Barnyard Animals in our Backyard

Asher enjoyed watching the sheep graze from our back balcony. There is a small patch of grass back there and often sheep herders will bring their sheep to this spot.



Yes, we do live in a city, but it is not uncommon to see a herd of sheep in town grazing in open grass areas and occasionally stopping traffic.

Favorite Spot

Asher has almost outgrown his favorite spot in the house. He loves to stand in our cupboard and pretend to pump our water. On this particular day he decided it was a good resting spot for him and his monkey.

Funny Faces

Baby Sprinkle

My wonderful friends put on a "baby sprinkle" , a term used for when it is not your first baby. It's like a light baby shower. But seriously this was like a "baby downpour"! I was blessed by the generosity of so many.

My friends, Sheryl and Lynn, went all out with decorations and food! It was super cute with all of the brown and blue.

Here is the three of us:

Reed and Asher bopped in during the shower for a few minutes.

Aren't these "W" cupcakes cute?

Baby Wessman will be quite the well-dressed little guy. He got some cute clothes!

I had 3 little helpers that were just as excited as I to see all of the fun stuff for this baby!

Thank you Sheryl and Lynn for all your work into this shower! And thank you to all the family and friends that sent things half way around the world. I wish you all could have been here so I could have given you all big hugs! I truly felt loved and blessed today! Thank you!

Tonight's the Night.......

Asher is going to sleep in a big bed. We put the mattress on the floor and he did some "practicing" this afternoon. Asher's been sleeping in a pack n play for the past 11 months, but it is almost time to give that over to baby brother coming soon. We will see how it goes tonight....





To be continued.....

Turning 30

On Saturday, I entered a new decade. I have mixed feelings about no longer being in my 20's. I don't feel any different, but for some reason 30 just seems so much older than 29!

Our friends discovered the closest thing to an American type restuarant in our city. It was called the North Shield, which is funny to think that it exists here. So we celebrated Friday night, by going there. We enjoyed some spaghetti and steak and American music. Everything that was played was from the 90's which really brought us back a few years!



On Saturday we celebrated with our friends.

Thanks to Sheryl and Lynn for the pizza, cake, decorations. and all of the planning! It was fun to have friends to celebrate with!

Afiyet Olsun!

This phrase is used when a dish is served to you by a Turkish cook. There really isn't an English translation, but it is kind of like "Bon Appetit". Our neighbors brought us over fish tonight for supper. I really like fish and would make it several times a month in the states.....but I always bought it from Fareway cooked, cleaned, and you never saw the head!



I have to say it is a little creepy to see the eyes and teeth of this fish as you are eating it!

I would really like to learn how to cook fish here, but I'm a little hesitant, because I really might get grossed out having to clean the fish prior to cooking. All in all, we enjoyed our supper and I was especially thankful, because it meant no cooking for me tonight!

Mother's Day

We enjoyed a nice Mother's Day. It was a beautiful day. We went for a walk and enjoyed some ice cream. Asher got his very own mini ice cream cone complements of the ice cream man.


A family friend recently sent me some flower seeds in the mail! So Reed got me some flower boxes for Mother's Day. I spent the afternoon carefully planting my seeds. I haven't planted flowers starting from the seed before, except with my second graders when I taught school. So I really hope something grows and the climate here is right. If all goes well, I should have some zinnias, marigolds, and a few sunflowers by mid summer.

Wedding Party

Here are a few pictures of a recent wedding celebration that went on outside our apartment this last weekend. A typical wedding party can last at least three days. From Friday through Sunday there was very loud music, dancing, and women dressed in their traditional dresses of their culture.

In this picture you can see all of the fancy, traditional dresses. It is common to see everyone dancing around in a circle with their arms intertwined.

It was fun to watch, but by Day 3 we were ready for some peace and quiet!

Our Little Reader

Right now Asher loves to "read". He sits with his books and jabbers away as he turns the pages.


His new word as of late is "bird". He likes to look in all his books and point out a bird if he sees one.

Hopefully, his love for books will continue!

Playing "Outdoors"

Asher loves to be outside. It takes some extra effort to get outdoors with him now that we live in an apartment. But for Asher, going outside is as simple as letting him play on our balcony. He loves to just walk around out there and look through the railing.



Today was cold and rainy, but Asher really wanted to go out. Reed was gracious enough to sit out there with him for a few minutes so he could get his "outdoor" fix today.