Wonderful Week With Family!

A few weeks ago we had the privilege of Tim's Mom, Dad, and brother Nathan coming for a much needed visit! From the start Tim and I were spoiled rotten with lots of super fun goodies from the states (which I want to thank everyone for being so sweet to send us and the baby something, it was such a treat and so encouraging!) and lots of wonderful dinners while they were visiting. We ate at TGIFridays twice, which I know some of you are saying to yourself " big deal" but to us it was like being back home. They were the most "American" type meals we had had in 5 months. I'm pretty sure the waiters remembered us the second time we went, and therefore decided that we deserved some honorary TGIFriday's hats!! Which by the way have "Miller Light" written all over them! Tim and I tried to make sure they got the full experience, we ate a ton of Turkish food, saw all the sights, and visited with some of our new friends. Danny, Charlotte and Nathan were great sports even when they were subjected to a hour and a half, very interesting, ferry boat ride.

One of my favorite things we did while they were here was visit Buyuk Ada, which is one of the 3 islands across the water from Istanbul. Buyuk Ada is the largest with the literal translation "Big Island". These islands are a wonderful retreat for anyone living in the city because they don't allow cars, only service vehicles, which even too are a rare sight. The only type of transportation you really see are bikes available to rent and horse drawn carriages. The quiet roads are very relaxing and the houses are beautiful. When we got to the island from a ferry we rented a carriage to the middle of the island. This first ride proved to be somewhat thrilling and terrifying all at the same time. One of our horses did not want to run fast up the hills and kept knocking his whole body around which resulted in Tim, Nathan, and I fearing for our lives. We were tossed back and forth thinking we would be tipped over any second. It was not funny at all at the time, but now makes for a funny memory at least. Once we reached our destination we hiked, and it was definitely a hike, about a mile and a half of incline, to an old monastery. It was defniately worth the hike for the view and the beautiful chapel at the top. Afterwards we grabbed a quick bite to eat and found a boat that takes you around the island to a beach club. It was really nice, and to me was a complete surprise. They had a nice place to change clothes and had chairs with umbrellas on the sand. We were even serenaded by man with a Speedo and a guitar, yes, its quite a combination, I've included a picture. He was definately not speaking English and none of us could figure out where he was from. We all decided that he sounded like a poor man's Louis Armstrong. It was a great escape for me to be able to just relax and sit in the sun. Nathan and I both left pretty pleased with our "basecoats". It was a great day. Tim and I plan to go back soon, I can't wait!

We were sad to say goodbye to our visitors but look forward to them coming again at Christmas! Love yall!! Miss you already!


The guys outside the Blue Mosque


Fun at the Haggai Sophia


Inside the chapel at the monastery on Buyuk Ada


The view from the top of our hike


Tim and I inside the carriage


View of our driver


At the beach club!




Our "singer" for the afternoon


Our view of the beach from the boat


TGIFriday's and our new hats!!


One last pic with the family and Seyfo!