The Jordan River and the Dead Sea

This is the Jordan River. It's not exactly what it used to be in it's former glory, (due to Israel jacking the water upstream) but it is still a sight to see.

Here is a little pick with some of the local vegetation.

So this is the spot where it is believed that Christ was baptized. They know this from archeological digs and from passed down history. There is a mosaic map from 700 A.D. that has the site near this spot also. You can tell where the water level used to be. It was really an awesome place to visit.

This is the dead sea. Here it's kinda rude to walk around with no shirt unless you are swimming or catching rays, hence a wife beater for walking around in. It's hard to see all the salt water built up on the rocks, but it was crazy!!

I am definitely not a floater. I never have been, but I had absolutely no problem in the Dead Sea. It was awesome.

  

Here I'm doing my best whale impression. At one point I tried to swim towards the bottom......It was a massive FAIL. plus saltwater in the eyes burned like crazy. p.s Dead Sea is 10x saltier than ocean, and yes that spanks the Great Salt Lake saline level.

This is a when in Rome moments for me. It's a mud covering thing, that everyone does when they go to the Dead Sea.

I know it's looks a little dumb, and maybe crazy, but man was my skin soft after my "treatment".

If you didn't know, the Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on land on the planet, notice the - 1262. From Amman to the Dead Sea you drop 4000 feet in a 20 min drive, talk about your ears popping a ton. We'll keep the posts coming, there's still a trip to Petra coming up.

Neils is in Jordan!

So Neils is in Jordan. He was given this amazing opportunity because he did so well on the Arabic tests that he took last year while we were in CA. The main reason for this visit is for him to emerge himself in Arabic. He was supposed to work a little bit with the embassy, but they told him it's a slow month so he just needs to go around and better his arabic. Today he got to go to Jerash, which is a beautiful two thousand year old city. He emailed me some pictures, so I thought I'd share them.

We definitely miss him (especially Elizabeth who asks for Daddy all day long), but thank goodness for Skype and email. He has internet in his hotel room so anyone that wants to communicate with him can. Life isn't the same without him, but we do enjoy spending time with everyone in AZ. It helps make our time apart go by faster.  

Swimming Lessons

Max just finished his first week of swimming lessons. Everything they've taught in class, I've already taught to him. But he listens better to his teachers and LOVES swimming with other kids.

One of his favorite games they play is Red Light, Green Light. It's very simple. They're supposed to kick really hard when they hear green light; kick slowly at yellow light; and stop at red. 

This was the first time they did it. By the end of the week, he was a pro. (Sorry the video isn't very good. Elizabeth was trying to get in the pool while I was filming)

 he also loves his goggles. We bought them a couple of days before his first lesson and he wore them for a few hours each day. Elizabeth did too. 

We look forward to going to swimming lessons again this week. 

Some Before and After Pics of the House

This is just a quick post. Mom was saying she wanted to see some more pics of the house, so here they are. 

Before pic of Front Room from just inside the front door

From just about the same spot. Obviously a bit different with lighting and furniture too.

Kitchen from entry from main room. You can't see the nasty florescent lighting that used to be there.

From same spot

Another shot of main room from opposite side the room.

Just a small post with some fun pics!

Hey everyone, this is Neils posting. I have a ton of pics that I've been snapping lately, so I thought I'd post them. Everything is going great! House projects are almost done, (just a little painting left), work is great (especially with the up coming trip ;), and we're making some great friends. Emilie and the kids will be coming to AZ the last week of Aug until the first week of Oct. So yes, they will miss my birthday, but we'll make up for it when they get back.

We love the rain!! I don't know if you'll be able to tell, but in this particularly bad storm we got an inch and a half of rain.......in an hour!!!

This is the kids eating some strawberries,but really it's just me showing off some of my handy work. Projects done since we moved in; wood floors in main room, wainscotting in main and kitchen, tile in kitchen, refinish cabinets, new light fixture and fan in main, recessed lighting in kitchen, and of course Emilie on the painting....I really don't like painting. So, as you can see we have been busy. I wanted to atleast finish some projects before we move out of this house.

Does the beach ever get old? This time we tried to dig to China. We only made it waste deep, but we found the cool shell in Max's hand and then he let my bury him, so it was worth the effort.

I think Max got this idea from "Kipper the Dog" or something. Sand boat...check, bucket for a steering wheel...check, a seat for his sister...oops.

Good thing it's easy to change that with a little more sand!