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..."

An Anniversary and 3 States in 3 Days

Blog Post About July 2021

After the trips to see grandparents, we returned to our Texas base for two days before moving on. 

While there, on the morning of my 25th anniversary, I headed over to a friend's house. 

When my time with my friend was coming to a close, I got a message from Doug (late at night back in the Middle East) saying that I should go to a certain parking lot in the city where I was.

I texted him when I got there, and he told me to go to James Avery and pick up an order for Doug Taylor.

When I went in, there were two pairs of silver earrings for me to pick up, bought and paid for.

Happy Silver Anniversary to us!

That night, Doug also had three friends take me out to dinner. 

It was fun, but it would have been a lot more fun if Doug had been there.

Thanks Doug!

The day after our anniversary, Keira and I flew to Nashville. 

The first airport we went to cancelled our flight because of lightening. A sweet friend picked us up and drove us an hour and a half to another airport so we could catch another flight. We were constantly blessed by amazing friends!

We arrived late at night, but Kylie was still happy to come get us.

The next day, we looked at some possible houses for Kylie to move into, and then when Kylie had classes, Keira and I did a little sightseeing at the Opryland Hotel and Mall.

Covid made it kind of empty

A large Hungry Hippos game

Riding a ride with a new friend.

When Kylie got out of class at 5pm, we headed to Jackson, Mississippi, with a 6 hour drive in front of us!

The next morning, in Mississippi, Kylie had a follow up appointment with the doctor that did surgery on her knee. Later that night, we went to see Karis dance in her first ballet performance of the summer (she's in the front row, on the right)

Again, kneeling in the front, right.

It was good for all of us girls to be together.

Karis always has a good time at dance camp. 

This year, she stayed for four weeks with a fun roommate.

So many girls got Covid, and many were sent home, but thankfully, Karis made it all summer without being sent home.

Timon and Pumba at camp, ready to do some calisthenics.

The Cat and a Sad Goodbye

Blog Post About May 2021

This cat gets in the strangest sleeping positions.

...But she IS cute...at least for now.

Her mom came by for a visit, but this picture is the only time we saw Aoife looking at the cat outside. The rest of the time, she acted like it wasn't even there.

Granola and smoothie bowls on the balcony

And just like that, May 7 came, and it was time to say "goodbye."

We stayed up late, past midnight, waiting to take her to her flight, 

which would leave around 3am on May 8.

Bye, Kylie. Thank you for visiting, and we look forward to seeing you at Christmas (which is now just around the corner)

 

We're Leaving on a Jet Plane

Blog Post About January 2021

The morning we were leaving, we got up early to get PCR tests. Everyone was a real trooper except me. One of my children has a video of it, but of course, I will spare you, and it will remain hidden.

Several friends came to pray over us and say goodbye as we were loading the car. For the things that wouldn't fit (see one of the items in this post), a sweet friend mailed them to us.

We made it to the airport with zero positive Covid tests and said our last goodbye to Kylie from the same. time zone.

Keira always has some crazy "arrival eyes."

And when I finally had access to my texts again, we had a sweet text from Kylie ;)

After arriving, we settled in a hotel and Doug got our car from a friend who had been taking care of it. 

After getting some sleep, Doug ran some much-needed errands. 

One of those errands was scheduling for the "generator man" to come and hook our house up to the neighborhood generator.

We went to see the house we had rented 7 months early. It was Keira's first time to see it and mine and Karis' second.

The man that kept our car had some guys clean the house for us before we got there, but unfortunately, they didn't do the most thorough job.

While Doug was unlocking the door for us to go inside, I saw this plug in the outside porch area.

Guess we aren't supposed to use it :)

Thankfully, city power was on, so we had lights. 

You can see where we ran our fingers over the wall in all of the dust the cleaners had left behind.

The "generator man" was late. We waited for TWO hours (cleaning in the meantime), but he never came.

January 14, 2021

The next day, Doug graciously hired the cleaners we've had for our other houses, and they did a fan-tab-u-lous job!

They bring about 12 guys and clean from the roof all the way out the front door.

Yes, they literally mop their way out to the street!!

January 15, 2021

Some dear friends of ours invited us to live with them until we could actually get in our house. The hotel was expensive, so we took them up on their offer. Karis went to live with two single girls, and the other 4 of us moved in with our friends.

This is our luggage as we are leaving the hotel.

Two days later, Doug and I went to a "cabinet" store to order our cabinets. You knew that most houses come without cabinets, right?

Doug had already met the man on a previous day at the house to take measurements.

This is what our cabinets looked like on the man's computer when we finished.

Is this what we got?  No

Did we get them within a month?  No

The saga continues...