'll often have seating space outside, either on a balcony, patio, or in the garden itself.

Sometimes even if they don't have actual grass or a garden, but just have a large concrete wall in front of their home, they'll make it into a garden!
Sadly, the scarcity of space (and green space in particular) makes it unlikely that we'll ever have our own yard or garden here in Istanbul. I do find myself eying those few random garden homes that come available (as the picture below proves), but mostly, I just enjoy looking at them.

It's nice to have some "green" in the city!
Apparently, it's time for local elections, and so the politicians in charge of each area of town have gone about "sprucing up" the neighborhood parks: Since we don't have an actual garden, we and about 100+ of our "neighbors" at any given time can be found enjoying the beautiful park they built just up the hill. Hooray for motivated politicians!!!

Little Lady

2008-05-22T17:58:00.007+08:00

Maranatha in her fun strawberry hat:

With pigtails:

All dressed up as a princess:

In the sweet nightgown GranBren and Granpere sent,
talking about the "buh" (birds) out the window:

And here she is, doing her absolute favorite thing these days--
watching over baby "Si-Si" (which is what she calls him right now).

She is most definitely the "little lady" in our house. :-)

Bye Bye, "Backyard"!

2008-05-21T06:15:00.001+08:00

A few weeks ago, I took a picture of the boys enjoying our "backyard" (alleyway just outside of our apartment where no cars could drive). [They're each wearing their blue jackets.]They had been able to go out and enjoy cumulative hours of playing soccer ("futbol" here), watching snails and slugs in neighbors' gardens, and playing like any little boys do when they're outside and virtual "kings" of their territory.

Well, that all changed three days ago, when we awoke to the sound of jackhammers and construction trucks. Apparently, though, we weren't the only ones surprised by the new road going through the one quiet spot in our neighborhood... our entire neighborhood began organizing and within a day, we had a protest letter in our mailbox ready to sign, and meetings were held. We didn't attend the meetings, but we did sign the protest letter.

Yes, the boys signed the letter registering their protests as well:But in the end, it didn't matter one lick. The road is now black-topped and (despite the fact that it's supposed to be a slow, one-way road) cars of all shapes and sizes drive any which way they please. Bye bye, backyard!

Kid Pics: Spring 2008

2008-05-19T15:02:00.001+08:00

We've been enjoying playing games with Ethan-- he's learning all kinds of things. Here, he and Doug were enjoying a game of Settlers of Catan (an exploration/strategy game):

Baxter and Ethan are playing together non-stop these days... soccer, cars, trains, and more... it's so fun to to see their relationship growing stronger.
Maranatha's finally big enough to fit into her pink Thai silk pajamas I bought at a street market in Thailand about the time she was born:

Silas is big enough to wear the baseball cap that the older boys never got to wear. (I kept forgetting to try it on them until it was too late... so now Silas gets to wear a hand-me-down for the first time!) :) And he looks adorable in it, I think! He likes hanging out in his carrier when we take the kids to the park.

Expressions of Silas

2008-05-17T01:37:00.004+08:00

Eight weeks worth of cuteness. What a blessing!

Day Trip to the Trout Farm

2008-05-16T17:48:00.008+08:00

Yesterday our family took a drive almost 2 hours outside of Istanbul to a freshwater trout farm in the mountains between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.

On the highway, we drove under a McDonald's. Yup, under-- this McDonald's has buildings on both sides of the highway (I guess in order to get business from both directions of traffic), with the dining room on a bridge across the highway. Pretty impressive.

Once we got up onto the mountain roads, we passed a beekeeper who said he is also the Imam (Muslim leader) for his area:

(Ethan was SO excited, because we just studied bees, pollen, nectar, and how honey is made in school a little over a week ago!)

Street life in the village we drove through was decidedly more conservative than in Istanbul, with almost all of the women we saw covered in either scarves or burqas. However, the younger generation largely wasn't buying into the conservative dress of their elders.

We passed school aged children climbing trees to pick fruit, an elderly couple enjoying a quiet dinner out in their garden, and bought some incredible bread at a bakery that we devoured on the drive home.

And here's some of the beautiful view we enjoyed on the way home:

What a great day for a trip to the mountains!

Family Pictures: A Trip to the Turkish Countryside

2008-05-16T17:42:00.005+08:00

Here are some pictures of our family from our day trip to the freshwater trout farm. We enjoyed a lunch of fresh trout, bread, cheese, and veggies, and then went outside!

The kids enjoyed an afternoon of exploring...

... and finding!

After a tumble off of a wall, Daddy took Baxter down to the stream to wash off the dirt,

and all was well again!

It was SO nice to get out of the fast-paced city life for a day!

Our "Neck o' the Woods"

2008-05-05T22:25:00.004+08:00

Here are some photos from various places in or near our section of Istanbul:

Bakeries are in abundance (thus the reason Turks aren't as thin as the Chinese were!) :-)

Simit men are all around town, too--
these are similar to large soft pretzels with the tops coated in seeds

Mosques and minarets are everywhere (and we hear the call to prayer 5 times each day). Some of them are plain and nothing to look at, but some of them (particularly the ones that used to be churches) are especially beautiful.

I took this picture at a park we went to near the bridge that connects the European and Asian sides of Istanbul. This picture is taken from the Asian side, looking past a cargo barge to the European side.

Silas's Morning Photo Shoot

2008-04-24T18:38:00.006+08:00

Took some pictures of our sweet little man this morning and just had to share.

Especially since he's smiling now, so cute:

Maybe the photo shoot bored him?

He is one cute little man!

A Girl & Her Nana

2008-04-19T14:56:00.007+08:00

So many cute pictures of my daughter and my mom...

... and even though she left two weeks ago, I just had to share them with you all! They had a really good time together during Nana's recent visit, and I'm so glad they did! :)

Hanging Out at Home

2008-04-13T01:47:00.006+08:00

Here's Silas in his little "Easter" outfit from Nana & Papa... too cute!

And Maranatha's sweet Easter dress made her look like such a little lady:

Our friend Tamara made this beautiful quilt for Silas and he totally LOVES snuggling up in it:

Last night, Baxter and Ethan came to me and asked if they could give me a foot massage (they got this idea by watching their dad do this for me fairly regularly-- what a man!). I sacrificially allowed them to give me one. :) (And it felt great-- those sweet little boys did a good job!)

Then they gave Maranatha a foot massage too --and she loved it! Here's what it looked like:

Silas's First Week

2008-03-30T13:59:00.002+08:00

Silas James, 6 days old:

Still getting kissed like crazy from Maranatha:
Baxter is so precious with his brother-- he comes over intermittently throughout the day, giving squeezes and kisses and saying, "I love you, Silas" and "Silas, you're so cute."
Ethan asks to hold Silas for a good part of every day and is so sweet and affectionate towards him... having these older siblings multiplies the joy of a new baby!

The other day, Doug went into our bedroom and found Silas sleeping with the hat scrunched down over his eyes, and he just had to get a picture:

He is such a sweet and cute little man and we all already love him so much!

Nana's Here!

2008-03-27T01:43:00.004+08:00

Yes, my (Jessica's) mom got to come for this special time for Silas' birth! (She actually flew into Istanbul 17 hours after Silas was born. Even though she just missed his actual birth, she has been such a big help during this transition time!)

Bought some seed today to feed the pigeons:

As always, the kids are LOVING having Nana around!
And Silas is enjoying getting to know his sweet Nana:(I think the feeling is mutual.)

Silas James is HERE!!!

2008-03-22T15:44:00.008+08:00

Here's his first picture, just minutes after birth:He was born at 8:36 pm, March 20, 2008 (the first day of spring). Weighing in at 7 pounds, 9 ounces, he arrived 3 days before his due date on Easter Sunday. Contractions had been on and off for several days, but started coming on stronger around 5:30pm; we went to the hospital at 7pm, and he was born just 90 minutes later, completely naturally (which is what we had been praying for).

Proud daddy Doug:
Excited brothers Ethan & Baxter:

SO many kisses from big sister Maranatha:

The new family of SIX:

Praise the Lord for Silas' happy & healthy arrival!

Around Town

2008-03-04T14:49:00.003+08:00

Sunset at the "Iskele" (Ferryboat port) -- behind the building, you can see what we call "The Big Apple" (it's actually a giant apple-green hot air balloon that people ride in order to look out over the Bosphorus Strait, which separates Istanbul into the European and Asian sides).
One of our favorite parts of the mall nearest to our house is that they almost always have live musicians who play classic and fun music... it's relaxing, and the kids love watching them play.

The boys liked this creative swordfish display (it has a red pepper on it's nose) at the fish market last week. Note the "evil eye" hanging just above all the fish, up at the top.

Here's a picture of a mosque we passed on a walk home last week (sorry it's a fuzzy picture, it's the best I could do). The lights of this one in particular are so brilliant against the night sky. Some young men walking past us laughed at us for taking a picture, but this definitely isn't something you see in America everyday.

I've been wanting to get a good picture of this for a while, and this one really isn't what I was hoping for, but I snapped it when I had a chance. It at least gives you an idea of how they do billboard advertising here. One billboard isn't enough-- they usually have anywhere from 4-10 of the same exact sign all in a row, and then the next advertisement will start after that (also having multiple signs in a row).

At first it seemed unnecessary to me, but I've realized that it may actually be a good tactic. How many times have you (in America) passed a billboard and not gotten a chance to read what it was about? By the time you notice it, you've almost passed it. But here, you notice it, and you still get several more chances to jot down the phone number, or the location of the event, or the info about the sale or whatever. It's an interesting and probably effective marketing technique.

Flowers

2008-02-27T22:55:00.000+08:00

On any busy street corner here, and near all the transportation "hubs" (ferry piers and bus transfer places), you'll find flower ladies out selling bouquets and arrangements of beautiful flowers. Sometimes they're alone:

And sometimes they all congregate and sell flowers together:

But regardless of where they come from, receiving flowers from your husband and sons is always very sweet! :) (Thanks, Doug, Ethan, and Baxter!!!)

Seen and Heard This Week...

2008-02-24T15:20:00.010+08:00

We have a few quotes and stories from our home to share this week. Perhaps you'll enjoy and laugh about them as much as we have! (The picture alone is proof that we have at least one very goofy daughter!)

BAXTER WANTS TO GROW UP, part one:
Baxter: (pointing to Doug's mustache) "When can I get one of those?"

CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION:
Ethan had a British friend, Jimmy, over and they were drawing men. He asked if Ethan thought he should draw a "smart" (meaning well-dressed) man. Ethan excitedly answered yes, so Jimmy drew a man in a blue suit-- indeed, he looked very "smart"(British meaning of the word).

Later, they were talking about their drawings and I asked what their drawn men do for a living. Jimmy answered that his man was an inspector.

Ethan added, "yeah, cause you have to be very smart to be an inspector."

Jimmy said, "well, you don't have to be very smart. You just have to be a normal person, really."

Ethan looked confused, but shrugged and went off to play with something else.

FRIED EGG REPORT:
Fried eggs are a family favorite around here, and the kids often eat as many eggs as we do. But lately, we've noticed an interesting trend:

Ethan (5.5 years old), our active oldest son, eats 3 fried eggs. Baxter (3.5 years old), growing taller by the day, eats 4 fried eggs. But our dainty little string-bean-thin Maranatha (21 months old) eats FIVE fried eggs, every single time we eat fried eggs. It's funny the way they grow. She consistently is out-eating the boys at nearly every meal these days.

BAXTER WANTS TO GROW UP, part two: [A little context, first: about 90% of the time, when Baxter and Ethan disagree about something, Ethan's right. He just knows more about the world right now, and is older, so Baxter ends up eating crow a lot.]

But on this particular day, they were disagreeing and Baxter was right, and they both knew it. Ethan was ready to let it go and move on, but Baxter wanted a little acknowledgment:

Baxter: "You say 'yes, sir' to me, Ethan."

Ethan: "I'm not saying 'yes, sir' to you. You're not the daddy."

Baxter: "But I will be a daddy one day. You say 'yes sir' to me."

Ethan: "But you're not a daddy right now, Baxter. I'm not saying 'yes sir' to you." (And he left the room to go do something else, and that was the end of that conversation.)

:) In the next room, I couldn't stop laughing.

Snowin' in Istanbul

2008-02-18T21:48:00.007+08:00

Wanted to share a few pictures from our snow day yesterday...

The guys had a snowball fight:

And Maranatha made a little buddy:

To see the rest of our snow day pictures, CLICK HERE.

Hope you're staying warm, wherever you are!

Coffee

2008-02-16T18:56:00.006+08:00

One of the reasons we moved here was so that Doug could help manage a coffee roasting business, so I thought I'd share a few pictures of the "operation". Here's the Roaster with the roaster:

Some apprentices with coffee beans from around the world:

This is the front of their shop...

...and yes, the "perks" of this job are nice... the coffee is utterly delicious!

Fear & the Spiritual World in Central Asia

2008-02-16T18:13:00.005+08:00

Fear of evil spirits permeates the lives of Central Asians. The "evil eye" is a talisman that they will often use to try to ward off bad luck and evil that they fear may befall them. It comes in a variety of forms, and I've tried to collect some sample pictures to show you what I'm talking about. This is the basic design, which is usually done in blue, but will sometimes include other colors:
These were outside the apartment doors in an building we visited. So, in this instance, this would be to protect those inside this apartment from those who would be jealous of or wish harm towards those living inside.

Here's another example, this time in the form of a doormat:

This bakery that I pass on my way to language lessons has a babydoll (not sure of the significance of that) holding a large evil eye in the front store window:

This is a fish restaurant that had the evil eye printed onto their sign:

This clothing store puts an evil eye charm or talisman in the corner window display:

This is the place one would go to buy a talisman. These sorts of stalls are found in markets, sales alleyways, and other small shops:

They would also sell very small beads printed with the evil eye emblem to be put onto safety pins, so that mothers can pin this talisman onto their newborn babies' clothes.

Superstitions like these are common among Central Asians, who fear what evil spirits might do. To us as Americans, this can seem so foreign, but this sort of fear of the spiritual world is a very real part of their lives.

Same & Different

2008-02-13T18:35:00.002+08:00

Here in Istanbul, some things are the same as you'd find in "Anytown", America... and some things are quite different.

For example, Starbucks looks the same:

But sometimes the architecture looks quite different, with old, decrepit buildings literally right in the middle of modern apartments and shops:

Patriotism is very obvious here in Istanbul, where flags often decorate the balconies and windows of businesses and apartments. While we in America often display our flags for holidays and such, Turks will leave their flags up year round!

CATS ARE EVERYWHERE!!! I don't know that many people keep them as pets, but they are treated like community pets, I suppose because they keep mice and varmints away. Often, we'll pass piles of cat food laid out on sidewalks with hungry cats devouring it. We don't know who puts it there (whether it's the same people every time or different people each day), but they definitely get fed and cared for by the community and literally are everywhere you go in this metropolitan city!

Mosaic sidewalks and alleyways aren't what I'd call "common" here, but they are found at various places throughout the city, and they are beautiful!

School Days ...and so it begins!

2008-02-11T23:34:00.001+08:00

Because of our unexpected transitions over the past 18 months, Ethan is about 6 months "off" of the 'normal' school year... so, he just started Kindergarten last week (he's 5 & 1/2 years old, so really, it's still a great time for him to be doing Kindergarten, despite being "off" schedule). We're using the Sonlight homeschool curriculum, and have been so pleased with it; I just have to share a few highlights from this last week, because I've been so impressed with the subjects discussed, the books they select, and the way he's learning these things.

After each day of school, we have him share something about what he's learning with Doug, so that he can get comfortable talking about what he's learning, and to help him retain more of what he's taking in. Last week, Ethan spent the week telling Doug all about Martin Luther and William Tyndale, and Doug & I both remarked that we don't think we learned about these men until AT LEAST our late teen years. And even then, I didn't know what he has already learned about them until last week-- when I read it to him!

And just today, on the first day of week two, he learned a little about the Roman civilization and was explaining to my husband about how the Romans were in charge of "all over Europe, and part of Africa, and the Middle East-- is that right, Mom?" I said yes, and again, we just looked at each other in amazement and Doug said, "there's no way I knew what the Middle East was when I was five years old."

The kicker, though, was his explanation, for Science, of why we have seasons. It's incredible how much he's learning. Here's his word-for-word response to the Science activity question about "why do we have seasons?":

"Because it's the tilt of the earth and its relationship to the sun. When it's colder, it's further to the sun. And when it's hotter, it's closer to the sun."

It is so exciting to see him learning such new and interesting things, and to be able to share it with him!

Fun With Turkish

2008-02-07T22:03:00.002+08:00

So, I (Jessica) have been trying to cram some language learning in before Silas' arrival (he's due in 6 & 1/2 weeks), and I thought I'd share with you some of what I'm learning, so you can have a small glimpse into what language learning is like.

Yesterday, my assigned homework was to write several sentences in each person group in simple past tense. (Person groups being I, You, He/She, We, plural "You", and They.) So I did that (5 sentences in each group), and then I began thinking how much more fun it would be to make up a fun past-tense story.
So, consider this the unveiling of my very first Turkish story! Don't you feel so special, getting to read what will undoubtedly be an incredible tale that will work its way into your heart, cause you to ponder life's deeper truths, and could possibly change your life?

I'll share the English translation below, after letting you see the Turkish. (I don't know yet if the Turkish is all correct or not-- I'd bet there are at least a couple of errors, but we'll see tomorrow morning in class!)

Ben dün evde Şeri gittim. Biz beraber aliş veriş yaptık. O ben ile konuştu. Biz yolda (caddede?) yürüdük. Biz köpek görüştük. O biz sabret ettik. Biz köpek korktuk. Biz köpekten (oden?) kaçtık. O aynı koştu. O biz ye-mek istedi. Biz evde Şeri döndük. Güldük; ağladık. Ben evim git-mek korktum. Sofada Şeri uyudum.

OK, so I won't give you the whole run-down of Turkish pronunciation. But if you want to try to pronounce what I wrote (try it-- it's fun!!!), in a way that is somewhat close to how it sounds here, you'll want to read through it out loud with these things in mind:

S with a tail = "sh"
C with a tail = "ch"
O with dots = "er"
U with dots = kind of a combination of "you" and "ew"
Read the entire thing with your lips sticking out like you're saying "ewwww" because something really stinks.

OK, now that you've read through it (you DID try, didn't you?) :) , let me tell you the story in literal (word-for-word) translation:

I yesterday to house of Shari went. We together went shopping. She me with talked. We on the road walked. We a dog saw. He us hated. We the dog feared. We from the dog (from him?) ran away. He also ran. He us to eat wanted. We to house of Shari returned. We laughed; we cried. I my house to go was scared. On the sofa of Shari I slept.

OR, in actual comprehensible English:

Yesterday, I went to Shari's house. We went shopping together. She talked with me. We walked on the road. We saw a dog. He hated us. We were scared of the dog. We ran away from him. He ran too. He wanted to eat us. We returned to Shari's house. We laughed; we cried. I was scared to go home. I slept on Shari's couch.

See how fun it can be to study another language? :)

(And no, none of this actually happened...
it's a fictional story that allowed me to do a little practice.)

Fun Kid Photos

2008-02-05T15:36:00.001+08:00

Wanted to share some of these great pics of the kids from the last month or so...

The boys each got a dental check up this month, and the dentists let each of the boys "watch" up close while the other one got his exam. They both loved the experience-- we didn't know if it would be a rough time (with the horror stories you sometimes hear about kids and dentist visits), but they loved it and each checked out A-OK!

While we were out of town, there was a great kids' center where the boys got to go to classes, but their favorite part was playing on the playground, including this great ball pit!

Another "perk" of the hotel we stayed at was unlimited hot chocolates-- Ethan most definitely got his daily ration and felt like such a big man sitting up and drinking fancy hot chocolate!

The kids had a great time swimming (the hotel had an indoor pool complex)!

Maranatha loved splashing and just getting to walk around in the water
...that was a new experience for her.

Baxter, true to form, was enamored with getting as far back as we would let him and running and jumping into the kiddie pool- he is such a little daredevil! He cracked us up with his enthusiastic jumping.

Ethan's favorite thing was getting into the hot tub. He wouldn't go back into the kiddie pool after feeling how great the hot tub felt!

Some good friends recently came through Istanbul, and it was SO good to get to visit with them and get to hug on each others' kids!!!

The boys enjoyed opening Christmas presents from GranBren & GranPere-- these Cowboy shirts are getting worn a lot around here... Ethan asked, "were these worn by REAL cowboys?!" Pretty cute!

Musically Speaking...

2008-01-26T16:30:00.001+08:00

Every day for the last few days, Ethan has asked, "Momma, can we listen to that song by the three sisters about the army trumpet player?" Yes, he's been asking to listen to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by the Andrews Sisters, circa the Big Band Era.

When I put it on, he starts dancing around and loves it. I don't know if it's the song itself that he likes (it's pretty catchy and I've always liked it, which is why I downloaded it on iTunes), or if it's the fact that it's about a trumpet player (he's really into learning about instruments right now), or if it's because it's about World War II (he really likes hearing about war stuff). Regardless, he really, REALLY likes this song.

Last month, I realized that there was a lot of music in my head that I love (like "In the Mood" by Glenn Miller and this song by the Andrews Sisters) that would never get passed on to my kids unless I intentionally introduced it to them. So, I went onto iTunes, and bada-bing-bada-boom, next thing ya know, we were bopping around to "It Don't Mean a Thing (if it Ain't Got That Swing)" and other classic Big Band-era tunes.

I LOVE exposing the kids to different forms of music. Last month, it was a variety of Christmas songs that iTunes offered for free download, and Ethan loved "Ding Dong Merrily on High" and went around the apartment singing lines from that song for weeks. We all (Baxter and Maranatha included) love dancing to LeCrae, our favorite Christian rapper (this guy is theologically, lyrically, and musically right-on)... you should see Maranatha bouncing up and down to the beat-- talk about precious! The kids love to listen to such a wide variety of music, and I'm so thankful for iTunes that lets us get all kinds of music, new and old, even though we're a world away from any Best Buy stores. :)

Beautiful Antalya

2008-01-14T21:43:00.001+08:00

We've spent the last two weeks in Antalya-- a beautiful city right on the coast of Turkey. I'm not sure we've ever been in such a naturally beautiful place. It's like the Rocky Mountains and the Bahamas all in one (obviously from the picture, though, not as warm as the Bahamas right now!). We've had an encouraging time of seeing old friends and meeting new ones, and getting recharged with a bigger vision for our lives overseas.

Here's the view on one side of our balcony (that's just the beginning of the mountain range rise):

And here's the view from the other side of our balcony:

We have taken a couple of walks down to the beach, which the kids have enjoyed!

Their silly faces say it all--
this has been a good time together as a family in a beautiful place!

What Happens When You've Moved Too Much

2008-01-10T19:26:00.001+08:00

For several weeks leading up to our trip to a different city (where we are now), we'd been talking about "going to Antalya", and the kids had been excited about seeing some friends, traveling to a warmer place, and having some fun class times.

About two days before we left, Doug & I were randomly talking about things we needed to do before going on our 15-day trip, and Ethan popped into the conversation, enlightening us on what happens in the mind of a child when they've had constant transition for two years:

ETHAN: "But I LIKE it here."

JESS: "Yeah, we do too- that's why we're coming back here after we get done with our trip to Antalya."

ETHAN: (looking surprised) "We're coming back here?"

JESS: "Yeah."

ETHAN: "To THIS place?"

JESS: "Yeah."

ETHAN: "To our SAME apartment?"

JESS: "Yeah, darlin."

ETHAN: "With all our same stuff in it?!?!?!"

JESS: "Yeah!"

At which point Ethan jumped up and started jumping around, celebrating with whoops and hollers... and Doug and I looked at each other with sad looks.

Doug asked, "Ethan, did you think we were moving again?" "Yeah," came the reply, with a giggle and an embarrassed look.

We talked about it with him more of course, but you know, after living in seven different places over the last two years of our lives, I can't say that I blame him.

2007: Year-end Blog Wrap-up

2007-12-31T14:44:00.001+08:00

We did something like this last year, just as a way to wrap up the year in blog posts and pictures... so I wanted to do it for 2007 as well- I'll highlight a favorite story or picture from each month, so we can get a "big picture" look at this last year of our lives.

JANUARY 2007- IN TEXAS :)
...here's a photo we had made of Maranatha!

It totally captures the stage she's at right now--
beautiful smiles all the time & crawling all over the place!

FEBRUARY 2007- TEXAS

Last week, Jessica's brother and sister-in-law came for a visit with their 3 little boys. Here's a picture of our 2 oldest and their 2 oldest (Max-5, Ethan-4, Beaux-3, and Baxter-2)

MARCH 2007- TEXAS

We've been blessed to be back near family during this time of waiting. The kids have had a wonderful time with our parents, and here's a picture of some snuggle time with Papa:

APRIL 2007- TEXAS
Sadly, this was the best picture we got of the three of them, as the digital camera battery died just at the wrong moment. I wonder, could there BE a worse bluebonnet picture? :)

MAY 2007- TEXAS
Didn't post anything in May- but we were still with family.
So here are a few precious pictures from that time together.
Maranatha enjoyed the visit with Doug's family
(here, she's with his Great Aunt, who we call "Aunt Doc" because she's an MD)

We were glad to see Doug's youngest brother, Michael, who was in town for Spring Break

We signed Ethan up for a teeball league for however much longer we're here. He is loving it, and is by far the most alert kid on the field. No dirt digging by him- he is totally into baseball!

JUNE 2007- TEXAS
We had Maranatha's first birthday party in early June. It was such a fun day... the kids played, we ate pink cake and pink cookies, and admired our precious little one-year-old!

JULY 2007- TEXAS to ISTANBUL
HOME, SWEET HOME
Two weeks ago this morning, we arrived here. Last week, after just one day (!) of looking, we located and signed a lease on a great apartment. This place is just right for us! While most apartments here have a street right in front of them, the street in front of our apartment has been closed off, so we won't have as much traffic noise.

Additionally, it's on the "first floor" (which, here , means the second floor- the first floor is for shops and stores), which is great for the kids (no walking up flights of stairs or squeezing into the tiny elevators they have here). It has a bathtub, which is above and beyond what we expected, and it has a lot of great windows. We'll be very close to three great parks, and one big grocery store. Plus there's a Sunday vegetable market one street away, so I'll have my beloved fresh veggies easily accessible every week!

AUGUST 2007- ISTANBUL
Jess & the kiddos in the entrance to the famous Istanbul Spice Bazaar

*** we also learned that we were expecting another sweet baby during August***

SEPTEMBER 2007- ISTANBUL (and Doug & Ethan went to China to pack up our old apmt)
FAMILY GOODBYES

OCTOBER 2007- ISTANBUL
DADDY GOES TO CLASS

Doug started language classes (in Turkish this go round, Doug's third language to begin studying in the last 18 months!) last week. So now on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, the kids have a big sending-off ceremony, full of waves, kisses, hugs, "BYE"s, and blown kisses!

NOVEMBER 2007- ISTANBUL
This is what our entryway looks like when we have groups in our home. We've had times when the floor was completely covered in shoes, with more than 35 people in our home. Last night was just about 20 people. Much less than "normal"... but still, a lot of shoes! :)

DECEMBER 2007- ISTANBUL
Here are the kids, all bundled up to go out to play:

2007: What a year! (Didn't I say that about 2006?) :) We started out this year jet-lagged after unexpectedly returning to the US for medical testing. At nearly the half-way point of 2007, we learned that we weren't going to be able to return to China, so through God's leading, we ended up in Istanbul. Moving across Central Asia, learning yet another language, and adjusting to another culture have all been challenges, but we finally feel like we're adjusted to living here. We've been blessed with friends and language teachers that give us inroads and insights into this culture and place.

Though many things have changed over this last year, God has not changed. He is faithful as He has always been, and He has gently and graciously helped us through so many changes. And there are more to come- for us (baby Silas, and whatever else God has for us in the months and years to come)... and for you too. May HE be proven gracious and faithful in your life, through whatever changes come your way, as you wrap up 2007 and go into 2008- Happy New Year!

Christmas 2007

2007-12-30T15:00:00.001+08:00

Thought we'd share some pictures from our Christmas celebrations.

Here's the afghan Jess made for Doug (it's a long story, but this is actually my wedding gift to him, so he was extra excited to get it!) :

The kids made cookies with a sweet family we met here (Maranatha was most interested in watching their baby):
Doug's Aunt MaryAnn made hats for the kids, and Nana & Papa sent "Mater" pajamas (among other much-enjoyed gifts) for the boys:

Maranatha loved her new dish set... she's been cooking up all kinds of stuff for us and her babies:

Doug got Jess a pair of pink converse lowtops (couldn't have picked a better gift!):

Christi & Courtney sent the boys this firefighter suit,
and they've been saving the day every day since!

Course, Maranatha wanted to try the firefighter suit on too. :) And Ethan's decked out in his new police outfit from Nana & Papa:

We had some good eats for Christmas this year. Jess made cinnamon rolls (with a maple, cinnamon, and coffee icing- YUM!) for Christmas morning:

Since we can't get ham here, we opted to have a mexican food feast for Christmas this year. We had chicken enchiladas with red and sour cream sauces, beef tacos, homemade salsa, guacamole, and beans. The beans were made with the only kind of beans we could find here-- some white fat beans... anyway, while everything else came out delicious, those silly beans came out really bland and we had a huge bowl full of them. We've been joking about them ever since!
Jess: "Baxter, I put some beans in your part of the lasagne tonight, okay?"
Ethan: "Baxter & I think you should have beans for breakfast this morning, mom."

We made gingerbread wise man cookies that turned out SO tasty:

We gave Maranatha a new stroller for pushing her babies around,and the boys got a toolset and have been fixing up the house and building all kinds of things (robots, swords, and Ethan built a cross).

We had a great first Christmas overseas (you may remember that last year, we unexpectedly ended up going back to Texas on Dec. 22nd for medical testing).

Thank you to all who sent sweet gifts for our family; it turned out to be a very special and simple Christmas and we were able to spend good time together as a family. Each night leading up to Christmas, the kids unwrapped various "characters" from the nativity set, and Doug would tell them that part of the Christmas story during our nightly family Bible time. We hope you had a very merry Christmas as well, able to celebrate the miracle of Christ's birth with your family and friends!

An Innocent Question

2007-12-27T00:56:00.002+08:00

During this last week, iTunes offered some great Christmas music to download for free, and also offered (for free) the Bible Experience's reading of Luke 2 (the Christmas story). The Bible Experience is a dramatic reading (complete with crowd noises, baby's cries, and a musical soundtrack behind the reading) of the TNIV Bible that was read by professional actors with inflection and excitement. From this short sampling, it seems to truly be an "experience" of the Bible and brings it to life in a new and fresh way.

Anyway, the kids have asked to listen to it several times over the last few days. (Maranatha always says "bee-bee" whenever she hears the baby cry while the reader is talking about Mary giving birth to a son.) Tonight, Ethan asked to listen to it again, and while we were listening, he would ask a question here or there (like, "what does 'disturbed' mean?"-- since King Herod was disturbed at the news that a new King had been born).

But then Baxter came out with the cutest question: "Is that God talking?"

Me: "No, darlin, that's just a man reading from the Bible, but it IS God's Word."

Baxter: "Oh. Yeah."

:) Kids do in fact say the darnedest things.

Merry Christmas From Our Family to Yours!

2007-12-23T18:35:00.001+08:00

Maranatha in her Christmas dress this morning:

Here are the kids, all bundled up to go out to play:

Baxter in his fun hat:

We went over to a friend's house to make cookies the other day.
Here's "Baker Ethan":

Lately, we've noticed that Maranatha looks so much like Doug.
Here's a recent picture that looks so much like pictures from when he was a kid:

Merry Christmas to all of you from all of us!

Kurban Bayram

2007-12-23T13:25:00.000+08:00

While we are celebrating the Christmas holiday this year, Muslims around the world will be celebrating Kurban (also spelled Q'urban). This four-day celebration is a time when they remember Abraham's sacrifices, as well as a time when they, out of obedience to the Koran (Q'uran), will offer sacrifices of their own. They gather with family, eating sweets, visiting neighbors, and giving charity to the poor.

Just down the road from our apartment stands this Kurban sheep shop. From what we can tell (in the five months we've lived here), he runs his shop year-round... letting his stock run low in normal times, but adding on additional tents to house extra sheep for the holidays. In the days before Kurban bayram (which means "holiday") started, the lines were starting to get long outside his shop as families began to come to try to get the best sheep by arriving early.

As I (Jess) spoke with my language helper this week about what this celebration means to her and her family, she communicated that it is a time of obeying what Muhammad taught, and of being holy and pleasing God. We talked about the Old Testament idea of sacrifice as being an atonement for sin, but this is not the way that she has been taught to understand this Muslim festival. For her, there is no meaning to the sacrifice that will be offered for her family... rather, it is a simple matter of obedience.
This is what the inside of the Kurban sheep shop looks like. Each family will celebrate for four days, first coming to a shop like this to choose a lamb (for one family) or cow (which can be for up to seven families) to be sacrificed. Then they will take their animal (usually a sheep) to an Imam (Muslim mosque leader) or holy man to be blessed and killed, and then they will spend the rest of the holiday eating all of the meat, being sure to give the skins (the most valuable part of the animal) for charity.

Ethan and Baxter's Beatitude Bloopers

2007-12-05T21:08:00.001+08:00

What Is It About Boys and Silly Faces?

2007-12-03T19:59:00.002+08:00

Starbucks Walrus Boy:

Here, as you can see, Ethan's goofy face messes up what is otherwise a quite lovely picture of our children on the front steps of our apartment building:

Baxter imitates Ethan's goofy tongue-out funny face.

Here's the original:

And here's a nice picture of a pretty part of Istanbul, complete with Turkish-flag-resembling lights hanging over the traffic circle. The boys' silly faces make it an even more pretty picture, don't you think?

Out to Eat, Turkish Style

2007-12-01T15:24:00.000+08:00

One day this week, a friend of mine (Jessica's) took me out to eat. She wanted to introduce me to a great, fairly inexpensive restaurant she knew about, and show me a kind of Turkish food that I hadn't yet tried.

It was very cutely decorated, compared to what an average Turkish restaurant looks like, and they had menus in both Turkish and English (again, unusual and appreciated).

Of course, sometimes, just like in China, the English gets mis-translated, and you end up with something like this:

You can imagine my amusement at finding that they serve "Slice Doug Soup" at this restaurant!

This is a picture of the women making gozleme, kind of like a Turkish quesadilla. Mine was filled with spinach and white cheese, and was utterly delicious! I took this picture through the front windows, so it's somewhat blurred, but what is in front of her is a big hot iron skillet/table, and behind her, in little bins, are the meat, cheese, spinach, and other toppings people might opt for on their gozleme.

Part of the "cute"ness of this particular restaurant is that these two women sit right up in the front windows of the restaurant, advertising what the specialty of the restaurant is, and giving an up-close look at how they make it!

It turned out to be a delicious lunch!

Three Peas in a Pod

2007-11-22T17:47:00.001+08:00

Our crates just arrived (taken by pickup truck across China, through Chinese customs, carried by ship, through Turkish customs, and put onto a moving truck here) with all of our personal items from China. As the movers were unloading all of the boxes from the truck into our apartment, the kids all lined up at the boys' bedroom door and watched as the men brought boxes into our home. They were too cute, all laying in a row-- I just had to snap a few pictures; that top one is a silly, completely over-the-top picture, and here's a cute one of all of them:

Computer time for Ethan (math games, phonics, etc., but WAY more amazing than anything any of us had as kids) has now become an "event" that all three kids want to watch, even if they're not the ones "doing" it. They will just sit and watch, so engrossed in everything he does.
A couple days ago, Ethan was asking about computers when we were kids. We each told him about when our families first got computers (around early junior high age) and how we didn't have computers, when we were his age. He got a confused look on his face, and asked, incredulously, "Well, then HOW did you do e-mail?"

Thanksgiving Day Celebration

2007-11-22T16:31:00.002+08:00

We had a group of friends come over for Thanksgiving, to celebrate and eat together, last night. The meal was delicious (I forgot to take a picture)... with turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans (my favorite kind-- cooked Chinese style), rolls, several delicious desserts, and sweet tea! YUM! We felt right at home.

After dinner, all the young people started playing cards, and they patiently let Ethan play with them. Maranatha thought she was playing too, but she just had the extra cards. :)

Then the girls started learning a line dance, and Maranatha was completely fascinated.
She watched carefully and took good notes...
I have a feeling she'll be watching those girls a LOT!
This is what our entryway looks like when we have groups in our home. We've had times when the floor was completely covered in shoes, with more than 35 people in our home. Last night was just about 20 people. Much less than "normal"... but still, a lot of shoes! :)
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, wherever you are!

Baby Fascination

2007-11-22T16:25:00.001+08:00

We've had the opportunity to be around lots of small babies lately, as many foreigners come to Istanbul to have their babies, because of the excellent health care available here. It's been fun to see our kids (particularly the little ones, Baxter & Maranatha, who have never really been around or seen newborns) admire the little babies... It's a new experience for them, and good preparation for the impending arrival of their new little brother or sister, due Easter Sunday.

Whole Lotta Dancin' Goin On

2007-11-22T16:20:00.001+08:00

I turned on some fun music the other day,

and Baxter & Maranatha had a complete blast dancing together.

Twirly Girl

2007-11-08T23:00:00.001+08:00

Here's a funny video from about 30 minutes ago... Maranatha has started twirling and dancing... and all the kids have a blast dancing to music, whether it's a CD or mama playing the guitar. She gets all embarrassed part way through when she realizes she's being videoed... but then she forgets all about that and joins back in the fun, until she gets knocked down by her brothers! :)

Isn't She Lovely?

2007-11-08T00:35:00.002+08:00

Wanted to share some pictures of our growing little girl...

My little kitchen helpers:

With Daddy, all bundled up, ready to head out the door...

"Uh-Oh!" The diaper didn't fasten right, mom!

She's growing up and saying all kinds of new things... "Bye", "Night-night", names like our whole family, Nana, Papa, and Jesus, and knows different parts of her face and body too! :)

We're enjoying our precious little girl!

Everyday Things

2007-10-27T23:20:00.001+08:00

Forgive me for not being a faithful family blogger lately.

I've begun to realize that there were FAR more unique and attention- grabbing things to take pictures of and write about when we lived in China than there are here in Istanbul. This is a city, just like many big cities in the world. Many of the pictures I could take would look familiar to you: full of restaurants, traffic, tall buildings, and busy people.

Yes, there are, culturally, different things here, and I'll continue to try to point them out as we have the opportunity. But our everyday lives aren't NEAR as visually striking and jarring as our everyday lives where when we lived in China. And that's OK. We are adjusting to "normalcy", which we haven't had in quite a long time. And we're enjoying the everyday, normal things of life.

So if you'll permit me, here are some pictures of some of the "everyday things" in our lives that we're thankful for right now:

#1- WE NOW HAVE A DRYER!!! It makes life so much easier, and Jess is really reveling in not having everything take 2-3 days to dry, now that it's the colder, rainier season.

#2- A sweet online friend that Jessica met through a homeschooling network sent us a special care package, with some cute dress-up outfits for the kids. They now LIVE in these outfits.

#3- Ethan took his first digital camera picture... not too bad. Though mommy's head is slightly cut off, all in all, it's really not a bad shot.

#4- Here's the newest park near our apartment. The kids have a blast, and the best part is that it's all on the cushion-y sponge flooring, so there's no MUD, even on the days after rain!

These are a few of our favorite "everyday" things here in Istanbul!

"The Lone Stranger " and Black & White TV

2007-10-27T22:15:00.001+08:00

As we were out for our anniversary dinner at Rosario's (the best steak this side of Texas), the kids stayed with a couple of young ladies we know. Apparently, they watched one of the newer Veggie Tales that we had not seen yet. In "Mo and the Big Exit" there is a character named "The Lone Stranger".

A few days later, Ethan was talking about "The Lone Stranger", so I (Doug) started telling Ethan all about "The Lone Ranger" on our taxi ride to the store; how, we was all alone except for his trusty companion, Tonto, and how it was in black and white. Here's the conversation that followed:

"What's black and white?!"

"Well, TV shows back then were in black and white, there was no color."

"Oh.."

"Well, not all shows were. Just certain ones...this one was from a long time ago."

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Did you live in the olden days?"

I'm only 28 years old, but I guess you are never too young to hear that line if you reminisce about black and white TV shows.

A Trip to the Big Island

2007-10-27T20:00:00.002+08:00

For our anniversary this year, Jessica decided to surprise the entire family with a by-sea day trip out to the "Big Island" near Istanbul, complete with picnic and horse cart ride (there are no cars on the islands). The boat was fairly empty, because it was a rainy day.

Ethan & Baxter enjoyed sitting on the side of the boat with Daddy! The mountain islands rising up from the water were so beautiful. Early on in the trip, Ethan looked around and then looked up at me (Jess) and said, "Momma, God made ALL of this." All I could do was smile, nod, and blink back the tears.

They watched the seagulls fly down into the wake of the boat to catch and eat fish, and Doug even saw a couple of dolphins jump out of the water!

We found a horse cart to drive us around the island, up to the top of the hill, and back down. What a fun thing for the kids- they couldn't get enough of watching the horses (pulling our cart and all the others we passed on the trip) and talking about everything they were doing (galloping, trotting, the sound of their hooves, the smell of... well, you know). :)

These were three "friends" we had made on the boat... they opted to take the bicycle tour of the island, rather than procuring a horse cart. Amazing how they can all ride in long dresses- but they did! :)

After the long day, we came home and all took naps, and then two young ladies came over and watched the kids for us so we could go out dinner. We went to a nice Italian place called Rosario's, where the waiters were all dressed like matadors. :) It was a delicious meal, and turned out to be a lovely end to a lovely day.

Family Memorization: Psalm 1

2007-10-16T01:46:00.000+08:00

Hope you enjoy watching Ethan recite our family memory passage for September: Psalm 1.

Kids Pics

2007-10-08T15:47:00.000+08:00

Last month, Ethan got to see some old friends in China.

While Ethan was away, Baxter got to see-saw with a little Turkish girl at the park.

Most of the time, Maranatha was happiest just sitting up next to Momma, watching Baxter run and play!
A common sight in our house (this is one distinct advantage to not having a TV!)

Daddy Goes to Class

2007-10-08T14:48:00.000+08:00

Grocery Shopping Without Language Skills

2007-09-20T03:00:00.000+08:00

So, I thought I'd give you a little taste of something that happens every week for me. Grocery shopping with little to no language skills.... so here it is: the raw, uncut version of this weekly necessity. (All of what proceeds is entirely true.)

GETTING READY TO GO TO THE GROCERY STORE
I prepare my list carefully, looking at packages if I need to write anything down (brand names, sizes, etc.). Once my list is made, I make sure I have plenty of money. I don't -- I repeat DON'T -- want to get up to the counter without enough money. That would spell disaster.

Head out the door, certain to grab the pull cart for groceries and all four of our durable cloth bags for bringing our groceries home in the taxi. Usually, I have one or two of the kids in tow as well. For this example, we'll just say I brought Baxter and Maranatha with me, as has been the case while Doug & Ethan have been gone. With that in mind, I better run back inside the apartment and grab a snack or two and grab at least one water bottle. Oh, and "Baxter, you need to go potty before we leave." "I know you just went (2 hours ago), but you need to go ahead and try again now. Yes, ma'am?" "Yes, ma'am."

GETTING TO THE GROCERY STORE
Once we make it out our door, down the stairs, and out of our apartment complex to the taxi stand, I tell the taxi driver the name of the mall that the grocery store is located inside of. He looks at me strangely, because I didn't say it right, but he knows precisely where I'm talking about. We take off. Darting past the sheep salesman, the elderly pedestrians, and narrowly missing the small bus headed in the opposite direction, he honks at will.

We enter the parking lot, only to notice that they're doing *more* construction on this particular lot. He rolls down his window to get instructions on where to park (as he'll wait for another mall patron just outside the mall). I look in my wallet and realize, askance, that the smallest bill I've got is a 50 YTL bill, which is equivalent to $40 US. When I offer it to him, he throws his hands up in the air and, frustrated, mutters something, and goes to the back of the taxi to get my shopping cart out of the trunk for me. He keeps saying something in Turkish. "Pardon, Turkce bilmiyorum," I say, many times, which means, "I'm sorry, I don't speak Turkish." He keeps repeating the phrase. Finally he throws in a hand gesture, somewhat pointing in the direction of home. I ask, hesitantly in English, "oh, I...(point to myself)... give you money... (gesture as though I'm handing him money) at the taxi stand (a point in the same direction he pointed) later?" He nods and waves me off. Good riddance, he's probably thinking.

I feel terrible. But there are two children to deal with and a grocery list to be crossed off, so I plod on. We walk into the mall, where we go through a baggage check and x-ray machine, and Baxter smiles up at the "policeman" (aka, security guard woman) who totally isn't even concerned with the baggage screening any more, and smiles back at him.

We go over to where the carts are, and realize that the only carts that are at the back of the rows are ones without child seats. But I need one with a child seat in it, so I walk over to the cart attendant. I motion that I need a seat. He eventually gets what I'm talking about, asks me something in Turkish, and I catch something about "one", so I pull out a 1 YTL coin, hoping that's what he's asking for. Yes, it is. He takes it, and puts it into the back of a cart in the middle of a row, and dislodges it from all the others. (Yes, you have to pay a deposit for your shopping cart, and yes, they are all connected, so you can't just pull out the one you want. You have to pull from the back.) I tell him "thank you", and we're on our way.

SHOPPING
We enter the store, and I pull off to the side and pull out the bag of pretzels that I brought for a snack for the kids. "Baxter, here are the pretzels; you'll need to share with Mei-Mei. Please give her one after each one you eat. And here's a water bottle if you get thirsty. Now sit down on your bottom. Thank you."

And we're off! I skip the housewares section, and go for the food. The promotion aisle, which usually has lots of American products, has been taken over by spices and Turkish teen girls in green uniforms and funny, quirky little matching shoes, all of which are emblazoned with "Knorr", the brand of choice for spices and bouillon here in Turkey. They have a booth. They talk to every other shopper, but one look at my face, and they don't even bother. They know what I know: my Turkish isn't good enough to talk about spices and why Knorr is the best.

As I'm buying things I need, I try to limit the weight of what I'm buying. I normally like to buy in bulk, but having to carry heavy things over my shoulders after each trip to the grocery store has taught me to buy for need, rather than for "stocking up" purposes. (Not to mention that a very well-stocked kitchen was left for medical reasons last year, and I'm trying to learn my lesson.)

Sometimes I have to stop and try to discern any level of familiarity on a package, but at this point, 2 months into living here, I pretty much know what I need. I might buy a different brand of sugar, flour, or cookies, to try something new, but I know where things are (for the most part), and shopping itself isn't that difficult. Baxter is still faithfully handing Maranatha her pretzels (and her water cup if she gets thirsty), and I regularly tell him what a good job he's doing. "I a good helper, momma," he says. "Yes, you are!"

I should note here that a normal trip to the store, in a normal week, when the other two members of our family are here and I'm cooking for 5 rather than for 3, my cart ends up quite full. Which isn't strange to you. Because you're an American. But to these people, just as it was before when we lived overseas, a cart as full as ours just isn't seen very often at all. They buy enough for a few days and then come back. I don't want to do that. It costs me nearly $10, roundtrip, in taxi rides to go grocery shopping. I don't want to make that trip twice in a week. So I load up and buy a lot. We buy several packs of meat (chicken, beef, and chicken tenders, maybe). We buy several bags of pasta. We get a few snacks for the kids, and then I usually need at least some of the staples: sugar, flour, baking items, spices, oils, etc.

Then on to dairy... I get several varieties of cheeses, none of which are particularly like anything we think of as cheese, but some of which will suffice when mixed into a casserole or pasta dish. Their main cheese is a white cheese, kind of like provolone, only much less flavor. So it's a basic, almost flavorless, but sometimes bitter, and quite expensive alternative to the cheeses we're used to, but I'm willing to pay it, as it provides protein and thickens the sauces and casseroles that I make.

I buy yogurt (think of how big an American "cheese" section typically is. Double that, and that's how much space they give to yogurt- it's extremely popular here) and milk, which is unrefrigerated on shelves. They have more brand names of milk than you can imagine. It is long-life milk, which we've gotten used to, and so I buy several jugs of that (they only come in 1 liter or smaller containers, which is like one-fourth of a gallon). They come in thick plastic containers, so it's very heavy and cumbersome to even get the equivalent of one gallon. We actually don't drink that much milk now that we live overseas, but between cooking and cereals, it gets used up fairly quickly. So I get what we need and prepare myself for the checking out process.

CHECKING OUT
I wait in a long line. The belt where the groceries should be put is small, and so I have to wait until the person in front of me is almost ready to pay before I can begin unloading my cart. The clerk just starts right in scanning the groceries, and the LCD screen is never turned out, to where the customer can see. So I would have to be done unloading my cart and down where I could see the computer screen in order to tell if the prices are ringing up as advertised. Baxter helps hand me things from the cart ("what a little helper you are!"), and I finish as quickly as I can.

So now, you might be thinking, I can go and check up on prices, at least for the last half of my groceries purchase, right? But you would be wrong.

No, this is a bag-your-own groceries place. And because he's already halfway through my load, I am already halfway behind. I open up my grocery cart and begin loading the heaviest things (like the milk jugs) into the cart, since I can roll it behind me. Then I begin loading in all of the other groceries into my cloth bags. They do have plastic bags, but I use cloth bags for environmental and practical reasons. My fingers like to have circulation, which would not happen if I had a gazillion plastic bags hanging off of my hands while trying to pull the shopping cart and carry Maranatha. So I use my cloth bags, which I can sling over my shoulder much more easily.

I'm only halfway through bagging my groceries when I realize that the clerk just said something to me. I look up and realize that he's finished and ready for me to pay, and the people behind me (in any given shopping trip) are either (a) completely frustrated that they decided to get behind ME of all people, or (b) making googly eyes at my two American children. Thankfully this time, it's the latter.

I pay the money, which, even though I really cut back this week (cooking for 3 people, not "stocking up", etc.), I still spent over $100. "How did I even do that?!," I wonder. Well, no time for dwelling on that... I've got to bag up all of the rest of my groceries. That's right... the clerk won't lift a finger, even seeing my two little ones and how completely behind I am on bagging.

So I hurry up, throwing things into bags as quickly as possible while telling Baxter, "please don't push the cart over there... mommy needs to put these bags into it." Finally, I finish, just before the next customer in line (that's right, the person 2 people behind me in line) starts getting their items scanned.

GOING HOME
We whiz away, thrilled that we got out of the store so quickly and easily. Compared to previous trips, this shopping trip was a breeze! Thank you, Lord!

I get out to the taxi stand, with my full cart and two kids who are VERY ready for lunch at this point, and the taxi attendant begins unloading my cart. Baxter climbs into the back of the taxi, and I stand outside to make sure all my groceries make it into the trunk, placing fragile items like eggs and bread in the cab, to be held between me and Baxter. I notice, just as they're pulling my fully-loaded rolling cart out of the basket, that the tuna fish I had finally decided to buy this trip (I had delayed purchasing tuna for 2 months, because of how expensive it is-- $5 for 2 small cans!!!) had slid under the rolling cart and I hadn't paid for it. ACK!

While quickly debating myself, I realize several things:

My language skills are not anywhere NEAR where they would need to be to explain that I didn't pay for the tuna fish, but did not mean to steal it
Even if I could somehow manage to communicate what I needed to to the customer service representative, my son and all of my groceries are now loaded up into a taxi that is WAITING ON ME to quit debating myself and get inside, please.
I can call my friends who have been here longer and get one of them to write a note explaining the situation so that I can take it with me the next time I go shopping and pay for the tuna.

I settle on that last point, and get inside the taxi. We make it to the front door of our apartment building, and the taxi driver unloads my groceries while I get the right amount of money to pay for the taxi fare. Once we're all unloaded, I load up with as many bags as I can handle (three cloth bags) while still wrangling Maranatha in one arm. Baxter waits at the base of the stairs with the rolling cart and the remaining cloth bag, smiling at me nervously, even though he knows the gig and knows I really will be right back. We live on the first floor, so I run inside, drop my bags, and carry Maranatha back outside with me to get the rest.

Oh, praise the Lord- just as I'm loading up like a packhorse for the second round, a man walks up and offers to hoist up my rolling cart and carry it up the flight of stairs for me. Baxter runs up, I open up the door, and thank the man profusely. We get inside and I begin unloading groceries, placing the tuna fish can prominently at eye-level on the shelf over the sink, to remind me to get my friends to write that note so that I can pay for it at the next visit. And I stick a 10 YTL bill near the front door, so that I'll remember to pay the taxi driver (from the first ride) the next time we head out to go somewhere. Ah, life is good. I did all my shopping in less than two hours total.

But then it hits me, uh-oh- I needed to order water bottles to be delivered (think Ozarka, only these are not optional- it's necessary in order to have drinking water here)... and I have to do that in person at the shop nearby... "Baxter, buddy, better get your shoes back on..."

~written by Jess, who would testify in a court of law that all of this really happened last Thursday when she went shopping.

Oh yes, I did!

2007-09-19T16:25:00.000+08:00

Mei-Mei wanted to get gussied up for Daddy & Ethan's return in 2 days!

Look at those squishy little toes!

Maranatha was so happy after getting her pretty toenails painted for the first time!
She kept coming back and showing them off! :)

Sunday Market & How Women Dress Here

2007-09-17T13:59:00.000+08:00

You may remember my absolute delight in the veggie market in our old overseas home.

Well, every Sunday here, just one street up from our home (I say up because it's literally "up" a hill... this ain't San Francisco, but it's not far from it, in terms of hilliness), they block off an entire street and have a WONDERFUL fruit & vegetable market. It stretches on and on and on- I LOVE it! We've started implementing a "Sunday salad" routine while good lettuce is, literally, ripe for the picking.

This week, I bought huge beautiful heads of Romaine lettuce, a bagful of wonderfully ripe tomatoes, a bunch of bananas, 3 heads of broccoli (which we promptly steamed and ate yesterday for lunch), green onions, 3 lemons, and a crate of 30 eggs. (Yes, some vendors sell things besides produce: things like eggs, homemade cheeses, yarn and thread, undergarments, tablecloths, fish, and pots & pans, but the overwhelming majority of vendors sell delicious, delectable produce!)

I took this picture to show the overall "feel" of the market, but also to highlight the various levels of dress and modesty you'd find among women here in Istanbul. Some women cover up completely, like the woman on the right, or even wear burqas. Other women feel free to dress just like anything you'd find in America in the summertime, like the woman on the left with her daughter. It's an interesting mix of culture and religion, old world ideas and modern "progress" here. In the villages and out of the more metropolitan areas, I'm sure women would lean heavily towards staying fully covered, but Istanbul is a mix of both Asia & Europe and it shows in the dress of the people.

Heard Around the House This Week

2007-09-17T13:45:00.000+08:00

The two little Connell kids both started saying new things this week:

"Teh - Too" - Maranatha, 15 months
("thank you")

"nie nie" - Maranatha
("night night")

"When I say 'amen', that HAPPY to me." - Baxter, 3, every night after he prays

:) I love hearing that last one. It always catches me off-guard and makes me smile. We chose his middle name, Daniel, because Daniel was known among his people as a man of prayer. What a blessing that, all on his own, he is already showing affection for talking with God!

Old Apartment, New Apartment...

2007-09-12T22:33:00.000+08:00

When we leased our apartment here, it was a lovely color of sun-faded light blue with cracking turquoise-ish trim for the exterior of the building. But the interior is nice, so we weren't altogether concerned with the exterior.

Little did we know that in a matter of weeks, they'd be painting all the buildings in our complex, including ours, a truly lovely combination of olive green and khaki.

The boys had SUCH a great time watching the men work and paint! They would literally sit at the windows throughout the apartment as the men worked their way around the building for an entire week. Free entertainment!!! :)

Here were some of the paint combinations they apparently tried...

I'm glad they didn't go with #7 or #8!

And here's the finished product. See the lovely difference?
Now we have a beautiful interior AND exterior!

Family Goodbyes

2007-09-12T22:20:00.000+08:00

Getting Around Town

2007-09-09T14:22:00.000+08:00

In the place we USED to live overseas, we lived within 10 miles of pretty much everything we needed or wanted. Bikes or taxis got us everywhere we needed to go, and for CHEAP! But in a city this big (15-18 million people, depending on which resource you read), we have a huge range of options to get anywhere. Here are the different ways that we get around town:

DRIVING OURSELVES: A family we know here has a car, and they will let us drive it to get to certain places where public transport doesn't go.

PUBLIC BUS: We can also get many places by bus, which is cheaper, but is less precise than a car or taxi.
TAKE A CAB: One of the easiest ways to get around here is by taxi. Baxter likes it! :)

RIDE A FERRY TO GET ACROSS TO THE EUROPEAN SIDE: Istanbul is the only city in the world that is on two continents: Europe and Asia. We live on the Asian side, so if we want to travel to the European side (which is where most of the "tourist" spots are), we have to take a ferry! And the boys LOVE it! (Frankly, we do too - the breeze always feels so nice!)We can also take the aboveground metro/tram (which I don't yet have a picture of), or walk. We are close enough to a few places to walk (mainly parks and grocery stores), which is nice.

Anyway, this is how we get around town here in Istanbul.