Beach Day

 A few days ago we attempted to go to Adventure Playground in Huntington Beach but we found out that everyone HAS to have tennis shoes and we all had sandals.  Bummer!

 So we decided to go to the beach instead and it was so much fun!

 The kids collected lots of shells and Sky loved the waves and the water.

Ken's Camera to the Rescue!

 This is an addendum to the last post.  Ken had taken some pictures with his camera and I didn't even know it.  So, apparently, we DO have pictures of the other cakes.  Above is the Dora cake I made for Lila's party and below is the Hello Kitty cake that I made for Sky's party.

 And, yes, I even let the girls help me make the cake.  They got to lick the bowl.  They liked that.

 The bounce house company was a day late in picking up the bounce house so we got to enjoy it for a bit longer!

Party Time!

 Summertime is birthday time for our kiddos.  I have done the combined party thing but it is definitely getting more tricky as the kids are getting older and have different sets of friends.  We've done the princess/knight slaying the dragon party and the pirates/mermaids party but this year, Lila wanted Dora (which the other 2 despise), Brad wanted superheroes, and Sky wanted Hello Kitty.  Sooo, we decided to do something crazy-have 3 separate parties in 1 day!

We rented a bounce house and tables and chairs for the day and Lila's party went from 12-2.  It was very fun!  I pretended that Swiper swiped the cake and we had to consult the map to find out where Swiper's hideout was.  Brad was the Grumpy Old Troll who made the kids solve a riddle before they could pass over a little bridge.  Then we went to a tree in our yard and Sky threw ping pong balls at the kids and they had to look in backpack to decide what would be best to clean up the ping pong ball mess (a rock, a shovel, or a flower?).  We finally made it to Swiper's hideout and found the delicious Dora cake.  I made 3 different cakes, one for each party, but forgot to take pictures of them all.  I had let each kid pick out the cake flavor that they wanted.  Lila picked chocolate, Brad picked vanilla and Sky picked funfetti.
Then the kids played pin the tail on Swiper.

Each kid also got a pinata that went along with the theme of their party.  

Brad's party was from 2:30-5.  Isaiah was pretty funny wearing Brad's broken pinata!

 Above, everyone was waiting patiently for their turn at bat.

Brad's cake was the easiest since we just used one of his Batman figurines as a cake topper.

 We played a few games at Brad's party.  Sky dressed up as the villian, the Cheetah and the guests ad to try to tag her.  If they tagged her, she would throw candy out of her basket.  Below we played the wonderball, but instead of a ball, we used green hair gel, which I told everyone was kryptonite.  "The kryptonite goes round and round, to pass it quickly you are bound, if you're the one to hold it last, the game for you has surely passed."  Whoever was left with the kryptonite was out.

 Below is Sky at bat for the Dora pinata at Lila's party.

 Lila takes a moment to enjoy her Dora cake.

 Sky's party was from 5:30-8 and I don't really remember much of it, to be honest.  The exhaustion had set in by then and the kids were older so they were happy to just do their own thing.  Sky ran a game of pin the bow on Hello Kitty and everyone enjoyed her Hello Kitty cake.  All told, it was a fabulous day and so much fun to celebrate our kids!

Super University

 Our church's vacation Bible school (VBS) theme this year was Super University, teaching kids how they are each a superhero in training and that God wants to use them to spread the Good News of His love and salvation.

 Each day there were silly competitions like the one in the picture above where contestants had to stuff as many balloons into oversized clothes as they could to try to look like they had big muscles.

 There was a BBQ and closing ceremony (graduation from Super University) on Friday night so here are some pictures of the kids singing the songs that they had learned.

 At VBS at our church, Friday is always a wet day and they get this big water slide (Sky is going down).  Brad and Lila did not venture onto this thing but Sky really enjoyed it.

 There was even an appearance from Batman!  Brad is really into superheroes right now so this theme was really fun for him.

 I led an elementary team of about 16 students in grades 1-5.  They were a great group of kids and we enjoyed our time together.  Each kid got to make a cape and we learned about a different missionary each day.  Super University was super fun!

Israel Trip-Day 9

 Today we went to the Mount of Olives for a group picture and an amazing view of the Old City.  Above, you can see the Dome of the Rock over my shoulder.
Directly below us was a Jewish cemetery (their coffins are above ground).  Brings new meaning to when Christ returns, the dead in Christ shall rise first...

  We also visited the Dominus Flevit church (“tear drop” architecture marking the spot where the Lord wept), the Church of All Nations (Garden of Gethsemane) and an adjacent garden for some quiet time.

 Above is the Garden of Gethsemane-so amazing to actually be there!  Below is the supposed spot in the garden where the Lord prayed.  The Church of All Nations is built on top of this spot.

 Below is a picture of the outside of the Church of All Nations.  I really enjoyed the artwork in this church.

 Here is a view of the Temple Mount from the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus would have been able to see the Temple area while He was in the garden praying.

 Then we went down to the Old City and walked the Via Dolorosa, visiting stations of the cross and ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulchure. Below is where we began our journey on the Via Dolorosa, the path that Jesus would have taken as he walked to his crucifixion.

 Below is the Church of the Holy Sepulchure.  I loved the story about this ladder on the church.  This church is cared for by 5 or so different orthodox churches, all of which quarrel with each other and have trouble agreeing on who has responsibility for what.  Because of this, the church has fallen into some disrepair.  As the story goes, someone put up this ladder about 100 years ago to try to fix something and someone else got mad about it and everyone has disagreed ever since, with the work never getting accomplished.  Now that is death by committee!!!  This church is the probable site where Christ was buried and resurrected and it is quite ornate.

 We also visited St. Peter Galicantu (cock crowing; house of Caiaphas).  Below is a beautiful stained glass window in the ceiling of this church.

 The next two pictures show the underground caves of Caiaphas' house where Jesus would have been kept while under arrest before the crucifixion.

 Below is the church of St. Peter Galicantu which is built in the spot where Caiaphas' house was and the supposed place where Peter denied Christ.  

 Then we went to the Garden Tomb and saw where some believe Jesus was buried.

 He was not there-He is risen!

 Some people believe that this is Golgotha.  You can kind of see the face of a skull in these rocks.  Many believe that Jesus was crucified here, on top of this rock mountain.

We were able to have communion together at the Garden Tomb.

 Lastly, a beautiful overlook on the city of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock.

      Finally, we had a sumptuous dinner at the American Colony Hotel (founded by Horatio Spafford, writer of “It is Well with My Soul”) where we reflected on our trip and departed for the airport.  
It was truly an amazing trip-the trip of a lifetime-and I am so thankful to my dad and his wife Jeanne who wonderfully cared for our kids for these days that we were gone.  It was so amazing to see the stories of the Bible more clearly through visiting these places!

Israel Trip-Day 8

We spent Thursday in the holy city of Jerusalem.  We started in the most ancient section—the city of David—where we looked at the remains of David’s palace, Nehemiah’s wall, the stepped stone structure, the spring tower, Warren’s Shaft, Hezekiah’s tunnel and the Siloam pool.  

 Above you can see the view from David's palace and you could imagine how David was able to see out across his city even seeing Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop, etc.  Below you can see some of the remains of David's palace.  I don't know why we don't hear more about this place because it was incredibly impressive!  There was also a view of the Temple Mount from this palace area.

 More remains of David's palace!  It's very hard to narrow down all of the pictures that I took (almost 600!) and decide which few to share on the blog.

 Hezekiah's tunnel was absolutely amazing!  It was built sooooo long ago and still carries the water as it was intended! As the story goes, men started from the entrance and exit and followed a natural fissure in the rock, hoping to meet each other in middle (which they did!).

 Once you enter the tunnel there is no natural light so we used headlamps and flashlights.  It is very narrow in some places, deep water (up to my waist) in other places, and very low ceilings in other spots.  But it was absolutely amazing to walk through this ancient water system!

 We walked a staircase and ancient gutter (all underground) that ascends from the Siloam pool to the SW corner of the Temple Mount.  When the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, many Jews his in the gutters that we walked through for a few weeks.  Cooking vessels and pottery from this time has been found there (as pictured above).  

 Above: This would have been the gate entrance to the Temple that Jesus would have used (it is now closed off). Below:  This would have been where Jesus was tempted by Satan to throw himself off the southeast corner of the Temple and have his angels save Him.

 Along the outer walls of Jerusalem, you can see many gunshot holes in the wall from all of the fighting that took place when Israel was being resettled by Jews after World War 2.  And I liked this painting (below) that we saw in the markets in Jerusalem.  Everyone (male and female) must serve 2 years in the Israeli army and be trained in the military.  Everywhere in Israel, especially Jerusalem, you hear people say, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem".  And with good reason since 3 major religions all claim holy sites in this city and they all live together, side by side.

 At the Temple Mount we looked at the Herodian Street (and Roman destruction) and sat on the southern steps where Jesus walked.  Above you can see my foot on the very steps where Jesus would have walked!  

Finally, we enjoyed some free time in the afternoon when we all went separate ways: most of us ate and shopped in the Old City markets; some of us went to museums, walked the ramparts, or just got lost in the labyrinth of streets.  Ken, Emily and I walked to Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and looked at the museum of artifacts from tel Dan (where Ken dug this summer).  Then we spent some time shopping in the Old City markets and then we walked along the top of the wall around Jerusalem.  

 Above is a Bes figurine, protector of women in childbirth.  Below is a model of the Israelite gate system at tel Dan.

 The markets in the Old City were fun, although a bit daunting.  People selling all sorts of stuff and very eager to have some American dollars.  Below is a spice shop that I thought was pretty cool.  The guy had made that tower, all with various spices!