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holidays

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 27, 2014

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Happy Thanksgiving!

We set up our Christmas tree last night and put up a few Thanksgiving decorations as well. Some of our friends had us over for dinner this week, and we made some thankful turkeys with them. The stuffed animal is actually a hat. David wore it to school on Wednesday and the kids got a kick out of it.

The pies are made, turkey is in the oven, and soon we’ll be enjoying a feast. I am also so excited to have my mom in Turkey for this Thanksgiving!

There is so much I am thankful for, it’s hard to even begin! Most of all, I am thankful for my family and friends and the love, mercy, and forgiveness from my God and Savior.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. – 1 Chronicles 16:34

Happy Children’s Day!

April 23, 2014

Leah

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We had school off today for National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, a Turkish holiday. The holiday commemorates the first gathering of the Turkish Parliament, which took place on April 23, 1920. (You can read more history of the holiday here.) There is a lot of national pride in Turkey, and many Turks hang flags off of their balconies. Check out this huge flag strung between two buildings:

Turkish schools have celebration performances with speeches, singing, and dancing. We walked down to the same school as last year to watch the festivities. There was quite a crowd:

The Turkish children were so cute in their traditional garb!

I love Turkey this time of year. The sun felt so good today.

PS. In addition to it being a national holiday here… Happy birthday to my little sister, Mary! We love you!

Happy Easter!

April 20, 2014

Leah

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Happy Easter, everyone! He is risen; He is risen indeed!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” {Luke 24:1–7}

“Christ Arose!” words and music: Robert Lowry (1874)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2014

Leah

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I have the most thoughtful students, coworkers, and huz! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed lots of chocolate and sweet notes today.

I feel like this was one of those “you know you work at an international school when…” moments. Happy Valentine’s Day – Gangnam Style!

Friendsgiving

November 30, 2013

Leah

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We had the day off of school on Thursday for Thanksgiving. It is difficult being so far away from family during holidays, but we are so thankful for the family of friends we have here.

Two of our friends hosted Friendsgiving at their apartment. Brittany is super talented and crafty and put together the prettiest place settings and tablescape:

We divvied up different dishes and brought everything together for an incredible feast. Our menu was different from what David and I typically have for Thanksgiving, but was filled with some of the best food. We had a cheese plate and veggies for appetizers:

Brittany also made a frame where we could write what we were thankful for. Can you tell which ones the boys wrote?

Yes, there is turkey in Turkey. Whole turkeys aren’t super popular or easily available where we’re at, but we were able to snag one last minute. Our friend Bo was in charge of the turkey. His wife got him an awesome hat. Here’s the turkey man with turkey in Turkey:

We had so much food! We’re still eating the leftovers. David and I were in charge of green bean casserole (made from scratch – thanks Alton Brown!), roasted veggies, and Nanny noodles. (We called my paternal grandmother Nanny. She was German and we always have her noodles during the holidays. They’re supposed to be tiny egg noodles. I couldn’t find egg noodles thin enough, but it worked out!)

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving, too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 28, 2013

Leah

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David put a whiteboard outside his classroom this week and wrote “Happy Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for?” Our students wrote they were thankful for their friends, family, teachers, Turkey, God, feet, Rick Riordan, and much more!

I’m thankful for my loving husband, family, friends that are like family, a roof over my head, food to eat, my job, my students, and most importantly for my Savior who loved me first and gave it all.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. – Psalm 100:4

Happy Thanksgiving!

Trick or Treat!

October 31, 2013

Leah

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Turkey doesn’t celebrate Halloween, but the staff kids came around for trick or treating on Monday. We threw together some last minute costumes. I wasn’t very creative – I was a librarian. (I’m not sure if many of the kids got it, haha.) David was a mismatched dork:

Our trick or treaters, however, had creative and very resourceful costumes:

Happy Halloween!