A Visit From the GREAT!!!

About 2 weeks ago, we had the privilege of a visit from Paw Paw (Randall's Grandfather). It was such a joy to have him with our family and to see him interact with the kids. Micah especially "ate up the time" with his Great Paw Paw. He brought him books to read, games to play and even had him as a roommate, sharing his bunk beds. 

After the first few days, we took Paw Paw all over Jordan... we started at Jerash, which are Roman Ruins outside of Amman. 

So much history... Jerash is the site of the ruins of the Greco-Roman City, Gerasa, also known as Antioch on the Golden River. A lot of walking and climbing!

We also visited Mount Nebo. The place where Moses was given a vision of The Promised Land and where he received the 10 Commandments. The view consists of the Holy Land, the valley of the Jordan River and the West Bank city of Jericho. It was so beautiful and so AMAZING thinking we stood where Moses stood (or close proximity anyway) :)

The Jordan River was also a place we visited...  so much symbolism here... The tour guide said the pic to the right (below) was where Jesus was baptized as the Jordan River once flowed through this area.

And for those that remember, on February 10, 2014, Morgan had asked Jesus into her heart and had waited until her Great Paw Paw could baptize her... it just so happened that we then moved to Jordan a few months later... and the same river Jesus was baptized is here!!! (you get where I'm going with this...)

This is the before picture...

(behind Morgan is Israel!!!)

Such a precious moment...as Paw Paw was giving Morgan instructions on how he was going to hold her nose with the handkerchief and "dunk her"...

Buried with Christ in Baptism.... and Raised to Walk in the Newness of Life!!!

What a priceless moment!!! A memory Morgan will never forget!

Such a special relationship...

A beautiful place where Jordan meets the Holy Land.

We continued our adventure to the Dead Sea... the lowest point on earth! You really do just float...

And since I was there... I had to "bathe" in the dead sea mud... WOW! It was an experience for sure!

Who knew the Dead Sea was so Beautiful???

Saved the Best for Last... The Holy Land!!!

Paw Paw crossed over and  toured around all day with some dear friends of ours...

The Garden of Gethsemane, The Prison Jesus was put into and His tomb...

And the Best News of All....

What a great day for Paw Paw as he experienced the Bible come to life!!! 

(one day our family will cross over and see all he saw with our very own eyes!)

Paw Paw, we are so thankful that you came to visit us. We cherish our time spent with you, all of the amazing sites we toured, the privilege of witnessing you baptize Morgan in the Jordan River and all of the precious memories we made!! We love you so much and welcome you to any home, anywhere we live!!!

 P.S. Micah misses his roommate!!! :)

London in a Day...

I know, I know... I promised to update this blog more often once we moved and got settled into our new country...

It seems like just as we got settled, it was time to travel. Again....

But this time I traveled alone to the UK for 5 days for meetings/trainings & a retreat. The only time I've ever been to the UK is to travel to and from The States with a layover at Heathrow Airport. I had never actually toured or been on the ground... Until Now....

In between a week of meetings/trainings, we took a day off to ride the train into London, prayer walk a very multi-cultural neighborhood...lots of Arabic Everywhere!!! 

But then.... we toured the 2nd half of the day... Whoo Hoo!!! I've only waited 32 years to walk the streets of London...

This was an ABSOLUTE MUST!!! You can't go to London and not take a Telephone Booth Pic!

And the GREEN! So Much Beautiful Green, EVERYWHERE! (this was outside the city where we had our meetings)

Big Ben...Oh! This site was absolutely breathtaking! When I came up the stairs and out of the tunnel from riding the tube and looked up to see Big Ben with my own eyes.... AMAZING!!! (I have to admit, I was imagining Peter Pan, Wendy, John & Michael flying around it on their way to Neverland) :)

The (backside of) Westminster Abbey... The architecture is so beautiful!

It was like a scene out of a Movie being played out before my very eyes!

We literally ran to see Buckingham Palace because we had a 9pm train to catch.. but it was worth the quick peak! I've seen this site so many times on T.V. and to see it with my own eyes was really cool! The rest of the pics in the collage below are sites around the city.. whether it was the architecture, the movie-scene look-alike (in my mind at least), or the famous red, double-decker bus...ALL of it says LONDON!

The top Left picture says it all.. EAT. Seriously, it was like culture-shock, similar to America seeing all of these yummy, familiar food joints. But my FAVORITE was Chipotles... which I actually did eat at.. the rest were just places in passing. But Chipotles was like a Taste of Home for me! 

And one more telephone booth pic... because I can... and because this is such a classic London Picture... (excuse the little-girl/un-natural pose as Randall calls it) :)

 

I loved my time in the UK for several reasons... the ladies I was with are like family to me and the time with them was so special. You can't beat the food there! The touring in a day was so much fun and surreal...and definitely a place I would like to go again with more time to see and visit the inside of some historical buildings. 

Needless to say, another country checked off of my bucket list (with the hopes to return again)... and a reminder of such a blessed, adventurous life I (we) live.