The Beach

We spent our morning at the beach. It was a beautiful day and a nice little getaway from our normal routine.



Asher loves water, but was not ready yet to go near it. Reed was trying to encourage him to go to him, but he was quite content looking at the water from afar.



After a few minutes, he warmed up a bit to his surroundings and enjoyed getting his feet wet. The water is still pretty cold, so there was no getting in all the way for anyone.

Asher loved filling his truck up with sand.

A beautiful morning for a walk on the beach!

New Rooms

In preparation for our second child coming shortly we have transitioned Asher to a new room and a bigger bed. Recently we got a duvet cover, rug, and curtains for his room so it is a little bit more decorated.

For the past month I have been looking for material to have a duvet cover and curtains made for his room. There isn't a convenient Target or similar store to look for such things. Sometimes finding things you want here is like finding a needle in a hay stack. Bright colors are very popular here and I had a hard time finding anything toned down. So this what I found for Asher. BRIGHT GREEN!



It really does look cute, but I have to say that the curtains were a bit brighter hanging up than when I looked at the material in the store. I walked in his room this morning, with the sun shining through, and seriously thought I needed sunglasses on in there!

If you're wondering, the bench like thing in front of the window, is the box spring part of Asher's bed. He isn't quite big enough to get on and off yet so we have his mattress on the floor for now, which he loves!



Here is my makeshift nursery/guest room. No major nursery decorating. We are just using the pack n play we brought, but got a small dresser and rocker for the room. In the process we got a guest bed in preparation for our parents coming in the next few months. So if you are ever in the area (ha ha) we have comfy accomodations. We will even move the baby out of the room for you during your stay. :)

1 Year Ago

One year ago we landed in what would be our new home. Here is a picture of us in front of our apartment around this time last year.



It is hard to believe that it has been a year. This last year has been marked by adapting to lots of change, some great sorrows, great joys, perseverance, and many new experiences. We have seen God's faithulness through it all.

We took a class before coming here on how to learn a language. One of the speakers referred to being in a culture where you can't understand or speak was like encountering a "wall of noise". That is exactly how we felt on arriving. Not understanding a single thing anyone said and not understanding customs. Though I have to say I still don't fully understand everything that someone says to me. But that "wall of noise" is becoming less noise and more understandable. It hasn't been easy, but definitely rewarding.

Here we are a few weeks ago:


When we arrived Asher was a baby and now he is a very active toddler and loves to explore his little world. He has a baby brother due (hopefully) in less than 4 weeks. We are excited and looking forward to yet another change in our lives.

Praise God for his goodness and faithfulness to us as we live our lives in this culture.

It's Summer!

It is officially Summer and we are enjoying being outdoors. We spent a morning near the lake this week. Asher loves being outdoors and was content to just walk around.



A beautiful view

Turkish Maternity Dress

This is a picture of my language tutor and I. A few months ago she had gotten me this maternity dress as a gift. I wore it yesterday when she came over for a lesson to get a picture with her. It is a fun dress. The feel of the material and style totally reminds me of some of my mom's dresses that I used to play dress up in that were from the 70's. It was a really thoughtful gift.

34 weeks

Water!

Asher loves to play with water and say the word "water" over and over and over......

Today was a warm day so he played with his little pool on the balcony. We got him this pool last summer as a baby. I think it would almost be too small for him now, but no worries, because he wouldn't get in anyway. It took him about ten minutes before he would even put his hands in. He was excited, yet, he is a bit timid to try something new.

Once he got going though it was lots of giggles and saying "water".



He was a bit surprised when he splashed himself!


Asher was trying to get all the water off of his face.

This time he really splashed himself good!

We'll see if he will actually get in sometime this summer!

Laundry Basket

For a little boy this is more than just a laundry basket. It has provided much entertainment.

Picnic

We spent the day with our American friends having a picnic. It was nice to get out of the city and enjoy the mountains and waterfall that were around us.

Asher was excited to be outside all day. Numerous times throughout the day he would excitedly say "water! water"! One of his new words.


The kids all enjoyed running around, getting dirty and playing near the water.


We had a gorgeous view all around us. Reed hiked up to where the waterfall came out of the mountain and got this picture from above.


The men were hard at work cooking our burgers.

We had brought a lot of yummy food!

Dan and Lynn brought their hammock and guitar. We enjoyed relaxing and music.

A relaxing day would not be complete for some without a game of Settlers of Catan.

This picture was taken at the end of our day. Asher was pretty wiped out, but loving every minute of the outdoors.

One of Asher's favorite things was to throw rocks into the water.

It was an enjoyable day with friends and beautiful scenery.

Queen Lorelai and King Asher

We went out for a traditional Turkish breakfast the other day with our friends. Lorelai and Asher sat at the head of the table in these high chairs. This picture isn't the greatest picture, but
they looked like royalty in these tall high chairs sitting above everyone else. The chairs were pretty impractical. They were taller than the table and had no trays, but nonetheless, it was cute.

High School Visit

My (Reed's) friend is a High School Geography teacher in a village not far from our city. He invited me to come with him last week and meet his students and fellow teachers.

Here I am with my friend (center) and his friend (left), an English teacher.



Here is the English classroom. They were very excited to have a native English speaker join them in their class.



So excited in fact, that they got up and performed some cultural dances (below).



After their dancing performance, they requested that I sing a song in English. Yes, they asked ME to sing. After many polite refusals they finally relented. As an alternative, my friend had Elvis Presley on his cell phone, so we all enjoyed "You Aint nothin' but a Hound Dog". Ahhh, the beautiful and bizarre occurances of cultural exchange.

I was paraded around to several other classrooms as well, and students were given the opportunity to ask me questions. This was really a challenge given my language abilities, but it was a very interesting look at the local educational system.