Monday, November 28, 2011

Turkey Day in Turkey (Title Stolen)

Stole this Blog Title from my good friend Stebbs. You can read a post from her by clicking here: Turkey Day in Turkey.

It's hard to be away from home on holidays, but good friends make it feel like the family isn't quite so far away. I also have Joni coming in a few days to look forward to! 

Here are some pictures from our day.

Our great friends Jake and Rana. Jake and JB have such similar loves of life and are great friends. Rana is such a beautiful person who encourages me daily in my role as a Mom to three small children. And she speaks THREE languages! (English, Arabic, and Turkish.) We were really blessed when Jake got a civilian job on Base, and they were able to move to our side of town. Their kiddos: Axel and Mia are fantastic playmates as well.  

Probably Elijah's very best friend ... William! I can't even think about leaving this little playmate next summer.  

We did the food inside. Desserts got the dining room table. Yum! We also invited our gardeners (they are a team of five.) They seemed to enjoy the desserts a lot! 

This is a sort of "newer" friend of mine Casey. I've known her since I got here, but during the last few months, we have really been united by some similar themes in our life. Here she is with the awesome Stebbs.  

We came up with some things for the kiddos to do outside. One of those was going to be using Ryan & Stebbs jumpy castle. But silly us plugged a 220 into a 110 and fried the darn thing! 

 Elijah helping Veronica show off her cowboy boots. As always, these pics are all her.

This kid is growing up like crazy. When he pushed a young child at the jumpy houses this week, Stebbs (who was watching him) explained that he could come to her and she could handle it. "Oh I can handle it!" was his reply. 

Our outdoor setup. It was just bearable enough temperature wise to eat outside. 

Isaac eating either cranberry sauce or a croissant -- as those are the only two things he touched. Unlike little brother who had a plate full. They are so different ... 


... and yet so much the best of friends.

They are always looking for trouble together.

This picture of our little Elijah who was a bit under the weather. Later, after everyone left, we found this McQueen car and another favorite car tucked behind a pillow. He didn't want the other kids to play with those two! Smart kid.


John smoked a lamb. Our friends the Mike & Bri brought a Turkey. And Emily brought a ham. (We gave our gardeners special instructions about where the pork was located since Muslims eat NO pork.)

Our little gal -- who was much happier inside and out of the cold. 

 It takes awhile for the youngest kiddo to catch up in your hearts with the older ones. But as JB put it the other day, "She's there." She is permanently intwined into our family now. Love her, love her, love her.

 Not sure what I would do without this gal. Love this pic of the two of them.

Ryen -- Mike and Bri's little gal. 


Abigail avoiding the cold. She really dislikes being cold at all.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really enjoyed this blog/pics. Looks like you guys had a great time. Little Abigail is a doll. She doesn't like the cold? I guess she takes after her Mother. :)
Linda xo

Joia said...

Since Philip and I have shared so many Amazing holiday meals with you guys, when I read this post, I looked at Philip, and said, "Man, we really missed out on Thanksgiving with the Kits this year, John roasted a lamb!!" =0)