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.