New Pictures

A normal small grocery store at the bottom of most apartment buildings.  We would buy our staples here: bread, milk, eggs, pasta...:

 A view of a town about 30 minutes outside of where we live:

 Mountains and old churches everywhere.  It really is beautiful:

  A new church being built:

 A landscape on our drive back into the country after leaving for our 1-year visa trip:

 churchela for sale (churchela is a bunch of walnuts strung onto those white strings, then dipped over and over again into a grape and flour mix.  Kind of like dipping candles. This was a snack, that I believe was originally made for soldiers during times of war because it was healthy and stayed good for a long time) it is hanging everywhere in the markets:

Skiing in March

I have been meaning to post these pics of David's skiing adventure.  It was a "light" blizzard the entire day, so the view was a little hard to catch.  After taking a marshrutka several kilometers up a windy mountain, the guys were so glad to be safely at the ski resort. 

 We're hoping to get in some more regular skiing with some neighbor friends next winter.  It is very inexpensive, compared to our Colorado resorts and these gondola lifts are a nice upgrade!

Trip to Turkey

Turkey was beautiful.  We were there right as Spring was coming into full bloom.  Great weather and awesome colors from the trees and tulips blooming!

The architecture was amazing.  The culture was rich.  We experienced a lot that made the short trip seem overwhelming.  

 The food was delicious.  Baklava!

 The history was so deep.  This church had mural on top of mural 

(of different types of paintings, mosaics, etc) because different religions had taken over this place.

New Sledding Hill

We found this sledding/skiing hill that is about 20 minutes from our place.  With some friends, we brought sleds, rented tubes, and decided that the lift was a little too intense for sledding purposes.

 That meant that the kids were manually pulled up half the hill!

 They loved it!

Operation Christmas Child

After years of working up in the distribution center in Denver, CO...we never thought we would actually receive a shoebox of our own!! And, in March, no-less!!

The boys were excited to get new toothbrushes and socks.  And, I can verify that these boxes and treats are passed out to the locals.  It is true that, although toothpaste, socks, small toys, etc are readily available here, for some it is a rare treat.

So...here are our two little monsters enjoying the moment of getting gifts on a random Sunday in March...

 

SNOW

Areas near our home with all the snow we've had in the last two weeks!
Cold and windy, but beautiful covered in white!

The last two days we have seen the first sign of Spring -- wind!
It has been blustery, but less frigid!
Spring is coming!

My Favorite Statue

This is my favorite statue:

This photo was taken along the main drag.  This actually used to be a working light, but was damaged and not repaired.  I'm not sure if it can be repaired.  None-the-less, instead of fixing it or removing it, an artist added his solution: the man climbing the ladder.  Now, this light will always be "being fixed"!!