Happy Birthday to ME!

I celebrated my 26th birthday on April 9th. My parents were here to celebrate with me, which was special, but they also watched the kids so I could go on a date with my wonderful husband which was just as special. Joel and I don't go on a lot of dates because it's not like we can just call up grandparents and ask them to babysit since they live on the other side of the world. We really aren't away from our kids much at all and we like it like that. We all love being together and doing things together. But I'll admit, it was fun to have a whole afternoon of uninterrupted time with the man that I love!

First order of business - a haircut for me! It had been almost a year since the last. Getting a haircut in Turkey is quite the experience, you really have to know what you want or you will be talked into something else. I'm such a people-pleaser, so it was a good thing Joel was there (What? Doesn't your husband come to the hair salon with you?) to stand up to the big, bad hairdresser - Joel had to be pretty firm and let them know who was boss ;) Cutting hair is a profession that mostly men do here, so Joel had fun drinking tea and chatting with the guy doing my hair. My hair still ended up being a lot shorter than I wanted, but it is nice now that it only takes me half the time to blow dry it.

Then we enjoyed some Starbucks (a rare treat) and walked around at a nearby outdoor mall. It was fun just walking around holding hands, which we don't get to do too often anymore since there are so many other little hands to hold :)

That evening we had a yummy dinner of homemade pizza and french fries with my Mom and Dad and my sister and her family. And my sister made me a delicious birthday cake. 


It was a great day - I am so blessed!

I don't like posting pictures of just myself, but this is what my haircut looks like - so short for me!

Just because

Oh how I love these guys!

Zoo day!

We hit up the zoo one afternoon during my parent's visit. It was Yohanis' first trip to the zoo and he was excited to see the animals. He said his favorite was the lion. 

Me and my boy! He is getting so big, I can't believe how much he's grown in a year.

Mom-Mom with the little girls. We have 7 kids (ages 5 months to 7 years!) between my sister's family and mine so we were thankful for the extra hands to help since the zoo was crowded!

Love her!

Checking out the fish

Cousins and best friends.

Yohanis had fun navigating us around the zoo with the map

My (not-so-little) baby who weighed in at a whopping 17.5 pounds at 4 months old!

Vienna walks with such attitude and I think this picture captures it so well! Love her so much!

Easter 2012 in pictures

On Easter Sunday we went for a picnic in the woods with friends. Here are some pictures from our day.

 

Please note that my sweet husband is working hard grilling our lunch while the other men stand around and watch :)

Turkish women know how to put a baby to sleep, that is for sure!

Drinking tea and eating sunflower seeds

I love this picture of Isaiah sound asleep in the middle of the woods.

Getting ready to fly the kite!

Smyrna

One afternoon while the boys were at school the rest of us ventured out to explore ancient Smyrna, which happens to be right in the middle of our city. Smyrna was the second city to get a letter from the apostle John in the book of Revelations. One of the most famous of the early martyrs, Polycarp, was bishop of Smyrna. 

Since Izmir is one of the largest cities in Turkey, the site of Smyrna has been little excavated. I had been there a few years ago, but it was fun to experience it again with my parents.

On the way, we came upon these guys giving out Turkish "lokma" on the streets. They are very similar to donuts. People hire these chefs to make lokma and give it away in memory of lost loved ones on the anniversary of their death. This happens very frequently in our city and it's always a good day when we get some lokma! Oh my goodness, is it ever yummy! It isn't uncommon to see people standing in line with HUGE bowls waiting to fill them up with this delicious treat!

Houses on the mountainside with the Turkish flag standing tall. Love it!

 The Agora

So cool to be walking around places mentioned in the Bible. I enjoyed soaking it all in!

I loved taking pictures of all those beautiful arches

Amazing!
 

Vienna was a little trooper and had fun exploring! 

My dad! The source of the water running out next to him was said to be unknown.

Vienna with her Mom-Mom

Ancient ruins with a huge parking garage in the background. I find that funny.

 My little princess :)

Turkish hospitality

Our best friends here wanted to have my parents over for dinner during their visit. They went all out and cooked up a delicious feast for us!


My parents were good sports and did a great job eating dinner village style. It was a fun evening and I'm glad that my mom and dad could experience more of the culture and amazing Turkish hospitality!

The weather was absolutely beautiful while my parents were here. The rainy season is almost over and I think we only had 1 day that it rained during their stay here. We took advantage of the warm spring days and played at the park, played wiffle ball and just enjoyed being outside a lot!

On a sidenote, baseball is pretty much unheard of in Turkey, so the other night at the park we were playing wiffle ball with our kids and it wasn't long before there was a crowd of kids wanting to try too. Joel ended up trying to teach all the neighborhood kids how to play. It was quite comical. We just stuck with showing them how to hit the ball with the bat, we didn't even try to explain running the bases :) But it was a lot of fun!

And now for the pictures!!