Scott and Tiffany in Israel

A regular week

No big travels again this week. It has been good to stay home and finish some things around the apartment.

Tiffany made strawberry freezer jam on Friday. We bought the strawberries from a roadside stand. It sure tastes good.

Scott took Tyler out for a walk so that Tiffany could focus on the freezer jam. We saw a garbage truck, a milk truck and walked down green stairs.

Brooke at 6 months, wearing the same outfit she came home from the hospital in. It fits a lot better now.

Tyler discovered a great treat, Kinder-Eggs. They are chocolate eggs with a toy inside.

Quintessential Tyler - note the chocolate around his mouth and the toy cars clenched in his fist.

Tyler is convinced he is helping his mommy wash the dishes.

Tyler-isms:

"Mommy, be a doggy like I'm" - Ain't it good grammar?
"All that kind of stuff" - Meaning all his bedtime stuff (blankets, bears, etc.)
"Mommy, I'm sorry I was crying; I don't know why I was sad." - sweet apology
"Mommy, Daddy keeps going to work." - Yes, we wish he didn't have to.
"Covered" - Cupboard
"I want the car that goes back and forth" - Said while walking back and forth.
"Does that make sense?" - We hear this a lot.
"Short sleeve pants" - Shorts

A calm week

This week was pretty calm. Scott had to work a lot because visitors were here from Oregon and they had meetings with people in Oregon. Meetings starting at 5 pm and finishing at 8 pm were no fun.

One evening, Tiffany was doing her nightly search for lost toys and was surprised to find a lizard, that we think was a gecko, instead. Scott captured it in a plastic container and released it outside.

Our pet gecko

Friday was a stay at home day. No traveling or touring this week. Scott installed a new power outlet, replacing wires hanging out of the bathroom wall. Tiffany gave Scott a haircut with our new clippers and Tyler a trim around the ears with scissors. We decorated Brooke's room and the playroom with wall stickers, Minnie Mouse for Brooke and Bob the Builder for the playroom.

Unpacking the last box

Brooke loves her new room. She laughs at the stickers on the walls. More importantly, she loves her crib so much that she sleeps all night.

Going to the park

We got delayed on our way to church on Saturday. There was a herd of cattle crossing the road at a stoplight. They didn't obey the stoplights so we had to wait through a couple of light changes. Unfortunately, Scott had left the camera in the trunk, so no picture.

Family picture - post haircut, didn't Tiffany do a good job?

A bumper crop of Tyler-isms:

• "Where's the bottom?" - when Tiffany pointed out a spinning top on TV


• "I don't recognize that." - going through Tiffany's clothes in the closet


• "Oberballs" - overalls


• "I looked and I looked and I looked and I looked" - couldn't find his blanket


• "Mallbox car" - a Matchbox car purchased at the mall


• "The light is red, that means my green car can't go." - comment from the back seat driver


• "That makes me funny." - meaning that makes me laugh


• "I turned off my night-night-light and it was dark in my room so I opened the door." - explaining why he got up at 6:00 am


• "Daddy turned on the printer and the printer gave Daddy paper." - a keen observation


• "I want this car and this taxi and this train for Christmas." - when reading the transportation page of his My First Word Book

Rainbow over Haifa Bay

Acco

This week we got to tour a little bit more. We went to Acco, a walled Crusader town across the bay from Haifa. The city is a very interesting mix of Jewish, Christian and Muslim culture over its 5000 year history. Napolean even beseiged the city, then called Saint Jean d'Acre, in 1799.

The Khan El Omdan is an ancient hotel with a beautiful clock tower. The rooms were small and dark.

Khan El Omdan

The market was very crowded and colorful. We saw a five foot long fish, lots of cheap toys (yes we gave in), and a variety of food, from seafood to fruits to pastries.

Open air market

We took a tour of the Citadel, a huge fortress in the center of Acco more than 700 years old. It was used by Turks, Crusaders and as a prison by the British during WWII. There is a tunnel system that leads to the underground crypt.

Underground tunnels

View of Haifa from Acco

We had another branch party Friday night. Scott got flowers because of his birthday. Tyler didn't want to play games with the other kids, so he played with blocks in the nursery.

Tyler being sociable at the branch party.

The highlight of Scott's Saturday was dumpster diving. Tiffany was cleaning out the car and accidentally threw away one of Tyler's new cheap plastic cars from the open air market in Acco. Horror of horrors, Tyler just could not live another moment without it. Fortunately, our trash bag was still on the top of the pile.

Fun with company

We enjoyed having Tiffany's parents with us. Grandma changed all the diapers and gave baths. We especially appreciated Grandma being up with Tyler at 6 a.m. every morning. Grandpa told stories and played cars with Tyler and held Brooke. Grandpa also went grocery shopping with Tiffany.

This past week we celebrated the Jewish holiday Purim. It honors Esther from the Bible. The children dress up like American children do for Halloween. Tiffany's Hebrew teacher invited us to a party at a preschool. Tyler, being the social animal that he is, had fun driving the playground equipment rather than playing with the other children.

Tyler in his train engineer costume for Purim

On Friday we went to Caesarea with Tiffany's parents. We met our friends James and Heidi there. It a beatiful day and we had a lot of fun. We ate at the Crusader restaurant and enjoyed Middle Eastern salads, St. Peter's fish and pita. Tiffany got a piece of jewelry made out of Phoenician glass and Tiffany's dad got some ancient coins from the antique store there. We also found shells and pottery shards from a nearby beach.

Lunch next to the Mediterranean

Brooke is always hungry

Us in Caesarea

We also celebrated Scott's 30th birthday on March 8th. He is old now. Work gave him a basket of chocolate treats and decorated his cube with balloons. When he got home, he was greeted at the door with streamers, silly string, party horns and 30 balloons. Tiffany and her mom made Surprise cupcakes, Scott's favorite birthday treat.

Scott is 30

Tiffany was sad to have her parents leave. It was nice for her to have company during the day and to have someone to play trains with Tyler so that she could nap, get things done and take care of Brooke.

This weeks Tyler-isms:

I doubt it - We say "eat your dinner." He says, "I doubt it."
Banger - Hammer
White prizes - Dice
Jella-beans - Jelly-beans
Maggots - Magnets

A panorama out our family room window

Surprise!

We had some great surprises this week.

First, Thursday morning our shipment from the US arrived. It was wonderful to get our stuff. We spent Thursday morning unpacking. So far it looks like only a couple of very minor things are broken (a hangar and a small toy) and nothing seems to be missing.

Our stuff arriving!

Later on Thursday, Scott told Tiffany that he had an important meeting that he could not miss. She thought he was going to work, but Scott went to Tel Aviv to pick up Tiffany's parents from the airport. Scott brought them home and then they waited a couple of minutes after Scott went in the apartment before knocking on the door. Tiffany was speechless! We are thrilled to have them here so soon. We are enjoying our time together, and Tiffany is especially enjoying adult company during the day. Scott and Tiffany even got their first dinner date without children in five months.

Tiffany's parents arriving

On Friday, a former Intel relocatee to Israel, Reed Spotten, took us on a tour of Haifa. He showed us the best places for pizza, pastries, shawarma, ice cream, etc.

On Saturday, we went to church. Tiffany's dad and a friend here on a business trip rode with Reed. The branch was surprised to see all eight of us show up to the meetings. After church we saw several sights around the Sea of Galilee:

The Mount of Beatitudes
The site where Jesus said "Feed my sheep" to Peter
The site of the miracles of the loaves and fishes
Capernaum

At the Mount of Beatitudes

We thought we would also give you some Tyler-isms:

Hugging hands - Tiffany and Scott were holding hands and Tyler said to stop hugging hands.
Alligator, Estagator - Elevator, Escalator
Pick-ups - Hiccups
Water mountain - A water fountain

Cool boat through the telescope