The Jolliff Family

The twins wanted to pick the wild flowers before the yard was plowed by the mule.  Spring is my all time favorite season in the Middle East.  Wild flowers are blooming everywhere, the almond trees are full of lovely white flowers, and the air is warmer.  It also means you survived the cold winter in your house and that's worth celebrating!! Our turtles are also enjoying the warmer days to get some sunshine.  We even spotted our baby turtle that hatched last fall from an egg.  That was a fun surprise.  

Earlier in the week, the three older boys and I explored the Old city of Jerusalem while Hap attended to some business close by.  It's always a treat to wander through the city streets and it's especially nice before the tourists come back. Church of the Holy Sepulchre Literally and figuratively, many people have come before us and many people will come behind us.  These stairs are a reminder to me of that truth. Then we went to the Garden Tomb We finished our morning buying some goodies and it was a great ending to the morning!  

We did the Rampart's Walk a few weekends ago and really enjoyed getting an up high view of Jerusalem.  The walls are from the Ottoman era and built around the 1530s.  It's pretty amazing to be able to walk on them and to think of all the people and history that has taken place on and around those walls.  It was a fun outing!