Visiting Home Part 5

Friday is a day off in Israel as Shabbat starts at sundown and most places start closing around 3pm. We decided to join some ex-pat friends for trip to the market and a bike ride on the boarwalk between Jaffa and Tel Aviv. The market was just like I remembered it... very crowded on Fridays. We bought some fresh squeezed juice and a few souvenirs. Renting bikes was not hard at all and soon we were off. The weather was fabulous and we were hot in our jeans and sweatshirts :-( Seriously, I can never dress for weather! We locked up the bikes in Jaffa and toured the little city's shops and stopped by the house of Simon the Tanner (where Peter had his vision that the Gospel extends beyond the Jews) and posed next to a great fish remincisent of Jonah's decision to go to Tarshish instead of Ninevah. We finished ice cream cones before heading back to the bikes and riding along the boardwalk. I played chicken with a 5 year old and almost lost... I was a potential hazard to those around me on an unfamiliar too big for me bike. It was a really enjoyable day though and we made it back to Haifa in time to shower and join our friends for Shabbat dinner. We only did this once while we lived in Israel and it is one of my favorite memories, so I was so happy to join them again. After hugs, we all sat around the table while the Torah was read and then the bread was passed (salt had been sprinkled on it to remind them of the bitterness of slavery in Egypt) and the red wine was shared too. I loved the song that they sang too, although I'm not quite sure what they were saying. It's just a really neat experience and the food was fabulous! Liora works all afternoon to prepare this feast and then they eat the leftovers through Shabbat. Somehow time flew by way too fast and within a matter of minutes it was 10:15 and time to leave :-( Ken's co-worker had planned to get together for coffee that evening and there was no other time to make it work. I wish it could have been different but that's the way it worked out. So we had to say goodbye... and then it hit me that we might not see them again (this trip anyway) and I started to cry. I had run out of time.

Visiting Home Part 6

A touristy day. One of Ken's co-workers ended up joining us for Saturday and Sunday. Her original plans changed when her traveling buddy had to unexpectedly go back to the USA early and so she hung out with us. Which worked out just fine. After breakfast we checked out of our hotel and then headed East towards Nazareth. Ken and I had both driven through this city once before but we got terribly lost and ended up missing the Church of the Annunciation all together. This time we ended up finding the church and went inside. The church sits over the site where perhaps Mary lived and the angel visited her announcing that she would give birth to a son. From Nazareth we headed to the ancient ruins of Bet Shean. The history is rich in Bet Shean begining with the Cannanites in the 16th century BC. The City was the seat of Egyptian rule and the Israelites were not successful in conquering it. After the battle at Mt. Gilboa the Philistines displayed the bodies of Saul and his sons on the city walls here. Later King David took the city and it became an administrative center of King Solomon's reign. Following the Roman conquest it became one of the 10 cities in the Decapolis. It's pretty fascinating to see the remains of the ampitheater and climb the hilltop to overlook the valley. Back in the car we headed North to the Sea of Galilee. It was a whirlwind trip stopping only at Yigal Alon Center and Capernaum. At Yigal Alon Center they have displayed a fishing boat that was recently (1986) discovered dating back to the first century. The boat had been buried in the sedimets and found only after a severe drought. This is the type of boat refereed to in the gospels used among Jesus' disciples. In Capernaum we visited the ruins of a synagogue in which Jesus could have preached in, and saw the octagonal church that was built over the ruins of the disciple Peter's house. Unfortunately, we ran out of time for sightseeing and headed back to Haifa to meet up for dinner with one of Ken's co-workers. Rachel is the reason we first came to Israel four years ago as she was going on maternity leave and needed someone to cover her job. Since then she has visited us many times on work related trips and we have become good friends. It was fun to meet with her family. 3 girls... the toe nail polish was a hit! That night we repositioned ourselves in Tel Aviv so that we could take advantage of our last day in Israel.

Visiting Home Part 7

After breakfast we headed south to a National Park Bet Guvrin which was really fascinating. I wish we had planned a whole day here because we just barely scratched the surface of the bell caves and the ruins of surrounding ancient cities. The bedrock of soft limestone in this area was perfect for rock quarries and caves. This left hollow spaces throughout the area most likely used as water reservoirs and storerooms. From here we headed further East towards the Dead Sea. We stopped at Massada which was an enormous mountaintop citadel under Herod's rule. He installed two palaces, bath houses, storerooms, cisterns and aqueducts and a defensive wall. As the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD Masada became a refuge for the surviving Rebels in all Israel. With a years worth of food in the storehouses almost 1000 men, women and children were able to hide out and defend themselves against 15,000 Romans. After 5 months, the Romans had almost completed an enormous ramp up the side of the cliff to reach the city. On their final night, when the Jewish Rebels knew that the Romans would break through the following day, the community decided to burn the city and take their lives rather than become slaves to the Romans. When the enemy arrived in the morning they found smoking ruins and 2 women and 5 children. While Ken and I had been here multiple times before it was still quite a site. There were a few new things to see as excavations have continued in the last few years. Our last stop on the bucket list was a float in the Dead Sea the lowest point on earth! It's actually a lake shared by Jordan and Israel and is the result of the Syrian-African Rift. Although it is fed by the Jordan river, the sea is slowly evaporating as Israel and Jordan rely on this freshwater source for drinking and irrigation. The Dead sea is 33% salt making it super easy to float. The salt adds minerals into the water increasing the density of the water resulting in greater buoyancy for objects in the water. Apparently you can try this at home with a cup of water and an egg. Add enough salt to the water and the egg will float. This trip we decided to go to a beach with facilities. It cost a few shekels, but I think it was worth it to get rid of most of the sulphur smell we acquired there. Mineral beach is 417 meters below sea level (which is over 1300 feet!). They had buckets of the "Natural Healing Mud" that some claim stimulates blood circulation and renews skin cells. We thought it would be fun to take a mud bath (this was my first!) It was a bit colder than I remember it but then again the sun was going down and it wasn't nearly as hot as it had been in the summer when we were here before. Back to TelAviv to drop Ken's co-worker off. Her flight didn't leave till 6am the next day. She graciously allowed us to shower at her hotel and then we were off to the airport. Leaving Israel has always been a bit challenging for us. They like to search our bags, and somehow I always pick the longest line with the people whose name on their passports don't match their tickets. So what should have been a leisurely 3 hour wait for the plane turned into a hurried last minute dash for the plane. The flight home was long and my legs swelled up like balloons. Don't you hate that feeling? But it was so worth it to be able to visit our home away from home. And to see our sweet little boys when we got home. A big thanks to Oma and Papa Jim, Auntie Norine, Aunt Deb, Uncle Stevie & Aunt Betsy for making this trip possible.

Retreat

Mom and I got to pack up and head to the coast for a weekend. I was away from the crazy mom life for 24 hours! It was so fun. The weather was fabulous! We enjoyed walks on the beach and being our crazy-fun-selves! The dance party on Saturday night was hysterical. I won't post the incriminating pictures.... I came back refreshed. And I came home to a hubby and two sweet boys who picked up some flowers for me.

Swimming Progress

Nate finished his first swim lesson session! We made a lot of progress!

Bye Bella

The boys have enjoyed having a doggie around to take care of. We will miss you Bella.

Logan with a mustache

Now I know what he will look like in 25 years....