Turkey Days 3-4

We slept in a little on the third day, but the beds were so uncomfortable that we actually WANTED to get up.  We then made another trip to the Grand Bazaar to negotiate a few more deals.  We didn't do much else there in Istanbul before we made the journey to the airport for our flight to Izmir.

Once we landed in Izmir, we rode a train and then another bus to get to Mom and Dad's place.  I was pleasantly surprised at how nice of a place they have.  It is NOTHING like my apartment's on my mission that's for sure.  We stayed there for a little bit and then headed to the hotel where Alyson and I would stay for 5 nights.  We had already done the train and the bus and so it was time to walk.  It was a very nice walk as well.  Izmir was a very nice change from Istanbul.  It also has the added benefit of a beautiful centralized park with a running track that is 1.2 miles around (perfect for my boys).  We finally arrived at our hotel after a pleasant walk.  It was a very nice hotel, the Swissotel.  In fact, I would rank this hotel right up there with any that I've ever stayed at.  The kids changed into their swimming suits right away and went for a dip...

Adin and Mia LOVE the pool!

We just stayed there at the hotel for a few hours and then wrapped up the day with a nice dinner by the pool that night.  The kids were beat, but they walked back to Grandma and Grandpa's and crashed out there while Alyson and I got to go to our quiet hotel room.  

Day 4:

We got up early and walked to the train station for our ride to Ephesus.  Alyson and me were the most excited for this part of our trip.  We were prepared for a nice hot day seeing the ruins.  I have to say, it did NOT disappoint!  After eating some of Mom's snickerdoodle's on the train we arrived near Ephesus.  

 A Doner!

The storks that greeted us when we arrived in Ephesus.  We had to explain how storks deliver babies.

The kids wanted a Doner (Turkish sandwich) right away (my kids absolutely loved these!).  After our good lunch we made a short journey in taxi up to the ruins.  We hired a guide (a very nice and intelligent Turkish man) and were in awe for the entire time.  This place was once the 3rd largest city in the world!  They have only uncovered 15% of what they believe lies below the mountain.  It was really amazing and hot!

 Preston chilling out below one of the famous arches with Medusa above.

 Yes, a community toilet!

 They took advantage of the only shade in Ephesus!

Hercules himself holding up the pillars!

We spent about 4-5 hours in this ancient city, but it was very much worth it!

 The library was really cool!

 Take a close look at this picture and you can tell that one of these people was less thrilled about Ephesus than the others despite the awesome scenery!

We left Dad and Mia and went back to see some more.  This was obviously taken looking down from the dwellings onto the city.

After we bought a few trinkets at the shop we made our way back to Izmir (we had another Doner of course).  We found a great restaurant close to our hotel and ate while Connor went on a one of his many runs.  Once again Mom and Dad took the tired kids back to their place while Alyson and I went to the hotel to rest up for the next day of adventure in Turkey!

Turkey Days 1-2

As I am writing this, Dad is going through surgery and Mom is likely stressing out waiting for him.  Our prayers are with both of you today!

Our trip to Turkey was AMAZING!  Not only was it a great vacation, but it was a great spiritual experience, and a great educational experience for our entire family.  It wasn't cheap, but it was worth it!  Over the next couple of days, I'll try to detail our great trip.

Day 1:

It all started out a little rough.  We were only one hour out of Turkey when we lost one engine and had to make an emergency landing in Bucharest, Romania.  It was NOT fun visiting another country.  We just wanted to get to Turkey.  The Romanian's were rude and it cost us a day of our already too short trip.  It was already going to be a 19 hour trip and this only extended the misery.  Oh well, at least we got a Romanian stamp in our passports right?  We took NO pictures of our little miserable trip to Romania.  I wish that I would have taken a picture of our room where they packed ALL six of us in!  That was pretty funny, but we weren't in the mood for any pictures at all.

Day 2:

A Turkish flag by the Bosphorous.

The men washing their feet before entering the mosque.

Some street candy!

Alyson bought a beautiful plate here.  Unfortunately it broke on the way home:(

The night at the Mosque.

This was supposed to have been day 1.  It killed me to be off schedule!  We landed and after passport control I was attacked by a little lady that claimed to be my Mom (see Dad's blog).  That was great to see the both of them!  It just felt awesome to see them both.  The kids were thrilled as well.  We immediately started our first of MANY different forms of public transportation.  We, with our 7 large pieces of luggage, got onto the light rail and were soon joined by many curious Turkish people.  That ride took a while itself.  We were amazed at the different sites as we were moving along and could not understand a thing around us.  After 2 light rail trains we were close to our destination (that's all you get in Turkey is close or not so close to your destination).  As we were crossing the busy street I almost got hit by a bus while the rest of the family was paying attention.  We then walked a few blocks to our hotel.  It was actually a very nice place with paper thin walls and VERY hard beds.  We then went to the roof to look out over Istanbul.  My first impression was that I could not believe how many mosque's there were.  It was like our churches in Utah!  While Connor was running on the treadmill, we got lunch on the hotel roof.  First Turkish food experience was good.  The kids loved that my sea bass still had the head and then they loved teasing their Mom with it.  We then started another little journey through Istanbul.  Another light rail, some more walking and finally to the spice market and Grand Bazaar.  It was pretty cool and MUCH nicer than the Latin American mercado's that I had experienced.

Mia made the first purchase in Turkey of a fan with this old man who was more than happy to take a picture with her!  I was pleasantly surprised at just how nice the Turks were!  So kind, sincere and happy.  Mia used this fan the entire trip!

We then made our way to the two famous Mosques in all of Turkey.  The Blue Mosque and the Haya Sophia.  Our first glimpse was pretty impressive especially with Mom and Dad smiling along side their grandchildren.

We then walked to and into the Blue Mosque.  You can see that Mom and Alyson had to cover their heads in respect.  Dad had to wear a skirt as well.  We got into the mosque JUST before they kicked us out for their prayer time (that is an experience in itself).  Pretty amazing to be honest.

After being in the Blue Mosque we went outside for some great pictures and some candy that was made right there on the street that was actually pretty good.  We enjoyed the views of the two mosques.

We then made our way with a lot more walking to see the Whirrling Dervishes.  I would NOT do that again.  It was interesting for about the first 15 minutes of whirrling around and then I was done.  All of my kids fell asleep during the show.  We then walked some more and viewed the mosques in the dark with the fountains in front changing colors it was pretty spectacular.  We then had another Turkish meal and then made our way back to the hotel.  I was dead, but my oldest son wanted to get another run in outside (it was 10 at night).  Of course, I couldn't let him go out there by himself and so we went for a late run through the streets of Istanbul all by ourselves.  5 miles through those streets was actually quite the experience!  Just another memory for the books I guess.  Finally, around midnight Turkish time I was in bed listening to the kids next door still up and very animated.  I think I finally crashed out around 2 am.  Day 3 had already begun!

The Grouch Slouch

You can tell when Jane is unhappy just by her posture. This hat was just the icing on the cake.
Back in April we went to Salt Lake for General Conference. The day before conference (Friday 4/6) was Jane's birthday. She was thrilled to go skiing since her first experience here in WA was great. However, Brighton didn't have the "magic carpet" conveyor belt that she was expecting, so the day was a bust. She took off her skis and walked down the bunny slope. So this was her punishment as she sulked in the ski shop.

Preston is the SAME rank as Connor NOW!

Yes, Preston has earned his Life Scout (the same rank his older brother Connor has had for 3 years)!  Congratulations Preston!  He's only got to wait 6 months, do an Eagle project and finish 5 more merit badges and he'll get his Eagle!

Connor Punches Ticket to State in the 3200!

Despite a very difficult week of running, Connor punched his ticket into the State Track Finals on May 16, 2013 in the 3200m run!  He ran a very impressive 9:43 which now has him ranked 10th!  The top 18 go to state.  What is most impressive is that he ran a 20 mile run on Monday and had some VERY tired legs going into this race.  This week he is going to try and qualify in the mile and the 800m!  We'll see if he can get it done!

Another Pinewood Derby Title!

My very last pinewood derby! Adin finished cub scouts UNDEFEATED in pinewood derbies.  This was our best car ever.  It set a track record and nobody was even close.  Just another trophy for Adin.  This car was called, "Night Fury."

Prom 2013

Connor went to prom last night.  No, he did NOT try to get a kiss even though EVERYONE could tell she wanted one!  I don't know what's wrong with this kid!