Nazareth, Capernaum, Israel - Day 1

BTW I can't figure out why there is so much space in my posts but I give up on trying to fix it!

I cherish this picture. What a force for good we are.

First stop, Mt.Tibor/Transfiguration. I felt like there was so much to see in Israel that at our first stop, I felt we were moving too slow. We were a huge group (turns out I was correct but I digress). As we were walking back to the taxi I said to my friend, "Tell me I need to relax because I feel like we are moving too slow and won't get to see everything." She said, "You do need to relax because that was one of the most spiritual sites you'll see today." I felt a punch in the stomach. I rushed back to the site and embraced the warmth of the sun and reflected on what took place. Matthew 17:5"...behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." Have you ever thought about the love God has for the Savior? How proud of Him He must be? I know God loves me. I want Him to be proud of me too.

Sea of Galilee - I expected to have an intense spiritual experience at each of these amazing sites. Atlas, that didn't happen nor did it need to. However, at the Sea of Galilee I did have a moment of complete peace and a heart filled with joy as I watched my girls play in the water. It wasn't so much the spirit confirming to me that yes, the Savior did walk on water here (I knew that already) it was simply that I had a wonderful family who brings me so much joy and the fact that we WERE IN ISRAEL!! That was a great moment.

I wasn't nervous taking my kids to Israel until we got there! Our guide started talking about what goes on there and what life is like for the people. So what did we do for security measures? We wrote our guides cell phone number in permanent marker on all our kids hands incase they got lost! That oddly brought me enough comfort to proceed. But actually, having my kids in Israel made me feel safer. I felt like the people saw us as a family so we must be good people :)

We stopped at the Mt. of Beatitudes and the River Jordan. The highlight of the trip for Kaiyah was the River Jordan. We sang as a group Jesus came to John the Baptist. Whenever we sang the spirit quickly followed. If it wasn't for the testimony sharing and singing at each site, it would have been a completely different experience seeing Israel.



Harley shows it all. Our last stop of the day was the Church of the Annunciation. A women broke out in song as we were walking through. Which I thought was pretty cool.

Olympia, Greece

In November we went on an 11 day cruise along the Mediterranean. I posted pics on facebook but for my mother's sake I need to put some pictures on here! I am so far behind that I am only posting a few pictures from each place and will try to document the most memorable parts. It may not be the kind of vacation details you would expect me to blog about so bare with me.

First stop, Olympia Greece

We raced at the first Olympic Stadium...Kaiyah beat me. In my defense, I had bad shoes!

As we drove to Olympia a very poor little girl and her mother came to my car window begging for money. No shoes, no teeth, cuts all over their face and hands. I am so ashamed I didn't pull over and get my back pack from the trunk and give them money. We continued as the light turned green and drove past what was likely their "home" where a few other families were. Cardboard huts. Dirt. Deserted. I said, "Girls look. That is where the little girl lives." Laney said, "Mom, we should give her food." "Yes Laney if we had any we should." As I returned to the boat that evening and stuffed my face of endless amounts of buffet food, I was disappointed in myself. Living in Berkeley I would pass homeless people everyday without giving them money. Occasionally, if I had food on me we would give them some. But we WERE poor and we didn't have much to give financially. Now is different. I find myself thinking sometimes, I don't want to give a homeless man money, he's likely to go buy beer. (I've thought this ever since I was a little girl visiting Key West when we offered a homeless man begging for money some food from Burger King instead. He laughed at us and said "No, I want a beer!" He was angry at us. That left an impact on me for a LONG time. I have learned it doesn't matter WHAT they spend that money on. I am not accountable for that. But I am accountable for passing by the poor and not giving freely. Olympia taught me that. A starving child of God, old or young, will not pass me by again.

Prague

We went to Prague for Labor Day weekend. We rented an apartment right off the river with amazing views. We have become quite spoiled.

The crew we travelled with...part of them anyway :)

St. Vitus Cathedral. By far the coolest Gothic Church we've toured.

John Lennon Wall


Jewish Cemetery

If you're into architecture, you would love Prague!

Taking a little break before crossing the Charles Bridge to head to the Prague Castle

Charles Bridge in the background

Prague's Astronomical Clock. Every hour 12 apostles pass by the window above the astronomical dial. It also has other symbolic sculptures. It was built in 1410!

Kusel Castle

I need help!! Which family photo looks the best? The one I have as our blog photo (#1), photo #2 or photo #3? Ok, I added a #4 and #5. I want to blow one up real big for our wall. Thanks!

Number 2

Number 3

Number 4

Number 5

Love this man!

Sadly, there weren't any good pictures of the 3 girls. Harley, as you can tell, was not in the mood for picture taking. We had fun. Thanks Jensen family for having a fun evening of picture taking and exploring with us!

Paris is for Lovers

Send me back!! To celebrate 9 years of love, that was sealed with a promise, Jeremy and I went to Paris for the day!! It was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Let me show you how wonderful it was.

Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower. We climbed to the 2nd floor and took the elevator to the top. We meet this cute couple while waiting in line. He proposed to her at the top of the tower. Romantic. I told you Paris is for Lovers!

Arc De Triomphe was our second stop. We were on a bus tour but at this point we ditched our bus and toured the city on our own.

We ate lunch at this oh-so-Paris cafe along Champs Elysees. Oh, I forgot to mention that we spent this incredible day with great friends, the Tintle's!

Next, we caught some artwork at the Louvre. Mona Lisa was actually larger than I expected. People generally say the opposite, which is why I was pleasantly surprised she wasn't just an 8x10 :) We saw other great paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci, Monet, and a ton more that I've never heard of! I was amazed at all the paintings of the Savior. Quite a special place.

After the Louvre, we toured Notre Dame. It was elegant and peaceful. The church was built for "Our Lady," referring to Mary. It reminded me of the Salt Lake Temple in that the people sacrificed so much of their own time and money to build it.

At this point we met up with our group and headed to dinner at a restaurant that served us a 5 course meal. This was the best 2 hour meal of my life. They had a pair there playing the accordion, singing, a little dancing and just making us laugh. Great entertainment and very French!

Sadly, the night had to come to an end. We took a boat cruise along the Seine River through Paris. The Eiffel Tower lit up and at one point all the lights sparkled for a few minutes. It was breathtaking, mostly because I was with the man of my dreams! Jeremy has made all my dreams (and then some) come true. I am a happy lady! I've decided, Germany can be for Lovers too!

Laney turned 5

On September 6th, Laney turned 5. Also, on that date the Apostle Elder David A. Bednar was set to come to our church to speak. I thought I would need to convince Laney that this would be a cool way to celebrate her birthday...but no convincing was needed. She was excited and even told her teachers at school that she was going to hear an Apostle speak for her birthday. I mean, who gets to say that!!?? She woke up the next morning and told me she had the best birthday ever. It made me so happy. It was a very special day.

I did bring cupcakes to her school to celebrate. She's an easy girl to please!

First Day of School 2011

Pancakes for the first day of school. Honestly, probably the only day I make pancakes for breakfast. This is generally a meal reserved for lazy dinner days in our house.

Kaiyah's first day of 3rd Grade! I now have to buy in the older girl section for Kaiyah at stores, which over here is ages 8-14. But I'm really having a hard time buying clothes for her that some 14 year olds wear!! I guess I need to break out the sewing machine. Her teacher is Mrs.Buckely and is one of, I believe, 16 3rd Grade classes at her school on base.

Kaiyah is really into Harry Potter, thanks to her Dad. She has a crush on Harry and says she wants to have him baptized so she can marry him. Her best friend here is coincidently named Harrison, whom she calls Harry :) She's playing soccer right now but wants to start gymnastics. She's a homebody and loves to hang out and scrapbook.

Laney missed the Kindergarten cutoff by 6 days. I enrolled her in full day preschool for Tuesday's and Thursday's. She loves and adores her teachers Mrs. Lizzy and Ms. Brittany.

Laney loves to play house, Barbie dolls, and anything outside. Unlike Kaiyah, Laney and Harley could be outside all day long, rain or shine. Her and Harley play really well with each other. Laney is also into Harry Potter lately, which is good. It gives something for her and Kaiyah to have in common. They will act out scenes and cast spells. It's actually very entertaining.