picnics, Picnics, PICNICS!!!

We are fully into the swing of spring here and what does that mean for us? Picnicking season has arrived! It is all kicked off by the big new years celebration (naw roz, see previous post) and for the next 8 weeks (at least) we will go on a picnic every Friday. It is a great way to connect with people and really take advantage of the beautiful weather.

For the holiday week we chose to go with some close friends of ours to a place that we found by chance this time last year. It is a beautiful spot that you can only get to by dirt road. Once you drive down a mountain and into the valley there is nothing to be seen but rolling hills and more mountains. We have learned that for the people here the best places are near a stream and surrounded by trees. When we previously went to this spot we weren't near either of those things (although it DID have a waterfall that you could see in the distance). We thought we remembered a place that might work to meet all of our needs, so we set out for the 45 minute drive from our house to this spot. When we got there we really lucked out! Where we thought we remembered a small grove of trees, not only were there trees, but a stream! So after parking and rolling out a mat onto the grass we immediately put our watermelon into the stream to chill (a popular practice here).

Making chicken kabobs.

Green is starting to burst out everywhere!

This should be a picture for an American car commercial...the truck is a Ford and our Chevy is on the right:-)

We ate delicious food, talked, and even did some hiking. Zeke absolutely loves these times and Ethan is starting to really get into it. We were very tired by the end of it all, but it was a day well spent. I will include a video below that shows you the road we drove in on (the spot shown is past where we were picnicking since we were in an adventurous mood). Expect more posts to come on picnics and beautiful scenery!

Naw Roz 2711

It is that fun time of year for us where the entire city around us is ready to celebrate. According to the calendar of the people here it is the year 2711 today. To kick off the holiday they have a parade of people the day before. Everyone gets dressed up in their cultural clothes and goes out to walk along a street that is closed off for about a 2 mile stretch. We love to participate in this holiday. It is the most festive and everyone gets into it. Everyone is in a great mood and enjoying being together. This year we were able to recycle an outfit from 2 years ago for Ethan to wear. However, we weren't able to get a new one for Zeke this year, but I got a new dress. Scott continues to wear his same outfit since the men's outfits never change style!



Our house is only about 2 blocks from the big street that everyone goes out on, so we packed up the boys into strollers and headed out. Just in the last week it has warmed up into the 70's and the sun is out. We are so thrilled to be done with winter! The boys are finally starting to shed some of their extra layers of clothing and we are starting to open up windows to air out the house after being closed up all winter. The day of the parade was absolutely perfect. We were able to stay out for several hours before the boys were overwhelmed and Scott and I could no longer walk due to the blisters and cuts our shoes were causing. Ah, the things we do in the name of looking good! It is so much fun, however, to get all dressed up for this holiday. Everyone has a unique outfit that has been made just for them. The women have slightly different styles that come out each year. I'm hoping that the dress I picked for this year will be a bit more of a "classic" look so that I don't have to get a new one every year:-)



There is tons of music and everyone you look at gives you a smile. Our family was followed by a photo journalist for awhile until we finally lost him in a crowd. The boys had tons of pictures taken of them, especially Ethan since he was wearing the traditional clothes. Both boys handled all of the pictures, cheek squeezes and kisses like champs! Despite the huge crowds we always find friends and people that we know.
This is my absolute favorite time of the year. It is finally spring and it is great to see everyone getting out and having a good time. Another aspect I love about not only this holiday, but the culture in general is how all of the fun transcends generations. You see groups of people dancing and singing and its not just the young or the old, but a mix of everyone. It really resonates with me having celebrations and times of fun where everyone in the family has fun and has a place in it all. We really love our home here and the people we work among. The rest of the week will be picnics and other outings...stay tuned for more!

**birthday fun**

It is very hard for me to believe, but Ethan is already a year old! It is crazy for me to think how we were just returning from Jordan about this time last year with our new little guy. He has brought so much joy to our lives and we are so grateful that God has blessed us with him. We weren't able to have his party on the actual day so instead we made a little family celebration where he experienced birthday cake for the first time and got his birthday present from us:

I think we have a fan!

A few days later we invited some friends over and had a small party. Because the day we had planned to have the party ended up being a day where many people in our city intended to have a very large protest we decided to make the party earlier in the day, so instead of doing a lunch, we did brunch, complete with a pancake cake!


I discovered that a morning party is much easier than one later in the day. Breakfast foods are so easy and many of them can be made the day before. I think this may become the way we do it from now on! It was a wonderful day. Ethan had his brother and four little friends there with him. We are very blessed to have people around us who love on our children and want to celebrate how unique and special they are right along with us. It makes it easier when we can't have family with us during these special times. As always God provides all that we need:-)

Still ticking!

Once again I find myself in need of apologizing...yes, life has been crazy, yes we've been busy, but I am still sorry to those of you that check in every week with us and over the last month have been left wanting. I will strive to do better! That being said, I would like to give you a short overview of the last month and then over the next week post some additional blogs with more detail to make up for my laziness during February.

This past month life has been a bit different for us as protests have rippled through the region over political corruption and want of freedom, finally hitting our city nearly 3 weeks ago. We experienced our first city wide curfew after the first day of protesting erupted into violence between local security and protesters. We haven't had a curfew since that first night, and people have fought to demand change in a peaceful fashion. Protesting is also happening in others cities around our region as well as in the rest of the country. Some of these demonstrations are not happening peacefully. It has been sort of surreal for us as our friends tell us different stories about what has happened. Interestingly for us, many seem hesitant to speculate on what the future will bring. Usually people always are willing to offer a thought or opinion, but like us, are watching and waiting to see what will come. Life is going on as usual in many ways. We just finished up classes this past week and only had to cancel one coffee shop night (the night of the curfew). We have had some days where we have planned to stay home due to questionable circumstances, but as each day passes, thankfully, nothing big happens. It has become our nightly routine to check in with a local blogger who is chronicling each days events from the center of the city where the primary protests are happening. These are interesting times, to say the least, but we continue to trust in God's sovereignty over all things and live our lives accordingly.

Ethan celebrated his first birthday this last month. I will write about that in more detail in another blog. I also had to say goodbye to by sister a couple days ago as she finished her 6 months of serving with us here. It was wonderful having family here with us and for our boys to get to know their Auntie. We have had a number of times meeting with friends and enjoying the weather as things are starting to warm up. Zeke and Ethan are doing great. They are playing together more and more, which means that we are dealing with lots of fights over who gets which cars. Ethan has already learned the skill of grabbing a car from his brother's pile and trying to hide it behind him while his brother grabs at it! I am loving watching their relationship grow and develop!

Even though we are in uncertain times it is encouraging to know that we serve One who knows all that has been, is and will be. No matter where you are, it is all about walking daily in trusting all that God has for you. We continue to do that and will keep you posted as things in our context develop. Check back soon for birthday party details!