There are two things in this world that scare me. Nuclear wepons...and carnies!

So, every night during the month of Ramazan there is a carnevale that goes on here. For those people reading this from Pagosa, it is just about as awesome as the 4th of July carn that comes to town. Let me tell you guys somethin' if you haven't experienced a Turkish carnevale you are missing out in life.

First things first, the rides. The flagship ride was one called the frisbee which was a giant wheel that swung you back and forth and around. It took me all of twenty seconds to get sick on this ride.


There were also bumper cars. In case you are wondering, yes, it is a great idea to bring your infant on the bumper cars with your other child driving.



Also, there was a concert for the kids going on which consisted of creepy imatation Mickey and Minnie Mouse dancing around and singing songs. I don't have any pics of this but believe me it was a bit creepy.

On to the games. There were really only two carnevale games that you could play, one was a ring throw game and the other a shooting game, but instead of winning stuffed animals, posters, goldfish, or sick rabbits (if you are from Pagosa) you win packs of cigerettes...totally awesome fun for the whole family.



Get a ring around a pack and it's yours!!!



Look closely and you can see that this kid won some cigs for his dad...nice!


I, unfortunately, was not able to win Lisa a pack of cigarettes.

Ramadan in Turkey

Ramadan is is full swing here in Turkey. First thing I notice is how different it is here compared to Jordan. In Jordan, every restaurant was closed during the day for the month. It was illegal to eat or drink on the streets (even if you didn't get fined by the police, I think the dirty looks and comments from peers would be bad enough). Here, being a secular government, life and work goes on as usual. I would say that more people keep the fast than don't, but as one person told me "I don't do Ramadan in the summer", which I can completely understand. To go without water in 100+ heat sounds almost demonic to me. Our poor friend Ali, who is our language tutor, rides his bike to our house in the heat and can't drink a cool glass of water when he gets here. We have offered to have classes at his house but he declines saying "It's more enjoyable here, my mother isn't around always watching" Oh to be a teenager.
The thing I am always surprised by is how blatant some people are with not keeping the fast. I see people just munching on some food and drinking sodas right on the sidewalk, or in buses. Its crazy.
Fasting or not, Ramadan (its actually called Ramazan in Turkey, no idea why) is a special month of purifying yourself with God. Please keep the Turks in your prayers this month, the our Father would reveal Himself to those who seek.

closet

Gettin' our Picnic on

So as we are here in Turkey, a few cultural observations I have made.
1. Turks have a much higher tolerance for heat than I do.
2. They love them some picnics

Picnics are the thing to do here during the summer. Whether its grabbing a snack on a blanket in the park or spending the day out in the woods, the Turks are serious about picnics. Its so popular that I have met many people who speak zero English but somehow know the word picnic.
Lisa and I were invited by a friend of ours to go to his parents village and spend the days out in the woods having a picnic. What a great time we had! It didn't really matter that we don't speak much Turkish or that they didn't speak much English we all spoke the international language of the picnic. That is enjoy some food, relax and enjoy the fresh air.


Oh yeah, Turkish couples love to take cheesy pictures of themselves.

Living out of a Suitcase

Well, it has been a super long time since we have updated. I'm not even going to worry about filling in what has been going on since last update. Instead let's look forward in the life ahead of us.


In exactly two weeks we will be going from




to...



and in the mean time we are gathering all of our worldly possession and paring them down to that which can fit into...


You would think this would be a stressful task, but as we have done this a few times in our lives Lisa and I are getting kind of good at it. Lisa's hierarchy of importance goes as follows: 1. Clothes 2. Pictures and frames 3. Zumba videos. Mine list is 1. xbox 360 2. underwear.

As we go through all of our stuff and past memories come back and its hard not to get nostalgic and want to take everything. I'm sure we look a bit like Steve Martin in "The Jerk"

Adoption

This blog is a follow up to our newsletter. If you do not receive, let us know and we can put you on the list. I mentioned in the newsletter that Craig and I want to adopt and that I'd share more. Here goes...
Our friends, Andy and Rachel, had a desire to adopt in 2004 or earlier. After much prayer and discussion, they started the process to adopt a little boy from South Korea. Unfortunately, I don't know all the details of the beginning process. We enter in the story when a boy has been born and chosen for Andy and Rachel. The process had have a been about a year as we all prayed for this little boy to come home. As they waited, our little YWAM community of 60, prayed, fasted, and gave financial support with so much generosity not to mention emotional support to this family. I was completely in awe of that goodness. I felt is was up to me to take it upon myself to remind everyone to pray for this little boy. As the weeks went on, the news came that is was time to go to New York to get this child because someone was bringing him over. Andy and Rach asked Craig to go, film the meeting, and keep hep their nerves down. Watching the video was one of the most amazing things, I've ever seen. It was short and sweet but God moved in my heart and I knew from then on we were to adopt a child into our family. I believe it is one of the greatest ways to show love and such a beautiful picture of how God has adopted us into His family. It's amazing, also, because I don't worry about the when and how of this process for us. It doesn't matter to me that it could be one of great sacrifice. I'm honored that God has called Craig and I do be apart of it.
It's hard to type out such deep feelings and assurance on a blog. Here is a picture of the family shortly after they got their little guy.

Staff Retreat

Once a year, my company goes to a retreat center. It is 4 days of playing games, watching movies, eating good food, eating yummy snacks, drinking coffee, playing games, eating yummy snacks, and repeat. I don't come home well rested but I do come back full to the brim. I'm stuffed with food and fellowship. Craig and I are both people people and hanging out energizes us and we feel the love. As much as I love good speakers and corporate prayer time it's nice to just hang out. Here are some pics!!



nerds

tearin it up

4 rambunctious cuties

brittney and anthem

cara and noah