My friend, Adeline

Today my friend, Adeline, came over and we played. We looked at each other and tried to touch each others shirt or face. Our parents were so excited when we held hands!


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sorry it's a little blurry for some reason

What a day!

Well this morning we got up and went to Bebek again for a run, walk and Starbuck's. After this we went home and Billy called a friend. He said he was going to see the air show that was at 2pm. So we thought that would be fun so we cleaned up and headed out again. The traffic getting there was horrible! We sat in traffic a long long time and then couldn't find a place to park. Well we found our friends but there was no place to park so we just kept driving. By the time we could have parked we had passed up our friends and it would have taken about 20 min at least to get back to them so we just decided not to go to the air show. People were everywhere! So we just drove not knowing where we were at. Billy asked me at one point -"do you know where we're are?" I said no, do you? "oh yeah I've been here once." and then five minutes later he said "I have no idea where we're at." He lied. It was funny, we just laughed. Finally we came to a road we recognized and got on it. That led us toward Asia so we decided to go to one of our favorite restaurants - Leonardo's. This place has pork, that's why we like it so much! Although they tried to pass off their sucuk for pork sausage and let me tell you it is not the same thing. That was disappointing but the rest was really good. Then after an early dinner we decided to stop by IKEA and bought a couple of pilllows. Then we came home. It was quite a day but we had a great time wandering from place to place!

Here are a few pictures of things we saw today...

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On the way to the air show we saw 2 guys wearing paper hats

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Driving across the bridge to the Asian side of Istanbul


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Turkish flag


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Blue eyed baby...what a cutie!


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Leonardo's, they have a lovely garden

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A man on the side of the road with his scales...just waiting for someone to come by and pay him to get weighed! Sounds like something at the county fair.

Summers on the Balcony

In the summer one of my favorite things to do is have dinner on our balcony. It is so nice. We have a great view of the city and the sea to enjoy. We eat much earlier than Turks but they love to do it as well. They will normally come out on their balconies around 8 or 9pm and have dinner and talk. They sit and drink tea for quite a long time. While sitting out there I like to look and see who else is out, which kids are playing on the street, who has the prettiest flowers and sometimes if they have their curtains open I like to look inside! But that rarely happens. or I wonder what it is like inside their apartment just as they wonder what's inside mine! Anyway, since we don't have a big yard or porch to sit on our little balcony will do just fine. We are thankful and blessed to have it!


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not on the balcony but just a cute picture of Bailey!

My Daddy is so funny!

He's so funny he makes me laugh!

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English or Turkish?

I was just laying on the couch trying to study because I have to learn Turkish!
(and yes mother Billy is right next to her so she doesn't fall off!)


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Yummy yummy yummy in my tummy tummy tummy

When Bailey turned 4 months old we started her on rice cereal. Well we tried to start it. She didn't exactly take to it. Every time I would put the spoon in her mouth she would stick her tongue out and all the cereal would come out with it. So it would be all over her chin. It made for a good laugh but wasn't fun to clean up! After a couple of weeks I am proud to say she has learned to eat it. We are so excited! It's fun to see her learn these new things. The next purhase will be a high chair. We'll let you know when we get it.


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first feeding - Bailey was like "what is this stuff your putting in my mouth!" then she just got mad that I kept putting it in there!


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second feeding - you can see she puts her hands in front of her face so I can't get the spoon in!


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today's feeding - as you can see she is doing much better. She is using that tongue trying to do something with that food!

Morning in Bebek

This morning we went to Bebek. Bebek is a place along the Bosphorus. It has several cafe's and you can walk along the water. It is a nice place to hang out. We dropped Billy off and he ran 6km (way to go Daddy!) to Bebek while Bailey and I drove down to Bebek, walked around, went to Starbuck's and waited on him to arrive. We enjoyed the morning and will be doing it again!

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Bailey by the water


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Having coffee and a bottle at Starbuck's


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Look closely this boat has an American flag on it


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Our view from Starbuck's

Play Time

As you can see Bailey loves to play!


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often the ends of Bailey's socks are wet because she chews on them!


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Bailey decided she would turn over

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Sunday Lunch

On Sunday we broke out of our normal Sunday routine to do something different. Almost every Sunday we go to the mall and have the Chinese buffet but this past Sunday we did something different. We went to an off the beat Turkish place. From church it took us around 20-25 minutes to walk there. The place is called Canim Cigerim. Canim (pronounced john-um) means my life. Cigerim means my liver. This place only serves three things - liver, beef and chicken. But since the bird flu they only serve liver and beef. Anyway, they cook small pieces of meat on skwers and bring 10 of those out for each person to eat on small pieces of flat bread. Then you can put grilled onions, tomatoes, peppers and various other toppings on it as well. Some people compare it to eating a fajita. And the place is also unique because you sit at these little tables on little stools. It almost looks like a restaurant for kids. It is one of Billy's and my favorite places to eat. So if you come to Turkey we will take you there!


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The street we walked down to get to the restaurant


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Far right you can see Bailey in her stroller


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yep they bring the meat to the table on the skwers!

Friendly Demonstration

On our way to lunch on Sunday we walked upon a friendly demonstration in Taksim. The demonstration was about America and Israel but the details I'm not sure about. Anyway there were about 75-100 people walking down the street waving flags and chanting something. They passed without any alarm or concern. But I took a picture so everyone could see.


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Shopping Again!

Today we all went to the Grand Bazaar with some friends. We had a great time. As you can see Bailey enjoyed herself when our friend Ilhan was talking to her. I took a few pictures so some of you all could see what the Grand Bazaar looks like. Remember there are 3000+ shops in this place! Even I get tired thinking of all that shopping!


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Ilhan and Bailey


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Look closely and you can see a small evil eye pinned on Bailey's dress. A worker at the bazaar thought she needed one. They pin them on all kids to ward off evil. We took it off as soon as we turned the corner and he was out of sight. We don't need a pin to keep evil away. We have something better.

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Ever have a bad hair day?

Bailey has those days alot! Just take a look. She has wings! That would have been fashionable in the 80's but not anymore.



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Take a Look

As you can see Bailey is very active. The pictures below tell it all...

When I sat Bailey in her seat I leaned her back but when I came back in the room she was tired of leaning back and decided to lean forward. She is very strong as you can see. And so for the next few minutes she would lean back then lean forward and on and on. She is so funny!

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Bailey playing with her little feet. Why is it ok when we are babies to put our feet in our mouth?

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Bailey loved the pool

Today Bailey and I went to a friends house to swim. She loved it. At first she wasn't sure about it and started to cry because it was cold but once I got her in it she really liked it. Then later she took a nap by the pool. We had fun and are thankful we have friends who live in apartments with pools!


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Bailey in a float we found at the pool


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My friend Allyson swam with me today. She said I was a natural.


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Laying by the pool. check out my cool sandals!


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Shoe Sale

This story was in my home town newspaper. Not sure why they had a story on Turkey but it was a pretty funny one. I promise we will stay away from shoe sells! But we could see the same thing in America at WalMart at the after Thanksgiving sale!

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Chaos broke out at a shoe sale in Turkey this week, and one person got shot in the foot, a news agency reported.

The incident Friday occurred in Karabuk, a city about 125 miles north of Ankara, after people overloaded a two-story retailer that was selling pairs of shoes for as little as $6, the state-owned Anatolia news agency reported.

When customers rebelled against orders to close the store because of overcrowding and started to fight with one another and with salespeople, a store employee shot his gun into the air, Anatolia said. The bullet struck the foot of a customer, who was taken to a hospital, while the shooter was taken into police custody, the agency reported.

Shooting guns into the air is a not-uncommon method for dealing with emotional situations in Turkey, including weddings, soccer games, demonstrations and deals on shoes that are almost too good to be true.

4 months old

Well today Bailey is 4 months old. We went to the doctor yesterday for her check up. She weighs 14lbs. 2oz. and is 25 inches long. She had two shots one in each leg. The first shot was ok but the second shot was too much for her. She lost it. Mommy had to hold her tight and stick the pacifier in her mouth then life was much better. We are thankful she is healthy!

The first picture below is a how I left Bailey after she ate. I laid her down so she could kick the toy hanging above her. I went to the kitchen for about 10 minutes and when I came back the second picture is how I found her and the toy! You would think someone had come in and moved both of them but no Bailey some how kicked it herself. I guess she was tired of playing!


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A little help please?

Bailey knows the pacifier goes in her mouth, she is just having trouble doing it herself. As you can see she missed but she keeps trying!


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Happy Fourth of July!

Today we celebrated by going to our annual party at a pool outside the city. We have done this for the past 4 years. This year the weather was ok. It was too cool to swim which was a bummer. And it was very windy. As you can see from the pictures Bailey stayed bundled up most of the day. Anyway we hope everyone has a wonderufl July 4th!


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Bailey was very patriotic in her Old Navy flag shirt


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Adeline...I just love it when she scrunches up her little nose!


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Landon...poor thing he was surrounded by girls today!


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The ride home...think she was sucking on that pacifier or what?

Here Comes the Bride

Yesterday was the wedding of our friends Burcin and Husnu. Weddings in Turkey are much different than they are in the States. They do not have bridesmaids or groomsmen. Nor do they have a ceremony like we think of. They do have a small ceremony which you will see below. As you can see they do have a traditional dress like we do. One thing I didn't get pictures of is the dancing. We were not able to stay late because of Bailey. But imagine a big circle of people dancing for two, three, or four hours! They don't dance like we do but literally in a circle holding hands and doing a few small leg movements. It's fun to do. After the wedding the happy couple are going on their honeymoon to Bodrum, Turkey. It is a nice beach in the south. The wedding was fun and we are very happy for Burcin and Husnu! We pray their marriage will be blessed by our Father who loves them with all His heart!

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This is the wedding ceremony...the bride and groom sit during the ceremony. They ask both of them their names and their father's names. Then they ask them if they want to be married to the other. And then say alot of other stuff that we didn't understand.


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check out all the gold and money


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The bride's mom and sister


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the wedding salon

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the bride's niece


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the wedding cake


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The car they are leaving in...I just love the way they put flowers on the car...it's much better than shaving cream and tin cans tied to the back!