Chloe's first Christmas

My niece on her first Christmas. So cute!!!

Israel and Jordan part 4

Don't forget to check out parts 1, 2, and 3....

Friday started with a trip to the pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the blind man. (Read the story here.)
We weren't able to go into the pool but entered a large cistern that used to hold water for the city.

Lions Gate, one of the gates into the Old City of Jerusalem

inside the gate

ruins of the old city

ruins of the pool of Bethesda

going down into the cistern under the old city

underground

Mom, in the cistern

Near the pool is a church built by the Crusaders called St. Anne's Church. (Read about it here.) The church is usually full of visitors but we were lucky enough to get our group in there by ourselves. The architecture is very simple, with wooden benches to sit on. We had a short message and then sang "How Great Thou Art." It was another very inspirational moment.

St Anne's Church

From the Cathedral we walked down the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane. I have to admit that, although it was neat to go to the garden, it was a bit disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it was great to have been there, but it is very small, and the trees are all fenced off, so you can't really touch them, or sit amongst them like we had been hoping to. That being said, just the fact that we were walking among 2000 year old olive trees that Jesus could have rested under during His last night before the crucifixition was amazing.

Garden of Gethsemane

It is entirely possible that Jesus rested under this very tree.

From the Garden, we headed to the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall. The wall is the only remaining wall of the Second Temple that was destroyed in 70 AD. It is tradition to write prayers on slips of paper and stick them in the cracks of the wall. Unfortunately, we didn't know this, so we weren't prepared. So our prayers went into the cracks between the stones written on gum wrappers. Twice a year the prayer are cleaned out and buried on the Mount of Olives. The prayer plaza is divided into men's and women's sections. There were many Jews gathered here praying, and crying. They are praying to God for the messiah to come, but we know that their prayer has already been answered in Jesus, if only they would realize it.

inside the walls of the old city.. there is a path that you can walk around, it was used to defend the city in ancient days.

Stacy and Mom

Me, preparing to defend the city against invaders. :)

The Wailing Wall

hundreds of prayers

sticking my prayer into a crack in the wall

the men's side, on the left, had tables and chairs. the women's side, did not

Mom, Me, and Stacy at the Wailing Wall

Tales from the ER....

It was another one of those nights at work. It started out innocently enough, nothing too exciting until about midnight.
We got an ambulance run with a patient who called 911 because he stubbed his toe. Yup, he stubbed his toe. I'm sure it was really life threatening and worthy of that 911 call. Anyway we xrayed his toe, nothing was broken so it was time to send him home. He sat there and said he wasn't going. His exact words were "You can't make me." So we called the police. Before the police got there tho, he got into a yelling match with the one male nurse we have on nights. So the patient gets up and is yelling "You wanna take this outside?" So our nurse says yeah, opens the doors to the ambulance bay and the patient walks out ahead of him. Our nurse quick closed the doors. That got rid of that patient. Ha, dummy. Next time don't threaten to go outside, when that is all we want from you. Stupid.
Then I got a patient, a girl in her early 20's who mom brought in because she was acting weird. So we get her in the gurney and sent mom back outside because the patient didn't want her back there. So we're asking her what is going on, why she's acting weird and she keeps saying "my mom is the culprit" So of course I ask her, "What did she do?" The patients response "I told you she's the culprit. She's been culpriting." When I asked her again, I got the same response "She's been culpriting"
Nice, so I can see where not going to get anywhere here. So we get her undressed and into a gown and of course she takes the gown right off. So then she's sitting there nekkid and yelling that she wants "my Jeffrey, bring me my Jeffrey." Yelling, at the top of her lungs. We finally get blood drawn and IV infusing and she promptly rips it out. So then I'm pissed. We ended up medicating her 3 times, and each time I used a bigger needle than the last. (That'll teach her this afternoon when she feels those bruises.)
So anyway even after all this medication she's still screaming and yelling, trying to undress herself, and trying to throw punches. So we got out the restraints and tied her arms down. She immediately tried to kick me in the head, luckily her aim was a little off. So anyway, we all walk away and just wait for the meds to kick in, and she's still screaming. "Get me out of here, I hate you all." They she says "Hey I know how to sing" and so the next hour or so goes like this...
"I HATE YOU....think of me, think of me fondly....GET ME THE F*CK OUT OF HERE....think of me.....WHERE IS JEFFREY......think of me fondly.....I WANNA GO HOME....think of me....GET ME Out of heee...."
The meds had finally kicked in. Thank goodness. Then she slept for the next 4 hours, and I got to go home and pass her off to day shift. Yay for me. Unfortunately, I really like Phantom of the Opera, and that song will never be the same for me again. :)

November is over?

Wow time flies. Tomorrow is December 1st. I can't believe the year is almost over.
So before we get to Christmas here's my Thanksgiving report....it was tons of fun.
Jay and Mandie and Chloe got here late Tuesday night. Chloe is the cutest baby ever, and so sweet. She's got the best disposition, just happy all the time. And she's at a fun age, she plays with her toys, and gets so excited about everything. You can tell she is just itching to get down and play with all the kids.
My other cousins from Arizona came with their kids. They have 9 and 13 year old girls, and a 6 year old boy. I love these kids, they are so much fun. Thanksgiving day was a busy day, usually we do it at my grandparents house, but this year it was at my parents house. We had 26 people over and had to cook a ton of food. Even with all those people we had a ton of leftovers.
On Friday we just stayed home and played with the kids, paper airplane wars, Phase 10 games, walks around the block, naps, fetch with the dog, all in all it was a very fun day. Saturday we decided to go up to Venice Beach, we had gone there two years ago when my cousins were out here for Thanksgiving and had a lot of fun. It's always interesting to people watch there. We rented one of those tandem bikes, riding that was interesting. And we got the yummiest donuts fresh from the fryer. Mmmmm.
Sunday was a sad day....everyone went home. I slept all day to make up for all the lost sleep over the weekend. :)
Tomorrow is December 1st and Christmas is only 23 days away. I haven't even started shopping or anything. I think I'm gonna do the decorations tomorrow. It will be another interesting holiday, the first one without my grandma.

Thanksgiving....

Today is Thanksgiving. So in the spirit of the holiday here are the things I'm grateful for this year....
1. God's love. The love that He has for me that He sent His Son here to suffer and die for me, to pardon my sins. And knowing that I have eternal life in Him. That because He died and rose again, I can live forever in heaven with Him. I would not have been able to make it thru the loss of my grandma without knowing that this separation is only temporary. I will see her again one day, and that makes the pain of loss bearable. And, for that, I am grateful.

2. My family. I have the best family. We may not be perfect, but no matter what, thru thick and thin, we always stick together. And, for that, I am grateful.

3. My niece being born. This little baby is the biggest blessing. She's such a happy baby, and just thinking about her makes me smile. She's only been in my life for 8 months, but I cannot imagine life without her, and for that, I am grateful.

4. My friends. I may not have alot of friends, but the one's I do have are great. I know I can count on these girls, and hope they know they can count on me. And for that, I am grateful.

5. Facebook. Ok, you might be thinking this one is a little strange, but Facebook has brought me back into contact with some old friends that I would otherwise probably have never spoken to again, and for that, I'm grateful.

6. My job. In this economy to have a job is a good thing. To have a job that I like, with people I like, is truly a blessing. And for that, I am grateful.

7. My dad quitting smoking. Never in my life did I think I would see the day that my dad would quit smoking, but he's gone cold turkey for 6 weeks now and for that I am grateful.

8. The perfect mac and cheese recipe. I perfected my own recipe this year, not only is it fantastically yummy, but I have a wonderful potluck dish that every one loves and frequently requests, and for that, I am grateful.

9. The new Arby's by my house. Arby's is one of my favorite fast food places, but up until a few months ago, there was not one within a 10 mile range of my house. Now there is one just about a mile away, and for that, I am grateful.

10 Twenty minutes on the last Saturday in August. This was back when my grandma was still sick, it was the day we really realized that things were bad. I was at my parents house when my mom came home from my grandparents and said things were really bad. I headed up there and found my grandma laying in her bed. I laid in bed with her and just snuggled up with her and told her that I loved her. And even though it was not the last time, it was 20 minutes that no one else had, just her and I. And I will never forget it, and for that I am grateful.

Israel and Jordan part 3

Go here for part 1 and part 2.

Thursday morning dawned bright and early. One of us woke the rest of us up at 2:00 am thinking that it was 6:00 am. I wont mention names but it wasnt me. :) Anyway after we went back to sleep for a couple hours, we loaded up our luggage (we were changing hotels) and got on the bus and headed to Jericho. Jericho is Palastinian (Arabs in Israel) so not many tourists go to this area. On the way to Jericho we stopped at the Zaccheus tree. You know the story of Zaccheus, so no need to share it here. Just the pics...

The Zaccheus tree

I kept singing in my head...."Zaccheus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see...."

After the Zaccheus tree we headed to Jericho. Jericho is where Joshua fought the first battle in the Israelites attempt to take their land back. (The quick version of the story....God instructed Joshua to walk around the walls of the city once a day for 6 days. On the 7th day they were to walk around 7 times. On the 7th time they blew their trumpets and the walls fell down.) There are some remains of the 4000 year old walls.

4,000 year old ruins

walking up to see the walls of Jericho

the walls of Jericho

perhaps the remains of Rahab's house?  you never know....

Again I kept singing those old Sunday school songs in my head...(Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down.) Very strange to actually be at the site where it happened.

Outside the ruins of Jericho, there was a little shop where we parked our busses. Of course we did a little shopping. I ran outside the shop for a minute and one of the ladies on the tour stopped me and told me that a man was giving rides on his camel. So Stacy and I took turns going for a ride on the camel. It was a very strange experience.

Stacy on the camel

riding a camel :)

A note here about Jericho...because it is under Palastinian control, Jews cannot go into this area. So before we entered Palastine, we had to drop off our tour guides, who were Jewish. The bus drivers could enter because they were Arab, not Jew. Also, because it is in Palastine, very few tourist go into the area, only 1 in 20 tour buses. The people were very friendly. And while it was a little trippy to say we were in Palastine with everything we hear on the news, never once did we feel in danger. It was definitely a learning experience, and I'm so glad we got to do it.

After leaving Jericho (we stopped to pick up our guides outside the Palastine area), we headed to Bethleham. Bethleham is also under Palastine control, so we had to drop off our guides outside the city limits again. While in Bethleham we went to the Church of the Nativity. This church is built on the site thought to be the site of Jesus' birth. We went into the Church and down a flight of stairs into a small room with a star above the door. The actual site of the birth is in small little alcove, just a star medallion with a hole in it, where you can touch what is supposed to be the floor onto which Jesus was born. A few feet away there is a manger. And while we cannot know for sure that this is the actual site where Jesus is born, just the fact that it may very well be the site, and that no matter what, He was born very near where we were at that moment standing, we a very neat experience. Never before in our lives had we been closer to where He was born!

Going into the Church of the Nativity. The door was partially enclosed to keep men from bringing their horses into the chruch. They left it that way so that people had to duck their heads as a sign of humility and to remember they we were going into a holy site.

The steps down into the area where Jesus was born

The picture didn't turn out too well because it was dark in there, but behind the fence area, where the 4 little lights are, is a manger.

The spot where Jesus was born

Stacy

Mom

Me

Here I need to mention that one of the people on our tour was a missionary in Jordan for many years. He is the reason we decided to go with this particular group. His parents were friends with my grandparents for many years, and he grew up with my mom and uncles. So he kept giving us extra little tidbits of information because he was familiar with this area. So anyway, while we were waiting for the rest of our group to finish up, he told us that there were small caves in this other part of the church that is where they put the bodies of all the first-born children that were born when Jesus was born. (Remember the story, King Herod had all children in Bethleham under the age of 2 killed. Matt. 1:16) So we quickly ran to check out these caves.

Because Bethleham was under Palastine control, the whole city was very guarded. In fact. it was surrounded by a wall similar to the Berlin Wall. We had a guard, armed with a machine gun, come onto our bus to check passports, before we were allowed back out of the city and into Jewish territory. This would be like needing a passport to go from Anaheim to Garden Grove. It was very weird that people live like that on a daily basis.

The Bethleham Wall

You can't tell it in the picture, but every guard had a machine gun. They told us not to take pictures of the guards, but that didn't stop us. :)

After leaving Bethleham, we headed towards Jerusalem. We stopped at the Church of the Ascencion, which is where Jesus ascended into heaven, after the resurrection. (Luke 24:51)

        The Church of the Ascencion

 The ground where Jesus was standing when He ascended into Heaven

         The sky above the Church, where Jesus rose into Heaven

From there we went to the mount of olives to overlook the city of Jerusalem. Now I need to explain here that our guide on the bus was a little strange and wouldn't stop talking. So while she was chitchatting away and holding everyone else hostage I snuck off the bus via the back door. There were vendors at the site and one of them offered my dad 1000 camels for me. He said he would send them to California if I stayed there. I told him that we didnt need camels in California, but that if my dad were here he probably would have traded me for 2 camels. :)

View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. The Dome of the Rock in the center. The walls are around the old city.

The little Arab man who offered to give my dad 2,000 camels for me.

    The rest of the group trapped on the bus...Mom, Jon, and Myrna

The Mount of Olives was used a Jewish burial grounds for centuries. There were tombs as far as the eyes could see.

One more view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

From the Mount of Olives we went to the Garden Tomb. There are two possibe sites that Jesus could have been buried. This is one of them and although its probably not the actual one, it is the one that looks most like what it would have looked like then. (And again, as with the Church of the Nativity, we were closer at that moment than we had ever been before in our lives.)

There were about 60 people in our group and people were filing into the tomb a couple at a time. I hung back and was one of the last people to go in so I actually had a few minutes in the tomb by myself. It was very moving to see where they possibly laid Jesus body. And when you turn to leave there is a sign on the door that says He is risen. When I walked back outside there was a church there from the Congo that was singing and rejoicing in their native chants. It was neat to see that and to know that thats what it is all about. We had some time here, and read from the Bible about the crucifixion and resurrection,and sang a few songs. How powerful to sing, "Nothing but the blood of Jesus," in the place where Jesus' blood was shed. It was amazing. Not a dry eye among us!

The Bible notes the crucifixation as occuring at the place of the skull. Look closely, and you can see the skull in the rocks. Possibly the hill of Calvary?

Mom going into the tomb

Headed into the tomb

Where Jesus' body was laid

When you turn around to walk back out, this is what you see. And believe me it never feels the same after being here. It really is an indescribable feeling. You have to experience it to understand it.

The church from the Congo rejoicing. Although we couldn't understand what they were saying, we understood their sentiments. The sounds of joy in their voices were almost palpable.

The door where the stone was rolled away.

I know I said there were only 3 parts to this, but as I type, I keep remembering more stories, and there are more pictures that I want to post (I took almost 600), so it keeps getting longer and longer. So stay tuned for however many more parts there are. ;)