Easter weekend

It took us four days to celebrate Easter this year. My parents were here so it was fun to draw it out as long as possible. We started on Friday with a quick stop at the Garden of Gethsemane. Surprisingly, my mom and dad had it all to themselves.

We had the idea to stop in at the Garden Tomb on our way to taxi over to the market, but when we got there we realized why there weren't any tourists at the Garden of Gethsemane... seemingly, they are all at the Garden Tomb. I thought we should stop in just for a chance to contemplate the Easter season at a tomb that (at least) closely resembles Christ's tomb. It turns out that there was a worship session (advertised as "Son-Rise Service,") scheduled to start in fifteen minutes that wasn't too full. We decided to stay at least for a little and check it out. The music was rockin' and the people were partying in a very non-LDS way but it was actually kind of great. They handed out the lyrics to the songs so we could sing along. It was fun to be part of the crowd and celebrate the Resurrection in a new way.

Some of the crowd at the "Son-Rise Service"
Every continent except Antarctica was represented 

Dad getting into it

Aaron getting not so into it 

Mom and Dad enjoyed themselves

The Garden Tomb during the service

We stayed for half the service then ducked out to get on with our day. It was a pleasant way to start the Easter weekend, particularly because we hadn't planned to go. If we would have put it in the schedule and gone out of our way, it wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable. But as a coincidental stop-by it was nice.

On Saturday we continued our Easter celebration with our Sabbath Easter service. I spoke in church on John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world that he gave his only Begotten Son...") and how that relates to Easter. I talked about Easter as a holiday of love and sacrifice. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loved us and made sacrifices to show that; we make sacrifices in our lives to show our love to them as well as to the people around us.

On Easter Sunday we celebrated with a traditional Easter dinner with friends. Our good friends Rasmus and Martha from NYC came to visit a few days before Easter so they were here to celebrate with us. We also invited our friends the Williams family. Mom managed to get a nice-sized ham over here in her check-on baggage so we enjoyed some non-Kosher meat for the evening. We also had a little turkey, au gratin potatoes, "Angel" Biscuits (made with yeast but fast... super light and fluffy), chard casserole, and a green salad. All very yummy.

Karen, Kourtney and Rasmus helping to prepare the feast

Bedlam before the meal

Somehow we didn't take any pictures of the table but we had it set with bright colors for the occasion. 

For dessert mom made rhubarb pie and Jolynn made a cake. Aaron and Rasmus also made homemade vanilla ice cream. Rasmus had no idea what he was getting into when he asked if he could help, but he was a great sport about it. Aaron took the lead and poured half a bag of sugar in it. It turned out delicious in the end.

Jolynn made this cute cake

We continued with the secular celebration of Easter on Monday by dyeing eggs and having an egg/candy hunt. Aaron has known for years that Santa and the Easter Bunny are characters created to represent the fun and magic of the holidays, as brought to children by people who love them. We try not to talk about Santa or the Easter Bunny in ways that misrepresent actuality but somehow it's still magical for all of us. I love it when they visit our house! Aaron considered contributing to the role of Easter Bunny this year but instead chose to go play outside and be surprised. This year we sent an email to the Easter Bunny to let him/her know when would be a good time to come. We didn't know where to send it so we just went with easterbunny@gmail.com. We were all delighted to get a note back from EB saying he/she would do her/his best to accomodate our request. It made our day!

Aaron discovering "the Easter Bunny" had come

Elliot enjoying some Peeps brought from a USA-based Easter Bunny

Libbie was so impressed that there were candy and eggs scattered around the house
She was especially amused by this carrot-shaped chocolate

Elliot was also thrilled at the discovery of a chocolate carrot umbrella

Showing off his haul (which he later shared with his siblings)

Enjoying Easter treats on the couch, post hunt

Happy belated Easter everyone!

Catherine Visit: Day One (Jerusalem--Israeli Museum, Ammunition Hill)

The day before Catherine arrived, we realized that she arrived at Ben Gurion at 5:30 am and not 5:30 pm, as we had previously thought. Catherine sent me an email that said, "I AM NOT IN THE MILITARY!!" (Because if she were, she would not have mistaken an a.m. time for a p.m. time.)  Neither of us were expecting that she could possibly arrive at 5:30 am since most flights leave NYC at night and arrive here in the morning. But we were wrong, and she was indeed scheduled to arrive at 5:30 am. So we rented a car Saturday evening and I drove to pick her up first thing on Sunday morning. After a brief rest at home (which she abandoned shortly after starting, proclaiming, "How can I possibly sleep?! I'm in Israel!" So we headed out to see some local sights.

Our first stops were to see some of the viewpoints in our area that overlook Old and New Jerusalem. As we were driving and Catherine caught her first glimpse of the Dome of the Rock, she gasped, "Is that it?!! Wow, is that the Dome of the Rock?! I've been reading about that place for months!" Her excitement was contagious even though we see that dome almost everyday. Having visitors really helps us realize what an amazing place we live in. Catherine has said dozens of times, "This is where you live!"

Libbie took to Catherine ("Frinfrin") right away

Our next stop was the Israeli Museum, which has a model of Jerusalem in the second temple period (Herod's temple), the Dead Sea Scrolls (most of the ones on display are just fancy replicas since the real ones are in a vault somewhere in the basement), and quite an impressive collection of art, including a great sculpture garden.

The model of the Old City during the second temple period-- Herod's palace is in the foreground

One of the many outdoor sculptures in the garden

Elliot, Ben, Aaron, half of Libbie

There were several rooms there that had these butterflies all over the walls. We thought it would be a pretty great way to decorate a corner of a bedroom someday.

Elliot loved this sculpture of a Hindu god with thirty-four arms, each one holding a different weapon

After a few hours at the Israeli Museum, we went to our local falafel shop to introduce Catherine to French Hill falafel. The Arab guy who works there greeted us with smiles and fresh falafel. Catherine was instantly hooked.

Once we were full and ready to move on, we rode over to Ammunition Hill, where we read there would be a reading of the Esther story for the eve of Purim. Unfortunately, there was no megillah but we were treated to a propaganda-filled video about the events of the Six-Day War in 1967. I recognize that every story is biased in some way, but this was quite ridiculous. Every victory on the Israeli side was, according to this video, either a miracle or a result of pure hard work. Not to mention how they glazed over many tragedies of the war. It's to be expected in this sort of setting I guess. But what I want is a similar video from the Arab point of view. I get the feeling it doesn't exist though, which fact just further fans the flames of injustice. Anyway, the video was entertaining at least and informative in some ways. We were glad we went.

We had a few minutes after the video to wander around the grounds and check out the trenches they uncovered and tanks on display. We had fun wandering through the trenches, trying to not get lost. One of us may have accidentally succeeded in the getting lost part, but luckily it all turned out just fine.

Elliot being the leader on the stairs down into the trench

You can get a better idea of what the trenches looked like with this picture

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas here in Jerusalem, complete with Grandma Marsha and Grandpa John! Having them here really helped it feel like Christmas. Here's some evidence of that:

Libbie and "Baba" are real buddies

Santa came on Christmas Eve and stuffed our stockings with toys and treats, including Russian piggy banks and sugar cereal.

Stockings propped on the couch with care

Aaron got up to go to the bathroom at 5 am on Christmas morning but instead of going back to sleep like he usually does, he came into our room which immediately woke up Libbie. She in turn stood up and walked out into the hallway with Aaron, which woke up Elli. Soon they all were hopping excited. Grandma and Grandpa were still sleeping so Ben played with them until it was time to open presents, and I got to a nap for a little bit.

At about 6:00 am, we had a Skype date with my family in Utah so that we could all open our Christmas Eve presents together. We have a tradition of opening matching pajamas together on Christmas Eve, but since Elliot and I were in Bethlehem Christmas Eve, we waited until Christmas morning, which conveniently lined up with the Utah pajama opening.

This year we got red shirts that say "My family rocks" with black and white flannel bottoms. So cozy.

Soon after opening the pajamas, we woke up Grandpa and started the morning's rituals. I wish we would have gotten a picture of the kids all lined up and ready to walk in (like we used to do when I was little) but we didn't. This is the best we got.

After some time looking through stockings and the art supplies Santa left for the kids, we started opening presents. Christmas was on Saturday, which is the Sabbath here, so we were anxious to get started so we could still have time to get ready for church.

One of my favorite gifts of the day: a drawing of two knights fighting a dragon, made by Aaron for Elli

Explaining the details of the drawing

Excitedly showing it to mom (a close look at his expression shows that Aaron is immensely pleased)

The kids got books, games, puzzles, and more books from us and mostly from their ever generous visiting grandparents. One of my favorite parts about Christmas is sitting around in the afternoon enjoying new pastimes, gifts, and activities together, where the most important activity is, of course, eating yummy food.

Aaron reading Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen

Reading and drawing after church on Christmas afternoon (with new books and new art supplies)

Aaron read all the "Brian" books (Hatchet, Brian's Return, Brian's Winter, etc) and the first Redwall book within a week or so after Christmas.

Grandpa, then a bit under the weather, taking a rest among the delightful Christmas aftermath

Elliot putting together his new Batman puzzle

The final 48-piece product

(Elliot still loves puzzles, as he has for the last two years. At first he was a puzzle fiend, now he is just happy to play around.)

Christmas dinner: Salmon, Au Gratin potatoes ("All Rots" in Lambertese), cooked carrots, and orange rolls (not pictured)

Aaron made a rhubarb pie on Christmas Eve (by himself), which we happily sliced up and enjoyed throughout the week. It was really good.

Carefully cutting out the first slice

Mmmmmm

We had a wonderful Christmas overall. We hung out, opened gifts, went to church (Christmas on the Sabbath two years in a row is nice), hung out some more, had a feast, and then Marsha and John and Ben went to a non-Christmas related party. Actually, we had three separate invitations from friends to do something on Christmas, few of whom were aware of the fact that that particular Saturday happened to be Christmas. It has been immensely interesting to be surrounded by people who don't celebrate Christmas. It has forced us to decide how we want to celebrate instead of just going with the flow like we usually do. Not surprisingly, it turns out family, food, and worship are important aspects of Christmas. In other words, when Christmas is not everywhere, it is only what you make of it. In this light, a Christmas without all the trappings is a particularly special day. To Christmas abroad!

Krista and Chris visit: Day Three

Their third day here was Saturday, Shabbat. We started off the morning by going to church with our local congregation, which meets in a very impressive building up on Mount Scopus.

We walked around quite a bit after the meetings, where we had great views of the Old City and the surrounding areas.

We then went to a famous viewpoint on the Mount of Olives, not far from church. We stopped at the Church of the Ascension on the way, which was basically abandoned so it was kind of nice.

View from the Mt. of Olives

Petting the tourist camel

The boxes in the foreground are Jewish graves, since they believe that those buried in this area will be resurrected first.

After the view, we drove down a very thin, windy (with 70 degree angle turns, at times) walled-in road to the Garden of Gethsemane. When we arrived, we hesitantly parked on the sidewalk behind a van. A man ran up to us and said we were parked okay. He looked at our white church shirts and skirts and said, "You Mormon? Welcome!" We laughed and thanked him for the parking tip. He smiled at us and asked for five shekels, for "the parking help." He gave us "real branches from the garden. Very holy." I hope they weren't actually from the garden, and I doubt they are actually holy, but it was a nice gesture anyway.

We had a pleasant walk through the garden and church. Access to the trees was, appropriately, off limits to tourists but we could get pretty close. It was really amazing to look closely at the trees, which are estimated to be over a thousand years old.

A very small carving in one of the walls

The happy couple

After Gethsemane, we picked up some warm bread, pita, and hummus from a grocery store then went back up to the viewpoint for the sunset so Chris could take some pictures.

Our best attempt to get the five of us in one frame

Krista and Chris visit: Day Two

Our plan for the day was for me to take K and C to the Old City in the morning for a free tour, then return for a lunch of Chicken Apple Sausages KC brought all the way from Utah for Ben (who misses those more than anything else from the States). After lunch, Ben was going to take KC to the Western Wall for the Friday night Shabbat ceremony. Since this was during Hanukkah, we figured it would be especially neat. As usual, our actual day didn't quite reflect our plan.

We got to the Jaffa Gate of the Old City for our free tour just after 11, and luckily the tour hadn't started yet. It was a small group, and the tour guide was very knowledgeable, so we got to ask lots of questions along the way. I have been to the Old City several times, but most of the places the guide took us were places I hadn't been yet, or at least didn't know much about. We learned the interesting history of the Armenian Quarter and how as conflicts between religions have come and gone within the Old City, the Armenians just close up their gates and stay out of it. I love the image of the Armenians just closing themselves in and saying, "This isn't our fight, but we'll still be here when you guys are done working things out." I'm sure it's more complicated than that, but that's how our guide explained it. One of my favorite parts of the tour, though, was looking up and seeing the shards of glass that were glued onto the side of a building in the Armenian Quarter. Someone in the Jewish Quarter built a second story onto their building, which could have enabled people to jump from that building onto a building in the Armenian Quarter. So, naturally, the Armenians built an extension on their building and covered it in glass shards to prevent intrusions. Better safe than invaded.

Sisters near Jaffa Gate, overlooking part of the city that was all constructed within the last twenty years.

Our tour included each quarter of the Old City (Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Armenian).

Can you guess which quarter this is?

View of the Western/Wailing Wall

A close-up of the Wall--if you look closely, you can see the menorah/chanukiah in the middle of the wall, which is also on the far right side of the men's section. Yes, the men's section is significantly larger than the women's.

A tour wouldn't be complete without a stop for some food. We decided on chicken schwarma, which was delicious. Krista and I shared one of the huge ones that's more like a burrito.

This is the only image of Santa Claus I have seen in Jerusalem.

We stopped in at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Krista and I waited in line to actually go into the "tomb," which is now just a room filled with chandeliers, icons, and gold.

Speaking Russian came in quite handy for entertainment while in the line when a couple of Russian ladies tried to butt in line, telling the guard that their friend was right there. The Israeli guard, of course, would not allow her to jump in line and kept saying, "Nyet here!" Several Russian people in the line were getting really upset, yelling about how she had to wait her turn like the rest of us, etc. The ladies would not listen, and continued to wait at the front of the line, then when their friend came by they actually tried to squeeze in without the guard noticing. It was quite hilarious.

After we were done with the tour, we did some shopping at "Shabon's" a tourist shop in the Old City that has the best prices. I got a David and Goliath slingshot and a wooden camel for their kids and Krista got some other little things. At this point, we were still trying to hurry home so that Ben could come back to the Western Wall with them but we soon realized that since we had already eaten lunch, an extra trip probably wasn't worth it. K and C were exhausted from walking all day, so compliant and thoughtful Ben suggested that we just go ourselves instead. We thought it would be cool to go at sundown since that's when Shabbat starts and it was Chanukah. So we stopped by the Garden Tomb to wait for the sunset.

The Garden Tomb is a garden and tomb that some people think was where Christ was crucified and resurrected. As far as I understand it, the dating of the rock shows that the tomb is not nearly old enough to be Christ's, and the political reasons for the Protestants wanting to claim their area as the real place are pretty strong, but I still prefer this place over the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, by far. It's a beautiful garden with lots of space to wander around and sit down in. The tomb actually looks like a tomb, instead of a gaudily decorated building. Love those Protestants for keeping things simple.

Krista and Chris