We saw the President!

On Saturday we woke up very early (5:30am) then hit the snooze button until 6.  I hurried to get ready and get Little Lady up too. We got dressed and it was time to go. We drove a little bit closer to the 4 seasons hotel and walked the rest of the way. We lined up and went through security. Once we were inside we let LL run around and play with the other toddlers. It was only 7:30 and we were not due to see the President until closer to 9. So for a long time we hung out with people and let LL run around. We chased her, fed her snacks, and tried our best to keep her entertained.

The girls playing

Someone was starting to show signs of needing a nap

  Then the guy announced the President of the United States and we all clapped! In walked President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. Our Ambassador Stuart Jones introduced them. They each gave a speech generally about how important it is that we are here, doing what is being done, and being representatives of the US. Then they shook a few hands (we were way in the back so not ours) and they were gone. It was neat to be in the same room as the President and to hear him speak even if it was so short. Then everyone starting leaving and we waited for the crowd to die down.

Trying to get a picture of Millie with the President so we could prove she was there.

  After a while we noticed people getting on stage and we asked if we could too. They said sure. We just were not allowed to touch the podium. So we took some pictures of Amelia as President!

Family Picture

Announcing the running of LL for President in about 49 years

 That was the main excitement of our Saturday and it was over by 10am.

Close up and Personal with a Rainbow cake

 Here are some photos of the rainbow cake I made for Ella. It was my first time making the different colors of cake but they all seemed to turn out great! I went through 3 mixes (so much easier than making it from scratch and a real time saver), 3 batches of Mom's Buttercream frosting, lots of food coloring, and 4 bricks of white chocolate. I was super happy that Erin and Chris didn't ask for fondant and were willing to let me try working with chocolate. so here is what happened!

 Tuesday: melt the chocolate and dye it colors. Then while still warm pipe it into each shamrock shape. Let it cool and harden on parchment paper.

 

That is some Muddy Buddies/ Puppy Chow in the background I mean I needed something for energy! ;)

Thursday: Mix the cake batters. Divide and Dye them. Then bake. Allow to cool and once cool stack and put the crumb coat on! I also made the 3 batches of buttercream.

Friday: Let the Frosting Begin!!!!! Yep lots of frosting. I stacked the two cakes together and then began piping. We took a bit of a break for another little girls birthday party and once we returned home. I finishes piping the rainbows and placing on all the shamrocks! The cake was FINISHED!!!! The first time ever I have been done early.

Now I am sure lots of you are there could do it faster than I did. However with trying to keep a very busy 15month old happy and out of the way I only had the times that I had help to be able to work on it. So I think that 3 days start to finish is pretty darn good.

This was Ella's personal smash cake

You have no idea how many times I said roy-g-biv to myself. I was terrified I would put the colors in the wrong order.

Super happy with how this turned out and everyone seemed to really like it!

The Baptism Site

2 weekends ago we went on a trip (haha-only 40 minutes) to Bethany Beyond the Jordan or Jesus' Baptism site. I am sure you are thinking and how do they know this is the spot. Well the tour guide (who was actually the head of the department for the site since it's opening in 94) gave us 3 reasons. 1 is that the bible tells us so (Check out the books of John, Matthew, and Mark as they all reference Jordan). 2 is that the mosaics throughout the area point to this location (there are mosaic maps of the area and they show this site as the spot) and 3 local legends. This spot was on the pilgrimage for Christians and through local lore they can trace it to this spot.

A view of Jericho in the distance and the road is the pilgrimage road

 Our tour began at Elijah’s Hill. This is the spot where Elijah is said to have ascended into heaven. This area also is considered to be the holy grotto. It is where John the Baptist actually baptized people and lived. His cave is part of the walls of a church. There are still remains of the churches (from 5^th and 6^th century ad) on the site, a northern and a western one as well as the living quarters of the monks and the water system that they used. There are 3 pools on site. They were used as water for everyday use and it is thought that they even had people descend into them for baptism.

Hard to see but bottom left is the 4th century prayer hall, Middle Left is the fieldstone wall that makes up the water system, the right side is the Reeds and other plants that attract the bees to the area.

Little Lady is clearly thrilled to be here and Elmo is getting even more cultured

This is the Western Church and in the wall on the right is the cave of John the Baptist.

The reeds surrounding this place were often used to create shelters for those that were living her.

This is the Mosaic floor and entrance into the living quarters for the Monks at the Rhotorios Monastery.

Well for the water system

  After we left Elijah’s Hill we went to the Jordan River. We walked along the trails and we came to John the Baptist’s Church and then to the water. The Church had to be rebuilt many times as the water was higher and it was often washed away in flood or taken by Earthquakes. This church was built over the water and the foundation pillars were placed in a cross shaped pattern.

the Jordan River ( you can see it on the bottom right)

the Jordan River. Yes the other side of the river is Israel.

The John the Baptist Church. You can see the water makes a cross in the floor. The Church was originally built over the water and the stairs lead to the water for baptism. This Church marks the spot where Jesus was baptized and it is said to be where he left his clothes during the baptism.

 Once we left the church we hiked by some more modern mosaics and then to the water.

a very historical mosaic...or not.. I do not think Jesus had a golf cart. It is actually a mosaic of the Pope (I have no idea which one) and the king and Queen. I do not know who the other guy is either.

A recent mosaic depicting the baptism of Jesus

S and Little Lady ready to head down to the River (oh and this was Little Lady's first outing with her "Safety Tether", she didn't seem to mind it and judge if you want but this girl does not want to sit still or hold your hand...she will even kick you if you try to carry her when she doesn't want it)

 Everyone was taking turns getting in the water and on the Israeli side people were doing full submersion baptisms! We dipped Little Lady’s toes in (her toes have now been in the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, and the River Jordan!)

Little Lady dipping her toes in the River Jordan

A full submersion baptism on the Israel side

 Then we visited the Orthodox Church on site. Once we were finished there it was time to go home.

Inside the Orthodox Church

Bones of someone...

if you can read it let me know what it says

Little Lady takes a time out from learning about history to learn about rocks (they are hard, don't taste well, make a great noise when you drop them, they go very far when you throw them, and if you walk up to someone and hand it to them they will take it)

Stopped for a photo on the bridge on our way back to the car.

We stopped at some of the stores along the road. Did a little bit of shopping and returned home for our afternoon naps! It was a great day and a very historical and religious one at that.

I know there is a lot more information. I just am really bad at remembering names and dates. So while I actually did pay attention this time on the tour I did not retain nearly as much as I would have liked. I cannot wait until we go back (presumably with my in-laws) and I see what else I learn.

I can't even think of a title for this so you know it has to be good right? we shall see...

So I am doing a terrible job at updating this but things have gotten crazy and I am just slacking. LL is doing great at going to sleep on her own and until this week (she has 4 molars coming in) has been sleeping through the night. I continue with my arabic class 3 days a week, LL has swim 2 days a week and that leaves us with the weekend. We have been going to birthday parties, dinner parties, and get togethers a lot of the weekends. It is really getting to be a busy time of year (and I thought Christmas time was bad)  I do not even remember if I posted about our trip to the Children's Museum. LL loved it! We have got to go back. She was walking everywhere and getting into everything. After our next visit I will try to do a more detailed post. Winter seems to have left Amman. It has been warm for a bit now off and on but it never seems to get too cold. Though I hear it might this weekend. We are still  having electrical issues (don't remember if I told you about those either) but hopefully soon they will come and get the air working and other things that are still broken. We have been planning our family vacation and it is finally getting narrowed down. We even bought the tickets and made half of the reservations (more on that after it happens). We have been fighting colds and ear infections. The flu has made a round or two. It really is fun to be here. I borrowed Charlotte and took some more pictures of her.  This time she was snow white. I am preparing to take some Easter pictures and Ella's 1st birthday pictures. We have been invited to two birthday parties this weekend and I am working on the rainbow birthday cake for one of them (pictures coming soon). We went to the dead sea 2 weekends ago. We just needed a break and it was wonderful. We stayed at the marriot and enjoyed the warm (80 degree) weather and did some swimming. LL got to show off her new skills to Daddy. The last weekend we visited the Baptism Site or Bethany beyond the Jordan (a seprate post with pictures is in the works). It was a great experience and all I can say is WOW what a history. OH yeah I went to an Arabic cooking class at Beit Sitti with Emily and Allison. It was great. We had a lot of fun, learned a few things, and just got to enjoy hanging out. It has been a while since we were all able to get together.

and here is where I end this and it's ramblings because the stupid neighbors are leaving the dogs barking (again) and it woke LL up (again).