NO Sharks in the Med !!!

The Boys are on summer break now : ) They had a great half of school year here ! They had to keep up some of their lessons at home because of the language barrier... they learned many new lessons : ) Most importantly they have made some great friends !!!

We have been really taking advantage of the beach and with this heat(mid 80's extremely high humidity)It's all I want to do!!! I love swimming in the med. NO Man Eating Sharks !!! We are even cooking our dinner on the beach... enjoying the sunsets,walks... and the breezy nights, unlike Phoenix, Haifa cools down at night... Whew

Dinner... Drinks... Friends...
Just a really nice night !!!And exactly what we needed since arriving back in Israel! We have been so tired , Jett lagged and turned around (coming East is proving to be much harder than going West ) After two days of falling asleep at 2 pm I finally had enough energy to leave the house... Our friends Mary and Greg invited us over for a Fathers Day Dinner Celebration :) Note to self... drink more wine next time at Mary's ! We ended up playing Charades (so much fun, who knew) We had a lot of laughs...You really have to get up and act in this game ! We included the kids in the game , usually the are off doing something else but being fathers day we kept with the family theme. The boys are already suggesting a repeat of tonight with their friends in Arizona so I think they had a good time ! I sure did!

Mason is the most turned around...He has been getting up at 4 am all week!

Portland Farmers Market

We are back in the States for Steve and Lynsies Wedding. Well... We didn't quite make it home (Arizona)! But we are in the States for a couple weeks ! I think of Portland as my second home anyway... We are in the country for Eric's brothers wedding in Salt Lake City-Eric is also going to work a little in Oregon (Combining a business trip with pleasure you could say)
Unfortunately, the timing couldn't have been any worse for my husband and it was all work! After hanging out in Portland for almost a week it became clear he would be caught-up the whole time, Plans changed and me and the boys (worthy travel companions ) drove to Salt Lake by ourselves -First stopping at Bridget's a good friend of mine who lives in Boise, ID ( happens to be the half way point to SLC from Portland) We stayed at her house on the way there and on the way back. Bridget's two boys are the same age as mine and when you factor in she lives on a ranch with something like 40 acres , quads and a dad who likes to play with fireworks you can imagine how much fun my boys had !!! We made it in to SLC despite countless thunder storms and down pours along the way : (

Best part of the wedding! Lynsie smashing cake all over Steves face : )

Me and Bridget

Pepperoni Pizza at Bridget's Yummy!!!(we can't get pepperoni in Israel!)

Leslie and Me

This is turning out to be a week for seeing old friends...I also have a friend in SLC , Leslie who I have not seen in years !!! Leslie has daughters, one the same age as Mason and it was so cute seeing the two of them interact, Right after we arrived Leslie's daughter meet the boys , then disappeared returning with a different outfit,bright pink lipstick and a little bow in her hair !TOO CUTE! It was a lot of fun visiting with them

We met up with Eric's entire family for several days ! It was awesome seeing everybody. Steve and Lynsie were married in a National Park in one of the canyons near Park City (the wedding was so beautiful) Turned out to be a great week... despite the crappy weather that never seemed to let up ! Eric ended up flying in the day of the wedding and back to work the very next morning-We have not seen much of him this past two weeks

Eric's three brothers wearing their gifts we brought them from the Middle East (Red is Jordanian and black is palestinian) Alcohol enhanced their appreciation for these

The Best man sent cubans for the bachelor party

Caden on the Zip-Line in Park City

The Family

Eric and the boy's

Eric with his three Nieces Sam , Corey and Paula

These are always a surprise to me . I seem to find out about this stuff at the last minute. Yesterday was a home front drill with air raid sirens sounding over the entire country.Wendi , Elodie and myself were hanging out in Jaffa (an ancient port city near Tel Aviv )We hardly even noticed the security drills ! We did hear the sirens but no one did any thing! Mostly because the drills were for awearness and not in remembrance . Particapation was optional (we keep shopping: ) Still it is always interesting to here the sirens air.

Taking yesterday more seriously... Caden and Mason were in school and spent most of there day going in and out of bombshelters . They also watched a 20-minute film on safety procedures. Reminds me of my elementary school in California, we always had earthquake drills and had to hide under our desks!

A view of Tel Aviv from the Old Port City Jaffa