The Jolliff Family

Last night, we gave the kids their yearly ornaments.  They look forward to this every year and it's a fun tradition that we have kept since Sam was a baby.  We try to chose a unique ornament to symbolize the year or something special that happened to the kid through the past year.  This year the ornaments are.... Jacob: meatball sandwich.   Jacob loves meatballs and requests them often.  He had them for his birthday and wants me to make them again this Christmas. Abram: hot sauce. We call Abram our "hot sauce king".  This kid loves spicy things, whether it be salsa, hot peppers or even hot sauce- he loves it all! Abigail: beach bag. She is our little beach girl.  She loves the beach and was so brave this year in the huge waves.  She is always asking about when we can go back to the beach! Andrew: jellyfish. Andrew got a kick out of his ornament but we bought it for him because he was stung pretty badly by a jellyfish on one of our beach trips. ...

 We are playing tourists these days and really enjoying the history of the country, without the busy-ness of tourists being around!!  We went to the City of David on Sunday and had a blast.  The City of David dates back to after King David left Hebron and established himself in Jerusalem, the unified capital of Judah.  Some years later, King Solomon built the First Temple next to the City of David (Jerusalem) on Mount Moriah (present day Temple Mount).   There are archeological findings at the City of David that span from the 1st and 2nd Temple periods.  We went down many steps to the Gihon Springs and entered Hezekiah's Tunnel.  Hezekiah's Tunnel was built by King Hezekiah to protect the water supply to the city around 701 BC.  The tunnel is 1750 feet long and the water still flows through.  It definitely got up to my knees at one point and we all were wet.  At some points in the tunnel, we had to bend over so we wouldn't hit our heads ...

We had the most beautiful sunset Saturday night and then we enjoyed a fun evening at Manger Square watching the Christmas tree lighting.  It was very festive and full of people as last year they didn't open it for the general public.  While the speeches lasted a long time, the fireworks display was worth the wait.  Hope you can enjoy the video at the end!  

We started off the month of December with a trip to the Church of Nativity.  No better place to kick off the Christmas season than in Bethlehem, at the traditional place of Christ's birth. We came home from the rainy afternoon and the kids opened up their new winter pajamas! Some friends who visited today brought us yummy Hanukah donuts to enjoy, and we did!

 "Fake Glasses.  Fake Headset.  Fake Computer.  Real Life with a 6-year-old girl!" "Joy.  Joy.  Joy." As we wrap up November and walk into December, I am filled with gratitude and know I'll never get over the goodness of the Lord in our lives.

 "Summer Outside, Winter Inside"

 "A Walk Down Ornament-Memory Lane"