Geeky Glasses

Asher got a Mr. Potatohead from his Nana and Popi. He liked it, but enjoyed even more Mr. Potatohead's glasses. He wanted to wear these glasses a lot even though they hardly stayed on his face. The glasses even got a spot in our medicine cabinet next to daddy's glasses before he went to bed. :)

Asher shared the glasses with his younger brother. Urban didn't seem to get them on right side up!

You just never know what is going to be a hit with kids. Who knew Mr. Potatohead's glasses were going to provide so much entertainment?

Kurban Bayrami

Kurban Bayrami (Feast of Sacrifice) is a 4 day holiday that was celebrated a few weeks ago here. The holiday celebrates the near-sacrifice of Abraham's son and his obedience to God. The morning of the first day of this holiday the men of the household usually slaughter a sheep, goat or cow. The meat is prepared for a feast and often excess is donated to charity or the poor.

We innocently went on a walk this day with my in-laws and came upon many gatherings where animals were being sacrificed. Car washes were the common location to have this done. Below is a picture of sheep that would be sacrificed and also a picture of men gathered around a cow that had been slaughtered. It isn't a close up picture, but if you get queasy thinking about it you might want to bypass looking at the photo.





Most businesses were shut down for the 4 days. The first day is spent with family and the following days you visit your friends and wish them a "Happy Bayram". We took my in laws to my language tutor's house to wish them a happy holiday. It is typical to be served tea or juice and baklava. My tutor's family also served us "sarma", which is rice wrapped in grape leaves.

It is a holiday unlike any I've ever experienced before and very important to the people of this country.

Sweet Reunion

We had the blessing of family visiting in November. We hadn't seen Reed's parents (other than through skype) for almost a year and a half. It was a sweet reunion. We were giddy with excitement to see them. These pictures were taken at the airport when we went to pick them up. Asher and Urban warmed up quickly to their Nana and Popi and had a blast with them.

More pictures to come.....

Painting

Asher got some paints and an art smock for his birthday in October. I finally got them out today for Asher to try out. I think the prep and clean up took longer than the actual painting, but Asher did have fun.



Here is Asher's first masterpiece:

Sights of our City

Here are a few pictures of sights you may see in our city: (thanks to my in laws for taking great pictures around town the last two weeks!)

Currently it is mandalina season here (at home I think they are called clementines). Do you think they have enough at this market? :) We've eaten our fair share these last few weeks.


It seems we always attract a crowd. Did we have "foreigner" written all over us or maybe it was the cameras around our neck that gave it away! The kids were certainly excited and curious about us.



A park in our city center with a large mosque in the background:


The mosque in our city center:

It is common place to see large area rugs hanging over balconies. Women will clean their rugs by hand and hang them to dry outside.


If you look closely, you can see a women shaking her rug out her window. Hopefully, no one was walking below or they may have been the recipient of some crumbs in their hair!

He's Found his Thumb!

Since Urban was a newborn he hasn't gone down to sleep very easily. But as of the last
few weeks, he has found his thumb! It has brought much peace to our home and comfort to him. Hopefully, he won't still be sucking his thumb at age 5, but as for now I don't mind!

Urban's a U.S. Citizen

Since Urban was not born in the U.S. we recently made a trip to the U.S. Consulate to apply for his passport, social security card, and U.S. birth certificate. We should be receiving it in the mail soon!

We took a celebratory picture outside of the Consulate. It is quite the fortress and high security there, so we made sure we were off the grounds before taking a picture!

Thanksgiving

It has been a long time since I've updated our blog. We've had a busy November. Reed's parents were visiting for two weeks. They were here for Thanksgiving so that was such a treat. I have tons of pictures so will have plenty of posts coming soon!

But for now here was our Thanksgiving:

We tried to get a family picture before our company came:

The boys with Popi and Nana:

Mommy's Little Turkey:


The kids coloring their turkeys before lunch:

Our table set for a feast:

The kids had Native American hats and Dan joined in on the fun:

Hanging out after lunch:

This day would not have been complete without a game of Settlers:

We had a great Thanksgiving! Not only did we have the blessing of friends to celebrate with, but also family! Not to mention a turkey (not easy to come by here), and many other yummy traditional Thanksgiving foods (some of which were imported!) made the holiday feel like home. We are truly blessed!

What to make with Pumpkin?

Pumpkins aren't easy to find here, but we did find this one a few weeks ago. This is my second fall of baking a pumpkin and freezing lots of pumpkin puree.

This pumpkin made 12 cups of pumpkin puree. My freezer is full, so I've been looking for different recipes to use my pumpkin. So far I've made several loaves of pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes, and am saving some pumpkin in small ice cube size portions for when Urban starts eating pureed food.

The other night I found a recipe for pumpkin chili. It caught my interest, but I was a bit skeptical that my family would enjoy it because there is no meat in it. To our delight we loved it. Here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Chili

4 cups of water

1- 15 oz can kidney beans

1- 15 oz can crushed tomatoes

15 oz. pumpkin puree

1 c. chopped onion

1 c. red bell pepper

1 c. uncooked bulgur

1 tbsp. chili powder ( I added a bit more, because I thought it needed it)

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

Mix together. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3o minutes.

Asher's Potty

Asher got a little potty today. I am not sure when I am going to start potty training him, but he is definitely interested. It may be because he has two little friends that he visits quite often and they have their own potties. Asher woke up from his nap today and was so excited to sit on it. Guess where he wanted to eat his afternoon snack?