Posted By Sarah on August 31, 2010
Last weekend was the annual Brooklyn Fair here in Connecticut. Josh has often told me about this fair and I was looking forward to going. It just so happens that we were able to go with some very dear friends and their daughter who is a few months younger than Max. It was a great time together.
When you hear fair what comes to mind? When you think of country fair what comes to mind? Animals: rabbits, ducks, chickens, roosters, geese and even turkeys. Cows, oxen and sheep. We saw all these at the Brooklyn fair. Also if you were to ask me, I would tell you I think of fair food: dough-boys, hot dogs, ice cream, specialty sandwiches and drinks. All of which we ate. Perhaps an unhealthy day of eating, but healthy in that you do a lot of walking around. We got there about 1:30pm and hung out until 6:30pm. I will say that although Max liked seeing the animals he did not like the loud cries of the cows. So we did not hang around the cow barn too much as each loud moo made Max cry.
Besides checking out the animals up close, we watched some of the events. One event was watching young working steer pull a sleigh through a cement block obstacle. Young working steer are neutered bulls that will be oxen when they are five years old. It was quite entertaining to watch this event. Max and Nora loved it too, but I think they really just enjoyed a time to be out of their strollers playing on the ground.
The last event that we attended before having to leave was the tractor pull. The class that we watched were the antique tractors. Most of them did great the first and second round, but by the third round they were rearing their noses and not able to pull the sled. Here are a few shots of these tractors.
It was a fun event to go to and we greatly enjoyed our company as well. You have to love country fairs!!
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Posted By Sarah on August 27, 2010
Ingredients:
1 cup green lentils, 1 medium onion, 2 cups bulgur (Rice size cracked wheat), water, bouillon cube(if desired), salt and pepper to taste
Boil 1 cup of green lentils until soft. Careful not to over cook these. You will know if you have over cooked these if they lentils start to separate.
Drain lentils and set aside.
In your pot saute your onion (with butter or oil) until soft. Add 2 cups of bulgur and your cooked lentils. Stir a few times to cover in the butter. Add 5-51/2 cups of water. Also add salt and pepper to taste and bouillon if desired.
Cook until water is gone (like you do with rice). Once cooked put a piece of paper towel in between the pot and cover. Let sit for 10-15 minutes.
Enjoy!!
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Posted By Sarah on August 27, 2010
Ingredients:
Small onion, 2 medium potatoes, 2 cups red lentils, Salt and Pepper to taste
Dice your onion and throw it into a soup pot. Dice up your potatoes to edible size pieces and add to pot. Add your 2 cups of red lentils. Put enough water into it to make it soupy (maybe 6cups). You can add more or less depending on how you like your soups. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Boil your soup until the potatoes and lentils are soft. The lentils will fall apart, but this is ok.
For extra flavor:
Melt butter in a fry pan and add dried mint and red pepper (paprika). Pour into the soup and stir a few times before serving.
If you want your soup to have a bit red color to it you can add a small amount of tomato paste.
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Posted By Sarah on August 21, 2010
We finally have a green light and we are getting ready to go. It is actually with mixed feelings that we go. We greatly enjoyed our time in the States. We have grown especially accustomed to being here in CT and have grown close to the people here. We praise God for the way we have been re-adopted and how people have been so kind and loving to us. It is with heavy hearts that we prepare to say good-bye to our friends here.
The other feeling that is in the mix is our desire to be reconnected to our “community” in Turkey. We are excited to be able to move into our home and reconnect with our dear friends there. No doubt things will have changed since we left, so we are praying for a good readjustment.
God has been so good to us, especially over these past few months of waiting. We have learned to live one day at a time, and not to look to far forward. We are also learning that Jesus really is enough for joy! No matter what the circumstances, even in the tears of pain, we can stand in Christ and we can have joy. With him as our source of joy, circumstances can not throw us into turmoil. We may struggle (physically and emotionally) but we can remain strong in the joy of Christ. What comfort that gives us.
We have just a couple of weeks left here on this beautiful piece of property. We plan to take things easy, and enjoy our friends here as much as we can. God has truly blessed us!!!
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Posted By Sarah on August 18, 2010
It seems impossible that it is now August and we have not posted anything new since June. Where does the time go?
July was spent mostly in Canterbury. Sarah’s sister Leslie came for a visit over the 4th of July weekend. It was a nice time together. We did a lot of hanging out, some 4th of July celebrations, massages and even a safari. Well not quite a safari, but we walked around the farm land. I had never been here in the summer, thus I did not know the kind of “jungle” that grows on the land. In my ignorance I suggested to Leslie that we go for a stroll. After a good hours struggle through tall fields and thorns we made it back home.
Another highlight of July was our trip to New Jersey to see my Uncle and Aunt. It had not been since our wedding since we had seen them. What should of been a 4 hour trip took as at least 5 1/2 hours due to many slow downs. We were very happy to finally arrive. After visiting for the evening we went to bed. The next day we went together to PA to visit the Cabela’s there as well as go to the Crayola Factory. If you have never been to this factory it is a must. Your kids will love it and you will have fun too. I hope to go again when Max is old enough to be creative.
We finished our time in New Jersey by going to the Turkish group in Patterson. It was a nice time and the people there were very receptive of us. I wish we could of visited longer, but we had to hit the road. Before hitting the road, though, we stopped in one of the Turkish Restaurants for some Turkish food. Unfortunately, Max was completely worn by then so it turned out to be us taking turns walking Max around while the other ate. Oh well, least we got to enjoy!
When we were not traveling or visiting friends or family, we were busy doing renovations to a small efficiency apartment here. It has been a lot of work, but we are happy with the progress. It is slowly coming together and it should be done before we leave for Turkey!
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Posted By Josh on June 29, 2010
For those who like numbers and such, here are some of the statistics about our trip to the west:
Number of days on the road: 23
Number of friends and family seen: 43
Number of churches we spoke at: 2
Total distance traveled: 7,202 miles or 11,590 km
Total gas burned: 226.49 gallons or 857.36 liters
Average Miles per Gallon: 31.8 miles
Average Liters per 100 km: 7.4 liters
Average gas price per gallon: $2.66 USD (= $0.70 per liter)
Most expensive gas: $2.99 per gallon in Fort Stockton, TX, off I-10
Least expensive gas: $2.39 per gallon in Springfield, MO, off of I-40
Number of beds slept in: 13
Number of states entered: 17
Number of state lines crossed (includes multiple crossings): 26
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Posted By Sarah on June 25, 2010
After two nights in Pittsburg we decided it was time to go home. Although we received an invitation to stay longer, we felt it was time to get Max home. We said our goodbyes after breakfast and started our long trip home. We arrived home about 8 pm, all in all taking about 11 hours. The trip was good and really we had no traffic until we hit the Merrit Parkway. It was at this time we decided it would be good to stop and get some dinner. So we had a nice picnic on the side of the Merrit at one of the rinky-dink “rest areas”. The timing was perfect as the sun was in just the right spot for us to have a little bit of shade to eat and play some in. God really took care of us. When it was time to hit the road again, we noticed there were no spots of shade left.
We greatly enjoyed all of our travels and loved every moment with each of our friends, but it is very nice to be home again. God was so good to us as we traveled and the only “bad” thing that happened to us was the crack in our windshield. Praise God thanks to Josh’s uncle we were able to get that fixed up at a good price too.
To check out the “numbers” of the trip look at our
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Posted By Sarah on June 24, 2010
From Indiana we went to Pittsburg, PA to visit with Real Soldier, Desire and their son Ali. Again it was an uneventful trip and we arrived sometime in the afternoon. Real Soldier and their family live right downtown on a very busy street. There are buses that go by on the hour until Mid-night. This is good for them as they can get to all the places they need to go with no problems.
It was very hot there and high humidity. I was quite surprised by the size of their apartment. Although it only has one bedroom, it is quite spacious. They were very kind to us and gave us their room for the two nights we were there.
It was such delightful time together. Desire had to go to the hospital during the day, Ali went to playschool and Real Soldier went to his English course, so during the day there was a lot of down time. This was good as the first night there we could hardly sleep due to noisy streets. Because the noise scared Max, we ended up sleeping with the windows shut, but this made it unbearably hot in the room. Let’s just say that first night of sleep was rough. However during the next day we were able to rest some. This made it easier to visit with Real Soldier and Desire the second night we were there. It was a great time of hanging out and getting caught up.
Please pray that this time for them in the States will be a positive time. Pray that Desire will be able to do all she needs to do while here, that Real Soldier will learn some English and that Ali will like going to Playschool. Ali is struggling with this time at Playschool and tries not to go daily. This is hard on his parents who see the positive side of sending him.
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Posted By Sarah on June 19, 2010
Friday morning we arose early and had breakfast at Bethany. We were able to then pack the car and hit the road just before 9 am. Today’s travels would only be about 6 hours which gave as a good amount of time to visit with Josh and Mindy Tiner and some of their children. It has been about 10 years since I last got to see them and it was the first time for our families to meet each other.
That evening was full of talking, of walks, and good food. It is fun too as Josh and Mindy’s youngest son is only 3 days older than Max. You may not know it by looking at them, as Micah is quite a bit bigger and is already walking, climbing and talking some. Max loved having little ones around to play with and as always loved having fun around.
By eight o’clock the kids went down to bed and the four adults preceded to play some Settlers of Catan. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we ended up playing two rounds. It was a great time of fellowship, both in word and deed.
Saturday morning Mindy and I got to go on a “date”. The kids stayed home with the dads and we went out grocery shopping. It was a nice time for catching up some. Mindy even treated me to a “birthday coffee” since my birthday was just a few days away.
As always our time was way too short and we did not get to talk about nearly enough. But it was a delight to see them and to hear how God is working in their lives. They shared with us about their having to leave the country they had been serving in. They are in the process of waiting for God to show them the next step. Will you pray for them, too, as they wait on him!
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