Happy New Year!?

We were at a mall yesterday after a doctor's appointment (see Zeke's Blog) and we saw this really big Christmas display with the giant pieces of candy (which Zeke, at one point, looked after longingly), a little gingerbread house, Christmas trees, snowmen, snow, candy canes and much more. Also, along the bottom, it read, 'Mutlu Yıllar,' which loosely means 'Happy New Year!' Anyway, we'd mentioned this in a previous blog, but we thought we'd share again and show a couple of
pictures of it.

We also found this scary Santa Claus mask in the local grocery store, where, upon taking the picture, we were told by a security guard that we shouldn't have. Ah, the bliss of international ignorance. Dan did see him laughing as Tami was taking the picture. We didn't take anymore, though.

Well, all that to say, Happy New Year to you all! May it be a good one and may all your resolutions come to fruition. :)

Quite a Spread...

Well, we had quite a meal for Christmas dinner. We were having friends over, so we roasted a stuffed chicken with some more chicken and stuffing on the side. We made macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, gravy and apple pie. Our friends brought cheesecake, broccoli cheese casserole, and rolls. Here's a picture of our table minus the dessert and bread...

Oh yeah, there were only four adults and three small children. Needless to say, we'll be eating leftovers for awhile.

Double Date...

So, going on dates in our city is a bit different from going in the states. We got a sitter for Zeke and agreed to take him there, b/c they were making cookies all day and they had a cat to play with, so we figured he would have a lot more fun there than here. And he did. He wasn't ready to go home when we came back to get him. Anyway, I digress.
To get to the sitter's house, we took a tram from our apartment to a hub near us, where we got on a metro and went to where the sitter's house is. From the sitter's house, we took a bus to another hub, where we took a form of transportation called a "tunnel," which really resembles an underground trolley. The tunnel brought us to a place near the restaurant where we met a couple of friends and had a really enjoyable time of grown-up conversation.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

So, we didn't think we would find very much Christmas stuff here since they don't celebrate it, but it turns out they use all the American traditional Christmas stuff (like the tree and Santa Clause) for New Year Celebrations. Anyway, it's a bit odd to us, but it helped us get a tree. Can you pick out Zeke's bigwheel tricycle thing? (Shh! Don't tell him!)

Anyway, our apartment has come together quite a bit and the "after" pictures are now up. If you want to see them, click here. We hope you enjoy them.

Merry Christmas to all of you! We miss you lots.

Funny Cheetos...

Looks like any other bag of puffy Cheetos, right? Well, that's what we thought, too, when Tami brought them home from the store the other day. Never mind, we didn't know at the time what "FINDIKLI" meant that was written on the upper left hand corner of the bag. We didn't pay close attention to the picture, either. But, as we opened the bag and the aroma of fresh peanut butter filled the air, we looked again at the picture and realized that it was a peanut! Well, Dan figured you should never turn your nose up at something until you've tried it, so he did. And the result...he says they really left a lot to be desired. Anyway, Zeke likes them and he's slowly eating them for us. Perhaps he'll grow up to be like a good friend of ours who swears that peanut butter and Velveeta cheese is the best combination since burgers and fries.

Baby Pictures...

No, these aren't of Zeke. For those of you who haven't heard, we're expecting again! Tami went to the doctor for the first time the other day and they do ultrasounds at every visit, even the 4-D kind, which is quite a commodity in the states. So, we're excited about that and you guys get to see pictures already. The baby is only about 10 1/2 weeks old at this time and Tami is due in June. At any rate, we're not sure what this'll do to Zeke's blog. Perhaps he'll have to share with his new brother or sister.

Funny Fruit...

So, I got home from language school the other day and Tami had been to the local bazaar to get fruits and vegetables. She said, "Hey, I got you cherries today!" (We have heard of the wonderful cherries here since we were in the states, though we didn't think it was the season.) So, I went in the kitchen and looked at the bowl of cherries and thought, "These cherries look funny. They're much rounder than those in the states." Well, upon eating the first one, I found out that they weren't cherries at all. The picture's below. See if you can guess. The answer follows...

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THEY'RE PLUMS!

Our new home....

Well, we finally found an apartment and got to spend some time in it today cleaning it up a bit. Apartments here come quite differently than those in the states. For starters, there are no appliances. We already bought a washer, dryer, refrigerator, oven/stove, and microwave. They'll be delivered later this week. But besides appliances, you also have to furnish the towel racks in the bathrooms, as well as toilet paper holders, light fixtures in the whole apartment and even CLOSETS!!!!! The picture below is from outside our living room window. If you want to see some before pictures, click here. We're having it painted starting tomorrow, so we'll post more pictures when it's painted and furnished.

Anyway, we are very excited to be moving in on Wednesday and even more excited that language school starts on Tuesday! Dan will be going five days a week in the mornings. Tami will be going Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday in the afternoons. We're excited to finally be getting into some sort of routine.

Saturday Afternoon Picnic...

Last Saturday, some new friends of ours took us on a ferry out to an island where we had a picnic. It was a very fun day. Seagulls followed the ferry with lots of people throwing bread out off the side. Some people even hand-fed them. It was quite interesting.

Also, at the picnic, we recalled that in America the ants are the traditional picnic pests. In our new country, they are the crows, the seagulls, and the cats! Zeke loved it, though.

Well, we are close to finding a place to live, which means we likely won't have the hotel's internet much longer. We will try to keep you updated as soon as we possibly can. Check back often.

The Long Journey...

We're here! Our flights went very well and getting through the airports with all our carry-ons was, well, interesting. This is a picture of how we toted much of the stuff through. (That's Zeke's stroller on top of which everything is piled.)

The flights went very well. They were about 2 hours, 8 hours, and 3 hours. Zeke cried maybe 5 minutes total. He slept a vast majority of the trip, which helped immensely. That much sleep did catch up to us the first night in our new place, however. Tired from the trip and the 1.5 hour, 18 km trip from the airport (traffic was a little bad), we crashed into bed about 10:00 p.m. local time. Zeke went right to sleep. We slept for what we thought was 6 or 7 hours, when Zeke woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep. We finally decided to get up, not knowing what time is was (because we didn't figure out until later that we needed to change the time zone on the computer and ipod, not just the time) and got ready for the day.

We're staying in a hotel the first week or so until we get into an apartment, so we headed down to the lobby to see what time it was and to see about getting something to eat. Well, the friendly man at the front desk informed us that it was 10 minutes past 2 in the morning. We were slightly surprised and decided to take to the streets anyway. So, there we were, our first night in town, wandering the streets of this new city at 2 in the morning with our one-year-old being pushed along in a stroller. We did come across a small restaraunt that was still open, where we got some very tasty lamb, also where Zeke made a new friend (see Zeke's blog), before heading back to the hotel for some more sleep. All in all, it's been a good first 12 hours, and we look forward to getting life started here.

The Smitherman Family Fall Festival...

Today we went down to Mississippi to a Fall Festival that Dan's new brother-in-law's family was putting on. There were lots of games for the kids to play (which were also enjoyed by many adults), as well as a hay ride, beanie weenies, chili, and more. It was really a lot of fun. We are grateful to Dan's sister, Tori, for having married into the Smitherman family. If you wish to see more pictures from the day, you can find them by clicking here.

Cedar Hill Farm

So, we went with Tami's parents last Saturday to Cedar Hill Farm, where we went on a hayride, visited a pumpkin patch, worked through a corn maze, and did lots of other fun stuff. Zeke got to ride a pony and watch a chicken show. Here are a couple of pictures from the outing. If you want to see more, click here. Hey, also, Zeke's walking now. Check out his blog if you haven't yet.

A Night Out...

We are working pretty hard out here in VA, but we manage to get out every now and then. Last Friday night, some of the people without kids offered a parents' night out to all those with kids. We took advantage of the opportunity. We went to eat at a little diner in downtown Richmond and then we went and played on the rocks at the James River. Here's a picture on the rocks. Great view, huh?

Putt Putt and My Favorite Place...

Tonight we went with Tami's mom and dad for a night on the town. Zeke went with us. First, we went to Putt Putt, where we played a game of mini-golf. Mom won, Tami and Dad tied for second, and Dan lost, which seems to be a trend at these family functions.
Zeke tried to get into the game, as well, but he couldn't quite get a handle on the putter.
After mini-golf, we went to eat at My Favorite Place. It was the first time we had been there, and it was really good. Well, we're glad to be back close to home. Write us and tell us what you've been up to. Good day to all!

Road Trip: The Conclusion: Tulsa, OK...

Well, we finished up our road trip yesterday returning from Tulsa, OK, where we visited Tami's sister, Amy, her husband, Mark, and their sons, Luc and Ryan.

We had a lot of fun hanging out with them. We went swimming, ate at a really good steak place, made homemade pizzas, and did all kinds of other cool stuff.

Tami and Amy enjoyed laughing at Mark and me on our laptops.

Zeke had a lot of fun with Luc and Ryan. There are some more pictures of them on his blog.

Originally, our road trip was going to extend to today with a visit to Tami's grandparents, also in Tulsa, but her grandfather was hospitalized with very low sodium, so went by to see him and came back a day early. Our understanding is that he is doing better today.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun on our road trip. We are now back in Memphis with Tami's parents, who we hadn't seen in almost a month. Tonight we're going to play mini golf, so we'll blog about that, too.

If you want to see the rest of our pictures from the last leg of our road trip, click here.

Road Trip Part Four: Oklahoma City, OK

Well, yesterday we made the shortest part of our journey from Norman to Oklahoma City. Before we left Norman, we had lunch with Jeremy and Ericka*, more of Tami's friends. We had a good time eating with them and getting to catch up on life.

*We took pictures of Jeremy and Ericka, but we used Tami's camera and the cord is in Memphis, so we'll have to update this when we get back.

After lunch, we made a short stop to purchase some very nice University of Oklahoma shirts for the entire family. Not to worry, though, albeit that Dan's passion for OU is growing, and he really likes the shirt he got, he remains a Memphis Tiger at heart.
We left Wal-Mart and made the 20 minute drive up to Uncle Duane and Aunt Deanna's house in Oklahoma City.

Tami's cousin, Rob, and his wife, Kellie, and their children, Ben, Rachel, and Lily also came over. We had dinner with them and got to visit for awhile afterward and talk about what's going on in each of our lives.

It was really a lot of fun and a good opportunity to spend some time with some relatives that we don't really get to see often.

If you would like to see more pictures from this leg of the journey, click here.

Road Trip Part Three: Norman, OK...

Well, the 5 hour trip from Temple to Norman wasn't nearly as long as the 10 hour trip from Salesville to Temple. We had a lot of fun visiting with some of Tami's friends yesterday. We had lunch with Pete and Jennifer and hung out at their house for a while afterward. It was good to see them again and have some time to talk about the goings on in our lives.

By late afternoon, we were headed to Mike and Dana's house to visit them and their boys, Isaac and Elijah.
Justin and Natalie also met us there to hang out. We ate dinner there and played around with the boys.
Afterward, we went to the University of Oklahoma campus to watch fireworks. It took them awhile to get them started, but once they did, they were well worth the wait.
Later today, we will make the long journey over to Oklahoma City to see Tami's Uncle and Aunt. It's been lots of fun so far, and we believe there's only more fun to come.

If you want to see the rest of our 4th of July pictures, click here.

Road Trip Part Two: Temple, TX...

Well, today, our road trip finds us in Temple, TX, after spending a couple of days with Tami's brother, Cortney, his wife, Alicia, and their children, Zachary, Sydney, and Averi. We had a lot of fun and got to do all sorts of exciting things. We went swimming, we jumped on the trampoline, we playing such games as Big Trouble and Uno Attack. We highly recommend Uno Attack to anyone who might be interested.

We also tried to see if the four adults could fit in their small pantry just for fun...

We did it!

Averi liked to be read to and she also liked to brush Tami's hair. We had a lot of fun with her.

Tonight, we got to go watch a fireworks display that they do here on the 3rd of July.

The fireworks were very pretty, but the mosquitoes were also very bad. That's why we are under the towels and stuff in the picture. It certainly wasn't because it was cold!

All in all, we had a really good time. We look forward to the next time we get to come back. Our next stop: Norman, OK, to see some of Tami's friends and her Uncle and Aunt.

If you want to see more pictures from this leg of our trip (including more fireworks shots), click here.