The Israel we know and love!

In the meantime here is what we were busy with before we left.......can we go home yet? 

We got the keys to our place on July 1, it is wonderful and we love it. Yes, you can hear the waves from our patio or if we leave the window open.   I was waiting to post in case it was too good to be true....sometimes I wonder if maybe it still is....

                                                 
                                                  We really miss our friends, Lisa and Elizabeth.

                                                   

So when you have an empty house and you have nothing but clothes it means that there is a lot of shopping....I know this sounds like a woman's dream, and it is, but I have never started completely from scratch....there is a lot to think about!!!

                                    We have spent many an hour at this store...for now I am very done with it.
                                                            However, I am sure we will return....

Any guesses on what these big rolls are??  Yep!!  Our mattresses!!  Ikea is very efficient.  The directions = unroll and let sit for 72 hours.  Done. Had I went without the children I could have fit them in my little car.  I'm not kidding you.

                                               The kids are very happy with this little set up.

I'm not a big mall shopper, but this mall is cool.  This is the Dizengoff mall in central Tel Aviv, it was right by our temporary apartment.  Someone referred to it as the vanishing mall, which is an accurate description.  It spirals around from the top all the way to the bottom.  It also crosses the main road and does the same thing on the other side.  If you see a store you would like to go into, you had better do just that, otherwise you will never see it again.  At least this has been our experience.  :)  You could be lost forever in this mall.  The first day I was there I found this playground for the kids and 4 trips later I have yet to find it.......

After a weary morning of shopping, we stopped at this stand.  This mom wanted a burger!!  Of course the kids wanted a hot dog, we never eat hot dogs.  If you click on the picture you can see that it says "Veal sausage India" surely this is better than the american hot dog......I'm trying not to think about it. :P

I'm still trying to allow a little fun for the kiddos between shopping craziness.  Look at all these bikes.

The rocky beach by our house is great for beach combing.  Sally loves this, we have found so many cool shells, tiles and sea glass.  Hoping to make a mosaic with a friend nearby.....this was our first jelly fish encounter!

Our friend Eric came to visit!

At the end of a busy day, we are always look forward to watching the sunset.  The pictures never do it justice, but this view certainly makes us grateful again for all that we have.

                               
                                                  My porch sitting pal...I love that she has an appreciation.

 

Just for fun.  So at 8am on the morning I had an appointment at the Visa Bureau, I pulled out of the garage and this was happening.  The driver saw me pull up and continued to park and set up for their concrete pour.  They told me 5 maybe 10 minutes, which means more like 20. What else do you do other than take a picture and try to laugh it off.  Our life in Israel.....nothing is ever simple and smooth, but oh how we love it. 

Better late than never.....catching up.

July 22, 2014
I originally wrote this post on June 14, 2014, but never actually published it. Fast forward a week.  Byron's company has sent all employees and their families to Rome in hopes that things will clear up so that we can return.  The guys are working during the day from a conference room while the gals are entertaining children. We are safe and we are enjoying days of quietness, but hope we can return home soon!

June 14, 2004

I am so sorry that we have been so silent.  As you know the atmosphere has changed here in Israe (July 8, 2014)l and it has been a rocky week for us.  It has been hard to get all the of my thoughts and emotions processed into something I can write (being a horrible writer doesn't help) about but it is time to end the silence.

We appreciate so much and are very humbled by every thought, note received on FB, email and every prayer that has been extended on our behalf.  It has been a very emotional week for us but we are doing well and we find it best to just take it a day at a time.  We knew that we were moving into a country of unrest and that this could be a reality before we decided to come, but we felt so strongly when this door opened for us that we did not want to pass up the opportunity.  There is nothing that could have prepared us for the emotions that we feel, but we still love it here and we are so hopeful that things will get better sooner rather than later.

I don't think that anyone can completely understand what we are going through until you have experienced it for yourself, but amid all of the turmoil we still feel very safe. Our neighbor at our old apartment has been in contact with us throughout the entire week and he said it perfectly when we said that it generally does more psychological damage than physical damage.We can agree with him for sure, especially for us Americans that have never experienced anything like this before. We did get moved into our new place (it is beautiful, pictures to come) and it does have a safe room. We can also attest to the fact that the iron dome has been doing what it is made to do.

We are encouraged daily by so many people.  We have wonderful neighbors at our new place that have been checking in with us and have been so kind to us.  Almost daily phone calls from our sweet friends in Haifa, of course the other families that are here with us, and just chatting with the locals makes us feel encouraged.  The hardest or maybe best part is knowing that when things are good in Israel, this is truly a fantastic place to live!

At this time we aren't ready to call it quits and we are taking it a day at a time.  Some very encouraging words from a dear friend in an email " I don’t say that the Lord guarantees us protection from tragedy...but to some degree you can trust that He is watching and protecting, allowing…whatever is for the spiritual gain of your souls."  We still feel like this is the place that we should be in and for now we patiently endure.  We do have options for a back up plan if the emotional stress becomes too much and we need to leave for a little R&R.  

Again, we are so thankful for every kind note and thought that has come our way even though we haven't responded personally.  In time I will try to get responses out but hopefully for now you can all rest assured that we are alive, doing well, and staying safe!!

Next post will include pictures.  Just need to get them on the computer!

Shalom and Laila Tov!