Papa and Nana in Jerusalem

Papa and Nana made the long, 15-hour trip across the ocean to visit us. The day after they arrived, we loaded everyone into the minivan and took a trip to Israel.

Walking along part of the city wall.

As we sat down to eat lunch at a playground in the Old City, Andrew made friends with some Palestinian boys. The boys were very surprised that we could speak Arabic to them.

Here Papa and the boys are resting at a Muslim cemetery outside the Golden Gate. This is the gate where the Messiah is prophesied to enter during the Second Coming.

This picture was taken inside a Russian Orthodox Church at the base of the Mount of Olives.

Inside the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Western Wall.

Overlooking the Garden Tomb outside the Old City's walls.

Santa's Visit to Jordan

Santa Claus visited the Embassy Friday morning. This was our first visit to Santa that ended without a crying child.

Colin's expression is half excitement and half fear. All along he told us he would not sit on Santa's lap, but we told him that he needed to put in his request for the toy kitchen that our little chief so much desires.

Andrew is still a "believer" in Santa. He is able to pick out fake Santas - like the female Santa who spoke Arabic and showed up at his friend's birthday party. At the party he pulled down the "fake" Santa's beard to be sure! This Santa, however, was the "real" one he said.

Gaby is probably a little too old to be sitting on a strange, older man's lap.

Gaby and Shelley got their hair cut and got all dressed up to go on their mother-daughter date to the Nutcracker.

Dibeen National Forest

Believe it or not, Jordan has one of the few national forests in the Middle East. About one hour from our home, near the town of Jerash, there is a national forest called Dibeen. I took our Colin, Gaby, and her friend.

I was able to use the four wheel drive feature in my Ford Escape for the first time.

I have tried to find the name of this tree, but have had no luck. It is a soft-wood, red-bark tree with branches that twist and turn in very neat formations.

As we hiked around, Colin continuously hummed the Indiana Jones theme music. He liked going on the "adventure."

Even though the weather is still nice, there are a few signs of fall.

I wanted to take this little guy home and adopt him as a pet. I don't know how Shelley and the neighbors would like my idea.

Holiday Activities at the American School

First grade Thanksgiving feast. Andrew (our picky eater) only filled his plate with corn, a roll, and about three desserts.

"Nine ladies dancing" at the holiday concert.

Jungle Bungle Movie

We ran out of things to do over this five-day weekend, so to entertain the kids we made a movie. Grab some popcorn and sit back to watch our 7-minute production.

YouTube Video

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Colin's Birthday

Our little Colin turned four this week. We took a tour with the Embassy of an olive oil factory the day after his birthday. Colin loved seeing the machines that smashed and mixed the olives.

It is fun living abroad because you always find neat things in the host country that you can incorporate into your own traditions. Here is our latest discovery, Jordanians have fireworks on top of their cakes (wedding, birthday, etc). We did a trial run on his actual birthday and it was a huge hit. Shelley made him two ice cream cakes, one for the family on the 10th and one for his party that weekend. Both were balls because Colin LOVES all sports. He is our little jock. We are thinking of sticking these fireworks all over the turkey for Thanksgiving! What do you think?

Party Time! We invited a few families who have kids Colin's age. They played sports-themed games and we had a barbeque. We made all the kids eat in the sunroom off the kitchen. It made for easy clean-up since you can practically hose-down the mess onto the patio.

We cannot have a birthday party for Colin without a pinata! He is our pinata boy. They were so cheap in Mexico we use to buy them for toys for Colin. We would tie one up in the backyard when he was two years old and he would hit it for weeks till there was nothing left. This one came in our shipment and it was hard for Colin to wait for the big day (thus the tape job to keep it together where he had gotten to it). We taught his new friends the "pinata song" in Spanish and it was pretty cute listening to them all sing their best version.

Cake #2! We started with real candles and then put on the fireworks. The kids were all so excited that we did not get any pictures since we were both trying to keep the kids away from the fireworks.

Funny moment: We did the pinata first so Colin was already eating candy when it was time for cake. We sang to him and no one noticed he was eating a taffy when it was time to blow out the candles. He blew and the candy went flying across the room! All the kids could not stop laughing. Colin of course wanted the candy retrieved for further enjoyment and did not even notice everyone laughing at him!

We sure love our Curby! He is at a fun age. He is either making us laugh or driving us crazy. He is full of energy and never stops moving. He still LOVES to eat and when he is not eating he likes to pretend to be cooking and eating. The latest thing he does is he pretends to prepare the Sacrament (from church) while playing in the sand box. He will say a pray and bless the bread and water (his sand toys) and then pretend to partake. It is pretty funny.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CURBSTER!

Marine Corps Ball at the Dead Sea

Last night Shelley and I attended the Marine Corps Ball. This is a yearly formal ball hosted by the Marine Detachment assigned to the U.S. Embassy. The event celebrates the Marine Corps birthday. This year, the Marine Corps turned 234 years old.

The event was held in an outdoor arena at the Movenpick Hotel at the Dead Sea. Even though the nights are cold in Amman, at the Dead Sea the temperature was perfect for an outdoor event. We enjoyed the buffet dinner around the pool and then danced for several hours.

Me and my good-looking wife.