A day with Yazan

Jerid's friend from the states set us up with her friend Yazan to tour the city. He met us at the amphitheater at the city center to start the day off with not only a great view of the city but also a great workout! When we first got to the amphitheater I realized it was a lot bigger than I had previously thought. I had already decided that I was not about to climb the stairs to the top when I looked up and saw that Jerid and Yazan were already 10 sets up... so I got hopping with my tight jeans and all. These stairs were by no means little either, it took quite large steps to get up them. We took our time at the top with a few photo ops, then headed down to the two museums on the sides of the theater. Here are a few shots of the day.













Looking down from the large theater to the small theater.





Inside one of the museums.





A mock up of the traditional summer attire for the women of Jordan.





Jerid sitting in a window inside the small theater.






Heading into The Martyr King's Mosque... I had to wear a full black robe thing. So hot and stinky.





Jerid and Yazan inside the Men's mosque.





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Location:Amman, Jordan

The Citadel

We've had a bit of extra time during the last week to do a some site seeing. I don't think this will be the case during the next two months because I'm sure Jerid's internship duties will pick up. This last week he spent about an hour or two a day at a shelter for battered boys. He loved the time he had with them to play and try to jib jab in arabic, but they're in the middle of their finals at school so they couldn't use Jerid as much as they thought. He started his new "rotation" at the ministry building today and I'm sure he'll be putting in a good 6-8 hours a day now. Hopefully he'll be able to go back to the shelter once school gets out and they have more time away from studies.
On Wednesday we went to the Citadel. It was one of Rome's fortresses along with their temple of Hurcules. I'm sure I'm going to be saying this a lot in the next few months, but there is nothing like walking on the paths and streets of a people that lived thousands of years ago. To try to image what the buildings looked like when they were brand new and bustling with people... it's fascinating. There was a cave in particular that amazed me. I don't have a picture of it, but it was used for the burial of people around 3500 BC, then thousands of years later the Romans started pulling limestone out of the cave around the tombs to build their temple. Walking into the cave was something else. I really just wanted to know what those people looked like and what their lives were like.
Here are a few pictures...
The Temple of Hercules.




















Dead sea scrolls...

Location:Amman, Jordan

Part Four - Home Sweet Home

We flew the last leg of our flight on the Royal Jordanian airline. Good Choice, Jenny! What a great little airline. It was a two hour flight that included news papers, hot hand towels and delicious halal meals served by great flight attendants, it put United to shame, let me tell you! We don't even do pretzels anymore on flights under 3 or 4 hours. There was a young woman sitting across from me who literally stared at me the entire flight. I started to think that maybe I had buggers all over my face or something, it was beyond me. She was this pretty little arab with some serious bling happening. Anyway, I thought that was a little weird. Maybe I did have something all over my face and Jerid didn't want to tell me.

The branch president from Amman picked us up from the airport. Jerid spotted a man holding a white sign with "HENSLEY" on the front. I was hoping the church decided to send a limo driver for us, but nope, it was President Hoffman himself. Immediately we loved Amman. The weather was cool with a nice breeze and there were picnickers lining the highways under the trees with their children running around playing together. The president gave us a quick 40 minute run down of the history of the country as we drove the scenic route around the city and through the Palestinian refugee camps. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of these sights yet, but I'll be sure to start taking more pictures of Amman in the coming weeks.

President Hoffman dropped us off at the LDS Cultural Center where the Missionaries live. The building was once the Swiss Embassy which is pretty cool. President and Sister Boyd have welcomed us warmly and we've been a part of the family ever since. We'll stay here until we find an apartment which we've been our searching for at least a few hours of every day.

Last night we took a trip to the Dead Sea for a real Jordanian BBQ. Ballal, who is married to a woman in our ward (Lori), cooked us up some lamb and beef shish-kabob's with eggplant and hummus. I've been having a bit of heartburn lately and so it absolutely killed me that I couldn't stuff myself to the quick just like everyone else. It was truly one of the best meals of my life! Jerid was in heaven too! He likes this food more than I do!

Looking across the Dead Sea you can see the ancient town of Jericho and after the sun sets you can see the lights of Jerusalem. You couldn't help but feel emotional standing and looking over a land that has been walked by so many prophets and even Christ himself. We have so many places to see in the next few months and if it gets any better than this, we're some of the luckiest people on the earth. We are truly blessed to have this opportunity.
























- Posted from iPad

Part Three - Kuwait

Jerid and I took the early flight from Sacramento to Washington DC where we had a two hour layover before jumping on the plane to Kuwait City. Luckily we made first class on the flight so we had the chance to get some well needed rest. I felt homesick for the first time as we were landing that day. I looked out my window and all I could see was dust and smog. There was no vegetation and I could literally see the waves of heat coming up off the earth, it was 107 degrees when we landed. Little did I know that Amman is NOT so barren and hot, but in that moment, I just wanted to be back in the states where I knew there would be at least shade and ice cold diet coke. Being homesick is not a feeling I've had very often in my life, so it didn't sit very well with me in that moment.

Jerid and I stayed the night in a hotel at the airport. We checked in and took a long nap. When we woke up it was after 10pm their time and we hadn't eaten so we ran downstairs to see what we could find. When we walked into the restaurant we asked the waiter if we could get some menus, but he told us that we had to come back later when dinner is being served. We were both a little lost. He then told us that the cook doesn't start cooking until 12:30am because that's when it is cool enough to cook. Crazy! So, we had some great dinner at 1:00am with a group of indian people heading to Sri Lanka the next morning all of whom smelled a little funny and starred at us a lot. That was just the beginning.

Jerid standing in from of Prince Abdulla of Kuwait and another prince.



- Posted from iPad

Location:Kuwait City, Kuwait

Part Two - Australia

Jerid and I have been married for a year and a half now but we really haven't had much time for traveling because Jerid has been finishing up school and I've been working at least two jobs to get us through. So, we decided to take a quick little jaunt to Australia to see Donny and his family before heading out to the Middle East for the summer. Even though we only had four days to work with and one major set back (a cancelled flight from Sydney to LA) it was well worth the extra jet lag! This was Jerids first international experience and what a place to go!

Business class on the way over! Booyaa! Great food and an extra great sleep on the completely lay flat seats!



Ferry ride from Circular Quay to Manley.















Don picked us up and took us the Bondi beach. One of the most beautiful and well set beached I've seen in Australia. It was a bit cold (it is winter in Australia) and very windy but gorgeous nonetheless.






We spent the night in Sydney at the Marriott downtown then headed out early for the long drive to the Gold Coast. It was a great drive with lots to see including our first wild kangaroos. Unfortunately the girls were asleep when we got home but in the morning we got to meet our sweet little niece Emmeline, the newest member of the Ward family. She is really beautiful and looks just like her Mom, Elise.




Next, we headed out the Wildlife reserve with the kids. Nope, that's not our baby...



Taylor got to pet the baby Kuala Bear.





Annie just wanted to give all the Roo's a cuddle. I think the Kangaroo's were so sick of eating that they were in a slight comatose state.












Ridiculously large crocodile!






End of Day 3 in Australia.

Location:Sydney, Gold Coast Australia

Our Journey Begins: Part One - Saying goodbye to family

Jerid's family came down for his graduation and spent the weekend with us at the Little America. We had a great time swimming, dining, going to Lagoon and just visiting and having fun. Here are a few pictures of the trip.













We went to Cedars of Lebanon for dinner after Jerid's graduation. We had some great dinner and some great belly dancers to entertain us!




























We drove our cars up to Fruitland and flew out the next morning for a stop at my parents house to say hello and goodbye to them. We snapped a quick shot before we were out the door to head to Australia.










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Oregon Coast

The first week of June, Jerid and I and his family took a great trip to the coast. The weather was aweful and I wished that I saw the sun a few more hours each day, but we enjoyed it all the same. Jerid and I were more than anxious to get off work and school and spend some time together. Unfortunately for Jerid, he spent a lot of time studying and taking tests while I relaxed and watched movies and played with the kids.

We took our little Millie for her first visit to the ocean, which she was scared to death of. I'm not sure if she was scared of the water or scared of the freezing cold temperature. I'm sure it was the cold, we were all goose-bumped out most of the time. Jerid burried her during her afternoon nap in the sun.... she was so sad when she woke and realized she couldn't move.... haha...... my husband's a trickster.
The second day we were there, Tim, Jerid's Dad, took us on a Salmon fishing trip that was awesome! We left at 4:25am to get to the ship in time to push off. Once out there, we were fighting these fish like it was the end of the world! I wish I would have taken some pictures of the bruises I had on my body the next day. We also saw whales, sea lions, and the boys saw a blue shark about 18 miles out. It was spectacular! So at the of the day, all in all, we brought home seven beautiful, huge fish to cook up.

This trip was much needed and much appreciated.... I can't wait to do it again next year, I'll cross my fingers.