Merry Christmas

Stephanie came to visit us on Christmas Eve.  We all went caroling together.  Nancy stole the show with her Grinch-esque reindeer antlers.

Sunday Morning, ready for church on Christmas Eve.

No, it isn't a white Christmas this year.  This was a few weeks ago, but looked so Christmasy, I wanted to share it now.

Check out this Christmas message that I really enjoyed.

Thanksgiving Weekend- mountain top cabin

We have a great family tradition for Thanksgiving.  It starts with what we call "Fakesgiving."  On the week prior to Thanksgiving, our family and my sisters get together and celebrate together with a somewhat non-traditional fall feast.  So, last Saturday, Nick, Katie, Lydia, George and Stephanie all came to visit.  We had a great time.

Then the second part of our family tradition is to make a trip out for the actual long holiday weekend.  We have taken overnight trips to Waynesboro or Norfolk or Luray or other Virginia destinations. 

This year was just slightly different.  We rented a cabin in Narrows, Virginia.  It was a really great weekend.

We headed out on Thanksgiving day.  While passing through Staunton we stopped at a local restaurant and enjoyed the Holiday buffet.  It was the closest thing we'll see to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, which is just fine.  It was a fun meal.

We got to our cabin and checked in.

This place has got character.  First of all, you need to use a spare truck from the owner.  Only an off-road vehicle will make it up to this mountain top location.  The owner was super friendly and led us up to the cabin.  He was planning to do some hunting after he finished with us, so his buddy was carrying a rifle as we went up.  All part of the character.

Cabin and the truck

This cabin was just right for our group.  There were two bedrooms.  A queen bed in one and 4 bunks in the other.

Kids' bunks

Little window to look into the living room from Laurel's bunk

So, we had free range of the property all over the mountain.  Just stay off the side of the mountain with the gun range.  

We went for our first hike.

So, I think you get the idea, this place is set up for hunting.  This is a hunting blind.  The first, but not the only one we would encounter.

On a later hike out, we actually came across a hunter using this blind.  His name is Smokey.  He was friendly.  I can't imagine our presence helped his chances of catching anything.  We were very noisy hikers.  We weren't interested in coming across any of the wildlife.  Many bears on this mountain.

We came back to the cabin for dinner (frozen pizzas) and games.

Horse themed game in the cabin.  We brought some of our own games, too.  (Forbidden Desert!)

Then we settled down for movie night.  We watched the original Star Wars trilogy over the next three evenings.

The next day was a much bigger hike. 

We wanted to get all the way to the mountain summit.  However, we couldn't find a trail that goes up.  We later found out that the owner has never been that high.  The mountain is just too steep.  Nonetheless, Scott, Clark, Spencer and Grant tried to forge a path to the top.  We did quite a climb.  A lot of it required both hands on the ground, grabbing from one tree to the next.

We did not make it to the top.  It was quite a climb to make it as far as we did.  We came across a thick stand of rhododendrons and couldn't get through, so we called it close enough.  Coming down was hilarious.  The only thing to do was turn around, sit down and scoot through the leaves.

We went back to the cabin and met up with the girls.  They had hot chocolate ready for us.  Then we ranged back out for more exploring.  There were lots of paths to explore, we couldn't do them all.

After all that hiking, we were up for a big dinner.  Hot dogs and Pudgies cooked around the campfire.

This pie iron is a new edition to our camp gear.  I don't know how we lived without one.  It makes the most amazing sandwiches (pudgies).  We had grilled cheddar apple mustard sandwiches.  One minute in the fire and it comes out golden, melty and amazing.

Apparently there is wild cow on the mountain that makes an appearance sometimes.  We never saw him but had fun telling ghost-cow stories.  We waited outside to see the stars.  It was a clear sky and boy, did they come out.

Then we went back inside and popped some popcorn for The Empire Strikes back.

That was about it.  We had a restful night and then packed up to come home this morning.  Of course, we had to do some off roading to get back to our van.

We listened to some audio books on the ride, so it went by enjoyably.  Everything was in order when we came home.  We got all cleaned up and unpacked and even had a chance to fit in The Return of the Jedi.

Overall, a really family-fun, adventuresome trip. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Halloween - Neverland style

Peter Pan 

And his shadow

Tinkerbell

Captain Hook

Princess Tiger Lily

Mr. Smee

While you were away...

Guess what happened while we were gone.  Laurel fell of the playset at school and broke her little arm.  Both bones in the forearm... 30 degrees displaced.  She handled it really well.  All the doctors and nurses were surprised at how well she tolerated the whole thing.  Grandma and Grandad took good care of her while we were gone.  Big thanks to the Grandparents!

The Holy Land

We just got home from a very amazing trip to Israel to see the Holy Sites.  It was wonderful.  It wasn't really a vacation, more like a pilgrimage.

We first arrived in Tel Aviv.  A very modern city.

Our first stop was Caesarea Maritima.  This was built during Jesus' time, but there is no record that he was ever there.  It was the secular capital of the Roman province of Judea.  This is the Mediterranean Sea.  We also visited the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea during this visit.

Caesarea Maritima is a good example of ruins from the Roman and Byzantine period.

Our next stop was Mt. Carmel.  This is where Elijah challenged the Priests of Baal.  This statue commemorates when Elijah killed all the wicked priests!

The view of the fertile plains from the top of Mt. Carmel.

Next we went to Meggido, also known as Armageddon.  This place is a giant Tel.  This is a huge hill built up by 25 layers of successive civilizations.  Because of the repeated destruction in this area, it became a symbol for the destruction at the end of the world.

This is an ancient, ancient altar.  This might be one of the earliest surviving religious structures in the world.

While we were at Megiddo we met an enthusiastic Christian group who invited us to join them in a song about the gathering of the lost tribes of Israel. 

We had lots of great food during our trip.

Some of the holy sites have specific requirements about dress.  Jen has a scarf to cover up when needed.  We went to Nazareth and visited the site of the annunciation.

We also found this out of the way church in Nazareth.  This was built on the same site as the synagogue from Jesus' day.  This would be where he worshipped as a boy.  Also where he announced that he was the Messiah and then he was taken to a precipice and his people tried to throw him off the cliff. 
This old church was built during the crusader period.  It had amazing acoustics.  Our group sang Angels We Have Heard on High.  It was awesome.

Our next stop was in Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee.

We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and thought about walking on water, calming the sea and fishing...

Next we went up to Dan, a city in the north of ancient Israel.  This here is the source of the River Jordan.

This is the city gate.  Here, Nico is sitting in the King's position, ready to pass judgment.
The city of Dan is best known for it's cultic worship.  When Israel divided into a Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom, Jereboam, the king of the Northern tribes, built altars within his territory to consolidate his power.  He built golden calves and priests offered sacrifices very similar to the real temple in Jerusalem.

This is an ancient Canaanite gate.  It is most famous because we know Abraham visited this town during his time period to rescue his nephew Lot.  In other words, Abraham walked right up those very steps.

Our next stop was Caesarea Philippi.  This is at the foot of Mt. Hermon, the tallest mountain (i.e. the biggest rock) around.  This was a site of worship to the Pagan god Pan (the spring here was believed to be an entrance into the underworld) then later to Caesar Augustus (the adopted son of Julius Caesar who was worshipped as a god).  This setting is significant to understand Peter's declaration.  "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Then also to understand Jesus' teaching "thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Jen under a fig tree.

On the mount of Beatitudes.

Church of the Beatitudes; one of the many lovely places of worship, that we saw in Israel.

A view of Galilee from the Mount from the Sermon on the Mount.  You can see why Jesus said a city on a hill cannot be hid.

This was one of my favorite places on the whole trip.  There is good evidence that this was Peter's home in Capernaum.  This site has been venerated for so long, that there have been multiple churches built, one atop the next.  But inside these concentric layers of churches is the location of Peter's home.  This is where Jesus lived for the three years of his ministry.

Nearby in Capernaum is the site of the old synagogue.  Jesus performed many of his miracles in this spot.

Standing on the shores of Galillee

We saw people from all sorts of faiths and different kinds of orders.

Our next stop was Beit Shean.  The scriptures aren't really clear if Jesus ever visited this city, but it is likely.  This was the nearest of the 10 cities known as the Decapolis and it was recorded that he visited the Decapolis.

Beit Shean is another excellent example of a Roman/ Byzantine city.

This is me going down into the Jordan River.  The name Jordan means to go down.  This is believed to be where John was baptizing and hence where Jesus could have been baptized.  This is very close to the Dead sea and so it is one of the lowest places on earth.  That fits perfectly with the symbolism of baptism.

Not sure how clean the water is these days.  We didn't go for a full immersion, but stuck our feet in.

We next visited Jericho.  One of the oldest cities on earth.  This is another place where there are successive layers of civilization built one atop another.  Not sure which layer might have been the one knocked down by Joshua's army.  Jesus visited Jericho and met Zacheus in a sycamore tree.  The road down to Jericho was the setting of the parable of the good Samaritan.  Jericho was very hot due to its low elevation.

I got kissed by a camel!

This monastery was built into the side of a cliff.  Very secluded, I should think.

We made it to Jerusalem.  It was late, but we were excited to go into the old city.  Our first stop was the Western Wall.

The next day we visited En-Gedi

This is an oasis in the desert.  We know that David camped here to avoid King Saul.  It is also very likely that Lehi and his family came this way.

I can totally picture Lehi's vision of the iron rod after this.  We traveled through this barren wilderness and came upon a river that lead back to an oasis, with high places all around us.  They even had an iron handrail to protect us from falling off the cliff or into the river.

The Dead Sea

We took a tour up Masada.  This was a Herodian fortress.  It was the site of Israel's last stand against the Romans.

Thankfully, they have a gondola to take you up to the top of the plateau

We went for a swim in the dead sea.  This was incredibly fun.  You can float like nothing else.  

The Dead Sea is full of minerals.  Supposedly, this mud is really good for your skin.

Back to Jerusalem.  Walking the streets.

This is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  This is probably the holiest site of Christianity.  It houses the supposed location of the crucifixion, and the burial site and therefore resurrection of Jesus.

This stone was where they laid Jesus body prior to his entombment.

This place is so ornate.  There are throngs of people and incense burning.  It seems a bit disorienting.

Crusader period pilgrims would carve a cross in the walls to show they had come.

Outside the city of Jerusalem.

This excavation goes back to the time of Abraham.  This was probably a wall of Melchizedek's city of Salem. 

We walked through Hezekiah's tunnel, which was built to bring water into the city in case of a siege.

Intrepid tunnel explorer.

Olive tree 

Yes, I know this picture is a little a gross.  Here are a few ripe olives that I stepped on.  You can see what a good symbol olive oil is for the atonement of Jesus.  It looks like blood.

These are the old steps to the temple from Jesus' day.  We can be confident that this is a place where Jesus walked.

Another visit to the Western Wall.  I said a prayer at the wall right under a scrub plant.

We next visited the Dome of the Rock.  You can't go inside, but even from the outside it is impressive.

This was the same spot where the ark of the covenant was laid in Solomon's temple.  It is holy to Islam because the prophet Muhammed had a journey up to heaven from this spot.

This is the area of the Garden Tomb.  It is an alternate site for the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  I liked this place a lot.  This is hill known as Golgotha.  

This is how the hill used to look before the city was built up around it.  Apparently some of the stones collapsed due to digging above the hill, which marred the ancient appearance of a skull.

This is a nearby tomb.  It is large, like the tomb of a rich man.

If this is the place, then that would be where Jesus was laid on the left side.  You can seen ancient pilgrims visited this site as well, as they left their mark here.  The cross has alpha and omega written on it.

This is the view of Jerusalem from the BYU center.

Apparatus for crushing olives.

The Garden of Gethsemane

These trees are about 1,000 years old.  These are probably the next generation from the trees that were there in Jesus' time.  We know that the garden was destroyed by conquerers years later, but olive roots will sprout new trees.  So that is probably where these trees came from.

This little grotto next to the Garden of Gethsemane is a likely spot where Jesus' apostles fell asleep.

This area is called the Mount of Olives for a reason. 
This is a picture in the Kidron valley.  The Kidron valley sits between the mount of olives and the temple mount.  All the blood from their animal sacrifices up at the temple would drain down into this valley.  The symbolism here is amazing.  After suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus probably came to the brook in Kidron to clean up the blood that he shed from his suffering.

There are churches everywhere in Jerusalem.  This is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to Mary Magdalene.

This is probably the spot where Jesus taught about "whited sepulchres".  This is called Absalom's tomb and probably predates Jesus by several hundred years.  There are others in a row, but this one is the most impressive.

Lots of stairs in Jerusalem.

This is where Peter denied Christ.  Inside there is a pit- where Jesus was held prisoner for a few hours until his false trial at Caiaphas's palace.  There is just a hole in the roof and the prisoner is let down by a rope.  Some of these places don't allow photography.

The pool of Bethesda.  Jesus healed a man here.  Also before Jesus's time this was sacred to the pagans as a place of healing to Asclepius- the snake on a staff guy.  Jesus came here to show that he is the real healer.

We did a walk along the ramparts of the old city walls and got an interesting view from above the city.

The city below is a confusing tangle of cross-streets, which leads to some interesting looking rooftops.

One last look at Golgotha.  There is a cemetery built above, and a bus station beneath.  Actually fitting.  We know that it was anciently a place of burial.  And we know that Jesus was crucified along a busy thoroughfare.  We often think of Jesus' crucifixion up on top of the hill.  But that was probably not true.  Romans would crucify people along the side of the road, just above eye level.  This would make it as ignoble as possible.  Jesus would have been crucified at the bottom of the hill, at the bus stop.