A Mad Race to the Finish Line

Blog Post About June 2021

The girls and I planned our departure to the States after all the end-of-the-year dance performances; however, things kept being added that we weren't ready for.

Keira had two ballet performances at a local hotel arts and crafts fair. 

Karis also performed a solo.

June 18, 2021

The next morning (Saturday), I had a "goodbye" breakfast with two friends at one of their homes.

June 19, 2021

After breakfast, Doug and I had to rush Keira to another local hotel where the gymnastics class was invited to perform at a Kindergarten graduation??

This is one of those events we didn't plan for.

June 19, 2021

Then that Saturday afternoon, there was a "garden show" at the dance studio for the parents to attend. It was outside and smaller because of covid.

The girls repeated their performances from the day before and Keira added gymnastics.

June 19, 2021

When the show ended, Karis had to leave, and as Keira and I were getting ready to call a taxi, my friend who lives RIGHT ACROSS THE FENCE from the dance studio, called me and Keira over.

Her daughter was having a 16th birthday party in her garden with a few friends, and she wanted us to come.

It was a beautiful night! The teenagers gladly let Keira hang out with them, and I visited with the mom and aunt of the birthday girl, helped bring out the food, and became the official photographer of the group. After the food was set out, they spent FORTY-FIVE minutes taking pictures of the food and each other before we ate :)

We had a lot of fun, and I'm so glad this impromptu invite happened.

June 19, 2021

The next day (Sunday) at the same hotel as the kindergarten graduation, there was now another arts and crafts show where our girls performed (which we had not planned for either).

June 19, 2021

After the performances, we went home, showered, finished packing, left for the airport around midnight,  and flew out at 1:55 in the morning.

Keira didn't get to finish her last two weeks of school, but this is a picture of her 3rd grade class.

Whew!  Now on to America!

A Day Trip North

Blog Post About June 2021

At the beginning of June, there were some days of nice weather, so one Friday, our fellowship group decided to take Bible study on the road :)

We drove north to a town for lunch and then drove back out of the valley so we could go to a mountaintop and look down at the city.

We've been to this city about four times, but we had never been to the overlook. 

June 4, 2021

Afterward, we drove back south to a monastery we have visited a couple of times. It's in a protected Christian city near the Nineveh plain, we had to get special permission from a guard to enter.

The first time we went (October 2018), you may remember, was days after Kylie's accident, and she climbed hundreds of steps on crutches.

Caleb found new places to explore this time around.

And we found a cave off the beaten path, below the monastery, that we all climbed into for Bible study, along with a lot of bat guano :)

Afterwards, people like me rested at the car and ate snacks, while other ,more adventurous people (like the rest of my family), climbed another mountain to an overlook over the Nineveh plains.

Can you see their heads silhouetted against the sky way at the top?

They made it!

And there was a cross at the top

Next, we headed into the city to see how far the government had gotten on restoring Nahum's tomb, but it still wasn't finished. 

In fact, they just had the opening ceremony on November 2021, so next time we go, we'll be able to see it. If you look at the end of the post about the first time we went, you can see how far they still had to go back in 2018.

Water (and Breakfast) in a Dry Land

Blog Post about June 2021

Two weeks after Karis' birthday, we were able to take her out for breakfast to celebrate. Breakfast is her favorite meal, but with her trying to finish school and us trying to prepare to leave for America, we were short on available mornings.

June 3, 2021

Usually for a Middle Eastern breakfast here, you just say, "Breakfast for one," or "Breakfast for four," etc.

Unless you order a la carte, you don't get to pick what you get for breakfast (hence the weird olive pizza on the table. It's a fun experience, and every time we go, we always get different things...it's never the same.

Also, it was getting hotter here back in June, and this is the time that the city decided to dig up all the grass on this huge field and prepare for some building project.

Keira and I saw the dust flying every morning on the way to school.

Let me fast-forward momentarily to January 2022. We have already had two floods this month, and the dirt has nothing to hold it to the ground. 

On the first flood, mud ran out onto the highway along with two feet of water, and it was hours before bulldozers could remove all the silt and people could travel again.

We thought with all the dryness and lack of rain, it had created a water issue. Water is usually scarcer in the summer as a rule anyway, but...

It turns out that some pipes were broken in our neighborhood and no one knew it, so for a month, our neighborhood was not getting water sent to our homes.

On June 13th, Doug called a water truck to fill up our tanks on the roof. We had not been able to wash dishes, hands, shower, or flush toilets for a couple of days as we waited unknowingly for water that wouldn't come.

June 13, 2021

The price was very cheap (equivalent of $17).

When Doug ordered another truck a month later, the prices had jumped a bit (~$23). Apparently, more people around the city were having water issues as well. 

It was a blessing that a friend of ours "knew a guy" and got us such good deals, because I think for most people, the prices started at $34 and went up to about $68 for a truck of water.

Supply and demand.

All of our dirty dishes...

Finally got washed!

I wanted to have breakfast with a friend of mine before we left for America, and we decided to try out a new place for breakfast.

This is the "Breakfast for two" at this particular place.

June 14, 2021

And this little thing wasn't running around like a chicken with its head cut off because she knew Caleb and Doug weren't going to America, and they would be staying behind and could care for her. 

However, she does sort of LOOK like a plucked chicken.

Porches are for People

Blog Post About May 2021

Our front porch area doesn't have a ton of room for activities to take place, but Keira does manage to go around in circles on her scooter, Doug grills some amazing meals for us, and visitors greet us at our gate.

Sometimes a beggar knocks asking for money; sometimes our neighbors bring over some of their food to share with us; sometimes a man representing the water company or the generator comes by asking for payment (there is no mail system here - it's door-to-door); and sometimes a salesman will try to sell books, soap, beauty products, etc. (remember door-to-door encyclopedia salesmen)??

Anyway, one night, daughters, nieces and cousins from a house down the street came knocking for Keira. 

The girls don't know English except a few phrases: 

How are you?

What's your name?

Where's Keira?

Most of the time, during the day, my answer is, "Keira la muxtapa" (She's at school), but this night, she went out to see them, and they were so excited. 

May 27, 2021

It makes me very aware that I have never seen any of these girls in a school uniform, and I have never seen any of them coming from or going to a school. 

I don't know how they are educated or even if they are, but it is a good conversation topic for Keira and I about how appreciative we should be that she is allowed an education.

It's the little things.

One day, Caleb was washing the porch for us, and he and Keira decided to play in the water after the porch was clean.

I don't know how Keira's knees could handle it, but she would run and slide across the tile. Ouch!

Caleb would spray her as she went, and she loved it. 

I stopped cutting up a watermelon to video her, and then they both wanted watermelon.

Caleb suggested I video Keira in slow-motion sliding across the tile, eating her watermelon.

I took some still shots to show you, but the video is so much better (and I have no idea what Caleb's hands are doing). Maybe he's praying she didn't get hurt as she slid into the wall each time.

I wish you could see the videos :)

May 29, 2021

I like that they find fun things to do even though we don't have a yard or grass.

Life is what you make it :)

Side notes, if you're curious: the propane bottles to the right are what we use to run our oven and heat rooms with individual propane heaters. 

And across the way, is a house to the right and an empty lot to the left. Our neighbors have a pick-up truck they use to drive around to neighborhoods and sell fruits and vegetables out of the back. This lot is where they store their empty crates until they can haul them off.

*Karis took some of her senior photos this year in front of the crates, and they turned out so good ;)

I was so thankful Kylie said she could take Karis' senior photos. 

These were taken two weeks ago when she was here:)

January 5, 2022

Birthday for a Princess

 Blog Post About May 2021

For our family, the end of May reminds us of the beginning of Karis. 

This girl...

She came into the world in an unexpected and surprising way, and she is still surprising me.

She makes me laugh with her particular sense of humor and brings such joy to my life. She's a good older AND younger sister. She's a best friend and confidant for both Kylie and Caleb, and a sweet supporter and encourager of Keira. She has sweet friends who adore her; she's a good listener; and she is a stinkin' hard worker!

She also is a princess :)

She came down for her birthday breakfast with a tiara and boa to the background music of ABBA:

You are the dancing queen

Young and sweet
Only seventeen
Dancing queen
Feel the beat from the tanbourine, oh yeah
You can dance
You can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh, see that girl
Watch that scene
Digging the dancing queen

You can thank me later if that song is stuck in your head all day :)

Apparently, the cat thinks she's a princess, too, and didn't want to be left out

Even though Karis will graduate in May this year, and we are sad to see her go, we also look forward to all that God is going to teach her and how He is going to grow her. I love the way she seeks after Him, and I pray that continues as she heads off on her own.

We had some errands to run for a friend at her new apartment, so we decided to commemorate the day with some selfies...

In the elevator

and in the apartment courtyard...

Since you are half way to being 18, it looks like we will get to celebrate again soon :)

Also, happy birthday to my big sister! (today)