Snow Day

As I write this post, our lows are in the upper 40's and highs near 60 some days, but a little over a week ago, it snowed in Amman! Since living in Jordan the past 3.5 years, we have only had a dusting, but this was legit snow. Soft, heavy snowflakes, the nice pretty snow. 

The boys were already asleep when it started falling. We contemplated waking them up, and probably would have if we knew that school and work would have been cancelled the next day, but we let them sleep. They were super excited to see the snow when they woke up the next morning, and even more excited that we all had the day off together!

Backyard covered in snow.

We enjoyed the little bit of snow while it lasted. It sure seems to be done for this winter season, but you never know!

Broken bones, round 3

Benjamin fractured his left arm arm at school last week. He was playing with some friends at recess and fell on the concrete. Since arriving in Jordan, this is his third broken bone. A couple of years ago, he fell off the couch and had a severely broken right arm. Shortly after healing, he jumped off of the same couch and over a cardboard wall he built, and fractured his right ankle. So, we are getting to know the various hospitals and orthopedic doctors around here!

When I picked Benjamin up from school, he was in good spirits and had a smile on his face. His teacher told us that he never complains at school, so when he was holding his arm, she knew he was in pain.  The school nurse advised taking him to the hospital for an x-ray, and sure enough he fractured both bones in his forearm. Benjamin is a very good patient and was really brave.

Nathan met us at the hospital and the orthopedic followed shortly after.  The doctor was trying to talk to him and as he was wrapping his cast, and he asked Benjamin if he likes soccer. Benjamin thought he said sucker, and told the doctor, "you are a sucker!" We laughed and were glad to see his feistiness, despite his discomfort.

He had a nice welcome back at school the next day from his teachers and friends, and the Principal called us to let us know how proud she was of him for being brave. Benjamin was excited to show us all the signatures and pictures on his cast.  Since he is left-handed, he is already working hard to get proficient with his right hand - everything from brushing his teeth, eating, combing his hair, getting dressed one-handed, and even writing! Of course we will help him when he needs it, but he is very independent and a hard worker, and is proven to be quite efficient in the few days he has had his cast on.

Here is a funny re-take of a picture from when he broke his right arm a few years ago:

January 2016

January 2019

Just 5 weeks, then Benjamin will be good as new again!

A visit to the King Talal Reservior and Scandanavian Forest

We took a day off work to spend the time with the big boys, and ventured to the King Talal Dam and Scandanavian Forrest. It was beautiful weather to be outside and explore. This was our first visit to the dam and it was interesting to see. The dam is about 45 mins away, in the northern hills of Jordan, across from the Zarqa River. It is used to store winter rainwater and treated wastewater from Zarqa and Amman and to irrigate the Jordan valley. 

On the shore, the boys had fun throwing rocks and collecting bamboo sticks.

We even saw a guy rowing across the dam using shovels as oars, haha!!

It was nice to see something different and to be outside.

Our next stop was the Scandinavian Forrest. It is one of our local favorites to hike around and only about 1/2 hour away. I love the view of the city from up top and how clean and fresh the air feels.

Setting off on the hike. 

The hike is a loop and you get beautiful views all the way around.

Benjamin collected a lot of pine cones on the hike. They filled our pockets and the backpack!

And Caleb found some sticks that looked like bones. They like to go on dino bone hunts on this hike :).

And of course they thought it was funny to hike in a forbidden area...part of the sign says it is forbidden to enter, in Arabic.

Nathan ended the hike by surprising the boys with hot chocolate in camping mugs. It was a fun day :)

Eliza: Four Months Old

This sweet girl turned 4 months old this week. She is changing so much and we love every moment with her. Her neck is getting very strong and she holds it up well. The past couple of weeks, she has enjoyed her sitting in her bumbo seat and exploring the toys. She is starting to grab onto items and bring them to her mouth. The boys say she is tasting the world :). 

This month is started giggling a lot when you tickle or startle her. I think one of the things she enjoys most is watching her brothers play and talk to her.

Eliza eats 5 to 6 times a day.  She is in 3-6 month clothes and size two diapers. At her appointment earlier this week, she weighed 16lbs (50th%) and was 24.5 inches long (80th%). We are so in love with this little girl, and are so thankful for her.

Merry Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrating the birth of our Savior, and spending with family and friends. Over the weekend, our church had the Christmas Eve service. Eliza in her Christmas outfit and Jordanian bib :)

Before service, the church held a potluck dinner.

On Christmas Eve, we did some baking. The boys made cookies, and I made some sweets to bring to a friends' house that evening. 

Benjamin likes helping me bake, this was lemon bars.

On Christmas Eve, we celebrated with several friends at Joe and Nadine's house. We had a delicious Lebanese dinner and enjoyed time together.

Nadine and Eliza :)

Nadine's mom. She has 22 grand kids, a few great grand kids, and I think she said 3 great, great grand kids! 

The kiddos at dinner. These 4 have become good friends over the past couple of years.

Dessert and drawing fun.

It was fun to be with friends, who have become family to us.

On Christmas Eve, it is our family's tradition to get new Pajamas for Christmas morning :).

Then we put out cookies, milk, and letters for Santa. All Benjamin said he wanted was a whoopee cushion, haha! We got online and tracked Santa to Djibouti, Africa, and got the boys to bed pretty quickly all the excitement considered....

Ready for the morning. 

 The next morning before opening gifts, we have a big breakfast of Nathan's mom's egg casserole recipe, cinnamon rolls, sing baby Jesus Happy Birthday, and read from the Bible. The boys and Eliza got lots of very nice gifts and they have enjoyed playing with them all week since they have a two-week school break. Thank you everyone for the very generous gifts!

Yep, that's Chinese Uno and we are all having fun playing!

It's fun seeing them play battleship together, a game from our youth.

Caleb was so excited to get the 'I Survived' book series. It's historical fiction, and hits on a some significant events from this U.S. history.

Once a Bobcat, always a Bobcat :). Their school in Illinois....

This sweet girl took a couple of breaks to eat and sleep, but mostly was smily and happy to watch her brothers play!

Daddy and his mini-me :)

We praise God for this season, for the time to teach our children about Him, and for the wonder of His miracles. 

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ~Isaiah 9:6. 

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Biblical Archaeology Trip to Tel Hammam, Heshbon, and Peor

Last weekend, I visited a few biblical sites with a group from our church. One of the elders, who led the trip, is an archaeologist and his passion is teaching the Bible through archaeology. We visited three sites: Tel Hammam (biblical Shittim), Heshbon, and Peor. What started as a very rainy and foggy day in Amman, ended up as a clear and and beautiful day down in the Jordan valley. It was such a neat opportunity to see these locations and understand the Old Testament in new ways.

Our first stop was Tel Hammam, which was the headquarters of the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan River to conquer Jericho. This is also the place where the Tabernacle would have been, and where Moses commissioned Joshua to lead Israel into the promised land. The main road going north-south is called the King's Highway, because it transited through many kingdoms of Biblical times, and it is still called the King's Highway today. I always thought the highway got it's name because Jordan is ruled by a King, and it was fascinating to learn that it preserved this name from Biblical times. 

Our guide explained how each layer gives evidence of the civilizations that once lived here, and that they keep building upon each other, to form the Tel. Some people also believe this site is biblical Sodom, but the after hearing the evidence from our guide, it was clear this is not the location. 

The next stop was Heshbon, which is a city the Israelites passed by on their way to the Promised Land. It was also the headquarters of the Amorite king, Sihon, and where the Israelites had victory over the king.

"For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon." ~Numbers 21:26

Unlike Shittim (modern day Tel Hammam), Heshbon had name preservation from Biblical times, so there are no arguments in archaeological circles about the authenticity of this site.

Our guide sharing about the history of Heshbon.

Beautiful views of neighboring towns in the valley.

Heshbon was full of ancient pottery. This is pottery from the Islamic Ere and the cubes are old mosaic pieces from the Roman and Byzantine Era.

The last stop of the day was Peor. It was a remote location, and the excavations at this site had not begun yet, but we saw evidence of one beginning soon. 

Before sites are excavated, a probing machine will take a sample and examine the wall of the earth for evidence of previous civilizations, artifacts, etc.

From the peak at Peor, we could see Tel Hammam, our first stop of the day, and the peak behind us was Mt. Nebo, where Moses died after seeing the Promised Land.  Peor is a mentioned in Numbers, where Balak, the king of Moab, led Balaam at attempt to put a curse on the Israelites, who were threatening to occupy his land. We walked up to the top of the hill on the right. What a gorgeous view of the valley. 

This is looking to the west and is the route the Three Wise Men would have taken to get from from Sheeba (modern day Yemen) to Jerusalem, to worship baby Jesus.

Random rock formation.

Our guide shared so much Biblical history and knowledge, and it just blows my mind that we live in a place so rich of biblical history. 

My friend Victoria and I :). I rode down with her and her boyfriend, and it was nice to spend the day with them.

It was such a fascinating day, and I am so glad for the opportunity to go. Thank you, Nathan, for being an amazing husband and father, and for watching the kids for the day while I went on the trip.