The time has come that we say farewell to Turkey and to our past 10 years living overseas. We had no idea what incredible adventures that were in store for us these past 3 years, and living in Ankara exceeded our expectations in every way! Arriving in Ankara in the midst of COVID, we had the opportunity to travel all over the country (because everywhere else we wanted to visit had closed borders), had new cultural experiences as a family, and we met many wonderful people. Turkey is a place that will always be dear to our hearts, and we are thankful for our time that we lived here.
All of our stuff ready to go…it will be several months before we see our stuff again.
Our flight was at 4am, and Kadem and family wanted to come by at midnight to wish us off. It was sad to say goodbye, but we will keep in touch with them.
Loading the van at Park Oran - our building, A1 and heading to the airport.
We flew from Ankara to Zurich, then Zurich to Chicago, where Nathan’s family was waiting for us. Görüşürüz Türkiye, America, here we come!
Our last few days in Turkey, we soaked in beautiful sunrises and sunsets that we were spoiled with from our apartment, where we had a great view of Elmadag (Apple Mountain) and the forrest across the street. Despite living on the 10th floor of a 30 floor high rise building (in a community with 12 high rises), it was such a peaceful place and we especially loved the morning and evening views.
This was the forrest across the street from our neighborhood with miles and miles of trails leading to Lake Eymir, a lake we would sometimes rent bikes and stop for a bite to eat at one of the several restaurants on the water.
Nathan and I took a few half days the last week and went on some hikes in the forest together. Nathan went on many hikes in this forest and probably walked hundreds and hundreds of miles here in all seasons. Entering the forrest there are always lots of stray Kangal dogs keeping watch. They are well cared for by the community and are vaccinated and many are spayed.
After a short walk in the woods, the trail opens up to this beautiful valley with Lake Eymir below.
Signs of spring, lots of pretty blooming flowers.
Lake Eymir.
Love this man.
Our neighborhood, Park Oran, from one one of the trails. We loved this forrest and were so grateful we got to enjoy it over the years.
Nathan is an engaged, loving, and faithful father and husband and he deserves to be celebrated! We celebrated Father’s Day 3 days before departing Turkey at the first place we had Turkish breakfast, Big Chef’s, when we arrived 3 years ago. Happy Father’s Day to the man who means so much to us, our wonderful fathers, and dads we know. We love you Nathan!
The last couple of weeks before leaving, we had some good bye festivities. One day Kadem, Mustafa, Ezgi, and Ebru invited us for a BBQ at a park. They loved our children like their own, and became our family away from home these past 3 years.
Ezgi (their older daughter) and Eliza
Playing ball, it was a beautiful day to be outside.
Mustafa BBQ’d chicken and kofte and Kadem made some veggie salads. It was delicious.
The boys met some Turkish kids and had a soccer game.
There were some slides, trampolines, and a bungee jumper too.
Eliza adores their daughters Ebru (right) and Ezgi (left) and the feeling was mutual.
We are so thankful for their family, how well Kadem cared for our children, and loved getting to know them over the years.
Another weekend, we had a going away party for Caleb and Benjamin at a nearby play place they enjoyed going to over the years. They made many nice friends these past 3 years from school and the neighborhood. The kids enjoyed bowling, laser tag, VR, and cupcakes together.
Eliza’s friend Kinoa from school was there too. She also has two big brothers the same age as our boys.
Another day, Eliza had a play date at the park in our neighborhood with her little friends. We had so many kids in the neighborhood and thankful to have a wonderful space with multiple parks for them to play together over the years.
These are her two besties, Mafi and McKenzie.
Kadem and her family came too!
Ugur (Ebru’s fiancée), Ebru, Ezgi, and Eliza.
We also said goodbye to our Ford Explorer, that we got it in 2015. It was a very reliable vehicle that we drove thousands and thousands of miles all over Jordan and Turkey. It was a great vehicle for our family, but we decided to sell it in Turkey and get something more fuel efficient in the U.S.
This past year Eliza attended Minik Devler (Little Giants) preschool, and it has been such a wonderful experience for her. The school was converted from a youth sports facility and it contained a lot of space for kids to learn through being active. The majority of the kids in her class were Turks, she was the only American in her class, and she made friends with kids from a number of different countries. Eliza thrived in this school and between being home with Kadem and Ebru the past 2 years and then going to Turkish preschool, she left quite fluent. In school, they taught English, math, science, art, drama, various sports, swimming lessons twice a week, and ballet. It was such a fun experience for Eliza and she learned so much.
Turks believe children are the future and they are celebrated. Graduations are a big deal in Turkey (which we did not realize was the case even at the preschool level)! Here are some sweet graduation photos…
Ms. Rachel, Eliza’s main teacher. Eliza adored her :).
The girls and Ms. Rachel
We were told a couple weeks in advance that there was going to be a graduation ceremony for the preschoolers, but unfortunately Nathan and I already had plans to be out of town at Kars in eastern Turkey for the weekend. Kadem and her family took the kids to the graduation and were thrilled to be there to celebrate Eliza. The sign says graduation memory…
Cultural mishap…we had NO idea how big a deal preschool graduation was, all that was entailed, and how much the kids prepared for this day! Apparently all preschool graduations are similar to this, so Kadem and family expected this type of celebration. Get ready for cuteness overload…Kadem and the school director sent us many videos, here is a summary of each performanceFirst up was a ballet performance to ‘Let it go.’ Eliza had been dancing to this song in ballet, we just had no idea it was for the show :). She is the second orange tutu from the left.
Dance to Frank Sinatra ‘New York, New York’. She is on the back left.
Skit
The graduation march…
Way to go Eliza!
Proud brothers. Love these three and how they support each other.
So thankful Kadem and her daughters were there for this special day.
Eliza and Ebru, Kadem’s younger daughter. When Kadem had breast cancer a couple of years ago, Ebru, who was not working at the time, took care of Eliza for about 8 months and they became very good buddies.
Eliza’s school operates year round, so she attended school until a few days before we left Turkey. This is her last day saying bye to Ms. Rachel.
Saying bye to Mrs. Yasemeen, the school director.
We are so thankful for the wonderful experiences Eliza had at Minik Devler, and how it prepared her for entering school in the U.S.….kindergarten here comes Eliza!
