Gormans, Gormans, and more Gormans

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We have had a very Gorman holiday season this year.  Almost all Gormans were present for Christmas and New Year's.  We all missed Sean very much but were excited to have Bart, Judy, Bart #2, Donna, Seamus, Aidan, Kyra, Ainsley, Brian, myself, Julia and Thomas.  Bart and Judy flew in from NY to Amman and the Amman Gormans brought them over the border to Jerusalem a week before Christmas.  All 12 of us went and toured Bethlehem and Shepherd's field.  We occupied the last few rows of a bus from the consulate and had an awesome tour with Habib.  All 6 kids behaved pretty well.  We waited in line to get to the birth place of Christ in the Church of the Nativity.  There were a lot of people but with some patience, we all got to see and touch the supposed spot.  Julia was with me and I told her the importance but I'm sure she didn't really understand the significance.  For me, the significance of the locations doesn't always sink in unless I really think about it.  I love having a picture of what we think happened.  For example, Christ wasn't born in a stable like we picture but probably a cave.  I also had the impression that the shepherds had to travel a ways but Shepherd's Field where the shepherds supposedly saw the star is only about a half mile from the Church of the Nativity.  I pictured them following the star for a while but apparently they didn't.  We also went to the Milk Grotto where Mary nursed Jesus and some of her milk spilled.  Apparently, if you drink something made from powder from the grotto, you may conceive if you have had trouble with fertility.  I thought Donna - after having 4 kids - should probably not even enter the grotto.  You never know what could happen if some of the powder rubbed on her.

The whole Gorman clan went to church for the 4th Sunday of Advent at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old City on Sunday.  Julia was excited to introduce Pastor Fred and Gloria to Nana and Pop.  She also had a chance to light one of the 4 advent candles that morning which was so exciting.  The Amman Gormans went back to Amman and Nana and Pop stayed with us for the week.  It was great - more updates are coming!

Catching Up

Wow.  It has been over a month since I blogged and we've done a lot of stuff.  The last thing I blogged about was Halloween and since then, we've done more traveling around Israel and had a few holidays.  So here is my attempt at catching up.  I'm going to try a blog more frequently so check back in a few days for more updates.

Thanksgiving was great!  We spent it with Jen and Ben, our great friends in Tel Aviv, who had a party of 16 people that night and we left  - or at least started to leave - around 2:30.  The traffic was horrible!  Apparently everyone leaves Jerusalem on Thursdays before their weekend which starts essentially on Friday mid-day and it took an hour just to get out the city.  When we finally got there, Julia turned on her charm with all the guests and took care of herself for most of the night.  When we sat down to eat, she sat at a different table next to Matt the Marine who helped her with her dinner, etc.  Thomas did a good job at trying to break everything possible at his level and tried multiple times to stick his entire hand in the cheese dip on the coffee table.  Brian took on the job of following him around and keeping him out of trouble which made my night great but his night until Thomas fell asleep not very relaxing.  Our dinner was a traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey, cranberries, pecan pie, etc.  It was fabulous and I ate too much as usual and was stuffed.  We were invited to a second Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday night and this time got a babysitter.   Again we stuffed ourselves to the brim and had a great relaxing time.

Brian's birthday was the next weekend.  On Saturday, we jumped in the car and drove up to Hula Valley.  Hula Lake Park is a stopover for migrating birds going from Europe to Africa and back.  They come twice a year and blanket the area.  Jen and Ben joined us there and then had an early birthday dinner celebration at a restaurant in the area.  Here are awesome pictures that Jen took that day.

Odds and Ends

SADLY, I WROTE THIS A MONTH AGO AND NEVER PUBLISHED IT.  BETTER LATE THAT NEVER.......

This past 3 day weekend, the Gormans got out of town - at least for part of it.  Friday was Veteran's Day and so Brian was off work.  We went to Julia's swim lesson with her preschool in the morning and then took off for Ein Gedi after lunch.  The park is a little over an hour away.  You have to drive into the West Bank and then south along the Dead Sea.  You get back into green-line Israel and then get to the national park.  We got started later than we expected and didn't get there until a little before 3.  Unfortunately,  Julia fell asleep about 5 minutes before we got there.   Awesome.  I knew the hike to the first waterfall was about an hour round trip so I wasn't too worried about getting there in the later afternoon but I didn't realize that they closed the entrance at 3.  Since we got there slightly before 3 it wouldn't have been a problem, except that when I got out of the car to get Thomas from his car seat, I found him covered in .... poop.  It was everywhere - car seat, clothes, hands, face, etc.  It took me a while to get him cleaned up and I left Julia sleeping for another 10 minutes or so.  When we finally got to the entrance, the woman told me it was closed so what did I do?  I begged.  I wasn't proud of it, but after the drive, the poop, and waking up Julia, I didn't want to get back into the car and drive home.  Luckily, it didn't take much begging to get her to let us in the park since we were about 5 minutes late.  We had to promise to be back by closing - a promise we kept and even had some time to spare.  The hike was quick but so fun and we will definitely be back to spend some more time.  The ibex and hyrax were all over the place.  We had to keep Julia from trying to run up and pet them.  The waterfalls were beautiful and we'll be back to swim in the natural pools when it is warmer.

Saturday was a quiet day - we took a nice walk with Bob the dog and enjoyed the nice fall-like weather.  We had some friends over for dinner and Julia was so excited!  I think she just collapsed after they left from playing so much with their kids.

Sunday, we skipped church and drove up to the Sea of Galilee.  We stopped off and had lunch in Tiberias on the water and then we continued on to Capernaum.  I tried to explain the historic significance to Julia - this is where St. Peter lived and Jesus came to visit here, etc.  I should have been prepared but I wasn't ready for the whole list of questions:

"I don't see Jesus.  Where is he?"
          "He's was here a long time ago."

"Where is he now?"     Uh oh.... here we go.....
          "He's in Heaven."

"I want to go to Heaven."
          "We'll go but it won't be for a very long time."

"Where's Heaven?"     Oh Boy.....
          "With God"       Now I'm looking at Brian for help.......

"How do you get there?"
          "God lifts you up to be with him."  I am definitely avoiding the whole death/dying topic for now.



Thank God that was then end.  How'd I do?   For a 3 year old, I think the answers were ok and she didn't ask for anymore explanation.

We also made it to the Mount of Beatitudes which overlooks the Sea of Galilee and then headed home.
Before we left, we stopped for a treat.  Julia got ice cream and Brian and I both got a drink of fresh OJ.  Thomas grabbed an orange from the counter that he immediately put in his month - peel and all so that was his treat.  He is beginning to communicate more and show that he understands more.  He now wants whatever Julia has and so the orange wasn't sufficient and he wanted her ice cream the whole time she was eating it.

Ok.  I am procrastinating from studying Hebrew - and I have a test to hand into my teacher.  It's time to hit the books while Thomas is napping.

Halloween

I miss the fall in DC quite a bit.  I love everything about fall - the smell, the cool air after a hot summer, the colors of all the trees as they change and I love Halloween on Capitol Hill.  For those who don't live there, we have "Hilloween" which is a great big party for families next to Eastern Market.  Everyone gets dressed up and it is a blast.  It's usually a few days before Halloween so everyone can dress up twice - once for Hilloween and then again on the real thing - Halloween.

Julia has been obsessed with Cinderella so that's what I thought she'd like to be for Halloween.  When I told her that her friend Ainsley back in DC was going to be Snow White, she immediately said "I want to be Snow White too!"  Too bad - Cinderella was already on her way.  Apparently, Ainsley did the same thing.  Maybe next year, we'll just swap costumes if they still fit.  Clearly Tommy didn't care what he was so my rationale in picking something was to pick something that was clearly identifiable in pictures - a tiger.  Unfortunately, the tiger costume arrived 2 days too late so we borrowed a costume and Thomas was once again, a chicken. 

Some friends of ours live in Tel Aviv and they invited us up to the Halloween festivities there.  It is a much bigger post and they do "trunk or treat" in conjunction with the American International School.  After inviting the whole school, and all the families from the embassy (expats and foreign nationals) there were 800 official Halloween bags sold.  The money from the Halloween bags goes towards all the candy that was purchased to hand out - over $7000!!  "Trunk or treat" was done in a neighborhood just north of Tel Aviv where a lot of families live.  They chose a street and had cars parked and decorated for maybe half a mile.  Brian and our friend, Ben, stayed at the car and handed out candy while Julia, Jen, Thomas and I went "trunk or treating".  Thomas never actually put his chicken costume on since he fell asleep pretty quickly.  Julia did a good job at walking the whole time.  When we finally got back into the car to go back to Jen and Ben's place for pizza - she was asleep in 5 minutes.

Julia, Ben, Me and Brian in front of the bat car for "trunk or treat"

Julia and Jen

Ben and Julia

On Halloween, the consulate had a big party.  There was a costume contest, trick or treating in one of the buildings, carnival games and even a haunted house.  We chose not to do the haunted house and just stuck with everything else.  We all had a great time.  Thomas finally got a chance to wear his borrowed costume. Last year, our friend who wore it won cutest costume.  I thought maybe we had a chance but he was beaten out by a baby dressed as Spock.  Maybe next year.

Julia with her friends, Ingrid and Elliot

Happy Halloween!

Daddy's Back!

Brian got back home last night.   Yeah!  Julia insisted that he come and give her a kiss when he got it, which he did.  She woke up briefly but fell back to sleep quickly.  So what did we do while he was gone?

Last Thursday, we went to the zoo after Thomas woke up from his morning nap.  We met our friend Sara and her two kids there but we got there later than expected.  We ate our picnic lunch as soon as we got there and then went to the aquarium.  At some point after that, Julia had an accident in the stroller.  I was prepared for that.  I should always have something but I was so hurried that morning to meet Sara, that I didn't think about it.  I had an extra pair of "big girl panties" but no pants.  So....... we went Israeli style.  Julia played in her shirt and underwear for the rest of the trip.  I tried to keep her in the stroller for most of the trip but when we got to the super duper big playground, it was a lost cause.  I call it "Israeli style" because I find that Israelis are very relaxed about kids.  I never ask if a restaurant is "kid-friendly" because they all are.  It is not uncommon for kids to go potty at the park off in the corner.  You see it everywhere.  I still prefer to try and find a bathroom for Julia but when we are stuck and there's no place else to go, a patch of grass (or dirt) works for us.  I was uncomfortable with Julia running around without any pants on but Sara told me to go ahead and that no one would care.  She was right.  No one seemed to care at all and I finally relaxed about it.

Sunday, was the olive harvest on the Mount of Olives.  The Lutheran World Federation has an olive grove and the olives are eventually pressed for olive oil.  The proceeds go to Augusta Victoria Hospital which is also on the Mount of Olives.  I heard the money goes to help treat Palestinian pediatric oncology patients.  Bob had a vet appointment so Julia went with our friends after church and I met them up at the olive harvest after dropping off Bob and letting Tommy nap a little bit.  It is very dusty and Julia was covered in dirt.  She like to sit in the dirt as if it were sand and make a "house".  She got hit on the head with a few falling olives (see pic below) but had fun anyway.

Ok.  It's time a study a little Hebrew.  I tend to study only before class but now things are really starting to pile up and I'm not learning all the vocab as quickly as I need to.  I need to be better.

Bye!

Random thoughts

Brian leaves today for a week trip to Atlanta.  I'm sorry that I'm missing such a fun wedding!  Congratulations Josh and Colleen!  The trip would be too much for all 4 Gormans although it would be so fun to see Nana and Pop!  We will survive without Dad for the week that he is gone.  I'll be holding down the fort with the help of Armi who will come and give me a break from the kids a few times this week.

Someone told me about the Jerusalem Expat Network or JEN for short.  They meet monthly and then have different smaller groups that get together for different things.  There is a lunch group that tries different restaurants, a book group, a majong group, a bridge group, a toddler playgroup, etc.  I just missed the October meeting so I'll show up for the November meeting and see if I can get involved in a few groups.

Julia has a break from school because of Sukkot for 3 days.  I'm planning a visit to the zoo, ice cream making, and a few play dates with  friends.   We also have soccer practice again this Friday and our coach is going to miss it!  Luckily another dad is willing to pitch in and takeover this week.   I'm also going to work with my neighbor tomorrow to see how his obgyn office runs and hopefully there is a chance to start working with him in the near future.  I'm getting all my papers in order in hopes that something part time will come through.  I'll let you know!

That's it for now.  Keep in touch!

Amman and Petra

Last weekend, Uncle Sean was visiting the Amman Gormans so the Jerusalem Gormans tried their first border crossing.  Although there was some concern before going about visas, etc, we got across without any difficulty and Uncle Bart was waiting there to show us back to Amman.  The drive to the border crossing is about 40 minutes and to cross the border after stopping here and there and getting this stamped and that stamped, took about 40 minutes on the Israeli side and then 20 minutes on the Jordanian side.  The drive to Amman was about 45 minutes.  In all, it took probably 3 hours to get to Bart and Donna's house but if we were able to do it without stopping so much it probably would take about 1 1/2 hours.  We stayed with Bart and Donna and the rest of the Amman clan and so did Uncle Sean.  They have a huge house!  Amazingly, with 5 adults and 6 kids, we didn't kill each other.  Sure - there were a few war wounds in the end but all children survived and more importantly, so did I.  We spent Friday and Sunday afternoon at the embassy pool.  There is a nice playground there and a great snack bar where the kids can find anything they want to eat.  Julia had a blast in the pool with her dad and uncles.

On Saturday, we all got up and got in the car to drive to Petra.  It's about a 2 1/2 -3 hour car ride from Amman.  Once there, you walk a little ways until you get to the canyons where red rock cliffs rise above you.  It was warm outside but cool for a lot of the walk while we were in the shadows of the cliffs.  Here are a few pictures but none of them can do it justice.  There are a lot more pictures at www.dropshots.com/julialivgorman  When you come to visit us, please consider allowing extra time for a side trip to Petra.  If you come as far as Jerusalem, it would be a shame to miss this amazing place.

I hope these pictures entice you to come visit!  Email me anytime - reservations are open at Hotel Gorman in Jerusalem.