How honored Thomas and I were to host our first guest over the Thanksgiving Holiday! Our hearts were overfilled with joy when we got the officially word that Caroline and Steve would be coming over (my sister in-law & her husband)! We immediately began to think about the best restaurants and our favorite locations that we didn’t want them to miss out on. As their arrival approached we found great pleasure in cleaning and preparing our home for family; I called it the “Sanders Inn & Guest House”, we were thrilled to share our home.
Caroline and Steve arrived on game day! We were able to make the game on time and enjoy the warmth of each other as the gym is so cold! After the game we came back home to the delight of Christmas presents sent from our families back in the States! We are so grateful Mom, Dad, Ama, Pops, Caroline, and Steve for your kindness and loving hearts. We are enjoying our gifts so much! Our decorations and stockings are out and on display to help us feel the Christmas cheer in our cozy home, our candy and treats are a nice change from the baklava and other Arabic desserts we often get. Our movies and TV series have also been a hit in keeping us up late at night!
For those of you who have never been to Israel, there is so much to see! Caroline and Steve took several nights away from our home to travel and see other parts of the country. However, we were able to join them on several occasions between Thomas’s practice or when he had the day off. I don’t want to steal the thunder from Caroline and Steve’s experience in Israel, and I’m working on a special project for a Christmas blog, so I won’t share everything just yet, but I will share my favorites and lots of photos!
One of my favorite things we were able to do all together was so special; something I will never forget and would do it all over again- a sunset cruise around the Sea of Galilee on a Christian worship boat! WOW! Talk about the Lord meeting you where you are! We joined the worship boat, “Faith” with a tour group of about 30 people who were all fellow believers and seeking the Lord presence. Our boat, “Faith”, was ran by a man named Daniel who came to know Christ several years back through working on these boat cruises. After hearing the gospel message repeatedly each trip out for over a year, he responded to God’s call on his life. He soon became a guided boat captain, and started his on worship boat called “Faith”. We cruised to the center of the Sea where we stopped and Daniel led us in Hebrew/English worship service- powerful experience!
Daniel, the captain of the boat, "Faith"
Of course another favorite must be the meal we prepared for Thanksgiving! We chose to have our Thanksgiving meal the week after the actual date, once Caroline and Steve arrived back to our house for the later part of their trip. There is no comparison to shopping in Israel and shopping in the US when it comes to grocery stores, but it sure is an adventure every time!
Thanks to Caroline, our Thanksgiving meal was pretty close to what most of you probably enjoyed as well. She was able to bring over cranberries for homemade cranberry sauce , pumpkin in can which turned out DELICIOUS, stove top turkey stuffing, and from the grocery store “BIG” we picked up chicken to grill, sweet potatoes to caramelize with butter, and brown sugar, and green beans to complete our Thanksgiving meal! After preparing this meal I now have two new favorites in which I never use to touch at Thanksgiving time: real cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie! I’m not sure if the enjoyment came from having American style food or simply the taste, but they are new to my list even if it’s not Thanksgiving!
Our wonderful meal!
One down, one to go :) and wishing we still had some!
Every Saturday afternoon after church Thomas and I stop at a local Druze fruit market in Daliyat el Carmel and stock up on fruit and veggies! Our typical list consist of oranges, granny smith apples, avocados, bananas, red peppers, and anything else that looks wonderful :) We were thrilled to show off the market to Caroline and Steve as they so eagerly joined in and shopped with us!
Our last day together we stopped back by the Old City in Jerusalem, walked through the markets, checked out the Western Wall, had dinner in a small town called Ein Kerem, where John the Baptist is said to have been raised. We finished the evening off with ice cream and coffee on the port in Tel Aviv.
We sure miss you Caroline and Steve! We had a wonderful time and were truly blessed and honored to have you here with us! So grateful that the Lord provided this opportunity for you all to come to the Holy Land while we're here. We sure have lots of unique memories that you all have left us with! May we always cherish the special moments!. Love you both!
PS: I'm still working on my first scarf! I'm learning to knit, thanks to my sister, but I'm pretty slow. haha
I wish I could meet Daniella and share some laffa bread with you, Kayla! Thanks for updating the blog with all the new pics and info. Miss you and love you, Ama P.S. Love your new poppy wallpaper, too!
ReplyDelete