How Else Would We Celebrate?

Well, Justin and I have turned into old fogeys!  The absolute best way we could imagine celebrating was a road trip!!  Our poor kids!  They totally groaned when we told them that we were going on an adventure.  But, we know how the last adventure turned out- from groans to grins!  I knew they'd have fun in the end.

We headed up into the mountains with the goal of finding a village that is known for having amazing cave paintings.  After a very twisty, curvy, bumpy hour we decided to stop for a breather.  Justin and I ended up at this ruin back in the spring when we were out here trying to find and apartment.

Not much is left but the footprint.

Guess how much fun melody pops are when you're on a road trip?!
I think this is the real reason we had to get out of the car!

Noah is such a teenager.  Here we are in the middle of such a cool place and he is busy taking selfies!

After we got ourselves together it was time to see the crater lake just down the road. 

Found it!

Searching for frogs

I love these people!

We hiked the trail around the lake.  Noah brought his survival backpack again.
He found this cool tree with a hollow trunk and wanted his picture taken inside it.

Callie taking a picture of Lucy hiking.

We were a little over halfway to our goal of the cave village.  So we had to head on out to try and find it.  We were out in the middle of nowhere and folks were getting hangry (hungry+angry).  Of course, there was nothing around, not even a gas station or little market.  Finally we found a tiny town that had a bread store and a market.  Once everyone had a hunk of bread and some water tempers settled back down.

Poor Callie was getting car sick so we stopped at this natural spring to let her splash cold water on her face.  You can find springs like this all throughout the country.  The water is fresh, clean, and cold.  Callie practically bathed in this spring.  The water was like ice.  She felt so much better afterwards.

Lucy had found the perfect spot to squat behind this wall to tinkle.  (Justin pointed out later that perhaps letting your kid tinkle at the source of a natural spring might not be the most sanitary idea.  Whoops!)  Then this guy pulled up in his van and Lucy was stuck waiting for him to leave so she could go potty.

She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

This guy was washing vegetables, rearranging stuff in his van, and all sorts of stuff!

Finally we gave up and promised Lucy we'd stop next chance we got and headed out.  The roads were pretty intense and we still had quite a way to the village with the caves.  The sun was starting to set, so we had to give up.  We found a new road that would take us on a different route towards the sea and headed home.

Landslide!

We had a quick dinner out and then went home for brownies and ice cream.

Next time we attempt to see the caves we'll have to plan for an overnight, pack a lunch, and chug the Dramamine!

Even though we didn't reach our destination, we had a fun time trying!  Getting out and exploring more of this beautiful country is the perfect way to celebrate our 7 years here!

Sunday Sneak Peek: Hazelnuts!

The hazelnut harvest has just finished.  For three weeks straight this place was a complete ghost town as every single person who possibly could, headed to their villages up in the mountains to help with the hazelnut harvest.  Slowly the flat spaces down here near the sea began filling up with nuts... literally.

First the husks have to be laid out in direct sun for about three days.  This is the little husk-thingy.  It has three nuts in it:

After these have sufficiently dried its time to remove the nuts from the husk.  

Out sweet neighbor brought us a big bag of nuts in the husk.  Justin and Callie were awesome and spent forever taking the nuts out!  Sometimes bugs would pop out!  Yikes!

After the hazelnuts were out of the husk they look like this:

They had to sit out in the sun for another three days to dry out the shell.  Then it's time to start shelling them.  We have 3 big bags of hazelnuts.  I've only shelled them as I've used them.  I wish some magic fairy would come by and shell them all for me with the swish of her wand!  Ha!

I've been slowly trying out some different recipes.  Let me know if you've got any!

7 Years!!

7 years ago today we landed in this amazing country and began the toughest, most rewarding journey of our lives.  We experienced the goodness of the Lord in ways we never knew possible and we've also struggled in ways we never imagined.  It's a difficult life, but it's a blessed one, too!  We are thankful that the Lord considered us worthy to represent Him here!

"How beautiful on the mountains

    are the feet of the messenger who brings good news,

the good news of peace and salvation,

    the news that the God of Israel reigns!"

Isaiah 52:7

Buzz it like Beckham

Praise the Lord, my son decided that he wanted to get his hair cut like David Beckham.  I do not know where the idea came from, but I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth!

You see, the boy's hair has been a small thorn in my side for the past 3 or 4 years.  He's wanted that long shaggy (gross!!!) look.  My momma taught me to choose my battles, so I decided to let him be the master of his hair domain.  Although I have to truthfully admit that I wasn't great about keeping my my mouth shut about the mop-top.

In the spring, after not gracing the barber's chair for probably 8 months, he decided that maybe it was time to take a little off.  Although it was still a bit long he finally looked like perhaps he lived in a home with a mirror.  And then last week, out of the blue, he was asking to go to the barbershop and showed us a picture of David Beckham's hair.  You can bet I was ready to burn rubber and get that hair cut!!

This is the result...

Much better!!

And just in case you were tempted into thinking that we were normal, here are some pictures I found on photobooth:

This was at our old apartment.  You can see Callie and I were slaving away over dinner, and Lucy... well, Lucy is a weirdo.  That's all I can say!  Ha!

Thankful Thursday

Yall, I've learned that the best way to keep my attitude in check is to practice- even force- thankfulness.  So I am going to try to list a few things that I'm thankful for each Thursday.  Please feel free to join me!  I promise you that you will be blessed by taking a moment to thank the Lord for His goodness!!

I'm thankful for...

1. Our beautiful apartment.  It is comfortable, easy to maintain, and in an awesome neighborhood!

2. The 13 kids that I counted outside today playing.  Around 2 o'clock this afternoon Lucy came running in saying, "Mom, can you fix me lunch real quick?!  I don't have much time to eat, I've got to get back outside to play!"

3. A neighbor called me over for coffee yesterday.  It was so nice to sit on her balcony and chat.  Her across the hall neighbor also came over so I got to meet a new neighbor.

4. The sweet auntie on the first floor.  She keeps a watch out for everyone, is so kind, and bakes things for us constantly!  One of the fun traditions here is that you can't return a dish empty.  So, I've gotten to bake quite a few things to share with her and the other neighbors.

5. A sweet husband who works hard to make sure we have all that we need.  Finances have been extremely tight lately and he has worked really hard to make it work out!

6. Healthy, happy kids who are working hard on our summer homeschool lessons (with only a little bit of complaining).  I am so encouraged by the progress I have seen in Noah and Callie's writing and spelling; and by how well Lucy is reading.

7. Our sweet teammates who have already blessed us so much.  The Lord knit us together long before we even had a clue that we'd actually be working together!

8. Friends in the big city, and in the States, who email and call to check up on me.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below;

Praise him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

Sunday Sneak Peek: Child Labor

I'm a fan of it! :-)

Black Sand Beach

Just down the road we have a black sand beach.    When the sand is dry, it's sort of a dark gray.  You don't really even notice the color.  But when it's wet it is jet-black!  The kids look like they've been covered in tar when they roll around in the sand.  It is really beautiful with a little bit of a sparkle.  The sand isn't a very fine grit so it easily rinses off in the water.  I just love how strange and pretty it is.

We Have a Theater!

It may be small... um, tiny, in fact, but we do have a theater in town!

When we showed up to see How to Train Your Dragon 2 I was surprised at the low price.  When we got into the theater, I found out why the price was so low!  Ha!

But, I'm not complaining!  I'd much rather have a dumpier theater with reasonable prices than something fancy that costs a fortune!

Pretty Much the Best Day Ever!

(Sorry for the delay in posting!!  I have been having a battle of wills with Blogger for over a week!!  If you see this post... I won!!)

Today was awesome!  It was one of those days that I end up so crazy thankful for this amazing opportunity the Lord has blessed us with.

Some of our first friends in the big city are actually from the next providence over.  He is a teacher and every summer they take about two weeks to visit their families, village, etc.  They were set to be staying with his mom in the village not too far away from us so they invited us to come visit.

We met in the "town" below the village.  Now, I use the term town lightly because if you saw it, you'd think it was the village.  But oh no, it was quite a bustling town compared to where we went next and a booming metropolis compared to where we ended up later in the day!

When we turned off the paved road and started heading up I knew we were in for an adventure!

We stopped at a little house perched high up on the steep hill.  It was so fun to see our friends again!
The husband's mother, aunt, and cousin were waiting for us, too.

The kids had a blast with their kids.  They ran wild, picked blackberries, and Noah "hunted."

I have to take a minute to tell you how cute Noah is!  He is such an outdoorsman and has been cooped up in the city way too long.  When he realized that we were going to be in a village he packed a survival backpack!  He brought a few of his knives, a water bottle, matches, his headlamp, and who knows what else.  Our friends have a girl Callie's age and a boy a little younger than Lucy.  Since they played so well together, Noah was freed up to be Survivorman!

I am so bad!  This is the only picture that I took of our friend's mom's house.
Shortly after we arrived they sat us down and fed us a yummy brunch.
To Justin's right is our dear friend, Ali.  His sweet old mother is sitting by the window just over Justin's left shoulder.
Ali's Niece is in the green shirt next to Justin and her mom (Ali's aunt) is in standing up next to Lucy.  Ali's wife, Gülsevin (rose-lover) is standing at the stove with the red headscarf.

Ali's father died suddenly back in November and the family is still reeling a bit.  It was special not only to see where he grew up, but also to share our condolences and encourage his sweet mother.  By the way, she was the oldest of thirteen children!  Her sister, in black, is the youngest!  Ali's mother is in her 70's, lives alone, and pretty much grows and makes all of her own food!  Her garden was amazing!  She used to have a cow, but she said that she didn't want to fool with the mess anymore.  So a different sister who lives just down the hill a bit brings some basic dry goods and fresh milk every now and again so she can make yogurt, cheese, and butter.  Amazing!

Justin and Callie taking in the amazing view from the balcony.

Lucy and Betül on the balcony

After awhile Ali decided it was time to show us around a bit.  We went up even farther to a beautiful village on a plateau.  This was his mother's village.

We are quickly learning that one of the main things to do up in these villages on the plateaus is eat meat!
Even though we had just eaten a few hours earlier, Ali insisted that he treat us to a meal.  It was delicious!

We walked around the town a little bit.
If I had some extra money I would have loved to buy some of the amazing homemade butter and cheeses, fresh mountain honey, and grape molasses.  Next time!

My dear friend, Gülsevin and me.

After we walked around the town (again, town might be an exaggerated term!) Ali decided to show us something else.

The fun thing is that we had no idea where we were going or what we were doing the entire time.
We just followed Ali where ever he went!
I do admit, we started getting confused when his wife hopped out to open a gate.  This road didn't look any different than the others so we had no idea that we were actually on a private road.

Yall, these pictures don't do the countryside justice!  I should have brought my big camera.
This area was incredibly beautiful!  

I know I sound like a broken record when I say that!  But, honestly, this place is amazing!
Praise the Lord!

Along the road we ran into a shepherd with a big herd of sheep.  Ali happily greeted him and introduced his uncle (of some sort) to us.  

Finally we ended up at this interesting little house.  We had no idea that we were going to visit some relatives and explore Ali's mother's family land.

Noah made me take a picture of this cool pair of ram's horns nailed to a tree right next to where we parked.

Once we piled out of the cars Ali hollered for his aunt.  Finally she came out from around back and seemed so happy to have some company.  Not a lot of neighbors dropping by out this far!  Ha!  We were out in the middle of nowhere!  Anyhow, she was ready to hop into the house and make us a meal.  She begged to feed us, but thankfully Ali told her we ate in town and just wanted to hike a bit.  He told her we'd be back for tea in awhile.

Headed out to walk off some of that tasty lamb!
Notice Noah brought his survivor pack!

We walked along this creek through the valley. 

The kids loved the creek!  We headed up one of the mountains for a bit, too.
It was great exercise, especially considering we had already eaten two large meals in the span of 4 hours!

As promised, after hiking, we stopped by the house for tea.  It turned out that this house was actually the shepherd's (whom I thought was a random relative).
Ali, Justin, Ali's daughter Betül, and the shepherd.

The shepherd's wife.  Look at her home and her stove!  She begged us to let her feed us!
Can you imagine cooking at meal for 9 extra people without a moments notice on THAT stove?!
Next time you or I don't want to cook or host guests we need to remember this precious woman's hospitality!!

Look at this humble kitchen!

Noah and Betül were stoked when the shepherd told them they needed to carve their names into the wall.
Of course, Noah was completely prepared and whipped out his big knife.  Betül had to borrow the shepherd's knife.

As Noah and Betül worked on their names- it was harder than they thought it would be- we chatted and of course, the precious auntie rolled out the table and started bringing out the food!
(Eating on the floor around a table like this is very normal out this way.)

The finished work of art!
May his name on the wall be a reminder of our visit and a blessing over this couple!

Lucy LOVED the baby chickens.  She kept "accidentally" dropping bits of food so she could throw it out for the chickens.

Tea time!

Seriously?!  Look at this bounty!  Homemade cheese and bread, hazelnuts, and of course, tea!

Noah stopped to admire the shepherd's axe.  So, the kind shepherd took a few minutes to teach Noah how to use it.

After a nice visit we headed back to Ali's mother's home.  Where, you guessed it, she had some food ready for us.  Fresh corn and watermelon from her garden.  Mercy!  My belly was about to explode!

The day before our visit the kids all moaned and groaned when we told them that we were headed up to visit some friends and their village.  Truth be told, my attitude wasn't exactly great either.  Boy did we change our tune!!  The kids were literally crying when it was time to leave that night!!  We had such a great day.  

This is exactly the type of adventure the re-energizes me and reminds me of my calling.  Unfortunately, among the daily drudge of laundry, cooking, and disciplining kids I forget what a privilege it is to be an ambassador for the King.  Not only is it a privilege, often times it's a pleasure, too!  What a blessing to be able to bring salt and light to a place that most likely hasn't had any before!