Christmas can't be cancelled!

What? I recieved a call on Wednesday morning saying Christmas was cancelled. I think the message that was trying to be conveyed was that it's too dangerous for everyone to travel across town in the snow and arrive for Christmas Dinner.... but it came out as Christmas is cancelled. The very thought of it! I can't even imagine. Christmas canNOT be cancelled! In all my years I don't remember such a white Christmas. I remember wishing and praying for a white Christmas... but now that I've had one and seen how it can keep us from getting together I don't think I will be wishing for another one for quite some time. Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed the snow... it's so pretty! But it does seem to have interfered with a few plans we have had. Regardless of the phone call we recieved that morning, we felt that we would brave the roads and at least try to make it to my parents house on Christmas Eve. The freeways were totally fine. It was the side streets that were a little bit of an issue but we made it. When we arrived, we had a wonderful Chicken Nugget and Mac'NCheese Dinner :-) Not your typical Christmas Eve special, but it was good and so nice to be with family. The snow was piled high in their neighborhood - 16inches (not sure if that was an official measurement or not, but there was a lot!) so we spent the night and enjoyed a quiet morning with my parents as well. Dad made breakfast for us... bacon, eggs and mom made the chocolate chip pancakes. Yum. I love being home in the USA!

Christms Day we headed up to Vancouver to be with half of Ken's family (the other half was stuck in Seattle). The temperatures were above freezing and the snow seemed to be melting. We were surprised on our drive to Vancouver to run into another snow storm. These flakes were huge! The biggest I've ever seen. The freeway drive seemed to be alright headed Northward, but we got stuck on the side streets heading into their neighborhood. We drove in the ruts just long enough to get high centered in our little Honda Civic. Thankfully we were only 3 blocks away and Reuben could come and pick us up. Christmas was crazy with 7 kids and 3 dogs running around. Ken got his exercise playing tag.... and 3 kids threw up from running around just after eating. Guess we have a few lessons to learn about parenting before Nathaniel comes. The food was excellent and we enjoyed the day. In the evening Ken set out to check on the car and see if the snow melted enough to get out. I'm not sure how they did it, but they did get the car out to the main street and we were able to drive home (I thought for sure we were spending the night!). It was a very busy day.

Bob-Max the Snowman

We finally decided to build a snowman. It didn't roll very well so we have more of a Michellen Tire snowman. The neighbor kids came out and helped us. We asked them what we should name him and they suggested "Bob" and then "Max". So there you have it. We also did a baby Nathaniel in front of Bob-Max. And of course the afternoon was wrapped up with Hot Cocoa! Mmmmmmm.

SNOW

Can you believe it? When is the last time it snowed before Christmas in Portland???? And actually stuck to the ground? I had heard brief news reports that it might snow, but being a native Oregonian completely dismissed the idea as a remote possibility. Sure enough Sunday morning it started to snow... surely it won't stick though. A few hours later we had a light blanket covering our yard. Well this is going to ruin my plans I thought! I had been so looking forward to the baby shower that was scheduled for that afternoon. I could hardly wait to see friends and family and I know that my friends had worked very hard to organize everything. Ken and I drove over to the shower a few minutes early. I figured it might just be the four of us (the hostess and her husband and Ken and I). I was delighted when there was a knock on the door... 4 people were able to make it! They were all non-oregonians and used to driving in snowy conditions. We had a fun time even with a small crowd.

The snow has continued for 3 days now! I feel like I've been a bit home bound. Maybe that's a good thing though. We have lots of "projects" to do around the house. The sun came out today for a bit and the roads were completely melted so I ventured out to run a few errands. On my way home it was starting to feel like it was freezing again.

It's nice to be home, but I'll admit I have thought much about our friends in Israel. What time is it there? What are they up to? When I was shopping for produce today I thought about the market in Haifa and the wonderful tomatoes I would get for 3 shekels or the mouthwatering fruit we could get there. We have some terrific memories of the last 6 months. We both agree it was a good experience and glad we had the opportunity to learn so much about a different culture and about ourselves.

It's cold here!

Well we have made it home to Portland safe and sound. The last 24-36 hours have been long... come to think of it when did I sleep last? I think we are trying to stay up for another 3 hours to adjust to the NW timezone.

Monday was a busy day... filled with more goodbyes :-( We headed to Ben Gurion Airport around 6:30ish which gave us plenty of time to drop off our luggage, return the rental car, check in, and get through security. We were grateful for the light crowds at the airport. Ken had three seats to himself on the plane, and I had two (which worked great for me). I think Ken was able to sleep quite a bit, but I was preoccupied with ensuring I got up to move around every hour so I didn't sleep at all on the 13 and half hour flight to Atlanta. I chatted with the flight attendants in the galley and watched a few movies to keep myself busy (too dark to read a book). I usually hate using the bathrooms on airplanes, but there was no avoiding it. I think I hold a record for 9 visits in one trans-Atlantic flight! After about 10 hours I started to think I was going to go stir crazy. I moved back to Ken's row and sat with him for the duration of the flight. We were very excited when we landed in Atlanta.... US soil.... we are home! Customs was not an issue and we had a very short layover before beginging the final leg of the flight, 5 hours to PDX. Ken's frequent flyer status got us one upgrade to first class which I was able to take advantage of. It's nice up there with real silverware and hot breakfast! Again I tried to keep myself entertained by reading and watching movies.

My mom and little brother (can I call him that at 27?) were there to meet us off the airplane. It was so nice to see them. It's a bit cold here, but you could see the sun barely peaking through the clouds. It's nice that it wasn't pouring down rain! We were only able to find 5 of our 6 bags at the luggage carrousel... why is this always happening to us? There was another bag that looked very similar to our, but wasn't. We decided to pull it off and call the contact number on the bag, perhaps they took ours instead of theirs? Sure enough they were already 15 minutes down the road to their home in Salem, but agreed to come back to the airport when I told them one of their bags was still at the airport. I'm glad we reached them, after 24 hours of traveling chasing down luggage is not the first thing we wanted to be doing.

Hoping to catch up with each of you soon. We are in the process of getting phones setup so send us an email in the meantime.

Last trip to Jerusalem

Yesterday Ken and I took one last trip to the old city. My agenda was to just get a few things in the market and maybe find a museum to pass the day. It took us over 3 hours to get to the old city!!!! By the time we parked, we were wishing we had arrived at the airport and could just head home. The traffic was crazy (more than usual). Between the honking and all the semi trucks cutting us off and trying to find a parking spot we needed a nap to lower our blood pressure. In the old city Ken got some great deals for us on a few mementos and then we headed to the Western Wall. It was not crowded at all which was really nice. I had been reading about the Temple Mount and wondered if we could get in to see it (it's closed on certain days, and in all the times I've been to Jerusalem it hasn't been on our route). We were excited to find out it was open to visitors... now we can find out what is behind the Wall???? I was amazed to see a big open courtyard. I don't know why. Just not what I expected. I guess I thought the wall was part of a building. Anyway, we walked around a bit and were able to go right up to the Dome of the Rock. We were surprised at how beautiful it was. So far we had only seen the golden top, but the mosaic patterns on the building were amazing.



To finish off the afternoon, we left the old city and drove around looking for Yad Vesham, the Holocaust Museum. Much to our surprise as we left the parking structure the computer said we didn't have to pay. Strange. We thought it was too good to be true and braced ourselves for all the honking and lines backing up behind us once we reached the final exit where the gate might not open. Not much has been free here or cheap for that matter. So we were pleasantly surprised when the gate opened. Must be a holiday or something. We found the museum with very little trouble at all. It was a somber place, but worth the visit. It was amazing to listen to the survivor stories and the atrocities they recounted. I've met a few people over the last few months that have talked about their experiences in Holocaust. All of this, all at once was overwhelming. About 3/4 through the museum I couldn't stomach much more and walked much quicker past each of the exhibits. Again, I'm glad we were able to visit the museum but it was very sad.

Saying Goodbye

Today we had a wonderful day at Alexander National park with our expat family. We walked to the beach and were amazed by all the seashells. The girls had so much fun picking some of their favorites. After that we went for a little walk and had a fun picnic at the park. The girls found sticks to go fishing with and even got Ken to play a game of hide and seek with them.

It was a lot of fun. We will miss these guys so much. I'm glad they live in Hillsboro and we will see them in a few months.

We also had a goodbye dinner with our neighbors. We went out to dinner with them to a nice restaurant in Haifa (after driving all over a nearby town and finding out the druze villages were all closed down for a holiday). After that we went to the Bears house for dessert and a little video game entertainment :-) We will also miss these guys as they have made our stay here so much easier.

Swimming in December

One last jump into the Mediterranean! I told Ken we could drive to the Oregon coast once we get back, but he thought it would be a little warmer here than there.


Our friend Laura accompanied him. I was happy to stand on the shore and take pictures. I've gotten enough swimming in at the pool... and even then it's been a little cold on occasion (guess I wasn't moving fast enough).

Windy

It is so windy here this week. I really thought something (tree branch or shrub) might fly through the window last night. I fully expected to see puddles everywhere when we woke up and was surprised to see the sun shining. All of the plants on the porch were tipped over. I put them upright, only to have them fall over 10 seconds later. Oh well. I tried. We went for a short walk last night. Ken actually wore a coat. I guess this weather will help ease us back into the Northwest climate. Departure date: 3 more days...

Final Israeli Dr. Visit

I went to the Doctor one last time today. Ken had to work late so my friend Wendi was able to join me. The Doctor said Nathaniel is gowing well and healthy. I saw his little toes, legs, hands, head and ears. HE IS SOOOO CUTE! He was moving around quite a bit. He also said his brain looks good... he will be very smart, just like his dad :-) So all looks well. We will have another appointment the week after we get back to the US with a new Doctor. Hopefully they will be okay with reading my charts in Hebrew (I can translate if needed :-). Seriously, the Doctor here assured me that the important information is universally understandable to all Doctors (even if it looks cryptic to me). I was hoping to get a good picture but didn't. Bummer. I'll try and insert a video from on of our appointments this summer. Thanks to our friend Bob who spliced the 45 min video into this smaller clip for you.

It's December!!!!

I can't believe it's December. We are only 1 week away from being home :-) I'm already dreaming of a ham dinner at my parents house (Ken's thinking about a cheeseburger from McDonalds). I pulled the suitcases out today. Time to start packing the house. Hopefully it will all fit back into our 6 suitcases.... you never know how much stuff you accumulate over an extended period of time. We are racking our brains trying to think if there is any place we haven't seen yet here in Israel or places we want to go back to.

Ken's co-workers had a farwell lunch for him today. It was nice of them to invite me to join them. We had a nice steak lunch and a yummy chocolate dessert :-) I'm stuffed now.... at least I won't need to make dinner.