Israel Day 5

Chorazin--1st century street wide enough for 2 laden donkeys to pass, 2nd city where Christ taught in Galilee, Christ prophesied that all three cities would be destroyed and not rebuilt because of the wickedness of the people, 

Mount of Beatitudes

Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee--
Synagogue at capernaum

Remains of Peter's house
Jordan River
1st century street in Chorazin

Tabgha--fishing spot, where Christ may have fed the disciples fishes and loaves, the calling of Peter to be a disciple



Capernaum--one of three cities that comprised most of the Savior's Galilean ministry, synagogue where he would have attended services, black, volcanic, basalt stone, octagonal church built over the traditional site of Peter's home (archaeologists found remains of several oil lamps suggesting that many people gathered there), Christ would have looked like any other Jewish Galilean man (no form nor comeliness)

Fireside with Dr. Holzapfel at our hotel

Israel Day 7

Israel Day 4 (Wednesday)

On day 4 we headed to the northern most parts of Israel. Our first stop was the ancient ruins and nature reserve of Tel Dan. Dan is named after the geographic region promised to the tribe of Dan at the time of Jacob and his 12 sons. It was the site of the northern capitol of the kingdom of Israel when the ten tribes split from Judah and Levi. Here, the king Jeroboam built a city and an altar. Because of the wickedness of the people they were eventually scattered and remain that way today--according to Judah. We know that they are being gathered from the ends of the earth by missionaries and members of our church. Some of us also know from what tribe we come.

(recreation of Jeroboam's altar)

We were able to take a nice nature walk through the ruins and surrounding springs. We stopped to see the northern "no mans land" where many fights between the Syrians and Israelis or the Lebanese and Israelis have taken place.

In Tel Dan are the remains of a Canaanite gate. This gate is one of the oldest standing structures ever found, and it dates to the time of Abraham. That's approximately 4000 years! It was unbelievable to see the original steps leading to the city--steps that Abraham and Sarah would have climbed to get Lot in their lifetimes.

(Canaanite gate being reinforced. Notice the ancient mud wall behind the newly reconstructed one to the right of the gate.)

Also at Tel Dan are the remains of an Israelite city. We listened as we stood around the king's chair, a chair like the one where Solomon would have sat as he determined which woman was the mother of the child brought before him.

(where the king's judgment chair would have been)

Caesarea Philippi was one of our favorite places. Here Christ asked Peter and all the disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" Upon hearing their answer Christ taught that His church would be built upon this rock--meaning it would be built on the Savior. Richard taught us so beautifully that at this place Peter tempted the Savior to take the easy way out. Peter loved Jesus and knew He was the Messiah, but Peter didn't recognize Jesus as the dying Messiah. Jews, then and now, were looking for a Messiah that would save them from their captors and serve as the king of all men on the Earth. They did not recognize that Christ would offer all men freedom from death and sin because of His Atonement. Christ never wavered from doing what He knew was the Father's will. He was always aware of serving Heavenly Father and never His own mortal self. Richard made this point by demonstrating that regardless of how much Jesus would have loved Joseph, Mary's husband, and would have wanted to save His mother from the pain of losing Joseph Jesus did not heal him or raise him from the dead.

(alcoves would have housed idols)
Caesarea Philippi used to be a temple built to the idol god, Pan.

Golan Heights were where we learned that the "lilies of the field" are poppies. We saw the Syrian, Lebanese, and Jordanian borders and ate lunch at a Druze village. Jane, we had the yummiest falafels! Kelly is learning how to make fresh pita, hummus, and the chickpea filling that make up a falafel. Shea and Kelly really enjoyed the "soused eggplant." There sure are a lot of pickled veggies in Israel!

We stopped for a photo of where the Jordan River leaves Galilee and heads south to the Dead Sea. Richard believes that Christ was baptized closer to the Dead Sea than Galilee, but it was good to remember the Savior's baptism there.

We only saw Gamla from a distance. It was the small settlement that is called "Masada of the North" because the Jews who lived there threw themselves and their families off the side of the mountain rather than become slaves to the encroaching army.

Our Israeli guide had served in the Six Day War as a tank commander. We stopped at a tank memorial for a photo shoot. Shea thought it was great.

Hazor was where Jesus cast the devils out of a man and into the swine. The swine ran into the sea and drowned themselves. I made Shea pretend he was a pig and then he wanted to show the danger of the land mines that were in the area.

As we drove back to our hotel we stopped right next door at Peaceland, a store that sells olive wood and souvenirs. Of course they had complimentary beverages and they had enough staff there to hound us all and offer the shoppers "special prices." We did a little shopping for other people and walked back to the hotel for dinner and another walk into town.

Israel--Days 1&2 (travel) and Day 3

We left on Sunday, Mother's Day at 8:20 a.m. At the Salt Lake Airport, we met some of the people who would be on our tour. I always love meeting new people, and I knew that after 11 days together, we would have some new friends. This time was no exception. Although we had an older group, Shea, Kelly and I were the youngest, we had some great people and made some wonderful connections. (waiting for our flight at JFK)

Our flights went smoothly, and except for the group of 60 young adults that were traveling and were all single and trying to hook up while in Israel (making for a not very restful and quiet flight) we had nothing exciting to report. The three of us forgot to buy water and bring it on our El Al flight from JFK to Tel Aviv, so we were dying of thirst after 10 hours. Our in-flight meals literally had 3 oz. servings of water with them. It may be too much information, but I only got out of my seat once in over 10 hours to stretch my legs. At least Shea and I had seats next to each other and we all had tv screens in the headrests. We were able to watch several movies during the flight.
We arrived in Israel on Monday afternoon. It took a long time to get through passport control with a group of 40 people plus all the other travelers. We finally picked up all the luggage and boarded the bus. We met our driver for the trip, Machmoud, and our Israeli tour guide, Joseph. Anita, the tour leader, was there to give instructions and to help everyone with literally anything. Dr. Holtzapfel was there and ready to begin teaching us about this amazing place. (the view from our Sheraton room)

I was so excited as we drove to the hotel on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. We stayed at the Sheraton and had a beautiful view of the beach. Once checked in, we freshened up and headed to a fun restaurant for a delicious dinner. We had two kinds of different, but delicious salad, amazing bread with spices and olive oil drizzled over the top, and either fish, chicken, or steak. During our meal, the servers sang popular American and Israeli songs. It was interesting to have them take turns singing and then serving. We danced the "hava nagila" with them--remember Andrea and Julie?
After our meal the group walked through downtown Tel Aviv where we learned a little about the architecture and relatively recent development of the city. Tel Aviv is very modern and most of the buildings are new. The Israeli saying is that Haifa works, Jerusalem prays and Tel Aviv plays.
We slept well that night and in the morning we were headed north up the coast of the Mediterranean. We stopped at Netanya Academy College first to enjoy the Orson Hyde Memorial Square. Orson Hyde, the first LDS missionary to the Holy Land, dedicated Israel for the return of the Jews in 1840. I thought it was remarkable that a Jewish college would memorialize and that some Israelis would recognize Elder Hyde as the first Zionist leader.
In the square are olive trees--each one dedicated to a Latter-day prophet. The VP of the college just met with President Monson a few weeks ago. In their meeting, President Monson was sure to request that his tree be strong and vibrant. How characteristic of him!


After the college we went to Caesaera Maritima, the port city built by Herod the Great. We stopped at the ancient aqueduct and marveled at the thought of that structure carrying water from the mountains 10 miles away to the city. The men in our group sang in the ampitheater "Ye Elders of Israel." While they were singing, the work men stopped their jackhammers, the children's tour group sat and silently listened, and we enjoyed the spirit. As soon as they finished singing, all the noise started up again. It reminded me of the times when as students we would sing a hymn and everyone else would stop to listen, and I often thought that the listeners must have been touched by the spirit as they heard us sing.

(men singing "Ye Elders of Israel")

(ruins of Herod's palace at Caesaera Maritima)
(ruins of the hippodrome where chariot races took place at Caesaera)


We then drove toward Galilee where we stopped at the place where Elijah challenged the priests of Ba'al and he lit the altar after dousing it with water. We looked out over the Valley of Armageddon where one of the final Earthly battles will take place. (Mount I can't remember and Valley of Armageddon)

Our last stop before the hotel in Tiberias was Mount Arbel. From this lookout we could see all the cities around the Sea of Galilee and the sea itself, Mount Hermon (the mount of Transfiguration), the road Jesus would have walked to Nazareth (pictured), Magdala (the city of Mary Magdalene), and the traditional Mount of Beatitudes. It was helpful to get a layout of where places were from this vantage point and to see where we would be visiting in the next few days. (view from Arbel to the north east--Magdala on the upper left)
(ancient road from Galilee to Nazareth and then Jerusalem)
We were tired when we reached the hotel, but we still managed to walk the 1 1/2 miles into Tiberias to do a little shopping on the pier. We wanted to do anything but hang out in our hotel room, since it was nowhere near as nice as the Sheraton from the night before. Luckily we were so tired when we got back that we didn't mind much.

Happy Birthday, Hot Stuff!

Happy birthday to my sweet husband. He's not much for public outpourings of how much I love him, so I'll listen to him for once. I'm a lucky girl for a million and one reasons. It was wonderful to spend 11 days with my best friend in the Holy Land--a memorable birthday for sure. I love you so much, Shea! Happy birthday!
(Shea's downloading all our Israel pictures now, so stay tuned!)
Happy birthday yesterday to the most wonderful father-in-law ever! We loved celebrating with you, and we hope you had a great day. Thank you for loving all of us and for being a spiritual giant in our lives!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABIES!

Happy Birthday yesterday to my sweet, 6-year-olds! How did they get so big? It was a very sweet reunion on Wednesday when we got to see each other again. 11 days is a long time. I thought about them every day and about how wonderful my life has been since becoming their mother. I am so blessed and so humbled by the responsibility. There is no doubt that they are very strong, very obedient sons of our Heavenly Father. I hope they know how special they are to me and Shea.
Happy Birthday on Tuesday to my baby girl! She is already 2, and she is my little buddy. We do everything together--including sleeping! She has brought so much pink, fluffy, girly, sweet love to our home. She is her daddy's princess and her mommy's sweetie pie. Lulu, we love you so much! It was hard to be away on her birthday, but we thought of her all day.
Wow, I haven't had a spare second since Shea and I got home from Israel on Wednesday evening. When I get one though, be prepared for lots of pictures and commentary. I just don't have a way to download pictures yet, don't have time, and can't stay awake!

Disneyland 2008 Highlights

Lucy's Favorites--riding on the carousel, going on Winnie the Pooh, sailing through Pirates of the Caribbean (she especially loved when the pirates sang "Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me" since we sing it when she's in the tub), drinking bottles (we paid $15 from room service for 16 oz. of milk the first night! We didn't make that mistake again.), shooting Zurg on Buzz Lightyear with cousin Eli, meeting the princesses with her brothers and cousins, walking--not riding in the stroller, the electric parade, and seeing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse live on stage.

Cooper's Favorites--Thunder Mountain, getting soaked from head to toe on Splash Mountain, spending the money from his sticker chart and his Disney dollars on Star Wars guys and a double light saber, meeting the princesses, telling Aunt Ashley all about Disneyland like he was the tour guide and then telling her to "just enjoy the ride, Ashley" when he had been the one babbling on and on and on, eating at the Blue Bayou, running around with cousins and friends, and having the characters sing "Happy Birthday" while eating breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen.

Camden's Favorites--Thunder Mountain--they rode about 12 times, Star Tours, spending his earned money on Star Wars guys and a double light saber that his dad helped him build, meeting Pooh and friends, eating a turkey leg from the Bengal BBQ, exploring Tarzan's Treehouse, the electric parade, riding in the stroller, getting his first Mickey ears with his name on them, and having an early birthday breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen complete with characters singing and a chocolate cupcake.

Heather's Favorites--watching my kids love this place as much as I do, meeting the princesses, eating at the River Belle Terrace and Blue Bayou, having a few hours with Ashley, Eli and Adam, staying in the Grand Californian, not doing dishes, riding the big rides with my boys, and being with my family!

Shea's Favorites--riding all the big rides with Camden and Cooper, having the trip paid off before we left, staying in a nice hotel, spending time with his Lulu and spoiling her, eating out, and Tortilla Joe's guacamole and flautas!