Apollonia National Park

Apollonia- A crusader Fortress 

constructed 1241 CE. 

     

Pretty view under the arch of, the observation point, of the outer fortress.

Tristan next to a pile of ballista stones that were used during the siege.

Tristan thinks his family is pretty funny!

Cute kids peeking 

out of a hole.

So bright we can hardly see!!

Dad the Hero!!!!

SO I have been feeling homesick for some of my American favorites, Wingers, Asphalt Pie, Slurpee's, Cheese Burgers, Etc. My sweet husband decided that he was going to find a Slurpee for me and he Googled his heart out till he found a company called Freeze. He called their number in the US and they were so helpful, they said that they had a machine in a Pizza shop the next city East of us, Ra'annana. Chris put us all in the car and 20 minutes later Walla!!! 

Thanks Honey Your the Best!

West Bank 7/14/2012

Driving into Bethlehem freaked me out. I didn't realize that we would be going into the West Bank lots of people talk about the west bank and the Palestinian's. I have heard from locals how scared they were here during the Second Intifada. The Palestinians had an uprising from 2000-2005 and there was a lot of suicide bombing and scary stuff. So when we drove up to the wall and had to go through a check point I was freaking out!

On the other side of the wall it is covered in pictures like this, they are beautiful and frightening at the same time! The words gave me the chills and I just hoped that we were not here the next time there was an uprising. 

 Soon I was able to calm down but I was still very leery about the people. They would come right up to the car as you drove and wash your windshield for money. Or just knock on your window with outstretched hands. There were so many of them in the streets you had to go really slow and let them funnel around the car as you went. The streets were so narrow it made me nervous. With the majority of the people being Muslim they were dressed accordingly in there Hijab. 

     After our journey was over I have to say that I have had a change of heart. We went to a store and a restaurant and the people were the most kind and considerate people I have meet. They asked all about our family and exclaimed how beautiful our kids were. They even gave the kids some flutes for free. This was completely different from the way we are treated in the stores on the other side of the wall. I have to say after meeting a lot of people the Muslims seem to be my favorite people in manners and hospitality.

Church of the Nativity 7/14/12

This is outside the church of the Nativity, it wasn't what I expected. It didn't have a church look to it at all. But it was neat inside, and we can say we were there!

This is just inside the opening to the church it is kinda weird you walk through this hole in the wall and then you are in this big room.

This is out side the church, there is a pretty little court yard. 
















    We bought a thorn crown at one of the shops because I thought it was neat and it was only $1. Then the nice store owner threw in 4 flutes for the kids. They were such nice people.

Surgery 6/29/12

 
Michael has suffered from asthma and 3 weeks ago he was having an especially bad time with Bronchitis and Asthma he coughed so hard that he gave himself an inguinal hernia. We rushed him to the ER and they were able to push the intestines back in so that we didn't have to have an emergency surgery. We set up the surgery for June 29th. (Thanks to Ann and Charity who helped take care of the other kiddos while we were with Michael)

This is Chris and Michael before the surgery. Chris was dressed in sterile covers because he got to carry Michael to the operating room and hold him as they put the mask on him to put him to sleep. Chris said that when they showed him the mask he started to cry and said I don't want to have that on me. But after only a couple of seconds he was out.

  We were only waiting for about 30 min for the surgery and then they brought us to Michael. Michael was still asleep, he tossed and turned a bit and even sat up straight in bed with wide eyes but would then flop back down on the bed. Finally he woke up completely and was just so cute, he smiled and said, "I love you Mom" then to Dad, "Can I play on your I Phone?"

Michael said that the best part about surgery was that he got to Eat 2 bowls of Ice cream and 2 cups of pudding. 

Michael is sad that he can't go swimming with us but he loves to show off his wound to everyone, so it kinda makes up for it. :)

Baha'i Gardens

The Baha'i Garden is magnificent. It is taken care of and funded from only people of the Baha'i religion. Which you can read about on the web. They have like 2000 something lamps that burn all night to keep the prophet Bab out of darkness. He was kept in a dark prison for 3 years before being executed, and his followers put him in this synagogue thing and said that he would never have to be in the dark again. They tell you all of this as you walk down though the garden. 6/10/12

Girls Camp in Israel!!!

Wow girls camp in Israel was quite an experience. We were at a camp sight just north of Ein Gev, on the East side of the Sea of Galilee, it Was beautiful!

 We did a 5 mile hike that hit 3 beautiful waterfalls. 

      So a funny story that happened at camp... We had a guide for our hike named Eric he moved from the states to Israel at age 20 and never went back he has been living on a Kibbutz ever since. He told us fascinating history as we hiked one of which was how Syria, Israels next door neighbors, had moved a bunch of tanks across the border intending to attack but for some reason never finished their advance. Well the next morning we were asleep in our tents and some jets flew by and did the sonic boom thing. I jumped out of my sleeping bag and scrambled out of the tent. I was sure that we were being bombed and that I needed to get my kids from the next tent over and run for shelter. It took me a sec to remember that I was at girls camp and that my kids weren't there. We think they did it to wake up the group of 2000 soldiers that were staying at the same camp as us.