A Double Baptism

About a year and a half ago (yes, I'm slow) our sweet Alex chose to be baptized.  It was a wonderful day made even more special by the fact that we were able to do it in the Mediterranean Sea and to share the day with a good friend.  It just so happened that our friends' daughter Alina had also just turned 8, so we decided to baptize them together. On the day of the baptism our ENTIRE branch (all 30, or so, of us) loaded up in cars and drove to a beach just outside the village of Yumurtalik. 


They had been holding hands as they walked, but we missed it.

Apparently, a serious discussion

Alex and Alina posing before.


The weather was wonderful and, I'm told, the water was only a little cold.  We had the whole service right there on the beach...complete with prayers, talks and music.  A local man got curious about what we were doing and stood with us on the beach for most of it. It was definitely memorable!

Headed into the water with Dad.  He was a little nervous.

And, when he came back up.

 

We ended the morning by having refreshments served out of the back of the vehicles and then driving home.  It was a good day!



Gramma and Papa and Halloween Fun

We were so excited last fall to have Gramma Connie and Papa Ray (my wonderful parents) come out for a visit. They stayed with us for almost 3 weeks and we had so much fun. (This will not be the only post about their visit.) For now lets focus on the fact that they were here in time for Halloween. YAY!

Our Halloween fun started with the annual parade at the school. Keri's Sure Start class dressed up as alphabet trees from the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom".  The rest of the elementary students dressed in rhyming costumes. Its always interesting to see what the kids come up with.

Batman with a Frying Pan

Jedi with a Black Eye

It's funny...last year Alex was Batman with a frying pan and Garret was a Jedi with a black eye.  I guess our boys aren't very original, but it's nice that we can get by with using the same old costumes. Next year we're going to have to try something new.

They donned their costumes again on Halloween night for some trick or treating here on base.  Lizzy dressed up as a Shadowhunter (from The Mortal Instruments series) complete with runes of power. Luckily, we had Gramma Connie here to draw the runes on with an eyeliner.  Alex and Garret stuck with the same costumes they had worn for school (minus the rhymes). Keri was, of course, a princess.



Ready to slay some demons

Don't mess with Batman.

My favorite Jedi knight (this year).

All hail Princess Keri!

My wild bunch.

 We all had a lot of fun and the kids got a lot of candy to share with Mom, Dad, Gramma and Papa. :)

Carpets in Cappadocia

For my final post about our adventure last spring in Cappadocia I would like to tell you about a marvelous place.  It is a place where they make, display and sell (to those who can afford it) some of the loveliest carpets I have ever seen.  Ladies, who have learned carpet-making from their mothers, come to perfect their skills. They stay for a year (I believe), complete one carpet, and take a loom home with them when they leave so that they can continue earning money.  The wool and silk that they use is spun there. We even got the chance to see them harvesting the silk. They put the empty silkworm cocoons in hot water and them pick them up with this little broom.



Pulling the cocoons.

Once they are able to find an end they hook it to a machine and it pulls the thread out. That's not the best description, but it was pretty cool to see.

 

 

It was amazing to watch the women working on the carpets. Only the most talented are able to work with silk because it is so fine it requires both more skill and precision. The wool ones looked difficult to me, but the ladies were working like there was nothing to it.

 

 

After seeing the workers, we were led to a viewing room where they laid out various carpets for us to look at. They even encouraged the kids to get down and crawl around on the carpets.

 

 

 

 

There were so many other fabulous carpets, truly works of art, that I don't have pictures of. We are definitely going to have to go back...

 

 









Eating in Cappadocia

I love Turkish food, as is evident by my weight gain in the last 20 months. The bread, the spices, even the lamb (which I've never cared for before).  The food in Cappadocia was a little different than what we get here in Adana, but it was still yummy.

At our first stop, the underground city, we found these great snacks. They're spiral-cut potatoes on a skewer and they're fried up like potato chips. Simple, tasty, and just a little different for novelty's sake.

Later, we went to lunch at a restaurant in Goreme.

I can't seem to caption the pictures. :(  We started with the requisite bread. You know bread is good when Ben digs into it.  The boys were so excited that they were each able to get their own pizza...until it showed up with sliced tomatoes on top.  Lizzy got pasta. Keri got cigar borek (cheese wrapped in a very thin dough). Ben and I got testi kebap which is cooked in clay pots which they open at the table for you.  His was lamb. Mine was chicken. They both had tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms in them. It was all very good.

The great food continued for the next day and a half, but there's no more pictures. I really am going to miss Turkish food when we leave.

Pottery in Cappadocia

Turkey is filled with beautiful, hand-painted pottery in stunning colors and designs.



 

 

 

Ben actually prefers the designs that are less colorful. I believe they're Hittite designs, but I can't remember for sure. We bought a vase and plate similar to the pattern on the ones in the far right of this picture.

 

 

We were able to watch a potter at his wheel...which he spun with one leg while shaping the vase. It was pretty cool.

 

Then, he offered us a chance to try. Lizzy, Alex, and even Ben gave it a shot. They had fun and did a pretty good job.

 





Climbing in Cappadocia

The first place we visited was an underground city.  It made me think of the cave system in Stephenie Meyer's The Host. 


Rolling stone door used to keep raiders out.

Ben ended up exploring deeper into the caves with Mark and Krystal Bowen while the rest of us took the kids back to the surface. While they were climbing around they came across the remains of  a cow and a sheep that were partially decomposed. Yuck! They also took quite a few pictures...as you might be able to tell by his face, Ben could have done without the photo ops. haha

 

 

Ben and the older three kids did lots of climbing on the hills and ruins, as well. It sometimes made me nervous, but they did really well. If you look really close in this picture you'll see two figures on the ridgeline...they're my kids...this is one of those times I was nervous.

 

 

There were cliff dwellings too.  We even saw some that were still occupied, but I don't have a picture of those.

 

 

Mark in a crevice

 

Ben and Krystal are up in that shadow.

 

I like this picture of Ben and Alex.



 

Climbing was by far Ben's (and the kids') favorite part of the trip.  

 







Shopping in Cappadocia

Cappadocia offers great shopping opportunities. From small stands set up near other attractions (such as the fairy chimneys) to larger shops in the villages, there is always something to spend your money on.  And we enjoyed all of it.

 

There were a number of stalls outside the underground city that we stopped at on our way to Goreme. We looked at a lot of fun things, even tried some on, but bought very little. Each of the kids got a small soapstone carving, but I didn't get a picture of those.

Garret in a hat/headwrap.

One of the things I was looking for was a great bag like the ones I had seen so many of the other ladies carrying.  They are made locally and are beautiful.  There were different varieties in a number of places, but I got mine in a shop in Goreme.  I found a cream-colored (linen, I think) one with deep, earthy colors and a black velvety one with bright colors and a touch of silver thread.  I couldn't decide which one I wanted.  Ben said the black one didn't really "look" like me, but I think that was just his way of saying that he didn't care for it. He knows me better than that (or should after 13 years). In the end he insisted on buying both of them for me. I love them and use them all the time.

 

While I was mulling over purses, Ben was checking out tablecloths and placemats. We didn't end up getting any because we couldn't agree on a pattern. We enjoyed browsing, though. Quite a few of the patterns reminded me of ones you would find in the southwest United States.

 



 

 

We also bought a desk lamp and some pottery. Both are still wrapped up because we don't have anyplace to display them yet. Here are some examples though:

 

 

 

Our lamp globe is blue. Our pottery (a plate and a small vase) are off-white with a black pattern...similar to the design on the far right of the picture.

 

The next find reminded me of my belly-dancing relatives and couldn't not be photographed. :)