I really need to do this blog justice and sit down to catch up. But for now, I'll have to just start from where we are at, currently.
I am writing this on my iPad from our hotel room on the Dead Sea in Jordan!!!!! I know, awesome, right!? We are staying at the Holiday Inn and the boys are down at the playground getting their last wiggles out before bed. Matt gave me a few minutes to myself so I thought I'd try to use it wisely:)
Jordan has been a great trip! I had underestimated it quite a bit, but now that we are here-wow-so much biblical history, that I (surprisingly) find quite interesting! We flew into the capital Amman via Qatar Airways using our confirmed tickets! Yay! The next day we drove down to Petra, about 2.5 hours away. That afternoon we hiked to the Treasury! And just beyond. The sik reminded Matt and I of Zion's with the red mountain rocks, gorges, and the way the sun leaves shadows. It gets pretty chilly after the sun sets, so we headed back to our hotel and got a good night's sleep. The next day was about 8 miles round trip; we went all the way to the Monastary! Jake and James basically ran from where we parked our car all the way to the Treasury. Then, we rented a donkey, or an air-conditioned Ferrari, as they like to advertise. Once we got to the steps going up the mountain to get to the Monastary, the boys wanted off that donkey! They freaked out- I think it was just too unstable feeling when going up. So, we told them they had to walk! It is 1,000 steps to the top and guess what-- they did it all! And guess what else!? They walked all the way back down! We all slept great that night!
Tuesday the 24th, we drove to the Dead Sea. The south shores of the a Dead Sea have the picturesque salt rocks built up along the shores. We stopped at the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth and also when up to Lott's tomb. The drive from Petra to the a Dead Sea was eventful to say the very least! A kid came out of a bus stop as we were driving by and started waving a really big knife at us. He did jabbing motions towards our car and came really near us! I was screaming and freaking out when finally Matt decided to speed off. It was frightening!! And I'll never let him live down his hesitation, although he still tries to deny it! Also, along our drive we saw many families in UNESCO tents camped along the road. We were told they were the Syrian Refugees that had fled from their country. It was quite humbling. Once we arrived at the Dead Sea, we enjoyed the playground at the resort, then went in to Face Time with family and celebrate Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was spent playing with toys, chatting with family, and a nap. That afternoon we went to Jesus's baptism site on the River Jordan. We watched a Greek Orthodox Christian believer get baptized. Pretty cool. Got in the Dead Sea and I must say- floating was pretty cool. Also- they say the mud is medicinal!! Now, today we drove to Jerash, an ancient Roman ruins site, and walked around. Bought some flutes made out of bamboo for the kids in pre-school with Jake and James. We leave for Doha tomorrow evening. A very Merry Christmas for our little family, even though it was spent a half a world away from loved ones.
Jakey smiling in the Sik.
Run boys, RUN!
Mom holding Eli-O. We walked through the sik on two different days. I think the coolest part about it was that it looks different depending upon what time of day you hike through. Depending upon the sun, the shadows are different, accentuating and highlighting something different each time. Pretty unique.
The way the light shone on the red rock was beautiful. It looks different depending upon what time of day you are there. This was the afternoon sunlight.
And then all of the sudden the Sik opens up to.....The Treasury!
Family Pic in front of the Treasury. Think 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusades'....
Donkey Kong. We rented him in front of the Treasury to take him up the canyon a bit more. If I remember correctly, he cost more than our rental car!
One of the many caves.
Amazing caves!
More caves and cliffs and rocks and dirt.
Looking back towards the city where our hotel was. And below--let's just say we slept well after that long hike!
This is day 2 of hiking, we are going all the way up to the Monastary this time. About 8 miles round trip. The boys were champs.
The Monastary. This whole thing was cut out of the mountainside. Just for the purpose of a tomb. Amazing.
Inside the cavern of the Monastary.
The kids playing in the cavern of the Monastary.
Christmas Eve Jammies and Jitters!
Me: Where are you from? Him: I Bedouin. I live in cave in Petra.
Wow.
More of the Monastary.
Returning our 'rental' to the Bedouins.
James at the lowest point on Earth!
Below is Lot's Tomb.
Christmas Eve we stopped in the Lowest Point on Earth Museum along the Dead Sea. They were nice enough to let the boys 'scrub broken pieces of pottery' to keep busy.
Decorated camels.
Musa Wadi. Where Moses supposedly struck the rock and water came out.
The Jordan River on Christmas Day. The site where Jesus Christ was baptised, so they claim.
The font.
Jordan River! Christmas Day.
It was the funniest thing ever. Here we are on Christmas Day in a Muslim Country. Visiting the possible site of Jesus's baptism. We are walking back to the tour bus and distinctly hear "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" coming from this store. We walk in and this life sized Santa is 'rockin' to the song. It was so funny! The boys just stared. It totally made my day! It was Christmas after all.
Naturally, the boys are finding sticks.
We are on the Jordanian Side and looking over across the river is the Israeli side.
Believers getting baptized on Christmas Day.
That large pot is the holy water.
Looking across to the Israeli side.
Face Timing on Christmas Day with some of our favorite people! Thank goodness for technology!
One day we took a road trip to the city of Jerash. It was ruled by the Romans at one point and is really well preserved. It was pretty chilly, but we bundled up and walked fast. Our boys are such good little travelers!
Most of the time Eli was in the baby backpack. Stuck in there just hanging out. He is such a good baby and happy all the time. He did really well on this trip where most of the time he was right on Dad's back!
I am writing this on my iPad from our hotel room on the Dead Sea in Jordan!!!!! I know, awesome, right!? We are staying at the Holiday Inn and the boys are down at the playground getting their last wiggles out before bed. Matt gave me a few minutes to myself so I thought I'd try to use it wisely:)
Jordan has been a great trip! I had underestimated it quite a bit, but now that we are here-wow-so much biblical history, that I (surprisingly) find quite interesting! We flew into the capital Amman via Qatar Airways using our confirmed tickets! Yay! The next day we drove down to Petra, about 2.5 hours away. That afternoon we hiked to the Treasury! And just beyond. The sik reminded Matt and I of Zion's with the red mountain rocks, gorges, and the way the sun leaves shadows. It gets pretty chilly after the sun sets, so we headed back to our hotel and got a good night's sleep. The next day was about 8 miles round trip; we went all the way to the Monastary! Jake and James basically ran from where we parked our car all the way to the Treasury. Then, we rented a donkey, or an air-conditioned Ferrari, as they like to advertise. Once we got to the steps going up the mountain to get to the Monastary, the boys wanted off that donkey! They freaked out- I think it was just too unstable feeling when going up. So, we told them they had to walk! It is 1,000 steps to the top and guess what-- they did it all! And guess what else!? They walked all the way back down! We all slept great that night!
Tuesday the 24th, we drove to the Dead Sea. The south shores of the a Dead Sea have the picturesque salt rocks built up along the shores. We stopped at the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth and also when up to Lott's tomb. The drive from Petra to the a Dead Sea was eventful to say the very least! A kid came out of a bus stop as we were driving by and started waving a really big knife at us. He did jabbing motions towards our car and came really near us! I was screaming and freaking out when finally Matt decided to speed off. It was frightening!! And I'll never let him live down his hesitation, although he still tries to deny it! Also, along our drive we saw many families in UNESCO tents camped along the road. We were told they were the Syrian Refugees that had fled from their country. It was quite humbling. Once we arrived at the Dead Sea, we enjoyed the playground at the resort, then went in to Face Time with family and celebrate Christmas Eve. Christmas Day was spent playing with toys, chatting with family, and a nap. That afternoon we went to Jesus's baptism site on the River Jordan. We watched a Greek Orthodox Christian believer get baptized. Pretty cool. Got in the Dead Sea and I must say- floating was pretty cool. Also- they say the mud is medicinal!! Now, today we drove to Jerash, an ancient Roman ruins site, and walked around. Bought some flutes made out of bamboo for the kids in pre-school with Jake and James. We leave for Doha tomorrow evening. A very Merry Christmas for our little family, even though it was spent a half a world away from loved ones.
The boys just played in the rocks and wrestled and stepped on each other. Of course.
Ridin'
Checking out their new Christmas Eve Story.
Wow.
Sitting outside of the little chapel where you can buy Holy Water. Christmas Day.
I love this one. Matt floating in the Dead Sea, while reading his Lonely Planet Guide Book about Jordan. It was so salty the boys didn't like getting in the water. We put the medicinal mud all over, which is suposed to help eliminate some of the sting of the salt, but they did not like that, either. There were tears. Our friends, the Duerdens, who lived in Jordan for a time, gave us some good advice about the Dead Sea. They told us to stay in a resort that had access to the sea, rather than just go to a public beach and hop in. It was good advice. The resort's showers and towels were really good for being able get off the mud and salt.
One of the maps we found helpful.
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