Peeping Asher

Below is a picture of the front door to our apartment. We have a very thick, metal door with multiple locks and of course, a peep hole to look out and see who's on the other side. You don't see a lot of wooden doors and certainly not doors with a glass window in them to look out.

I use the peep hole quite often and am actually quite cautious about who I answer the door for.


I didn't realize my peeping was being watched carefully by a little guy in our home until one day I saw this......

It has been pretty funny watching him repeatedly go to the door and pretend to "look" out the peep hole to see who is here.

Now I'll say, "Asher, who is at the door?" and he will go and check it out for me. Very cute!

A BIG Party

On Saturday, a local friend took me to the local New Year's celebration. The New Year coincides (logically) with the first day of Spring: March 21st. Various cities in the region hold their festivals on different days. Our city's happened to be on the 20th. They estimate over 300,000 people attended the event. It was a day long event with speakers, musicians, bonfires, food vendors, dancing and flag waving.

Above is the main stage. Notice the Zacheaus-like minded individual clinging to the thin tree on the left about 50 feet in the air. What people do for a view!

Above: From where I'm standing all the way to the castle in the background was a solid sea of humanity.

22 weeks

So here it is: a side profile of my ever growing belly. I've realized most all of my family and friends have not and will not see me throughout this whole pregnancy. :( I am currently 22 weeks and feeling pretty good. I have occasional days of bad heartburn, but other than that, I can't complain.

I finally found a pair of maternity jeans here....not an easy find. And my spring maternity clothes are hopefully in a box coming across the ocean soon, thanks to my mom who is storing many of our things!

We are looking forward to baby boy #2!

Our New Grocery Service

For the past 8 months we've gotten groceries at a local grocery store about 5 minutes from us by walking. We are thankful that one is so close, because we walk to get our groceries and bring back only as much as we can carry. I've gotten better at gaging, by looking in my cart, when I need to stop and go pay. It is not really convenienent to have to walk all your groceries home and in fact there have been plenty of times where half way home I wondered what I was thinking trying to carry this much.

The past few months Reed has been the pack mule, mainly because he can just carry more and I stay home with Asher.

Well, a new service came to our city!!! Seriously, I could not be more excited. We got a flyer a few weeks ago advertising that a local grocery store now had online grocery shopping and home delivery. And the best part is that it is a FREE service. We give them a small tip when they arrive though.

So the past three weeks, I've ordered all of my groceries, (minus produce and meat) for the WHOLE week and the grocery service has brought my heavy bags to my door within two hours. It has saved time and the pain of hauling the really heavy stuff all the way home. It has also made going out and getting my meat and produce a much more enjoyable and easier experience. I can handle carrying home two bags!


Asher is shocked at the convenience of our new grocery service!


The grocery prices have been fairly comparable to other store prices, so it seems to be a pretty good deal. They don't always have everything I want, but for the most part I've been able to find quite a bit of the basics I need each week.

It has been a huge convenience, which I can't always use that word when referring to where I live! And today I can say I got groceries in my pajamas!! ( I had Reed answer the door).

We are quite progressive in our city, I have to say! :)

Ephesus: Part 2

Here are the remains of what used to be a library in Ephesus.


Reed thoroughly enjoyed himself as he took quite a few pictures of the remains of these old structures. It would have been pretty impressive to see it all back in the day.

A view of the library from the top of the hill.

All in all we had a great day. We found that February was a good time to go. It was beautiful, but not too hot and there weren't a ton of tourists.

Ephesus: Part 1

We toured the ruins of Ephesus. It was really cool to see all that remains and to think that the Apostle Paul was in this same place many years ago.

Reed and Asher inside the remains of a large theater.


A view from the top of the theater looking down. The acoustics were incredible in there. You could hear very plainly what someone was saying down at the bottom.

Asher took the opportunity to be center stage in the theater and do some running around.

It was such a beautiful day. It was really refreshing to not wear coats outside.

Izmir Trip

We really enjoyed our time in Izmir. It was refreshing to have warmer weather and at times we even went without our coats.

Asher and I in front of Konak Tower.

We loved walking along the Aegean Sea. It was beautiful and they had some really nice, SMOOTH walking paths. Our city is lacking in smooth walking areas, so we certainly notice and appreciate this!

I am taking a much needed rest as Reed is taking pictures of the sunset.

A beautiful view

Yes, we did let Asher out of his stroller on this trip. By the end of the week, he was tired of it and loved to run around when he could.

Istanbul Trip: Part 5

What would be a trip without indulging in some delicious food?

We ate at a great Mexican restaurant, El Toridos.


Asher enjoyed a little ice cream after his meal. The big huge Pepsi is Reed's pop, not Asher's!


We enjoyed some pizza from Pizza Hut. Unfortunately, I had a cold on this trip, so my taste buds weren't quite fully functioning. That was a little disappointing. Reed said the pizza tasted exactly like home. I still ate mine trying to imagine! :)


Not one of Reed's best photos of the trip. But this sums it up. A kleenex was never far from my face. It didn't stop me from having a great time though!

Istanbul Trip: Part 4

We toured the New Mosque as well.



The inner courtyard


A view from inside

Istanbul Trip: Part 3

We toured the inner courtyard of the Suleyman Mosque. Unfortunately, we couldn't go inside due to renovations.


A view from the wall surrounding the mosque.


Asher is loving it! We realized he had a pretty cushy ride on this trip: getting pushed around everywhere, being offered snacks and beverages every few hours. I think I would have liked that too!