Tim and Jeni

Village Funerals

>> Saturday, May 31, 2014

I've been to four funerals in the last two months. It's probably the hardest thing I've done. It's heartbreaking to watch a family mourn the loss of a loved one. The way that they mourn here is different than the way we do in the States.

When someone dies they don't embalm the body. They bury the body within 3 days and sometimes even within the first day. They don't use a coffin, but simply put the body into the ground. I don't know all of the customs, but I do know that they lay the body facing Mecca and I'm not sure why.

This picture is of the cemetery behind the mosque in our village where several burials have happened recently.

Easter Party

>> Thursday, May 15, 2014

In the past few years we have had an Easter party for our Arab friends. This year we were excited to do it again! Every party is different and this one definitely took some unexpected turns. My friends in the village suggested that we have it somewhere other than my house so that more people could come. The search for a different place was a headache, to say the least. In the end, we decided to have it in one of the vacant houses in our compound and it turned out to be a good choice!

Mother's Day 2014

This year Mother's Day was really special! Tim had a fun idea to go make some pottery together. We got to help a potter make cups on the spinning wheel. It's a fun memory!

Swimming Fun

We have had a few different swimming experiences lately that have been fun!

May 1st was Labor Day here and Tim was off of work! We decided to take a boat out to an island for some beach time. It's funny to think that we went from one island to another island for beach time, but there's not great beaches for swimming on the main island.

Easter 2014

>> Wednesday, April 30, 2014

As Easter approached, we were excited to celebrate our risen Lord! Tim taught us the hymn, Christ Arose, and we enjoyed singing it together.

It is such a blessing to be able to enjoy the good news of the gospel together as a family. We are all so grateful for what Christ did on the cross and the power displayed in his resurrection! There's nothing more important in our lives!

April with Arabs

I'm not sure how, but April ended up being a particularly busy month. It was really good and I'm thankful to look back and recognize that God blessed us in so many ways!

I had so many opportunities to be with my friends in the village this month. It seemed like I was leaving the house wearing my hijab (head covering) a lot. I ended up going to several weddings and even a funeral.

Chris Tomlin Concert for my birthday!

>> Monday, March 31, 2014

Every year in March I have another birthday and this year I am feeling so old! Sometimes it feels like just yesterday that I was in college. But hanging out with college students makes me realize how old I really am!

Early in March I learned that Chris Tomlin was coming to the Middle East and I wanted this concert to be my birthday present! All of the details worked out for us to drive through Saudi to be able to be at this concert on March 20th!

Christmas Reading

>> Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Last year we hosted a Christmas Reading in January for the ladies in the village and we were excited to do it again this year! Many of my Arab friends had expressed that they were looking forward to this event again!

Just like last year, we had to wait until their mourning time was finished until we could have a celebration. Last year several of my friends from the village came to my house, but I have gotten acquainted with many more since then.

I decided to invite everyone I could think of including their children, their sisters, and their mothers. I've been to many readings in the village and I've seen how they can pack into a place. Even still, I was nervous that either too many people would come or that nobody would come. It's not real easy to get a clear answer from people if they're coming or not. Usually they just say "Inshallah," which means "If God wills it."

Visiting Arabs w/ Tim's Parents

When our Arab friends heard that Tim's parents were coming they were excited to meet them! It was good for Tim's parents to get to experience Arab hospitality and meet some friends in our village.

The first half of their time here was still mourning time for our friends in the village. So, they came with us experience the mourning. When we go to a mourning service we need to dress respectfully and the ladies have to cover our heads.

Christmas 2013

>> Monday, January 20, 2014

Christmas was extra special this year with Nammy & Papa around! The kids loved showing them where they put the ornaments on the Jesse tree!

Family time w/ Tim's Parents

When Tim's parents mentioned that they wanted to come visit us in 2013 we told them that Christmas time would be a great time! For one thing the weather isn't hot then. For another thing Christmas feels so different over here and it's a harder time to be without family. So, it was decided and the flights were booked! We couldn't wait for them to arrive!!

Thanksgiving

>> Saturday, November 30, 2013

After Ashura, life started to get back to normal again! We got back to homeschooling and Faith going to preschool. It was nice to get back into our routine. Thanksgiving crept up on us and every year we get to celebrate Faith's adoption! We call it Faith Day! It's appropriate that we get to celebrate her so close to Thanksgiving! We're so thankful for her and how she completed our family!

This year Tim's Institute was closed for Thanksgiving. We woke up feeling very thankful for some extra time as a family!

Ashura

>> Saturday, November 16, 2013

We knew that it would be an important time for our friends when we got back and we were ready!

The day after we got home the first 10 days of mourning started. Our friends call these first 10 days "Ashura." (which means 10 in Arabic.) They mourn the martyrdom of their prophet Mohammed's grandson, Hussein, in the battle of Karbala. You can read more about it here.

The Rest of October

>> Sunday, November 3, 2013

In between and after Tim's sisters visited we had other fun things we did. We got to be with some other friends and some down time at Tim's parents' house.

Tonya's visit

>> Monday, October 28, 2013

Tim's oldest sister, Tonya, came to visit last week and we had a blast! It was so good for Joseph and Faith to have some time with their cousins. We made some great memories!

Tonya has four kids Tori is 12 years old and the triplets (Josh, Justin, and Jackie) are 11 years old. They are so sweet with Joseph and Faith! It's fun to see them together!

Karla's Visit

>> Saturday, October 19, 2013

This week Tim's sister, Karla, came to visit from Colorado. She brought her two kiddos, but her husband had to stay home for work. It was SO GREAT for the cousins to play together! We're so glad she came!

I hope you enjoy all the fun pictures of our time with them!

Grandma & Grampa visit

>> Wednesday, October 16, 2013

We decided that we wouldn't travel around while we're on vacation this time. So, my parents (aka: Grandma & Grampa) came to visit for our first week. It was a fun time!!

They spoiled their grandkids and made lots of memories! We're so thankful that they came down to Albuquerque to spend time with us!

Balloon Fiesta 2013

>> Tuesday, October 15, 2013

We are in New Mexico for a few weeks during October for vacation. It's so nice to be able to spend time with family! We wanted to make sure to be here for Balloon Fiesta because it's something we've missed. We haven't seen it for 4 years and it's something we wanted our kids to experience.

There's just nothing like being on the field when hundreds of hot air balloons are being blown up and lifting off.

A couple fun events

>> Saturday, September 14, 2013

The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy in our family! We celebrated Joseph's birthday on September 4th and Tim's birthday on September 10th. Both of our guys mean so much to us and we were so happy to get to celebrate them!

We've also had other things going on lately that have been lots of fun! Before the summer ended there's been some fun shows happening at the exhibition center. Last year we got to go to a show of The Sound of Music. This year enjoyed going to a couple of other fun shows!

Tim's Birthday

Tim's birthday is September 10th. We went bowling with friends to celebrate! It was so much fun! I wasn't paying close attention to the score, but I believe Tim won...which seems appropriate. ;) Joseph was paying close attention and he was comparing his one strike to how many other people got. He loves strikes! (So do I!)

Swimming with Village Friends

>> Saturday, September 7, 2013

We live in a little fishing village that is close to the sea. Sometimes, when the tide is high, the boys go swimming in the sea. I have always been nervous to let Joseph go swimming with the boys, but I knew the day would come.

First Time on the Base

We have lived here for 4 1/2 years and a few weeks ago was the first time we had the opportunity to go on to the American military base. The funny thing is that our opportunity came from an Arab friend of Tim's! haha!

Celebrating New Births!

There's something really special about visiting people in the hospital when their baby is born. Lately I've had the opportunity to visit 3 babies in the hospital and there's a couple more to be born very soon.
I love doing this! I love being a part of their lives in this way, it's fun! I really enjoy seeing the sisters, mothers, aunts, cousins all celebrating the birth of the new family member! Even dads and grandpas are around sometimes in the hospital room and they're obviously happy!

Eid Week

>> Thursday, August 22, 2013

"Eid" is the Arabic word for holiday, festival, or celebration. One of the major holidays that they have is called "Eid Al Fitir," which means celebration of breaking the fast. It's right after Ramadan. This is a special time of visiting! I was busy visiting for 4 days, which was wonderful and exhausting! But I loved it!! I didn't end up taking a lot of pictures during this time because I was working hard to speak and understand Arabic.

Meeting Syrian Refugees

>> Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Before leaving Jordan we wanted to get a glimpse of what's happening with Syrian refugees. We drove to a place where many people have fled their homes to find safety. We found ourselves in a very busy town that felt so much different than Amman.

*There are also refugee camps, but we didn't make it to these areas.

Mount Nebo

>> Sunday, July 21, 2013

On Friday we went to Mount Nebo. It was one of the things on our list of things we wanted to do. Mount Nebo is where Moses died. After he died Joshua took over leadership and led God's people into the promised land.

Before we got there we talked with the kids about what we were going to see. We explained that Moses wasn't allowed to enter the promised land because of an instance of disobedience. Numbers 20:12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

It was a good opportunity to talk with our kids about how Jesus was the only perfect person who ever lived. We also talked about God's grace in allowing Moses to see the land that his descendants would inherit.

Arabic Studies

>> Friday, July 19, 2013

The real reason we came to Jordan is to take some more Arabic classes. It's been about five years since we were in language school. We've been feeling the need to both review and fill in some holes in our Arabic.

We planned to do it during Ramadan when there weren't many classes happening at the institute where Tim teaches.

Ramadan in Jordan

Ramadan started around July 9th in Jordan. It's been different to experience Ramadan here. Somehow it feels more festive.

There are, of course, some similarities to what we've experienced in the past years for Ramadan.

Many businesses are closed during the day...mostly restaurants. There are more restaurants open here than I've ever seen. They have to be creative, though, they don't appear to be open from the outside...you just have to know that they're open. Some of the drive throughs are open too.

It's really an important time for families to be together like it is in the gulf.

Jordan Zoo

>> Monday, July 15, 2013

We heard that there's a Zoo in Amman, Jordan. We thought it would be fun for the kids, so we decided to go. I called them up and they said they're Ramadan hours are 8:00pm to 1:30am.

Our second place in Jordan

We moved to a different apartment for the last three weeks that we're in Jordan and we're enjoying it! The view from our window is amazing!!

It's a busy part of town. We like the busyness around us and being able to walk in our neighborhood is fun! It's really close to the famous 1st circle.

Jerash & The Dead Sea

>> Monday, July 8, 2013

We have a few things on our list of things to do and see while we're here in Jordan. The Dead Sea was on the top of the list, but we ended up going to Jerash first because there was a festival going on there.

First week in Jordan

We've been in Jordan for a little more than a week now. It's been an eventful and fun week of figuring out our way around town.

The driving here is pretty crazy. It seems that there aren't any lanes and people are free to push into your space at any time! Tim is good at adapting, though. He's a great driver!

A trip through Saudi

>> Sunday, June 30, 2013

On Thursday and Friday we drove through Saudi Arabia to get to Jordan. We drove for two days, a total of 18 hours of driving. We were exhausted once we got here.

We weren't the only ones with the idea to travel north for the summer. There were many Saudis with the same idea. We thought we had packed our car pretty full, but then we saw many cars like this one, full inside and bags stacked on top too!

Garga'oon

>> Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Sunday night was Garga'oon in our village! It's a celebration of one of their imams and everyone in the village gets involved. Many houses are decorated for this event!

Every house prepares candy and treats for the kids. All of the kids and even lots of adults go house to house filling their bags with the treats! Some people say that it's like halloween in the States, but it feels really different for us. No one dresses up like characters. The children dress up in new clothes and the younger ones wear traditional clothes.

Father's Day

>> Friday, June 21, 2013

We had a fun Father's Day celebrating the wonderful Dad that Tim is! It's tradition for us to go bowling on Father's Day. All of us were looking forward to doing this!

Tim is such a great dad! He's very involved and loves these kids. We're lucky to have Joseph and Faith too. I guess we're all blessed by each other!

Good-Bye to Jared

>> Saturday, June 15, 2013

Sometimes I'm painfully aware that time is passing quickly. Last week was Jared's last church with us before their family would go to the States for the summer. In September he will go to boarding school with his sister instead of coming back with his parents. We're going to miss him so much.

It has been such a privilege to watch him grow! In the last few months he's gotten really good at playing guitar. On his last friday at church he lead worship with Tim! We were all so proud of him!

Celebrating 13 years of marriage!

>> Saturday, June 8, 2013

June 3rd is our Anniversary. This year we celebrated 13 years of marriage! We've spent half of our marriage living in the Middle East. Time sure flies! It's hard to believe that we were in the States for 6 1/2 years and we've been overseas for the same amount of time.

In the next 13 years we look forward to watching our kids get through the school years. As we step into this new stage of life we're confident that God will continue to be faithful!

Festival At The Sea

>> Sunday, May 26, 2013

We live in a very active community, which is a lot of fun! We can't make it to all of the activities, but we try! The people in this village have really embraced us and they seem to love having us be a part of their activities. It sure makes it easy to love them!

Yesterday afternoon before sunset there was a festival by the sea! I hope you enjoy the pictures we took there.

Visiting

>> Friday, May 24, 2013

Sometimes we are out and about visiting with Arab friends a lot. Other times they are busy with things and aren't available as much. Lately we've been able to be with our friends visiting more and it's been so much fun!

We've visited in lots of different ways. We have had friends over to our house, we've gone to their house, we've been to the park, and we've been to some religious celebrations. I really love these friends and these memories that we're making!

Mother's Day

>> Monday, May 13, 2013

Mother's Day was a special day! It's kinda fun because I get to have two Mother's Day celebrations...one in March because that's the Arab Mother's Day and one in May! I'm just doubly blessed! I guess there are benefits to living in two cultures.

Sunday is a school day so after school we hurried home and had an early lunch and finished homework. The kids and Tim snuck off to another room to make me a card. I love these handmade creations...I will forever treasure them!

Tim and the kids were so sweet to me and made me feel so special! I couldn't have been more happy!

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