Snowy Days!

It started snowing on Friday night and finally stopped Monday night. The snow is beautiful and makes the whole city look fresh and clean. The normal sounds of cars, buses and traffic have been replaced with still quiet mornings and laughing kids having snowball fights and building snowmen. Here are pics from the past several days.

We were some of the few souls who ventured out of the house Saturday morning. We needed to get snow boots for Owen, so we bundled up and headed to Carrefour. We ate lunch at Burger King and on our way out, we happened upon a puppet show and some clowns. So Owen sat down and watched for awhile.
Church was canceled Sunday, so we accepted an invitation to have brunch with our neighbors. They are the same neighbors who came to our house last Sunday. We enjoyed a traditional breakfast of menemen (a veggie and scrambled egg dish), cheese, olives, bread with sesame spread (similar to peanut butter), pastirma (a dried beef), fresh squeezed pomegranate orange juice and of course, tea. It was delicious and we really enjoyed spending time with our new friends. Here are pics of their adorable twin babies and the breakfast spread. The twins are holding picture cards that Owen was reading to them and put in their hands.

After Sunday naps, we headed outside to play in the snow. We didn't go far. We just played in our apartment parking lot. There wasn't a lot of snow on the ground, but enough to have a great time. The big snow was still to come.

My angels making angels
Rosy cheeks- a sign of playing hard in the snow. We warmed up with warm chocolate milk, mac and cheese and cuddle time under the blanket.

More Artwork

Owen brought home a bunch of artwork from school yesterday. He wanted to take a picture of his pictures to send to Grandma and Grandpa and Anne and Papaw. So sweet!

Owen just loves going to school. Last week he got to go to a theater with his class. He sat on the bus next to his friends Melis and Murat and they saw a puppet show about a horse and a puppy that were dancing (this was Owen's report of the show). His teachers said that he was totally enthralled with the show and was very attentive. He doesn't speak the national language to us, but he seems to really be understanding. They don't speak any English at his school so he is spending 13 hrs. with a foreign language each week. I'm so proud of him for being so brave and willing to experience new foods, language and people each day in our new home. He has adjusted so well and loves playing with his friends here. I took this same picture 8 times to try to get him to look at me. Trying to pin down a 2 1/2 year old is hopeless.

Sunday Brunch

We had friends come over for brunch on Sunday. They live in our apartment and we have really enjoyed getting to know them. They have 4 month old twins (a boy and girl) that are just adorable. Derya stays home with them so it's nice to have a friend in our apartment that is at home during the day like me. I didn't get the camera out until they were leaving so this is the only picture I got. This is their little girl Cinar. They are super sweet and very happy little babies. Owen loves playing with the babies and can't wait to be able to share his toys with them.

Silly

Kim O? Postaci

Who is it? The Mailman
These are our favorite words to here through the intercom. We got a package in the mail the other day from dear friends in Arlington. Traci had told us several weeks before to expect a package, so we were eagerly anticipating it's arrival. It didn't take us long to gather around and tear open the box. Inside we found all kinds of goodies from America. We each had our favorite things that we found. I’m so excited to have Parmesan cheese (and to not have to spend $6 for 2/3 cup). Owen is thrilled with his dino mac and cheese, and Ryan has already consumed a lot of salsa:)
Thanks so much for thinking of us and loving us in this way. Please know that your prayers and snowman doorknob covers really make a difference for us!

Old Friends

I have able to connect with a few old friends since we've moved back. Last weekend my good friends Nursel and Nermin came over for a whole afternoon of fun. They met Owen for the first time and we spent the afternoon just catching up. Nermin taught me how to make spinach borek and they gave me the cutest traditional porcelain tea pot as a housewarming gift. Tea is extremely important in this culture, so it's very important to have a good caydanlik. It was a great afternoon to spend with good friends.

Arts and Crafts

Owen got new art supplies for Christmas. Here he is drawing New Year pictures for his grandparents. He is especially enjoying the finger paints.

Hos Geldiniz 2010!

Wow, sorry for not posting for awhile. Here are a few quick posts to catch us up to date.
New Years Eve was great! We actually got a last minute invitation to visit our neighbors downstairs, so at 7:30pm we headed to their house for a few hours of celebration with them. At 9:30pm we headed over to our American friends' house for a party. Mind you we had our 2 year old with us, so after grazing at the snack table, we put Owen to sleep on our friend's bed. Thank the Lord that my child is a great sleeper. He will sleep anywhere! The rest of the evening was spent eating, playing games and eating some more. Our friends live on the 9th floor, so at midnight we could see fireworks going off in 4 different locations across the city. It was awesome!
Hos Geldiniz 2010!

Cowy Bank

So since our country has a dislike for pigs, Owen has a cowy bank. We bought it for him at the beginning of December when his teacher sent home a note about a savings project the students would be doing in the month of December. Basically, Owen got to take a coin to school each day and put it in his cowy bank and at the end of the month he would use the money to buy himself a New Year present (since they don't celebrate Christmas). So after a month of saving, the day finally arrived that Owen got to spend his money. We made a whole event out of it, since this is the first time he has ever had money and/or bought something. After much deliberation, he decided to buy the sequel to his favorite book he got for Christmas (The Gruffalo). So we headed downtown on the bus to this great little English bookstore.
Here is Owen counting his coins before heading to the store.
Taking a slight detour through the fish market... Owen loves checking out the catch of the day.
On to the bookstore
Checking out all of his options before making the final decision
Giving the book a test run to make sure "Gruffalo's Child" is as good as the first book
When we got to the register, he just plopped down on the ground and started emptying his bank. He was so proud to hand the lady his money. But I think he was a little upset that she didn't give it back.

Owen is enjoying his book and we are now using the cowy bank to save money to give to Jesus.

Contiuned Holiday Fun

The day after Christmas was a gorgeous sunny day. So we woke up and headed out for a morning of fun. It started at McDonalds for a yummy Egg McMuffin (with the closest thing to ham that we can get) and pankcakes. Then we walked down to the seaside, playing at all of the parks along the way.



The waves were huge today. They were crashing along the shore
Fishermen mending their nets.

Owen ended his perfect day eating homemade pizza in his tent while watching Peter Pan and the Pirates.