I'm a grandmother!

We arrived back in Budapest, well, I'm not sure when exactly. The summer is flying by so fast that I can't keep up with the days of the week at all. Glenn has to tell me that it is Saturday and time to take my weekly bath because the next morning we go to church. Well, it's not that bad, but almost! It goes more like this. "What day of the week is it?" "Hmmm, yesterday I went bike riding with Istvan, and his day off is on Wednesdays, so today must be Thursday."

When I ended my blog last week, I still had a bunch of photos from our trip to Turkey that I wanted to show you. Rather than show you ALL the photos I took, I am selecting a few of my favorites and breaking them into two blog updates. So here are a few more, and the last of this trip to Turkey.

I had the privilege of meeting Kelsey, one of our young ladies who serves in the Russian cluster, and then doing her member care appointment. One of the neat things about her is that she is from Cartersville, Georgia, just 20-25 minutes from us in Marietta! How cool is that?

One day we watched the hotel personnel set up the pool deck for a huge dinner banquet. We found out that it was a circumcision celebration for a young muslim boy, I'd guess around 8-10 years old. There was a huge crowd that gathered that night and we enjoyed watching from the balcony of the dining area that overlooked the pool, and oohing and ahhing over the ladies' gorgeous dresses. The evening had a beautiful sunset, perfect weather, and lots of loud music for dancing.

a real fixer upper!

We stayed a couple of extra days to get to know David and Debbie, our two newest members to the member care team. Glenn needed to "orient" them, such as how to write their annual goals, how the annual evaluation would be done, which countries and personnel would fall under their responsibilities, how to budget and what to budget for...and so on. They would work in the mornings and into the afternoons, and then take a break. During the break time, we'd often go for walks through town. That is the way I like to "sightsee".

On our last day in town, we ate at a neighborhood cafe so that we could eat some traditional Turkish food. The food was good in the hotel, but it was the same food day after day, for both lunch and dinner, so after a week (14 meals all tasting the same), I talked Glenn into eating out!

Traditional Turkish food is the kebab, which is grilled chicken or lamb, served with a salad of shredded carrots and cabbage, and a side of rice or french fries. Oh, and the most delicious pita bread placed on top! Yum!

Good thing we ate before we saw these hanging in the window next door! As we walked past the window with the carcasses hanging, I looked back to see Glenn with his fist closed, and his thumb pointing up and then down, then up again. I figured out he was trying to remember the way we learned in Africa to distinguish whether an animal (live) was a goat or a sheep: Goats tails are short and go up, and sheep tails are a little longer and go down. So, Glenn was looking at the tails and trying to decide if these were goats or sheep. I think he decided they were goats.

We found some beautiful Clematis vines growing on the front wall of one of the yards. I don't know how anyone can look at the detail of something like this flower and not realize there has to be a Creator to design something so intricate and beautiful as these flowers. I'd never seen a Clematis like this...until I got home, that is! Turns out that the one we bought and planted earlier in the spring in our yard was blooming when we got home and is the same species!!! What a nice surprise!!

So, now we're back in Budapest and back to our local "work". Glenn and I took Ryan and his two older children (who have been staying at the Eden House) to the hospital to visit his wife and their new son who was born on July 4th! Mom and baby are doing well. I am practicing being a grandmother by babysitting the older two this week while mom and dad go to the Embassy to get a passport for the new baby.

It's important that I practice being a grandmother a lot because I AM A GRANDMOTHER NOW!

Chris (our son) and Kate welcomed their beautiful daughter, Jazmine Eliza, into the world on July 4th (also!) Kate and Jazzy are doing well, and Chris, the proud daddy, is so glad to have mom and baby home "where they belong". So, now I need to practice being a grandmother so I can be a great one to my grandkids!

Pictures to come next week. If you can't wait a week to see them, click on the link to Chris and Kate's blog.

There's another family up at the Eden House with young children. We invited them down for a meal, and because it has been sooo hot here, we bought a small pool for them to play in. Speaking of hot, we hit 100 degrees yesterday, but mercifully, it is down to 87 degrees today. I WANTED to put on my bathing suit and get in the pool with the kids, but I had to settle for wearing shorts. Anyway, I am practicing being a grandmother. "Yes, you can go up there." "Yes, you can have a piece of candy." "Yes, I'll get in the pool with you."

I should be real good by time we get to New Jersey on July 29th to see Chris, Kate and Jazzy!

Glenn's real good with kids too, but we have to watch him. He likes to skirt those child labor laws and put kids to work. Somehow, he convinces them that they want to help him water the plants with the pool water! He must be related to Tom Sawyer!

Do we look old enough to be grandparents? If you think so, don't comment. :-)