Last Day of 2011...

Today is the last year of 2011.

What did we do to remember it?

We spent the day much the same as any other day... with the ones we love!

This year has been a busy year filled with many highs and moments of mediocrity (not lows). I have much that I have been blessed with. My eldest has settled into school here and is doing fabulous. He had a great summer doing the things he loves in Canada. Kieran and I were able to take 2 trips together. These are moments that I will treasure for many years. When I look at my now teenage boy, I can still remember the sound his little feet made as he hit the floor from his crib. He is now almost taller than me and growing into an amazing kid. So I will leave you with some photos that show who he is... He is kind, tenderhearted, athletic, succeeds in all he attempts and is very handsome.

But my heart holds two boys very close. So what has life looked like from Evan's viewpoint?

Evan too has blessed our family in many ways. He has always been our outgoing, confident and social boy. Evan took his talents to the stage in his first ever pantomine. Since then we now have a drummer in our home blessing us with his beat. When he was a baby his curly blonde hair and huge smile won most onlookers. Even today, whatever he is doing it is with gusto and a beaming smile on his face.

So as we say goodbye to another year, and end our story of 2011, I wonder what awaits us as we turn the page of The Story of 3 Men and a Little Lady!

Kota Kinabalu - Christmas Trip Part 2

We spent most of our days enjoying the hotel and the pool. We did take one day to do a bit of Christmas shopping. At the hotel there were lots of things to keep us busy. Rob and Kieran would work out at the gym in the morning while Evan and I played table tennis or badminton. In fact, our family has found a love of badminton. We played several times while we were away and have since bought ourselves some racquets. It is suprisingly fun!

For Christmas dinner we repeated a tradition we started last year. We had dinner at a fancy restaurant not too far from where we were staying. They have the best buffet full of seafood and all the Christmas trimmings. The boys especially love the dessert bar. After several trips to refill our plates we walked our meal off by the sea. Although Christmas here for me is difficult. We weren't able to dash through the snow in a one horse open sleigh... but we had a great time in the sand and surf!

Kota Kinabalu - Christmas Trip

We got up bright and early ready to hit the road for our trip to Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. We had to pass through multiple border crossings and we heard the lines could be lengthy during the holiday season. We past through many little towns on our way to KK. The further we drove, the more lush the rainforest became. All was well until we came to a line of traffic waiting to get on the ferry. Not having been there before, we had no idea how long the line really was. Where I am from in Canada, we too live on an island. The ferry lines were always a bone of contention for us islanders. But I now have a new appreciation for BC Ferries. We waited over 3 hours to cross 50 meters of water! It was the most frustrating situation. Not only were we hot, but we hadn't planned ahead with any food and there was none around. We arrived at our hotel in KK around 7pm, 10 hours from when we left our house.

The hotel was a welcome sight. We had a quick bite to eat and then enjoyed a pina colada by the pool. The 3 islands you see in the bottom photo are the snorkelling sights famous in KK. You really can swim with schools of fish surrounding you. Really beautiful!

This is the view from our hotel room. Unfortunately, I waited until the final day to snap a picture and the day was slightly overcast. But the view each day was really breathtaking. The boys had a room of their own. It was the first time that I have been able to cut the apron strings and let them grow up. They loved it! I think there were many a late night for them as they watched movies from their bed. But suprisingly, each night I would go to tuck them in and they had showered and brushed their teeth. Something that usually only gets done with lots of my nagging!

Christmas Morning

This year we celebrated Christmas a few days early. With our plans of driving to Kota Kinabalu for Christmas we thought we'd open gifts a few days earlier. So as with most previous Christmases the boys woke up at the early hour of 5:30am. So with coffee in hand we watched their excited faces opening the presents under the tree.

This year we had a couple of big presents that were too large to wrap. So we blindfolded them as we steered them up to the room they were hidden in. Have a look at their faces as they glimpsed what awaited them. Kieran my teenager, has longed for a big screen TV for years. He has made his room quite the teenage hangout now. Evan has been taking drum lessons for the past 3 months and has been begging for a set of his own. So to see his face was priceless. I'm not sure the neighbors enjoyed his gift at 6am but, I'm sure he did!

Scuba Diving

Recently we saw a poster for a chance to "try diving" at the club. Basically, it gives you the chance to try diving in the pool to see if you like it. So, since I have a bit of a fear about breathing underwater, I thought we'd give it a try. Kieran was the first one in the pool. He was most excited about it. But even as he took his first breath out of the regulator, I think he even felt the nerves. But within 5 minutes at the bottom of the pool he was doing summersaults and spins.

Evan was next. He could barely hold the weight of the tank out of the water. But like most kids who have no fears, he was swimming like a fish within a few minutes. He too was doing handstands at the bottom of the pool. When I asked him, "What was your favorite part of scuba diving?" He answered, " All of it!!"

Rob and I also had a try. In fact, I tried twice as I didn't ease into it quite as easily as the boys. I felt anxious most of the time beneath the water. Logically, I knew I was breathing, but the pull to swim to the surface was hard to ignore. I will be giving it another try to see if scuba diving is for me. But for now, it was so much fun seeing my boys trying something that would be hard to experience back in Canada.

Israel - Day Thirteen & Fourteen

After leaving Jordan we finished up the final 2 days of our trip in the Dead Sea area. Towering 1300 feet above the Dead Sea is the fortress of Masada. From the height we were standing the view over the Dead Sea is breathtaking. The Dead Sea is actually 1300 feet below sea level. So even though we were standing on this impressive mountaintop, we were actually at sea level. Taking years to build, this palace was built as a refuge by Herod the Great in case he ever needed a safe retreat. In case of an attack, the almost inaccessible mountaintop fortress was a storehouse of supplies. He cut 2 extensive systems of cisterns into the rock to provide water in time of siege. To keep people in the fortress from being starved into surrender, Herod constructed huge sections of storehouses on the north part of the mountaintop. Herod never had to use Masada's massive defenses. In fact, he never even set foot in this impressive palace. However, years later Masada's defenses were put to the test. In 66 A.D. a group of Zealots captured Masada and used it as a refugee camp as they waged war against the Romans.
Later that day, we had a chance to dip our bodies into the infamous Dead Sea. The Dead Sea has a salt content of over 30%, 10 times saltier than most oceans. It is because of this high salt content that it is impossible to sink in the Dead Sea.

People come from all over the world for it's theraputic waters and mud baths. The water is actually a chemical solution. So prior to entering the water you must remove any metal you are wearing and limit yourself to about 20 minutes in the water. Because of the high rate of evaporation, the Dead Sea is losing about 1 meter per year. It is really obvious how much has already been lost. There are hotels that have been built about 15 years or so ago, who at the time built their hotel on the shore of the Dead Sea. Now, due to such loss, they need to shuttle visitors to the beach one kilometer away.

With that being said, it was such a fun day. We were all in fits of laughter. The sensation of floating like a cork was strange and foreign to us all. Although the water was a bit cool at first, once we were in we had a great time.

The following morning we departed the Dead Sea and made our way to the airport in Tel Aviv. This trip really was the trip of a lifetime. There were so many moments that I will treasure for a lifetime. I've learned so much that to digest all that info will take me years to come. So if you have never visited Israel, you must. The land is so diverse. It is filled with history and tradition that is a marvel to see. I can't say it will happen anytime soon, but I do hope to be able to walk upon the Holy Land again.

Petra - Day Eleven & Twelve

We arrived at the border crossing to Jordan around 4pm. After our group went through passport control we boarded our bus and made our way to the largest city in Jordan, Aqaba. We stayed at a beautiful 5 star hotel on the Red Sea. From the shore of the Red Sea we could see over into Egypt. Jordan borders Syria on the north, Iraq on the east, Saudia Arabia on the south, and Israel on the west. It's population is more than 5 million mostly Muslim inhabitants.

We had an early start to our day. The drive to Petra was a little over 2 hours away. Hidden deep in the mountainous canyons of Jordan is Petra, the Rose-red city of the Nabatean's. Petra is one of the 7 wonders of the Ancient World. On our drive to Petra we drove into the desert what appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. Suddenly houses were dotted here and there, and then the town adjacent to this ancient wonder appeared.

Petra can only be reached on foot along long, narrow, and winding ravines. We walked between these ravines for about 2kms. Without any warning, we took one more step and within our view was the infamous Treasury (as seen in the bottom right photo)

Petra is also the location where the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was filmed.

Prior to my visit to Petra, I had a vision in my mind as to what to expect. I had no idea how vast the ancient city really was. We must have walked about 10 to 12 kms that day. The whole city contains temples, amphitheaters, tombs and homes carved out of soft pink sandstone rock. When you visit Petra, you'll see this desert place, where rain only comes seasonally. It is a place large enough to house many thousands. In fact, it it's day the city would have had 60,000 to 70,000 inhabitants.

Biblically speaking, Why did we visit Petra? Some believe that Petra is the wilderness prepared by God to protect "the Woman" during the Great Tribulation that is written in Revelation 12. Despite the varying opinions, Petra is an amazing piece of history. For me it shows how possible it is for a civilization and us for that matter, to live on the land that is given to us. Our need to possess all that we do seems to give us security. But the Nabatean's lived on little and yet their city grew to an enormous size and is still standing to this day.

Israel - Day Ten

Today we started our journey to Jordan. Before crossing the border we had a couple of stops to make. The first stop was the Wilderness of Zin. From where we were standing was the most amazing view of the desert. I've always loved landscape that was lush, bursting with green. So I never thought a desert could be so breath taking. The Wilderness of Zin is about 500 meters above sea level. It was here that the Israelites wandered aimlessly for 40 years.
Our next stop was Timna Park. The park covers over 60 square kms and offers visitors a 'geological window' which reveals fascinating rock formations. We visited a section of the park called Solomon's Pillars. These stone pillars are a natural part of the cliff wall. The pillars are a typical landscape formation which developed as a result of the erosion along the cracks in the hard red sandstone. Our group took to the mountain via a path through the rock. Once at the top we took in the amazing view of the desert.

Israel - Day Nine

Today was our final day in Jerusalem. It was also the day we had some free time to fill in whatever way we chose. I had a bit more shopping that I wanted to get done in the Old City of Jerusalem. But that morning we had one more place to visit as a group.

The Garden Tomb is said to be the spot where Jesus was crucified and later buried. Golgatha translates to the skull. In the photos on the left show that the mountain adjacent to the garden resembles the human skull. The ancient tomb surrounded by a garden was discovered shortly after and convinced many that this is the true site of Calvary, the site of crucifixion. Like many of sites we visited, they were labelled "possibly" and left us with many maybe's. But from the evidence that is available today... this appears to be THE spot.

Israel - Day Eight

After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. by the Roman general Titus, the Jews were forbidden to come within sight of the city. The emperor Constantine permitted the Jews to weep at the Dome of the Rock once a year. In the 12th century, the exterior wall (the present Wailing Wall) was given to the Jews to a place of prayer. Known for generations as the Wailing Wall, this became the Jews' holiest place of prayer. It is the closest they could come to the site of the sacred Temple. Now a days, the Jewish people gather here each Friday to cry, pray, sing, and chant portions of Scripture and parts of prayer books. The wall is separated down the middle, men on one side and women on the other. I made my way through the crowd to the base of the wall. Within the cracks of the wall you will see thousands of pieces of paper crammed into the cracks. These are "Letters to God" where the people believe is THE place where God hears their prayers. I too, took my moment and left my prayer fastened to the wall.

Our next stop was the Pool of Bethesda. This pool is just North of the Temple Mount, within walking distance. According to John, an angel stirred the waters once a year and the first person into the pool was healed of their affliction. One day Jesus walked by the pool and saw a man who had been there a long time but had not been healed. He said to him,"Do you wish to get well?" The sick man answered Him, " Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me." It was there Jesus healed him.

In the photo on the bottom right, is St. Anne's Church. Located adjacent to the Pool of Bethesda, this church is known for it's excellent acoustics. Visitor's from all around the world come to sing songs in this church. Regardless of your singing ability, when lift your voice in song it resembles the sound of angels singing. We sang a couple of songs and I could have sat there all day. The sound really was amazing as I listened to each group take their turn singing.

In the photo top right, is the Holocost Museum. The building itself is fashioned after a knife that is cutting through the mountain. Although I was somewhat familiar with the events that took place, I was quite naive to the extent. The museum contains stories and images of the horrific events that took place. I found myself standing before many stories or videos with shock and tears on my face. It was a sobering look at the hatred that is in the world.

Our final stop for the day was Hezekiah's tunnel. Rising in the Kindron Valley, the Gihon Springs was Jerusalem's only water source. In 701 B.C., King Hezekiah faced an attack from the Assyrian army. Fearing the coming siege, he set 2 teams of men to excavate an underground tunnel from the spring to within the safety of the walls. Working non-stop day and night, incredibly the two groups met precisely- metres under the earth. Still today, experts are baffled by this feat of engineering. We were able to walk the entire length of the underground water tunnel.

Israel - Day Seven

Today was our first day to begin our tour of Jerusalem. I must warn you ahead of time the amount of pictures you are about to see. I came home with a little over 700 photos and Jerusalem is really a feast for the eyes.
Top left and working clockwise, is the House of Caiaphas. The House of Caiaphas is the place where Peter denied Jesus 3 times. The church is built over the dungeon where Jesus possibly spent his last night.
Located opposite Temple mount are thousands upon thousands of graves. Since Temple Mount is the place judgement day will occur, people want their remains buried there in hopes that when the dead ascend to heaven they will be among the first to arrive.

Next photo, is the upper room. It is here Jesus and his disciple took part in the last supper.

The stairs you see above are the actual steps Jesus would have walked from the Upper room to possibly the Garden of Gethsemane.

So starting from top left and working clockwise is The Tower of David. It is one of the most famous landmarks in the city and houses a museum dedicated to the history of Jerusalem. We attended an evening light show here that displayed a history of light effects that danced on the ancient palace walls.

Probably the most famous sight in Jerusalem is Temple Mount also known as Dome of the Rock. It is the gold domed building as seen above. The present dome of the Rock was erected in A.D. 691 by Abd el-Malik to compete with the mosque at Mecca. When the crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, they thought the structure was Solomons temple and churches were fashioned after it all over Europe. In 1187, the Crusader rule came to an end. The shrine once again returned to being a Muslim sanctuary and still is to this day. Temple Mount is the spot where on Judgement Day the gates of heaven will open. There is much contraversy on this sacred spot. This spot is of great importance to the Jewish people and they long to establish the temple back into their hands.

Before the modern day growth of Jerusalem, the city was protected within a wall around the city. There are 8 gates with which to enter the city and each gate has a significant place in history. Now a days the the Old City is divided into 4 quarters- Christian, Jewish, Moslem, and Armenian. Each boasts its own sights and sounds, but all preserve the time honored tradition of the market. The market is filled with a tapestry of color. Goods from all over the world find their way into the narrow, winding alleys of the Old City. Like most markets, it is filled with hustle and bustled and with people haggling over the price. For me it was a fun place to shop even with the agressive feel from vendors. I came home with a few treasures.

The views you see above would be directly opposite Temple Mount, House of Caiaphas, and the Upper room. The trees you see are located in the Garden of Gethsemane in the Kindron Valley and are said to be 2000 years old. Jesus came to the Garden after the Last Supper with his twelve disciples. It was here that Judas betrayed him after which he was led away. From here you can see more of graves that line the Mount of Olives.

Israel - Day Six

Today we departed the Galilee area heading towards Jerusalem. The road we took drove us through West Bank territory. We continued along this road where the landscape changed from lush orchards and vineyards to desert. One of the highlights of our trip was our visit to Genesis land. We knew we were stopping for lunch, but had no idea the treat we were in for. We arrived at Genesis land and had to change our 20th century clothing for clothes from biblical times. Once we were ready we walked over to "Abraham's House" where his wife Sarah had prepared a delicious meal for us. Abraham shared his home (tent), delicous food from the bible times, and many stories that left us all with smiles on our faces. This was such a memorable lunch.

After lunch we were a short distance to Jerusalem. We stopped briefly for some photos before heading to Bethleham. My first glimpse of Jerusalem was awe. I immediately loved the city and was anxious to see as much of it as I could. Bethleham is now Palestinian territory. So although the security wasn't as intense as we expected it still had a feel much different from that in Jerusalem. After a quick stop at the gift shop to pick up our Palestinian guide we made our way to the Church of the Nativity. In the center of town stands the Church of the Nativity, built over the traditional site of the manger where Jesus was born. On any given day the line to reach the birthplace of Jesus (located at the back of the church) can take anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours wait. At the back of the church is the entrance to a small cave where the Altar of the Nativity is. A silver star in white marble marks the birthplace of Jesus, where millions come every year in rememberance of the event that took place 2000 years ago. Our tour originally wasn't scheduled to visit Bethleham because of the time frame it occupied. It is something I'm glad to say I've seen and I'm glad they made it happen.

Israel - Day Four & Five

Today we started our day with a cruise on the Sea of Galilee. For those of you following from Canada, the Sea of Galilee for me resembles Okanagan Lake. There were many boats bursting with tourists. Some had praise music cranked in anticipation as they launched. We were on the sea (which really is a fresh water lake) for about an hour. The day was beautiful as the sun shon on us. In fact, the weather the entire time we were in Israel was much like that day. It was a lovely morning.

After leaving the sea, we headed to yet another famous body of water, the Jordan River. The Jordan river is the spot where John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus. It was here he baptized followers of Jesus. I have been a christian for many years, but had not at this point been baptized. There were a couple of reasons for my lapse. But jokingly, I say I saved it for such a special spot. This particular spot in the Jordan River has been made for just such ceremonies. The water was a lot cooler than I imagined, but I took the plunge regardless. This step was a long time coming, but one I am relieved to have taken. It was an amazing moment.

After leaving the Jordan River we went to a restaurant for lunch called Peter's fish. For those of you unfamiliar with the story Simon Peter was one of Jesus' disciples who was a fisherman. Jesus told him instead of being of fisherman, he was now a fisher of men. The lunch was delicious and obviously a spot where most of the tour buses would stop.

After lunch we headed to Capernaum. Rejected in his hometown of Nazareth, we are told that Jesus moved to Capernaum and settled there. In it's day it was one of the most important towns on the lake. It was estimated to have a population of between four and five thousand. Jesus moved among the rich and poor. He chose to live and labor in this busy, populated and worldly-minded section of his country. The majority here rejected him despite the fact that they had the most contact with him and the number of miracles they witnessed.

Israel - Day Three

Our first stop of the day, and one of my highlights was Megiddo. Built, destroyed and rebuilt more than 20 times over 6000 years, Megiddo is the battlefield of history. Many significant battles have been fought on the plain of Megiddo, also known as the valley of Jezreel and plain of Esdraelon. Napoleon called it the finest battlefield ever. Above are some of the remains of a Canaanite altar, granary, and a water tunnel.

The Hebrew Har-Magedon (hill of Megiddo) is the basis for the New Testament Armageddon. This is the place all the armies of the world will gather for the final confrontation between good and evil.

After a nice lunch at Megiddo, we boarded our bus on our way to the Galilee region. On our way we stopped at the now modern city of Nazareth (top right photo) Then continued on our way to the Sea of Galilee. Above the lake is a tree-lined hill known as the Mount of the Beatitudes. This is the spot Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. Theses teachings included Jesus showing his disciples how to pray, many lessons in the form of parables for them and the multitudes, and the eight verses known as the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-14). On the summit overlooking the Sea of Galilee, a domed octagonal church (pictured bottom right) are eight stained glass windows that remind visitors of Jesus' eight Beatitudes.

Israel - Day One & Two

After booking this trip so many months ago, our departure was finally here. We flew 2 hours from Brunei to Singapore. We met up with our group as seen above, and boarded our plane for a 12 hour flight to Istanbul, Turkey. After a short layover in Turkey, we were off on the final leg of our journey to Tel Aviv (another 2 hours) We had to take advantage of our time on the plane and get some sleep as when we landed in Israel we immediately started our sightseeing.

Our first stop after a quick falafel lunch was Caesarea By The Sea. Herod the Great built Caesarea in honor of Caesar Augustus during the 12 years from 25 to 13 BC. Herod was a man of great vision and wanted nothing less than to mirror Rome's glory in this tiny Jewish country. Unfortunately, the site was built on an unstable fault line on the Mediterranean shore. Over time the city sunk and most of what remains is buried with sand beneath the water.

Our next visit was to Mount Carmel. In biblical times, the heights of the Carmel mountains were considered the seat of Baal. Baal was believed to be the God of Weather and thunder because of the climate there. Elijah went to the top of the mountain to have a face-off between God and Baal. Elijah challenged the priests to have Baal himself ignite the altar. Elijah himself built an altar of his own, poured water over it and then called on God to ignite it. God did so as it is recorded in 1Kings 18:38. From the heights in which we were standing I imagine the fire that fell from heaven was seen for miles around.

I'm Home...

I'm back from my amazing trip to Israel. I most definitely can say this was a trip of a lifetime and has left me with memories I will never forget!

I have a little over 700 photos that I came home with and are sorting through them little by little. But I know some of you are anxious to see what I have been up to.

Here is a taste of some of sights that I saw and the ground that my feet have walked upon. I do plan to blog about each and everyday. So for now, know I'm home with a big smile still lingering on my face!