Finally

What a crazy last few months! We have taken on the biggest project either of us have ever done and we are finally finished, we just have a few last finishing touches! We have completely renovated our basement apartment. Our tenants moved out the beginning of June and when we went through the apartment after, we found that it was worse than we had remembered when we bought the house. It was just so old and in some dire need of updating. So we deciding to put the money that we had been saving for our master bathroom into the basement instead. Ryan's brother Sean came out the first week and helped us rip out the old kitchen and put the new one in as well as the flooring. Him and Ryan worked so hard that week staying up til 1 in the morning some nights. We are so lucky to have had Sean's help. Ryan and I have worked so hard over the last 2 months, so many countless hours and I feel like I have had no life outside of work. We were hoping to have it finished a few weeks ago, but with Ryan finishing up his school semester and so many other things going on it was hard. We've put an add online and are hoping to find some renters in the next week or so. So if you know anyone in need of an apartment, let us know.

Now that it's finished and I've taken some pictures, I'm completely regretting not taking any pictures before and during the project. I have a picture of the old kitchen but nothing else. But I can tell you now that it looks 100% better than before.

Sean was awesome and put in our backsplash for us in our kitchen while he was here! 

Sean and Ryan also installed our new front door, it still needs to be stained but we love it! 

As for an update on our only child, he weighed in at 75 lbs last night. 

He still thinks he's little and can fit through everything

weird

I just had to post this, it's too funny. On our trip Rick Taylor who is my good friend Pearl's dad told us a story. He said that he was working in his store when a man came in and told Rick that he was the man he had been looking for. He told him he was an artist and he had been looking for a man to be his pilate for a painting he was doing and Rick was just perfect. So he talked Rick into posing for it. Turns out that this artist is the man that we bought our house from, Ben Mcpherson. We thought it was kinda funny. So today I googled the painting to see what it looked like.

Haha, it looks just like Rick! For those of you who don't recognize him he's on the right.

Israel

Over the last few weeks we took a trip to the Holy Land to visit my brother and his wife and take a tour of the country. We got back two days ago and we're still fighting the jet lag. We had so much fun though, it was really the trip of a lifetime. We went with my parents, my sister, and some family friends Rick and Paula Taylor. My brother has a friend that lives in Jerusalem as well and he's a tour guide, he took us all over the place and between him and my bro we learned so much! Since I have never been a very good journal keeper, I am going to write about our trip here because I always want to remember it. So just to warn you, it's probably going to be a little long one. 

Our first night we stayed in Jerusalem and Andrew took us around town and to the "Old City".We walked around the crowded streets through the markets and venders and then we found our way to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. When we walked into the courtyard it was very quiet and there was such a peaceful feeling. This place is where a bunch of different religions including muslims, jews, and catholics believe that Jesus was crucified, laid and prepared and then placed in his tomb. It was such a neat place to see. 

The entrance to the old city

Ryan and I in front of one of the old gates

The crowded streets inside

The Holy Sepulchre

This is where they believe Jesus was laid after he was crucified and prepared for his tomb

The next day our tour guide picked us up in our little bus and we headed to Masada. We stopped on the way at the place where the dead sea scrolls were found. Masada was awesome, but it was so hot! We took a tram up the the mountain top and we walked around the ruins while our tour guide taught us about it's history. We talked about the tragic story of how the Romans seized Masada and how the Jews that lived there chose "death over slavery". 

A window at Masada overlooking the dead sea

A model of Herod's Palace at Masada, we looked down on the ruins from the top

After Masada, we headed to the dead sea to take a swim. It was so salty you would just float, you couldn't possibly sink if you wanted to. It was the weirdest feeling ever, I loved it. After a long hot day it was really refreshing. 

You can see Jordan in the background

We ended our day driving two hours to Nazareth were we stayed for the next few days. I loved Nazareth, it was so beautiful, especially after being by the dead sea where everything is so barren, hot and brown. Nazareth was a lot more lush and green, I can see why this is where Jesus spent most of his life. The first day we went on a little nature walk through Tel Dan, the natural springs where the Jordan River starts. This place was really beautiful.

Later in the day we went to Capernum, an old city of ruins where it is believed that Jesus performed many of his miracles. We sat in the old synagogue ruins and read from the bible of the little girl "Talitha" who Jesus rose from the dead. 

After Capernum we drove to the sea of Galilee and through the towns on the shore. On the way we stopped at the Mount of Beatitudes and read the bible where Jesus sat and taught his disciples and people. We read of the Seroms on the mount where the laws of God were given. We read the story of Jesus multiplying the fish and bread as well. It was a very sweet experience siting on the hillside where Jesus once sat, looking out at the sea of Galilee. It was so peaceful. 

Catholic Church of Beatitudes

The architecture was beautiful

Gorgeous view from the hillsides of the Sea of Galilee

For lunch we drove to the town of Tiberias and then took a boat ride on the sea. We ate at a lovely restaurant on the shore. We had the "St. Peters Fish" which was caught fresh from the sea. We all looked in the fish's mouth and Paula found a coin in hers! Ryan made the comment that we were eating the descendants of the fish that Jesus and his apostles caught and ate. On the boat we looked out at the sea and read the stories of Jesus calming the sea, walking on the water and of Peter catching the fish with a coin in it's mouth to pay for Jesus' temple tax. It was such a neat experience to actually be there and picture these stories happening.

 

The second day in Nazareth we went to a place that overlooked the Jezreel Valley and Mount Tabor. It was so pretty, and Steve (our tour guide) talked about how some believe that Mount Tabor is the place were Jesus went with Peter, James and John and they heard God's voice saying "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well please"(Matthew 17:1-9). No one knows for sure where this happened, but I know that the feeling I had looking over this valley makes me want to believe it was here. 

After this we drove through the Valley of Armageddon and went to the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized. Tons of people from all different religions where there being baptized. Even though it was very busy, it was still beautiful.

 After we drove to the city of Haifa on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. We read the story of Jonah and the whale which was believed to have taken place here. After walking around this town we went to Cesarea, ruins of a city and major boat harbor built by Herod in honor of Caesar. Here we walked along the shore with our feet in the water and Steve taught us about its history.

At the end of this day, we drove back to Jerusalem where we stayed for the rest of the trip. Over the next four days we went to some amazing places. We visited the old city again and Steve went over the history of all the different time periods. It was amazing that these old walls and structures have held up so well over time. We went to some really neat museums with old artifacts, one of which held some of the original Dead Sea Scrolls (writings of the bible).

We went back to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and on the way into the courtyard we happened to pass the Current Leader of the Jewish religion. We didn't know it at the time, but I snapped a picture anyways because he looked important. 

This shrine was built over the mount that they believe Jesus was crucified on. You can go and put your hand through a hole and touch a portion of the rock.

This is where they believe Jesus was laid to rest in the tomb

People come and kiss this stone and pray where Jesus was laid and prepared after he died.

We visited the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. We also went to the Western Wall where a couple of bar mitzvahs were being celebrated. It was really neat to see all the different religions and how they worship. 

One of Ryan's favorite things that we did was go to the Valley where the story of David and Goliath took place. We walked through the dried up river bed and read the story. Ryan found a stone that was almost perfectly round and the size of a golf ball in the river where David picked the one that killed Goliath. Ryan brought it home to put on his desk. 

One of my favorite things that we did was when we went to "The Hills of Bethlehem".  Our tour guide wasn't allowed to take us to Bethlehem because of the Palestinian control issues, so we sat on the hills where the shepherds overlooked the city where Jesus was born. We read the story in the bible and then Steve told us a touching story of a family that he knew that lived on these hills in a tent. His father used to bring his tour groups here and tell stories. This family would come and listen to the stories except for one small child that was handicapped that watched from the door of their tent. They did not understand the language or the stories but they still listened. Over the years they came to know this family and boy well. One day when Steve's father came back the boy was not there, he had died at about the age of 11. Steve talked about how this family had lived on these hills for all those years and overlooked bethlehem and never even knew the story of the savior who was born there. The Redeemer that would save this child and restore him to his full health after his time on earth. We were all touched by this story, and as we listened I watched my mom. She was crying, and I was too. It was very emotional and bittersweet for me, I felt the spirit very strongly and I knew that Jesus was born to save us all. He died so that my mom could be healed and put in her perfect form again someday. 

The last day of the tour we went over the last days of Christ. We went to a place that is believed to be the room of "The Last Supper" and read the account of Jesus' new commandment that we should love one another as he loved us. We also went to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of Olives overlooking the "Valley of the Shadow of Death". 

We went back to the old city and walked part of the Via Dolorosa, Jesus' last walk to his crucifixion. The path goes two ways, the one that goes to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that many believe or the one that goes to the to the Palace of Caiaphas where we was judged by the Roman leader Pilate. This is the way we walked and we read the story. 

On the left are the stairs that Jesus walked up to be judged and then continued on to the hill he was crucified on. 

Here's the hill believed to be the place of crucifixion 

We ended the day going to the garden tomb and read about Jesus being laid to rest and then resurrected.

It was a very special day, I think we were all touched by the spirit. 

The last days before we came home Andrew took us to Bethlehem and we went to the Church of the Nativity where it's believed Christ was born. We had to go through a whole bunch of security to get into the city, it was kinda crazy. 

On our last day, we walked through the old city again and got some souvenirs and then went to the YMCA bell tower. Andrew knows the man who rings the bells and we were able to go at noon and listen to him play some patriotic songs since it was the 4th as well as some church songs since it was sunday too. Ryan was so lucky to get to ring the 12 tolls at noon! It was pretty cool. 

This trip was pretty amazing. There is so much history in this land, it was really hard to take it all in in one week. We are so blessed to have been able to experience it all. It was really neat to be able put a place to all the stories. 

Well I guess I'll stop now, that has got to be the longest post I've done. I'm gona post more pictures from the trip on my google photo thingy so if anyones interested I'll put a link to it once I'm done.