The Epic continues

Okay, did you rest up for the next installment? =) I know I promised this would be the next day, but honestly, I am just proud I remembered to do it at all. Anyway - if you think that these posts are tiring - you can just imagine how exhausted we were when we got home! And poor Michael had to turn around and fly to America! BUT, I digress...

Like I said before, we were able to find a few more "western" restaurants. And boy, did we stuff ourselves. In the picture above, Robert is holding one of the best burgers any of us ever remember eating. It was absolutely phenomenal.

Hmm.... Lets see.... what do we want?

Maybe a menu in English for starters? =)

The Dead Sea was a very bizarre experience. It literally felt as though the water was trying to expel you. Have you ever tried to push a beach ball under water? That was how it felt just trying to put your body under water. It was unreal. The amount of salt was too much for Bennett and Hayden. They tried to get in, but then ran screaming (literally) for the showers. It kind of stung to us adults, so I can only imagine how it felt to their sensitive skin. Even Maryn only lasted a little while. Dallen on the other hand was too thrilled with the fact that we were actually encouraging him to spread mud on himself, so he ignored the stinging. You should have seen his face when Daddy told him to throw some at Uncle Robert. You'd think we'd told him we were having sugar for dinner. "REALLY!? I can THROW it?"

Bennett in the hole! Playing his favorite "I bet I can fit in there" game.

This is basically how Bennett entertained himself the entire trip. As long as there was some type of dirt near by, he was happy. The trick was to remind myself to check for him each time we walked on. Because at some point further on the path, we'd look around and notice he was missing, only to find him back where we were - happily digging. Of course he could usually convince Dallen or Hayden to join him without much effort.

The ancient city of Masada. It is an amazing story. Google it.

We found Michael street!

Did I mention the boys dug a little?

This is the Latin form of Maryn's name

Bennett was supposed to just wade. Ha.

This is a beautiful shot of Tiberias and of the ghetto outfit

Bennett had to wear while his clothes dried.

I am going to go out on a limb here and guess

that this isn't part of the original city. Sure was fun though!

The ruins of the city of Caesarea. Peter preached here and converted Cornelius.

Yep, Again....

To break the monotony of digging, the kids played "Gladiator"
Here Dallen is bowing to the Queen Maryn. Bennett gave up on the game when Dallen kept making him be the lion. (And a very tame and easy to kill lion at that)

Whew. Good thing we found the prominent one

This church marks the ruins of the cave that Jesus was placed in while awaiting His trial. You could walk down into it and look up out of the hole He was lowered in from.

This ramp provided a good 20 minutes of peace for me.

And again...(I'm sure the only ones of you who thought

I was exaggerating the digging thing, are the ones with out boys)

The baptism! (Don't bother trying to figure out the sign, it's in Hebrew)

The site is called the Yardinet. They have sectioned off areas of the River Jordan so there can be multiple baptisms at a time. Luckily we were there when it was slow.

You can't see it, but there was a rainbow I tried to catch in this picture.

It was just over their heads.

It appeared as he came out of the water.

When we pointed it out to Dallen he said "Yep, God is happy"

You don't need to read Hebrew to know what this is! Which is why my kids were screaming when they saw it. This truly is the Holy Land. =)

Waiting on the dock for our boat out on the Sea of Galilee. It was a bit windy.

See what I mean?

Hayden thought trying to stand up was the best game ever. It was kind of stormy, and the waves knocked the boat around. Of course all the adults were glued to their seats. Maybe that is what the bible means by "being like a little child". Absolutely no fear, just trust and joy. The whole situation made me think of the stormy night that Jesus walked on the water. For that reason, the rough weather was preferable. It made it such a neat, reverent, experience.

The clouds parted in honor of the flags. =)

The boat crew raised our flag and then played our anthem.

I don't think anyone's eyes were dry.

Although I lasted until I saw my soldier boy standing at attention.

"Hey let's all climb the side of a pitching boat and

see if we can give Mom heart failure! Ready? Go!"

Bennett paused in his digging to flash me a grin

Princess at the Sea of Galilee

Ruins of Peter's home. This is where Jesus healed Peter's Mother in law, and while he was there a man wanting to be healed was lowered by ropes into the house.

Near the Synagogue of Capernaum

The Garden Tomb.

Another one of my favorite sites.

The door is open and this plaque is on the inside. It was just such a neat place.

I really wasn't kidding.

The stunning view over the Sea of Galilee. This area reminded me of Hawaii. If you ever go, I have some recommendations for hotels that are just beautiful.

Okay, so there you have it. Believe it or not, that was all in a nutshell. =) Now I really must get back to the demands of trying to read the minds of all the people that control whether or not I'll be able to leave this country before my Residence Permit expires.

I'll keep you posted.