Up North

Today was spent in the Norther part of Israel & the Golan Heights. Its crazy how tranquil everything was and that we were at the corner of a region so marked by territorial disputes. We started the day touring the Golan, then went to Caesarea Phillipi (Banias), Tel Dan, and concluded the day at Hazor.

Hazor was again particularly meaningful to me as I spent a summer dig there in 2001. I think I might have to have a nostalgic blog about that in the near future.

. . . but for now my co-pilot ladybug would like to update my family in pictoral fashion.

Here is ladybug in the Golan Heights overlooking Syria.


Ladybug is hanging out at Tel Dan Nature Reserve. He very much enjoys the greenery and water

Here I am at Hazor with ladybug.

Well that's it for today. Tomorrow we have more sites to see and will overnight in Jerusalem.

Galilee

Last night we spent the night at a hotel on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The above picture is the sunset we had the privilege of witnessing before we went to sleep (yes Lori iyou will have to expalin to Garrett that though it is a pine tree and a lake with mountains it isn't taken at Lake Tahoe). Today we spent the day around Galilee. We saw the places where Jesus spent much of his minsitry and did so many miracles. Its always one of the highlights of my trip to be in the Galilee. Many of the places in the Bible are ruins, other traditional sites are covered up by churches, or (perhaps) hidden beneath a modern hotel, drug store, or parking lot. The lake, however, is the same as when Jesus came: beautfiul, blue, and majestic in its silent witness of all the things it saw Jesus do . . .


Here are a few more pictures:



Here is Ladybug on a boat on the Sea of Galilee


And here is Ladybug trying to enjoy some St. Peter's fish. (Talapia caught from the Sea of Galilee).

More to come. . .

This week I'm in Israel. As a result this is going to be a working travel-blog. I'm accompanied on my trip by my assistant ladybug. The toy bug in these pictures is my accompaniment sent by my son Garrett. Garrett wanted me to take him with me (he chose ladybug specifically). Since G was unable to come with me he gets to see Ladybug in all sorts of places to see that we are safe and having a good time. Below are pictures of me with ladybug at the aquaduct at Caesarea and Ladybug on Mt. Carmel overlooking the vally of Jezreel (Armageddon).

Well that's it for now. More to follow.

Thankful

So I realize exactly how long it has been since I've made a blog entry. This last year has been quite the adventure. Problem with adventures is they are so much more fun to read about than to actually experience.

Thankfully, this adventure has come to an end, and by this adventure I mean the long experience we have had with a contested adoption. Today our son, is legally ours. There has been considerable expense, enormous sacrifice on the part of Matthew's birth parents, and miles of anxiety. Today however, we stood in front of a judge and legally adopted Matthew.

I could write a multitude of directions expressing my relief, love, commitement, etc. I could fill this space with stories of my two boys. Instead, I'm going to keep this post brief and just express my thanks to God for His mercy to our family. We realize how His hand was at work in every aspect of this struggle molding us as parents and shaping us as a family. So I want to take the moment to publicly praise God and recognize his providential dealings with the four of us.

Geotrax ambulance

My oldest, Garrett, loves his Geotrax train set. He has a large accumulation of track and engines that have been bestowed upon him by various relatives. I don't know that we bought one single Geotrax piece. Yet, his playroom floor is covered by his sprawling Geo-town. There's central station, the saw mill, a bridge, a barn, and even a flying plane. I'm sure I would have loved to have owned such a cool toy set when I was younger.

Of course, seeing how he plays with these toys I'm wondering how he views the world. The other day he was playing with his Geotrax ambulance. here is a picture.

I'm certain he didn't give the situation as much thought as I did . . . Nevertheless, if an ambulance ever comes for me and the driver lookes like this (see below) I'M GONNA RUN! Fast! There is a little man that came with the ambulance. He is all professional looking dressed in his official uniform. Yet, Axe-man is who Garrett chose to drive the rescue vehicle. I'm just saying, pretty scary ambulance driver.

Thinking of that crazed axe wielding ambulance driver may give me nightmares. And now, suddenly, I'm having flashbacks from the end of The Twilight Zone movie from the 1980s.

Actually, the whole thing made me laugh--playing with Garrett has been known to induce involuntary smiling.

Before I forget

Time flies by so fast. I can't believe my firstborn is two and a half. I can't believe my newborn is six weeks. Things go even faster when you are in the middle of a contested adoption. They continue to speed up if you work at a church around Easter. I decided I'd write down some of the precious things my boys are doing. I need to record them before they fade away from memory.

Needless to say, everything from this point forward will be sort of random. Most of this will also be about Garrett as Matthew spends most of his time eating, sleeping, and pooping. Just because he doens't get as much space on this blog doesn't mean that we (more specifically I) love him any less.

* Garrett's been sleeping in a big boy bed for quite a while now. When he first started, he'd insist that either Lori or I join him for nap time. We would have to lay on the floor while he lay in his bed. Occasionally on a day off or a lazy Saturday, I'd get to have a nap as well, right there on Garrett's floor. One day I woke up to find Garrett burying me in all his stuffed animals. Apparently he thought I needed some furry friends.

* More on my sweet boy. Every night Lori or I sing Garrett a song (or two, or three) before we leave him alone in his room. Often we sing Jesus loves me, additionally I sing him Amazing Grace quite regularly. The other day I came down for breakfast and Garrett started softly singing, "Amazing Grace how sweet how sweet. . . " I asked him if he was singing Amazing Grace. He nodded and replied, "I'm singing for my daddy." I love that boy.

* A couple of nights ago, after we had all gone to bed Garrett decided it wasn't yet time to call it a night. So, he let himself out of the room and went downstairs to visit our Golden Retriever. His visiting grandparents heard the noise and went upstairs to find the boy having a conversation with the only other member of the house who was awake. He did the same thing just this morning. I wonder what they're up to. Perhaps the canine and the toddler are planning on staging a coup?

* Garrett hates it when I leave in the mornings. This of course makes me hate leaving as well. When I finally tear myself away, Garrett insists on sitting in the bay window facing the front of the house. He makes sure I wave to him as I drive off to work. Usually, he waves to me as well. It's one the best and worst images of the day.

* Matthew has started to smile. Additionally, he is starting to make some of the cutest little noises. I love that he is starting to interact with us. I can't wait to see his little personality develop.

* Garrett loves the Garbage truck. He calls it the trash truck. On Wednesday mornings he sits in the aforementioned bay window and watches the trash truck drive up and down the street picking up all the neighbors trash. He loves it. That is, until the trash truck picks up our trash. Then he gets mad. Apparently he thinks the garbage man is stealing our trash.

* More on the trash man. The other day, Garrett joined me as I took our animals (cat & dog) to the vet to get their shots up to date. On the way there we passed a garbage truck. Garrett happily commented on the Garbage truck in the lane next to us. Yes Garrett that is a trash truck, I informed him. Garrett smiled, then firmly declared, "Give me back my trash, trash man."

The kid has issues.

* About a week or so ago Garrett and Matthew were taking a bath together. Garrett sat in the back of the tub, while Matthew's baby tub was in the front part of the tub. As I was washing Garrett's hair, Matthew decided to empty his bladder. A stream of yellow ickiness arced from my youngest son, raining down on my toddler. Quickly I moved to cover Matthew's boyness with a washcloth to stop the horror. Only Garrett didn't think it was a horror. He thought it was hilarious. He laughed and cackeld and wouldn't stop. I was stupified. I had narrowly avoided being christened by my infant son and I thought it was gross. Garrett, I asked, do you think its funny that Matthew went potty on you? "Yes!" the toddler replied still laughing.

Like I said, issues.

* BTW, Garrett has a nick-name he gave to himself. He often refers to himself as "Echo." I think its hilarious but I've warned him, watch out our you're going to be Echo the rest fo your life. I suppose there are worse things to be called.

I'll have to record some more memories soon. I guess that will be all for the moment. Of course many more have been recorded for me at my wife's blog: familyfishbowl.blogspot.com

Roller Coaster Ride

Even though I was always afraid of heights, I love roller coasters. Steep drops, unexpected twists and turns and even the upside down loop--love them. Unfortunately, I don't feel the same way about metaphorical roller coasters. And certainly this last few weeks has been a white-knuckled (not quite so thrilling) thrill ride.

What started out as a seamless adoption as we welcomed our new son into our family quickly disintegrated into chaos and turmoil . . . .

Let me say at the outset, we love our son and our committed to being his parents. That hasn't changed.

What has changed is all the details surrounding the adoption. 1) There are possibilities regarding our new son's parentage that we never knew about. this is despite the fact that legal paperwork was filed with words like "under penalty of perjury." 2) New possibility for the birth father is certain that he is the father and is legally contesting the adoption. 3) This development is costing us a lot of money that we don't have. 4) There are also my feelings on the manner in which this situation is being handled, but I don't feel the need to record those in the public domain . . .

Don't get me wrong. I can sympathize with the desire of any birth father to meet their son and to want to have some control or influence in the young one's life. HOWEVER, there are ways to go about it. Again I'll spare you the details . . . At any rate, this is a mother vs. prospective father feud that we've unexpectedly caught ourselves in the middle of. Of course we've been assured by lawyers that we are standing on excellent legal grounds--how we will pay for this legal representation or get through the interim period without ulcers and high blood pressure is another issue.

Needless to say there has been considerable more stress and tears at our house than you would expect around the (what should be) joyful arrival of a new son. I think that's what really frustrates me. These should be happy, joyful days. Instead, our days are filled with worry, stress, and uncertainty.

We're left with the resolve to love our son for as long as we have him, be that two weeks or sixty years. That has not changed. We love our son. At the same time, we realize that we have no control in this uncertain situation and are forced to cling that much more tightly to our LORD who has everything in his capable hands.

So it is to Him that we pray for the very best for our son.

****Incidentally, I love how pictures can show a peaceful happy family without any of the tumultuous context.