The Jolliff Family

As I flipped through the blog, I realise that there is no way to accurately sum up the year, but we know that the Lord has been so good to us over the last year as we prepared to travel to the States to enjoy family, friends, and refreshment at Northside, to help us transition back to life in the Middle East, and to see us through another year of life. It was hard to pick just one picture from each month, I have so many favourite pictures each month, but here are just a few that help wrap up our year! January was full of snuggles and sleepless nights.... February was full of laughs and more sleepless nights... March saw us get the babies official birth certificates and passports and plane tickets to the States.... April was full of travel back to America and finished up with a trip back to Illinois to see family... May was all fun and lots of splashing in rain puddles... June saw us taking two trips out to Virginia and visit to Washington, DC... ...

Today was the last day to enjoy being with our cousins as they fly out tomorrow morning early.  They came over this morning for some play time together.  They all played so nicely together! Oldest Sam to Youngest Jacob... the twins were sleeping ;) The boys set up their troops in one room while the other kids set up their troops in another area.  Then they would attack each other and just laugh and laugh! We have enjoyed these days with Joe, Jennifer, Michael, and Catherine.  The kids have enjoyed having their cousins around to play with and we have enjoyed visiting with Jennifer and Joe.

Today was full of "catch up" for me... laundry, dishes, taking Christmas decor partly down, tutoring for the boys, some English learning... stuff like that.  One days like today when Hap is gone for dinner, it is nice to have helpers with the twins!! They are all so eager to help and I am so thankful!

I have been SO bad about taking pictures over the last few days but wanted to share a few quick pics of the day before we head to bed. Sam spent the night with Michael and Catherine (oh, and their parent's too!) and was able to do some touring with them this morning.  The first stop was an early morning visit to the Temple Mount.  Jennifer said it was really quite and they were able to take their time.  Here the kids are in front of the Dome of the Rock. Then, they went to the total opposite side of the city and the total opposite tourist stop, the Garden Tomb. I picked them up late morning and we spent the day playing, eating, and visiting.  Hap had to work, so unfortunately he wasn't around for much of the day, but it was a great day.  Sam and Michael played outside much of the time and had a blast doing Revolutionary War stuff while Catherine and Andrew played nicely together inside.  Jacob was not left out, he played inside with Andrew an...

Today Sam and I headed to the Old City of Jerusalem to do a little touring with Joe, Jennifer, Michael, and Catherine.  The boys did not waste anytime being boys and climbing on the ruins! My favourite church! Jennifer found a great location on top of the Austrian Hospice that had amazing view of the Old City. If you come again, I will bring you to see it. ;) Fun to be with Jennifer and her family for these few days. The kids were troopers today walking to all of the sites and up lots of hills. Inside the Hospice.  It is now a guest house and absolutely beautiful. The chapel was decorated for Christmas. The boys walked through the Old City arm and arm.  It is really fun to see them together.  They haven't spent much time together throughout their lives but have become good friends over the last few days.  They were born 4 days apart. And Miss Catherine is such a sweet girl and tags along with the boys ...

Today we hosted a very special Christmas party for Hap's students.  Abram had to wear his Christmas best today!  He is still very congested and not feeling like his smiley self but looked so handsome. We talked about American culture and what people typically do around and on Christmas.  One thing we did was decorate sugar cookies and enjoy hot chocolate.  The cookies and hot chocolate were a hit with the students and with our boys ;)  We also talked about holidays in general and then talked through the birth of Christ. Santa even made an appearance haha!! Abigail was loved ALOT and was happy to be passed around until Santa tried to hold her and then she was basically done with the party! I tried to get a picture of Abigail in her beautiful Christmas dress but, as you can tell, she isn't feeling completely better either!  I will have to get another picture of the twins once this cold passes. It was a fun, special day!

We have had such a wonderful Christmas day!  We started the day off with a big breakfast and much anticipation to open the stockings! Happy Boys. 4 of the 5 kids are on antibiotics but seem to be feeling better today!!   These sweet kids make Christmas SO merry! And the opening starts up.  I love how excited they were and how happy they were for their brothers to open up their gifts. All their stockings included electronic toothbrushes, new snow gloves from Salem friends, pencils, Pez dispensers, candy, and bubble tape.  Then along with that they received some individual different toys and goodies. Sam received a book called "What if you lived during the Revolutionary War" from Gramps and Granny. Jacob and Andrew received Lego sets from friends in Salem. Sam received an individual memory game. Sam's big gift was a new phone.  It is NOT a smart phone but he is excited.  My old phone, which turned into his phone...