Ajloun and more

This weekend we visited Ajloun Castle and took a drive around Jordan. It was a beautiful day to get in the car and go. We got to the castle mid morning and had a couple of hours to explore.

Entrance to the castle.

Boys making sure the walls were sturdy, they sure are, been around for close to 1000 years!

Views from the top.

Tes enjoying the view into Israel.

Heading down, down, down.

Snack break after the castle.

It's the olive harvest time, and we saw a lot of people raking olives out of the trees. We tried to find the local olive press which was apparently down the road, but we could not find it. They say the best olive oil comes from Ajloun. We did buy some manually pressed oil from a small shop, and we all agreed it was the best we have had!

We found a nice place to have a picnic for lunch.

Then look who we found, Uncle Hap! He was in town for meetings, and we had a quick meet-up during his lunch break. Without a doubt, the boys said the best part of their day was seeing Uncle Hap!

Heading out of town, see the castle on top...

We took a different route home though the Jordan valley and went through several small villages.

Approaching the valley

And into the biblical wilderness

There were so many greenhouses along the valley. It was amazing that just a couple hours prior, we were in the mountains and cooler weather and in the valley it is always warm. We turned off on our side of the Jordan river, across from where Jericho is to head back home.

It was a nice day to explore, show Tes around Jordan, see Uncle Hap...and watch an old sports car with monster truck wheels drive like a maniac!

International Day

Yesterday was International Day at the boys school. Kids were supposed to wear National uniforms from their home countries. Well, we didn't have any colonial outfits or Indians, so we stuck to baseball, a good old American sport. The boys rocked their Miami Marlin baseball jerseys and hats - thank you cousin John, and they looked adorable :).

Between the teachers and parents, we received tons of pictures from the class phone chat groups throughout the day. We had to bring in food from their country, and they were both assigned to bring in cupcakes. My attempt at American flag cupcakes :).

The kids looked so adorable in their costumes. In both of their classes it is majority Jordanian and Palestinian, and also kids from Lebanon, Iraq, and a few from America. This is Caleb's class.

And a guy shot. Caleb looks bored in this picture, haha!

All the American's in the four KG classes.

On to Benjamin's class.

The spread of the day. Wish I could have been there to eat all the delicious food!

The boys had a lot of fun at school that day, and we are glad for the exposure they get to so many different cultures.

Welcome to Jordan, Tes!

We are very thankful to welcome Tes to Jordan this morning! After many months of going through the approval process and paperwork, she is finally here. Everyone was very excited to see her when she arrived, and we are all so glad she is here. 

Let your new adventure begin, Tes!

Thankful For...

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year. I love the fall weather, the leaves falling off the trees (even though I have not seen a fall in a couple of years), and I love everything pumpkin. Everyday, I have so much to be thankful for, and I try to remember to thank God each day for the blessings in my life. This year, we made a thankful tree for our family. Every night at dinner, we all say one thing we are thankful for that day and we write it on a leaf. We just started a couple of days ago, it should be in full bloom soon enough.

This year, I challenge you to make it Thanksgiving every day! 

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God. Thessalonians 5:18

When it rains...

We've a week of crazy weather here! We had another dust storm earlier in the week for a few days, followed by a crazy rainstorm that flooded the streets and turned them in to mini rivers with rapids! Here's the dust storm...

Getting ready for school before the big rain. Thankfully we had rain boots for the boys. I  was shin high in water and pouring it out of my shoes after the school drop off. No drainage here!

This picture really does not do the road justice, I haven't seen rain like this in a while. So this weekend, we are ordering raincoats and umbrellas, and maybe even rain boots for the adults. That's what happens when you spend a couple of years living in the desert and only seeing rain a handful of times during our entire time there!

One of Benjamin's classmates posted a picture of their balcony on their class group chat we get on our phone. About 3/4 of Benjamin's class and 1/2 of Caleb's class stayed home on Thursday. Guess this is what we have in store for the rest of fall and the winter. Enjoying the change in weather, despite the crazy storms.

Around the world Activity

The boys have been learning in school about where around the world people are from. This week, there was a parent-student activity for Caleb's class that I attended. The moms in Caleb's class are friendly and many remembered me from the open house, which was comforting because most of them seem to know each other from years past. There were a few tables and there were 4 kids and moms per table. Our activity was cutting out people from different places around the world, decorating their clothes with fabric and colored beans and macaroni, and placing them in the paper-mache globe.

 Caleb was proud of his girl from India

 And China. He especially liked the red eyes and thought they were funny.

There was a little bit of geography challenges, which was kind of funny. Russia ended up around the UK, Holland in the Stans, and Saudi was down in Africa!

Caleb and I had fun doing the activity together and talking with the other kids at the table. The globe, along with other tables crafts, are proudly on display outside their classroom.

Mt. Nebo, Madaba, and before school fun

The weather has been beautiful, it's getting chilly and starting to feel like fall the past couple of weeks. We wanted to enjoy the nice weather, and took a drive to Mt. Nebo and Madaba for the morning. The views from Mt. Nebo are amazing. On some days, I'm still awestruck that we actually live here.

It's olive season and the harvesting is in full effect. We are hoping to find a press to visit to see olive oil being made.

Mt. Nebo

The tourism police stopped me and was laughing at how much energy Caleb has. All truth there, he goes all day long, it's amazing!

Mosaic floor inside the church.

More views from the top.

These maps are always a reminder of how close, yet how far we are away from Israel. It was a hazy day, but on clear days you can see over to our neighbors.

Next we drove to Madaba, which is only a few miles to the east. Last time we went was during the week and it was not busy at all. The weekend was much busier and we saw quite a few tour busses coming in.

We made friends with one of the shop owners, and he really likes the boys. People in the part of the world are so hospitable and they love kids. Mr. Malek was wrapping Benjamin in a traditional head scarf.

He looked cute, but it didn't last long.

Mr. Malek heard us say we were going to get pizza, and next thing we knew, it was there for us with fresh juice.

What is a visit without Benjamin being carted around by shop keepers!

Street with carpets and other handicrafts.

That evening, I tried a new recipe in our instant. It's a pressure cooker and crock pot combined, and it's amazing. I made Moroccan lamb tanjine, with fall off the bone lamb in about 45 minutes. It is spiced with turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, and bay leaves, and combined with soaked apricots and raisins and honey towards the end. It was delicious (though the it looks funny in the picture), and we enjoyed in for a couple of dinners and lunches. Even the boys liked it :).

In the mornings before school, the boys usually have time to play for a while. Caleb likes to line up all of his hot wheels team, and he is so proud and likes to show them off.

Yesterday, Benjamin decided he wanted to wear a tie to school. Doesn't he look just darling! I think he wore it all day long. His friends on the bus are the kids of our co-worker and they both came home and told their mom that Benjamin had a tie on today :). Love these boys!

Happy Monday!