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)

 

Back in Business

Blog Post from March 2021

Now that we had cabinets (and more importantly, a sink), we could host people again!

On March 12, we had a good time having a group of people over for dinner and studying.

 

And Doug had more time to cut little-girl-hair since he was done re-hanging blinds and organizing workers delivering cabinets.

March 12, 2021

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.

Last Day Out of the City

Little did we know that February 2nd would be our last day out of the city until we left for America at the end of June. 

Lockdown would be coming soon, and even when restrictions were lifted, travel between districts was still prohibited. 

For this reason (and many others), I'm glad E (Karis' friend) came to visit us so that we had an excuse to make one more trip to the mountains.\

The drive up was beautiful!

And two miles before we got to the base of the mountain, we stopped at these waterfalls because it's a tradition for our family to get out and take pictures here. 

After the teleferik ride, we reached our room at the top in time for sunset.

February 2, 2020

And the next morning, we awoke to a clear blue skies again!

Caleb and E would roll down the mountain, then climb up, and do it again. 

I don't know who had more fun - 

them rolling or us laughing.

We only stayed one night because we didn't want Keira to miss more than one day of school, and also because Kylie had stayed behind by herself in the city to work on school.

February 3, 2020

 

A Night on the Town

I haven't shown you much of the nightlife in the center of town because I usually am down there during the day time

with Doug

because it's pretty much a man's world down there.  

However, at night, the sidewalks are filled with intriguing wares.

Sometimes you feel like you're at a state fair

But then instantly, you are transported back to ancient times where funnel cakes are non-existent

We usually try not to act like tourists, but since we had a guest with us, we threw caution to the wind.

We went to the fountains (which happened to be turned on and working)

And then we went below the old city where one of the oldest tea shops in town is located.

I think I've told you about this place before. It is preferred that women stay outside or go to the family area upstairs, so we took our tea outside.  

The warmth of the tea was nice on a cool night.

We continued our walk, finding carts with dried fruit and candies

And of course, we bought baklava because you just HAVE to when you are here.

Soon after tasting the baklava, you lose your appetite as you pass the raw meat cart

But then your appetite returns when you get freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, which is amazing!

Thank you ancient city for the sites and wonders of some of the downtown life.