Tulip Festival

April 12 2013

No we are not in Holland. But I would say that these Tulips would give them a run for their money.  We had a beautiful day to go and visit God's creation.  

 WARNING: there are a lot of pics of flowers.

 We had a quick picnic, and as in quick I mean the boys were up and ready for the next thing.  They were not at all worried about eating.

 My little Lukers among the blooms.

 These were so pretty.

 Sitting in the IS (tulip) of Istanbul.

 Now this is a picnic.  This is how you do it.  Spend the whole day, and spend it with friends.  

 They Turk girls got a hold of Luke and he loved them chasing him.  Giggling the whole time.  Both boys have gotten random kisses from strangers.  

 More of the park.

 The rainbow of flowers.

 And some music for our enjoyment.

 The outline of Turkey in tulips and the flag emblem.

 A bride that was getting her pics taken at the park.

 She and her bridesmaids.

 On the huge squirrel.

 Cutie Hudson.

 Our sweet, patient friends, and wonderful tour guides.

 Looks like the yellow brick road.

 Some of my favorites

 We couldn't get them boy smiling/looking at the same time.  

 They were getting tired so we let them play and look at the fish.

Noah see sawing with Daddy and Luke.

1st days done

April 5-6 2013

We have been going full tilt, and while the adrenaline lasts its a good thing.  The boys are still waking up some at night and taking naps at weird times during the day but we are loving it here.  

We are finding our way around (with help of course) and are finding that we will become quite comfortable with public transportation.

We haven't taken a boat yet but I know Noah will be thrilled when we do. 

Me and My boys with our new view. 

And we are blessed to have a playground just a short bus ride away down the hill.

You could say Luke liked the see saw.

Going down.

Going back up

And the next day we headed long the water while we ran errands. Most of our days are spent buying new duds for our apt, and setting up house........You can feel the boys get more comfortable the more homey the place gets.  Noah's prayers at night are a basic run down of the day.  

i.e.

Jesus,  Thank you that I don't have an ear infection like Luke (oh yeah one of our errands was visiting the ped dr to get another round of Antibiotics for Luke and his ears), thank you that I can go outside and play soccer ball with Momma, thank you that I can come inside and take off my shoes, thank you that Daddy came home, Mommy went to the store, I can't put water in my mouth in the bathtub, ............................And on and on.  

Noah also likes to tell me everytime he sees a "big" boat.  He calls all the Mosques' "castles" that sing.  He loves going through the tunnels as we drive,  loves his new teammates.............

Welcome Home

April 5 2013 

We woke up this morning after much convincing the boys that they needed to sleep the night before.  They finally got to bed around 11:00 and with their mattresses right beside ours.  But as I woke up to the sunshiny day I remembered the reason we are here.  I smiled and well we just got to work making this our home.  Well after I took some advil for the jet lag headache.

I will say that our friends made us feel so welcome.  

The boys names where on the fridge just like they belonged there. 

There were fresh flowers and a newly cleaned apt.

Amidst the unpacking, I looked around for Luke and he had made himself comfortable playing with his cars, not missing a beat, and making all the car sounds for my entertainment.

And my sleepy head slept till 12 noon, while I was at Ikea shoppping, 

Daddy stayed home with the boys.

"Air a plain"

April 3 2013 

We left the Jackson Airport on an "air a plain" as Noah calls it headed to Istanbul Turkey.  We were so excited about our move, but not so excited about the plane ride with both boys. 

 This little boy had a death grip on these two hands.

 Here is the set up.  Luke in his car seat, shoes off ( I learned my lesson as a "nice" MS lady helped us out of the country with her kind words about my childs' feet and the back of her seat), book in hand, and lots of juice nearby.

 Noah and the iPad, headphones, and that was about it to keep him happy.

 And Daddy and I as bookends to keep the peace. This is the flight from Germany in country.

 On the tram in Germany before we boarded. 

 We found a play place pirate ship in the airport and since we had 4 hours we stopped to play.  It was the boys usual 2 a.m. in the morning, but they sure were not tired. 

 The Alps

 And the view right before we land in our new home.

The boys first pic in Turkey

Cock of the Walk

April 1 2013

We headed to our favorite MS place to eat catfish with my parents and to feed the ducks. 

The boys had a blast. 

 Watching the ducks with Babu.

 Luke liked to eat the bread we were feeding the ducks more that throwing it to them. 

Luke and Babu and Grana