15K in Istanbul!

Last weekend I went to Istanbul to participate in the 37th Istanbul Marathon (I registered to do the 15K) and run from Asia to Europe!! This is the only course in the world that includes two continents in one race and it was so.much.fun!! 

The race started at the Bosphorus Bridge and what an amazing feeling it was to run across that bridge. I will never forget the sound that thousands of feet made on the bridge or how spectacular the view of the Bosphorus was from my vantage point. It was just so cool to be able to run on the bridge since it is the only time of year that pedestrians can cross.

Overall, I really enjoyed the race. Before training for this, I had never run more than 2 miles in my life! It was good to push myself. And I felt really good, well, until right after I passed the 14k mark, then it went downhill from there. I started feeling sick and had to make a 30 second stop to throw up, but I was determined to finish, so I kept running and immediately after crossing the finish line I threw up again. Fun times :) It was like my body was saying "Enough!" Haha. But hey, I completed it and I was proud of myself. And those marathoners have my utmost respect - they are hard core!!

Joel was holding down the fort at home, but I was so thankful to have such great friends cheering me on!!

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Lately

Time for a photo dump! Here are some pictures of what we've been up to since, like, August! Ha! 

Because some mornings you hop in the van with your sister and nine children to drive to a field full of sunflowers just to take some pictures.

A perfect summer evening for exploring with Brooks!

These kids were outside playing the entire day! They excavated clay from a nearby hillside, made their own pottery and then set up a store to sell their beautiful handiwork. I just love seeing my kids being creative and having fun together!

Dance parties with boys: shirts off, socks on and carpets rolled up for more room to slide across the floor. Love these crazies!

Life with so many boys is always an adventure!

Putting together Vienna's new bed in our new house with lots of helpers.

True love is a husband who makes me funnel cake at 10:30 at night!

Napping in his big boy bed!

A boy and his kitty.

First day of school!! Yohanis is in 4th grade, Colson is in 3rd grade and Vienna is in 2nd grade! Poor Yohanis, he may look happy in this picture, but he ended up staying home from school sick the first day. But even though he wasn't feeling well, he still managed to give me a smile that melts my heart!! So proud of all my kids and looking forward to this school year.

Someone needs a sister!

When you have an almost-two-year-old who likes to fight nap time, sometimes you call your sister in for back-up.

Just another Saturday afternoon at the Hildebrands. Never a dull moment, that is for sure (and surprisingly enough, no trips to the hospital . . . yet)

Louis came to stay with us for a few days and Brooks couldn't have been happier!!

A week full of birthday celebrations! Yohanis turned 10 on October 19th and Vienna turned 7 on October 20th!

Besties then and now.

These 4 boys have grown up so much. Sniff, sniff!

We watched our friends' 3 kids for a few days and this was our dinnertime craziness! So fun:)

And a bit of the bedtime craziness. Haha. These two boys were so fun together, they are only a little over 3 months apart in age, so it was like having twins.

In November fall finally came to Turkey! We LOVE the cooler weather! To celebrate we made our first fire and some yummy candied almonds!!

Happy 4th Birthday to Isaiah Jace! I loved watching his excitement as he woke up to  his very own bicycle on his birthday morning! Isaiah brings so much laughter and joy to our family and there is never a dull (or quiet) moment with him!

10th Anniversary Trip - Day 7

Day 7 - Katakolon, Greece.

Katakolon is a picture-perfect, seaside Greek village with a population of around 600 people.

The town of Katakolon is only about a 40 minute drive from one of the most popular archaeological sites in the world, Olympia, which was the birthplace of the Olympic games in 776BC. 

Since we live in Turkey and there are many historical sites, practically right in our backyard, we opted to stay in Katakolon and just walk around and explore. It was a lot of fun and we even ended up renting a scooter and riding to a quiet beach. It was perfect!
 

Katakolon St. Nicolas Church

And this last picture is from the morning of Day 8, the sun rising as our cruise ship came into Izmir. Home again, home again!!