Time Flies

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."

Shout out to my best friend--thank you for touching my life.

Galilee

Beth Shean/Scythopolis:

And the lovely students sitting on ancient public toilets

Overlooking the Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee

Mount of Beattitudes

Sea of Galilee

Hike in Galilee area

I conquered the Cacti.

Gamla:

The sign says: Climbing on structures is prohibited . . .

I fell off this cliff and almost died, but then I climbed back up it

This is what Brianne and Chloe call studying . . .

Joe Ludlow and I at the church in Galilee

Feet in the Jordan River

Slick-back Sunday

. . . and the aftermath of slick-back Sunday

Mt. Tabor, one of the possible sites of the Mount of Transfiguration

Megiddo:

Being sacrificed at Dan

The Winnie the Pooh tree at Dan

David and his women

Look familiar? Check the back of your Bible under Ceasarea Philippi

David perfectly exemplifies how I feel much of the time here in Israel

Caesarea:

Galilee was absolutely amazing--socially, emotionally, spiritually. I am living a dream.

Trying to catch up . . .

This is Ein Karem with the Church of John the Baptist behind us. Ein Karem is a beautiful town west of Jerusalem.

Joe Ludlow and Alvin Green lookin' good at the Herodion.

Stars and bucks? Just for you Karine.

Inside the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem (I believe this is the traditional manger)

All 6 of the girls below are Rachel's, making "R's" in our own ways

Shepherds field outside of Bethlehem

We hiked through Hezekiah's tunnel in the pitch black on the Fourth of July

After making it through, Jerica, Michael, and I decided to submerse ourselves in the water at the end of the tunnel. Clean? Not so much. Worth it? Definitely.

 At the traditional site of Christ's cross in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

This is the center of the universe in the Church of the Holy Sepluchre. A few days ago I heard a man accidentally knocked it over . . . what does that mean for us??

 The Israel Museum had an night-event a few weeks ago, and we decided to go. Here are the results:

 Across from "The Garden of Gethsemane" there is another garden. Tacy made a reservation for us a few Sabbaths ago.

En Gedi was one of my favorite days in Israel! We hiked up some wadis (deserty canyons might explain it best), jumping into pools and enjoying waterfalls the whole way. And it was a good thing there were pools to jump into . . . because it was 110 degrees in the shade, and there wasn't much shade. 

Before:

After:

The picture below captures perhaps the best part of the day: a long bus ride home with broken air conditioning. I am not sure if I have ever sweat so much in my entire life, and I was wearing a swimsuit! The heat was so intense we stopped for an "AC" break at a convenience store along the way.