Christmastime

I know it's been more than two months since I updated anything. My excuses are the following:
1. It was the holidays.
2. We had a wicked, horrible, terrible, awful, unforgettable bout with the flu that lasted two weeks.
3. Then we had wonderful visitors for the two weeks of Christmas and New Years.
4. School started again, including for me, and the combination of being a mom, a seminary teacher, and a master's student has been tougher than anticipated.
5. The initial thrill of Jerusalem (and blogging about it) has worn off, and I don't have as much to say... (actually, I'm going to now call it "blahgging")

Be that as it may, I'm going to try to catch up, and more for the sake of my record-keeping than for the sake of my readership. I've realized that I really do love this place, and there are so many things about living here and watching my kids experience the Middle East that I don't want to forget. And I don't want to forget the basic growing up stuff, which honestly, is so fun to watch. For example, Linda called me this morning just after getting to school. She was in tears, telling me she was sick and wanted to come home. I warned her that if I came to get her she would have to spend the entire day in bed--no TV, no toys, no fun. She said she wanted to come home anyway. I was frustrated. I had a full three and a half hours of nothing scheduled (the younger two being at preschool) and I was far behind in my reading for class tomorrow night. But I just kept thinking about the time I was in third grade and I hated my math class. My regular teacher was out on maternity leave, and the substitute made me nervous, so for four days in a row I managed to feel sick enough at math time to go to the nurse and call mom to come take me home. Finally, on the fourth day, Mom cornered me outside the nurse's office, in her work clothes, visibly frustrated at being called to come and get me, AGAIN. So I fessed up, and I don't remember now Mom's response. But I knew she loved me, even though I was having a hard time and making a hard time for her as a result.

So I drove through rush hour traffic to the school, walked into class, and Linda was just fine. She smiled sweetly and assured me she was okay, gave me a hug, and returned to her reading. And I felt proud that I had passed the test. And so I went home and fell asleep on my oh-so-urgent studying.

But this post is supposed to be about our Christmas. The best part was our visitors: Ed's sister Rachel and Ed's second cousin (and our dear friend) Leslie came from Utah to stay with us. We were so excited for them to come, and I'll always remember seeing them at the front gate of the Jerusalem Center. We had a wonderful two weeks, and their presence really helped us to feel like it was Christmastime. They are so good to the kids, and they understand the workings of our family, so it wasn't even an adjustment having them here. We got to show them some of our favorite places, and see some new ones as well. We discovered it is hard work to be tour guides, but it was worth every minute. We missed them as soon as they left, and miss them still.

Here are just a few photos of some of our fun in the month of December. Because I've been taking pictures with both my phone and my ipad, my camera upload is all confused and I can't find a lot of pictures I remember taking, i.e. our family photo in the shepherd's field outside Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. Hopefully someday I'll find them, and then I can share them. In the meantime, Leslie? Rachel? Have any pictures you'd like to contribute?

CHRISTMAS PROGRAMS

Sending the kids to a religious school is a new experience for me. The elementary put on two Christmas plays: the younger elementary kids did "The Landlord's Cat" about the inkeeper's cat who witnesses the nativity, and the older grades did A Christmas Carol. It was lovely to have prayers, songs about the Savior, and spiritual holiday greetings from the staff and teachers. The only bad thing was that A Christmas Carol was performed on the day Mary came down with the awful flu I alluded to earlier, and she had to give up her role as Mrs. Cratchit. She and I were both terribly disappointed she didn't get to perform, but at least the flu only lasted a couple days.

Linda was an adorable shepherd.

Isaac was one of the boys at Scrooge's old school. In case the photo is too blurry for recognition, Isaac is the one in the knickers, running around the circle.

The Star of the evening, with his proud mother, and cookie-loving little sister.

The Sabbath before Christmas (just after Leslie and Rachel arrived), the Branch Primary did a fabulous nativity, thanks mostly to Jolynn Williams in the Primary Presidency, who wrote, directed, cast, costumed, and did the sets for the play. The kids had a lot of fun doing it, and we had a lot of fun watching.

TOURING WITH RACH AND LES

Who wouldn't want to visit the oldest city in the world (Jericho) with the most exciting tour guide in the world (Ed with a baby on his back)?

My adorable peacocks. I think they are more beautiful than the real ones in the background.

At Qumran, site of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Isaac feeling the Thriller at Hisham's Palace

Rachel and Leslie in the Dead Sea. All of our kids tried to swim, but between cutting their feet on the mineral crystals and the sting of the salt water, all five of them were in tears within minutes of arrival. Then we had to hike back up the hill to the car, covered in slime and salt. Good thing Rachel and Leslie know us and love us, because we were a mess!

BETHLEHEM

On Christmas Eve, we braved the crowds and the security checkpoint and went to Bethlehem. The Jerusalem Center doesn't have insurance on the cars in the West Bank, so we had to park outside the security wall and walk into town. We ignored a number of taxi drivers, but one was particularly persistent, and he finally convinced us to let him drive us the 3 kilometers into town to Manger Square. We didn't realize he only had a sedan, but we all piled in (all nine of us, plus him) and after driving one block, he got stopped by the police, who took his license and gave him a ticket for having too many passengers. Then he drove us the rest of the way (he wouldn't hear of us getting out), then decided to escort us around town as our personal, un-requested tour guide. But wait... it gets better.

After spending just an hour at Manger Square, we were overwhelmed by the crowds and ready to head home, but we did get to see the Church of the Nativity, the supposed spot of the birth of Christ.

Isaac, Linda and a lovely icon

Looking down the stairs into the basement of the Church of the Nativity, where the manger is.

Looking back up the stairs from the basement. It was a unique experience to be there on Christmas Eve, with crowds of people from all over the world, all converging on a tiny basement to worship the same Lord.

And then, on the way home--accompanied of course still by the taxi driver--we stopped in the parking garage to use the bathroom. The bathroom was pretty disgusting, but due to urgencies, I let Abby use a stall by herself, in which she subsequently locked herself. It was the kind of stall that was completely walled in, and she was stuck in there for more than half an hour. While our taxi driver and six different security and maintenance guys worked on unlocking the door, Rachel and I kept Abby busy singing songs and telling jokes, and when she got a little scared we would have her stick her toe under the door and play peek-a-boo with it. Meanwhile, they took the door handle off, brought a ladder and tried to go in through the ductwork in the ceiling, and through the next stall over. Finally the taxi driver--yep, it really had to be him--clicked the lock and the door sprung open. When those rough Palestinian men saw the cute little blondie they rescued saying thank you in that sweet voice, they all just melted. And somehow they even came up with candy to give her (which she ate--UGH--before I could have her wash her hands).

Here's Rachel at the bathroom door while the workers went to get the ladder.

On the way home, we stopped at what BYU affectionately calls "Mormon Shepherd's Field." It was a little too chilly to hang out for long, but it was fun to be there as the sun was going down on Christmas Eve.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Mary making Christmas sugar cookies. She did almost everything by herself, and they were DELICIOUS!

Joe's favorite gift: a ball with a handle that makes lots of noise. What could be better?

The girls enjoying their watercolors from Grandma and Grandpa Stratford.

Grandma Taylor and her sisters made two adorable dolls with a plethora of adorable clothes for Abby and Linda's Christmas presents. I think Rachel and Leslie and I had more fun admiring them than even Abby and Linda did. I plan to do a post just on the dolls, so look for that soon.

On Christmas afternoon, since it's just a normal day around here, I took Rachel and Leslie shopping for olive wood. And look what I found:

What? Jimmer Fredette in olivewood? These merchants sure do know their market...

SANS RACHEL

Leslie stayed an extra week after Rachel had to move on to Italy, and we toured nearly every day, but we were relaxed enough to make time to take the kids on a train ride and eat Angry Birds Popsicles.

On Jaffa Street

Abby on the floor of a very crowded train.

Abby with Aunt Leslie

THE LAST DAY

On Leslie's final day in Israel, Ed and I took her to Tel Gezer, Jaffa, and the Mediterranean Sea. (We also made a little detour to IKEA for a couple things...)

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Leslie looking northward over the Israeli coastal plain from Tel Gezer.

Ed and Les exploring a cistern.

I'm not sure why this Tel Aviv tide wall had "Sever Utah Ether" painted on it....