Tourism Business

Blog Post About November 2021

Doug's tourism business had some customers from America in November. They stayed in the city for a few days, but they also took a five day bus tour out and around the country seeing some incredible places.

I have never been to most of these places, but Doug toured with them, and the men shared some of their photos with me.

I do know one thing. These guys were treated like celebrities wherever they went. 

Locals would stop them to talk, ask where they were from, engage them in conversation, serve them tea, and sometimes offer food along with incredible hospitality the people here are known for.

This is an ancient aqueduct from the time of King Sennacherib, who reigned the Assyrian empire 700 years before Christ

This is ancient cuneiform writing from this same time period

The guys also got to go in places I probably wouldn't be allowed.

This is a Yazidi temple. You might have read about this people group in the news in the last few years.

This is the site where Nahum's tomb is. 

Days after this photo was taken, the grand opening ceremony for it took place. We have been here twice in the last four years, and it's been constantly under construction. It will be nice to see it all finished when we return.

We climbed up to this cave about 5 years ago.

We traveled deep into it, and it seemed to go forever.

The guys were short on time, so they couldn't do much exploring inside, but you can see from the picture how vast it is.

They also traveled to one of the monasteries that we have been to a few times. 

I wrote about it Here and Here.

I thought this was a pretty picture, and even though I see these spices in markets all the time, I forget what a novelty they are for some people who don't live on this side of the world.

I want to point out the black spheres on the left. Those are dried lemons, and I have had some really good dishes and drinks made with them. I just haven't learned how to use them myself.

This picture was taken in Halabja. If you don't know the story of why that city is significant, you should probably google it. 

The men had a tour guide who lost 45 family members on that fateful March day in 1988. He miraculously survived in the cab of a truck, but he did lose his sight for 6 months. He and the girl he married are still suffering affects of the chemical warfare attack today. Every child they have had has died an early death.

Thousands died that day and the days after.

Another facet of this country that they found interesting was the number of waterfalls they came across. 

And these are just a few. 

God has been providing water to this region for thousands of years.

"Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but..."

January 2021: Beginnings and Endings

Blog Post About January 2021

My kids wanted to host a New Year's Eve party for their friends in America. 

Now that they're older, it was easy enough. 

They planned, they bought what they needed, they had the party, and they cleaned up.  Doug and I spent all evening in the bedroom reading and watching a movie, and it was a pleasure to go to bed well before midnight.

We started our goodbyes. 

Kylie was leaving on January 9th, and we were leaving soon after. 

We took a family walk with another family we enjoy being with, and had fun being silly together.

January 2, 2021

The morning of my birthday, we all went out for a country breakfast.

For dinner, I was treated to Olive Garden, and year 48 was off to a great start.

 

The six lovely ladies I did Bible study with (and continue to meet with over zoom) kidnapped me for one last night together. They had arranged it with Doug ahead of time, and he had taken care of everything on our end. 

We had such a good time, but I hated that I wasn't feeling better. As you can see I was in my pajamas, ready for bed, far earlier than anyone else. 

These ladies continue to be such a blessing and an encouragement for me.

At 5:30 am on January 9th, Kylie went in to tell Keira and Caleb goodbye before Doug, Karis, and I drove her to the airport.

Sad tears.

At 6:10 am we were saying goodbye again.

In September we said goodbye knowing we would still be in the same country while she was in school.

This time we said goodbye knowing we would be moving back overseas and not sure whether we would see her in May or August during her breaks or if we would have to wait for her to come home next December.

Sad tears.

January 9, 2021

The afternoon Kylie left, Keira and I went to hang out with a friend and put puzzles together.

In the meantime, Doug and Caleb went hunting with our fishing friend, Tim. Caleb had never been hunting before, and Tim was so excited about Caleb possibly getting his first deer.

And HE DID!

January 9, 2021

Caleb brought the shell of the bullet back with him when we left three days later, and when we landed in our country, we went through one last x-ray before leaving the airport, and they confiscated the shell from Caleb.

So much for memories :(

We were SO EXCITED about snow predicted for January 10th! 

And God did not disappoint us.

November travel with a touch of Covid

Blog About Fall 2020

Kylie didn't get to stay long, but we knew we'd see her soon.

A dear friend of mine drove to Texas from Mississippi to stay a few nights and visit with me. 

She asks the best questions, she is so fun to have conversations with, and she tells great stories.

While she was here, we drove out to the Bush Presidential Library. It was closed for Covid, but we were able to walk around the beautiful grounds and see where former President Bush had been laid to rest in 2018, along with Barbara and their daughter Robin, who died before her 4th birthday

November 14, 2020

This is a part of the Berlin Wall that is outside the Bush Library.

Doug had left a few days earlier. He drove to Memphis, Tennessee, to meet up with some friends from seminary.

After a few days with his friends in Memphis, Doug was able to go spend two days with Kylie in Nashville before driving back home through Arkansas where he met with some other friends.

If you haven't guessed by now, our time in America is usually crazy busy!

Doug drove home, he spent one night with us, and then drove to stay with his mom because he dad was going to have surgery.

 

His father made it through the surgery fine, but while Doug was sitting with him in the hospital, Doug got a call from one of his friends he had been with in Tennessee, and he told Doug he had tested positive for Covid.

Doug told the nurse, who didn't seem concerned, and he immediately left to get tested. He took two tests. His rapid test came back negative, but he drove home to quarantine while he waited to hear about the other test. 

We knew Kylie had been with him two days in Nashville, so we sent her to get tested, and I had spent one night with him between his trips, so I also went to get tested. Kylie and I came back negative, but Doug's test was positive.

Like many of you, plans had to change. Since we knew he had to quarantine for two weeks, we also knew we would have to cancel plans with family for our first Thanksgiving back in America since 2015. However, Kylie flew home for the holidays, and even though Doug distanced himself and stayed in our room a lot, we were able to having a small Thanksgiving celebration outside with just the 6 of us.

The Big 5-0

Blog About Fall 2020

Doug was about to turn 50, so Kylie and I thought it would be fun to surprise him for a weekend visit. She hadn't been gone long, but we already missed her and wanted to take advantage of seeing her when we could while we were in America.

I wasn't home the day she flew in, so a friend of mine picked her up and delivered her.

I let Caleb in on the secret so he could video the moment Doug opened the door, but we didn't tell Keira or Karis so we could surprise them, too.

Kylie arrived and was able to help Keira get ready for Halloween and take Keira trick or treating with Doug.

The next day we had planned a surprise party for Doug, which was disguised as a dinner at a friend's house. It was the day before his birthday, so he still didn't suspect anything.

The best gift I could think to give him was to let him know how many people he had impacted in his first 50 years. We shouldn't wait until someone is gone to verbalize what they mean to us, right?

So many of you graciously wrote him a letter to tell of how he had impacted you or what he had meant to you, and it became a beautiful book, full of almost 150 letters.

You guys were amazing!  Thanks!

Peanut Butter Pie is a must!

The hosts of the party have been friends of ours for close to 28 years. In fact, Doug performed their wedding ceremony 25 years ago!

More friends from our early days in college.

Eight of these people were in the student ministry Doug first worked in when he was 19 years old, and the man next to Doug was his first employer in the ministry world. These guys have all remained close to us over the many years that have passed since then.

Our three oldest serenaded Doug with "Happy Birthday," sung in two different languages from our overseas country.

And while all of this was happening, back across the sea, our host country was still doing school online.

I hate to say this, but it was a blessing for us, because Keira could attend school online and not miss anything while we were in America.