Asian Creightons

Happy Birthday, Stazy!

2011-11-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

We can't believe it's already been 2 years since our little baby was born. She's not such a little baby anymore.

Ramazan

2011-10-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

Luke had the opportunity to go eat an Iftar (breaking the fast) meal with a friend and 10,000 other people in the area that is the site of the main attractions in the city.

Weird. No other way to describe this....

2011-08-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

So this is what is known as 'animasyon' in case anyone is wondering: an on-deck belly dancer. This one just happened to be a dude! Oddly enough, there was a rival boat not far from us, and they had one too. The FUNNY thing is that people seemed to be actually enjoying it... I guess we'll have to adjust our world-view a little more to understand this one...

Çeşme Vacation II

2011-08-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

Çeşme Vacation I

2011-08-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Busted

Gotta be like mom!

Back in Business

2011-08-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

After an overlong hiatus, we plan to get back to regular blogging. Obviously, there is a backlog, so for a while, it might not be exactly according to a normal timeline. C'est la vie...
Meanwhile, here's a sample from a quick vacation we had to the Agean coast.

Coloring Eggs

2011-04-27T00:16:00.000-07:00

It's fun to play with kids. It's fun to be a kid. Most of all, it's fun to be an adult with all its privileges and responsibilities and to be able to act like a kid.
We had a great time playing with Stazy. She had a great time being a kid. And Robyn, I, and our friend, Ajlan, had a great time acting like kids.

2 Years (and counting)

2011-04-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

We apologize for the online hiatus. It was somewhat unplanned. Turkey suspended the use of blogger.com for a time.
Meanwhile, we are excited to be celebrating 2 years in Turkey! Wow! We remember arriving in 2009 and looking at the beautiful tulips spread out along the highways and in planters around the city and gaining a great first impression of our new home.

2 years later, we still love spring! Winter can be long and dreary, but when the sun comes out, the memories start to fade and we look forward to summer. The strawberries are already out and getting cheaper by the day. Soon, we'll be feasting on peaches, watermelon, and ohhh ho ho, baby, the cherries! There is a perfect storm that comes in early May when pretty much all fruit not called grapes can be found and we make our Easter cornucopia of fructose-laden indulgences that are better than their candy counterparts.

Thanks for keeping up with us. We hope and pray to have many more "fruitful" years!

Christmas Morning Breakfast

2011-02-24T20:22:00.000-08:00

Natchitoches Riverbank

2011-02-24T20:12:00.000-08:00

Bobo & Grandy

Under the Bridge and Dreaming

Christmas Story in Lights

Horseback Adventure

2011-02-24T20:03:00.000-08:00

Robyn's parents' neighbors own horses that we can see almost every time we leave the house. They offered to let Stazy ride whenever she was available. We took advantage of the offer with outstanding results.

First meeting

Not working out yet...

That's better. Daddy makes it all right.

Good times!

Wow! Awesome!

Let's go again!

Stazy's Third First Birthday Party

2011-02-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

Das Keyk

Die Kinder

Das Extended Familie

Far Fig Newton

Did I do that?

Huff Family Christmas II

2011-02-24T19:21:00.000-08:00

Huff Family Christmas

2011-02-24T18:57:00.000-08:00

The tube

2010-12-17T19:45:00.001-08:00

Stazy's birthday present from her folks.

First Party II

2010-12-17T19:38:00.001-08:00

Chicken BBQ sandwiches, potato salad, and cupcakes

Stazy's First First Birthday Party

2010-12-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

We have lots of friends, so we decided to split up the fun and have 2 parties. Stazy really enjoyed her double fun, but next year we'll just have one BIG party.

Jam Session!

2010-12-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

Stazy decided to help me learn some new songs. We rocked it!
(at least the neighbors weren't beating on the walls later...)

Dolmabahçe Palace

2010-12-17T18:58:00.000-08:00

We visited Dolmabahçe Palace during Kurban Bayramı, one of the most important holidays of the Muslim (and Turkish) calendar. It turns out that it was free for nationals so the place was bursting at the seams. We went with Robyn's friend's family. It was fun, but if we go again...it will NOT be during a holiday. :)

Gurad who acts like the guys with the beaver hats in London.

Erdem, Kader, Robyn and Stazy

Gettin' Ready for Christmas

2010-12-17T18:36:00.000-08:00

A little fuzzy, but you get the picture.

Busted! (Ok, so she was allowed, but she still looks suspicious)

Village Life

2010-12-17T18:05:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few more sights from around Polonezköy. This is a small Polish village 30 minutes out of İstanbul. It is definitely out of the ordinary--in a good way.

Fun at the playground

2010-12-17T17:53:00.000-08:00

When we visited Polonezköy, Anastasia really enjoyed playing on their playground.

Costume Party!

2010-11-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

Tinker Bell and Captain Hook

Princess Tigerlily

Jason had a little too much to eat...

Laugh of the day

2010-11-20T07:12:00.000-08:00

This is written on a men's shampoo here. Notice the yellow section. (DIKKAT...)
Translation: Warning: From now on women will not leave you alone. Be ready.

Autumn has fallen

2010-11-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

These were taken just outside of the city. We don't always get the full view of fall in Istanbul, but it can be great just 20 minutes out of town!

Daddy's little Aggie

2010-11-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

Oddly enough, the only A&M game shown here was the Missouri game. We just wish that the Ags would have turned their game on earlier.

Yes, I did that!

Uh, Dad, you're ruining my shot...

Back to watching the game...

Tatlı Dağınlık

2010-11-18T12:36:00.000-08:00

I smile because I know I doed somethin' I weren't s'posed to.

We learned from Luke's tutor that Turks have a special term for baby messes. It basically translates to sweet mess. Whatever you call it, she loves to make it... And we live.

Is there a better book about seeing colored animals? I think not.

Only trouble can follow this look!

Stazy on the Scarves

2010-11-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

Tourists of every ethnicity and nationality were taking pictures so we figured we'd join in the fun.

Do Buddhist monks ever wear pink?

More zaics.

2010-11-18T12:22:00.000-08:00

Christ at Chora

Anastasis

2010-11-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

We have made an effort to see some of the sites around the city that we haven't visited yet. These mosaics are from the Church at Chora. Most notably is the mosaic, "Anastasis," which means the resurrection. It's where we got Stazy's name, so we made sure to include her in the photo op.

Copy Cat

2010-11-18T12:04:00.000-08:00

Stazy has recently showed us how she enjoys to mimic what we do. Even today as I was playing my guitar, she came and helped me play by strumming along with me. We didn't get it on film, but here is a shot from a month ago where she saw me wiping off her hand prints and she grabbed a cloth and joined in the cleaning. Now we just have to make sure that whatever we're doing is worth copying.

Fair Food

2010-10-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

Funnel Cake

Corn Pups

Nurettin, on the left, ate as many of these little corn dogs as we could make. I lost count, but it probably totaled at least 3 hot dogs, perhaps 4. I dubbed him the Corn Dog Monster. He didn't protest, but said that as long as there was ketchup he could eat it.

Off to the Races

2010-10-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

In the heat of the 3-legged race

To the victors go the spoils!

Every now and then we get the hankerin' to do something we did in the States. For the weekend of the OU-t.u. game, we thought about the Texas State Fair and the food that is there. We cooked some corn dogs, funnel cakes, and popcorn and threw in a 3-legged race just for fun. Unfortunately, my team had a blow out, so we didn't finish. No worries, though, it was a great day and great food.
I did notice that my body is not as much of a fan of fried food as it was in the States...

2nd Place

Stazy's favorite hold

Sinan and Luke...Luke apparently in mid-word

On your marks...Get set...

Camping Crazy

2010-10-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

Kneeling: Ajlan; Standing LtoR: Nate, Sinan, Luke

We made it out to the shore to camp one mild evening in late September. We had 3 Turks and 3 Americans. The wind was pretty strong and the air was crisp, but the water was still warm enough for a bit of body surfing. The bat cave was practically void of bats at night--we weren't surprised...just disappointed. Meanwhile, we had some great, deep conversations, good food, and no sleep.

Late Waves: LtoR--Jordan, Luke, Nate, Ali

Eerie lighting

Great fire...unfortunately there were no marshmallows

One of my campfire favorites: Thai Satay

In the cave: Jordan, Ajlan, Nate, Sinan

A bit of a breeze

2010-10-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

A few of us went for one last jaunt to the beach before the end of summer and we were greeted with high winds and waves. We were only able to catch a few waves before being chased out of the water by the lifeguards. No matter. We had a great time while it lasted.

Too much hair...

Wild waves.

Big, dead jellyfish

I'm a Mess!

2010-10-10T13:52:00.000-07:00

Stazy has a tendency to get into trouble these days. It's hard to be angry when she's soooo cute when she's doing it. Not too long ago she started unplugging the plug to our tv/entertainment center. When we chastised her, her face immediately changed into a frown of epic proportions. Ok, maybe that's an overstatement, but I had to look away because I had to laugh.

Most days she just wants to be with us and do what we're doing, so we're happy to play with her.

I'm a big kid, look what I can do!

Why is daddy playing MY guitar??

My popeye

Busted!

Might as well...

2010-10-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

Where're my sunglasses?

That's mine!

The sand doesn't taste as good as it looks.

Zonked out

Western view from our hotel

So here are a few extras that we figured we'd add. Enjoy.

Pool!

2010-10-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

Mommy kisses me...I eats da bear.

Fellow Vacationer from Iran--I'm smiling even if it doesn't look like it

MINE!

Daddy, can I have a pool?

Fun at the Beach--Antalya Edition

2010-10-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

We got a chance to take a break after a long summer of work. We took a trip down to the Mediterranean coast for a few days at the beach. The water was beautiful. The beach-goers were not. (European swimwear leaves much to be desired...) It was a great time of R&R so we were able to get started with language school just after we got back.

More to come

2010-10-04T09:50:00.001-07:00

Just to let everyone know, we haven't forgotten the blog. Just need to sit down and add some more. Stazy has started walking so now we just need to edit the video to be small enough, so that'll come soon.

Cute innoculations

2010-08-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

Need some? Here ya go!

Goodbyes

2010-08-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

We have several friends who went home this month. We'll miss them greatly!

Just Your Friendly Neighborhood Lifeguards

2010-07-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

Luke met a couple of the lifeguards at a beach he went to in June. They wanted to meet Stazy, and went wild for her when we brought her.

Turkish guys are as crazy about babies as much as Turkish girls are.

It was a relaxing day. Got to hang out with some good friends and have some great conversation, play in some calm waves, and watch Stazy enjoy the water.

Ağva (aava)

2010-07-25T09:03:00.000-07:00

New suit! Thanks, grandma! Lovin' it!

Evolution of a Smile

2010-07-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

Wait for it...

Sun Sets on Turkey

2010-07-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

We went to a beach which is a little over an hour and a half out of town the other day. It was a spur of the moment thing, so we ended up leaving later than we had hoped. However, we headed back just around sundown and managed to catch this beautiful sunset!

Casting Call

2010-07-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

Does anyone know if there are any ice cream bar companies looking for an ad baby?

I told Stazy she needed to lay off the ice cream and that she looked like she was getting a little chubby. She just laughed at me and said that first of all, I should never criticize a lady about her weight, and secondly, she assured me that it was all just baby fat. Touche...

Meanwhile, if you ever get the chance to try a Magnum bar, we highly recommend it. Robyn's favorite is the white chocolate (seen here), where as Luke's is the double chocolate (a chocolate ice cream bar dipped in chocolate, surrounded by more ice cream dipped in more chocolate... are you really worried about calories when you have that much chocolatelyness in your presence!?!)

Kitchen

2010-07-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

We thought we'd go with a southwest kind of color scheme for our kitchen, but when Robyn got the paint home, we found out it was more of a smiley face yellow than anything... Oh well. We are just trying to throw as much cobalt at it to tame it down. Meanwhile, it seems to be a happy color, so we'll stick with it.

Our View

2010-07-24T13:14:00.001-07:00

We now live on the 4th floor (which most Americans would reckon the 5th floor). We live across from a beautiful park and we can just see out over the trees.

The stadium is that of the local soccer team, Fenerbache. Fans can be fanatical about soccer (ahem, "football"), although perhaps they don't always make it to the point of ritualistic slaughter as in some South American countries.

Just before we moved, however, we were treated to the sound of angry mobs who roamed the streets after the team missed it's chance to be the league champions by only a half a point.

Next season, we think we might have to invest in some earplugs during match nights...

Our Salon/Dining Room

2010-07-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

We've been in our new apartment for nearly a month now. We have almost gotten completely settled, although there seem to be a few pesky boxes that won't go away.

Our salon is much larger than the one in our previous home. You may recognize most of the furniture/curtains, etc.; however, the recliner is new. (Dad's got to have his recliner!)

It's Hard to Be Humble When Everyone Loves Me

2010-07-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

I just can't get away! :)

I Luv My Daddy :)

2010-07-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

Summer Students, Summer Not

2010-07-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

Our summers will almost perpetually be spent hosting exchange students, but seeing as how they so often cook and clean up after themselves, keep 'em coming! The night they cooked for us, we had 9 girls visit in addition to the 4 American girls who cooked fried chicken, mac & cheese, peas, and apple pie!

The picture resembling seals laid out on a beach is from a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Stazy @ the Beach Part II

2010-07-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

We learned that going to the beach really means something completely different now that Stazy is crawling. Mostly it means sand... Sand in her hair, on her face, on her legs, armpits... everywhere! But we were glad to have the little pool to clean her off.

In other news, we enjoyed relaxing at the beach for the afternoon. Luke got to go jump off some rocks after climbing them and Robyn got to get a little sun.

Ahhh, life in the big city is more possible with the beach just an hour away!

Smiles on a Boat

2010-07-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

We often enjoy travelling inter-continentally by vapor--the ferry boats going between the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. It usually takes 20 minutes, so we're definitely happy that Stazy usually enjoys the ride.

Friday Prayers

2010-07-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

We missed the actual call to prayer, but we were walking by a mosque about a kilometer from our home just as they were finishing. We were able to snap a few shots before everyone completely dispersed, but you can tell that it was pretty busy that day.

Watermelon Outfit

2010-07-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

Stazy's grandmother, "Bobo Sue," made and sent her some dresses for summer. The watermelons have already been a hit.

New Home, Old Neighbors

2010-07-18T08:03:00.000-07:00

One reason we really didn't want to leave our old apartment was our wonderful neighbors. Their son, Husein Emir is 2 weeks younger than Stazy, so they have a good time. He's almost ready to crawl, so Stazy was giving him lessons. Lots of fun all around.

From our apartment

2010-07-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

Well, we've finally moved in, although we're not settled. We still have a few boxes with no home; as well as a few pieces of furniture. Nevertheless, we love our new place. We have a park across the street and a great view out our living room windows.

Tarik

2010-07-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

We ran into one of our friends from our English club while touring the city with some of the new students from the States. Not a total coincidence since it's a very common area for people to go to, but still...15 million people or so...

Extra Stazy Pictures

2010-07-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

We're proud of our daughter... so sue us.

Ok. Don't sue us. It's been a rough month.

Actually, if you could just look at these extra pictures and smile, that'd be great!

BaraklavObama

2010-07-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

President Obama: Hey! If you were baklava, would you eat yourself? I would! I'd pour honey and walnuts all over myself... I'd be good!

Sun Sets on Istanbul

2010-07-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

The sun sets in the coolest place here.

Did I do that??

2010-07-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

Stazy has really enjoyed her new-found talent for pulling up and standing for long periods of time. She gets very proud of herself. Her favorite game is to put hand prints on the tv, but daddy is too wound up around her little finger to get angry.

Pulling Up

2010-06-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

Stazy is growing up too fast! She's been crawling for nearly a month now, and she's now pulling up on things. Problem--how to get down? So far, she hasn't enjoyed falling and hitting her head... She'll figure it out, I guess.

Mona Lisa Smile

2010-06-23T13:28:00.001-07:00

Did she like the water or not?
What is she thinking???

Thanks to Brittany Smith for taking these pictures. Our camera decided it wanted to stay home...

Stazy's First Adventure in the Sea

2010-06-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

We went to the Black Sea for an outing with our English club June 12. It was Stazy's first venture out to the sea. She had mixed feelings about it.

At first, she was really not a fan as she really didn't like the cold water. Being in the car by herself wasn't her favorite, as evidenced by the look on her face; however, she enjoyed it when we held her next to us. Of course, everything tasted better when it had a little salt water.

BTW: they only sell 2 piece bathing suits for babies here. We've gotten a couple from the states now, so hopefully those will be easy enough to keep on.

Ali

2010-06-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

Anastasia enjoyed her outing to Belgrade Forest with Ali Amca (Uncle Ali).

Ajlan

2010-06-04T14:34:00.000-07:00

This is one of our new friends, Ajlan. We've gotten to hang out with him a few times. Great English! See you soon, man!

Flowers of the countryside

2010-06-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hard workers

2010-06-04T14:04:00.000-07:00

It was fun to go to the village where everyone was our friend. This guy (Mr. Sans-shirt) came up to Kevin, Luke's friend on the trip, and pulled his face down to his level so he could give him a proper greeting. (Double kisses on the cheeks--no worries--this is a normal greeting given in an unorthodox way due to a significant height differential.)

Nevertheless, the whole family was together and working hard!

Village life

2010-06-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Luke got to get out of the city for a bit to explore some greener climes. The fresh air was great, as was seeing a horse herd a bunch of cows!

Kahvaltı (Turkish breakfast)

2010-06-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

After hearing about American breakfasts an getting his fill of waffles on Tuesday, Luke's tutor, Mehmet, helped Luke prepare a Turkish breakfast. Prepare is really the best word, as nothing but the hard-boiled egg was cooked.

A typical breakfast includes: tomatoes (domates), cucumbers (salatalık), olives (zeytin), feta cheese (beyaz peynir), kashar cheese (kaşar peynir), bread (ekmek), and hard-boiled eggs (yumurta). Eggs and sausage (sucuklu yumurta) are also optional. As always, we add a steaming hot cup of çay (tea) to finish everything off.

I love you this much!

2010-06-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

We love this child!

Mother's Day

2010-06-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

BTW--Stazy is not a fan of cats. This one was really nice, but the moment Stazy touched it, she screamed. The cat didn't do a thing--before or after the sudden outburst. Our good friend, Sherri, aka fauxma, was pleased.

One Year!

2010-05-19T03:45:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not, we've been here for a whole year! April 9, 2009 was our arrival date, so it seems that the time really does fly!
(1. = 1st; yil = year)

Time Warp

2010-05-19T03:38:00.000-07:00

We had a visit from some friends from Louisiana, including Nathan, whom Luke hadn't seen since Nathan was in diapers. ;) He had a great time, as did we. Glad everyone enjoyed themselves.

Good to see you again, Nathan!

Tulips Cont'd

2010-04-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Table-side service

2010-04-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

Once when I, Luke, was a child we ventured to Washington, D.C. on a family vacation. I'm not sure who ordered it (it certainly wasn't me), but I learned at that time that there are places in the world, even in America where the head is served attached to the rest of the body.
Since then, I've lived in places where they not only serve the head with the fish, they eat it too--eyes and everything in between.
In Florence, we found a happy medium. My mother (allegedly the same one who ordered fish in D.C.) ordered the fish, but having learned her lesson, asked for it without the head.
Smooth move, Betsy, but we gotcha covered. The waiter insisted that the fish must be served whole so we could see it was fresh, apparently. After much hesitation, she finally agreed and it was a nice little side show. Tasted good too!

Don't eat this!

2010-04-10T06:05:00.001-07:00

Just to let you know, if you ever feel the need to have pizza in Italy, name your house Italy and order in Double Dave's (or Papa John's or Johnny's Pizza).
Or if you are in Italy, check sources first. In any case, beware of pizza that's as oily as the Exxon Valdez.
(I was assured by a friend in Naples that they have the real deal there, so if you go, feel free to try one there...)

Gelato

2010-04-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

Gelato has become somewhat well-known in the States recently, and not without reason. Even Stazy had the taste for it :)

Florence

2010-04-10T05:26:00.000-07:00

Ahhh...Florence! Forget about having a holiday in Rome and doing what the Romans do, etc. Florence is it! We saw Michelangelo's David, Botticelli's Primavera and also The Birth of Venus.
The food was authentic and as good as advertised. Life flowed as slowly as the Arno through the heart of the city. And finally, our bed and breakfast room, while ironically lacking breakfast was large and adequate for all four of us.
The top picture here is of the wait staff at the restaurant we went to. We enjoyed the food more than any other that we ate in Italy, but they enjoyed Stazy even more.
If you ever do happen to go to Florence, go to Ritorante La Grotta Guelfa and get the Florentine steak. You won't be sorry!

Tulips & Spring

2010-04-10T04:55:00.000-07:00

We love springtime here! The weather finally warms up and the tulips push their lazy heads through the softening earth to show off their finery.
A local park specializes in all kinds of tulips and even arranges them to resemble other shapes. It's a great time to be here!

ROME!

2010-03-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Friends, Romans, Countrymen! I have not come to day to praise Caesar, but to bury him. Veni, Vidi, Vici! When in Rome...
Enough! We had a great time! We toured until we dropped and then walked another kilometer or two! But we saw more than I can even recount. (Talk to my mom, Sue. She has an hour by hour account--even where we ate and what we ordered.)
Here are the basics:
Places: Rome & Florence
Sites: Colosseum/Constantine's Arch, Roman Forum,Palatine Hill, St. Peter's Square, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Trajan's Column, Bocca della Verita (Mouth of Truth), Ponte Vecchio, Pallazo Vecchio, Piazzala Michaelangelo, ___'s? Catacombs
Museums: Vatican Museum (w/Sistine Chapel), Uffizi Gallery (with Bottecelli's Primavera and Birth of Venus, Roman National Museum, and the Accademy (Michaelangelo's David).

We also happened to see the Pope in his Popemobile, but we were actually just out to get gelatto and decided to swing by St. Peter's so we didn't have the camera. :(

More to come!

Hair III

2010-03-18T14:15:00.000-07:00

More hair.

More hair

2010-03-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

By the way, this is actually just Robyn's hair we put on her head. She has almost no hair.
Still a cutie.

New hairdo

2010-03-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Oh, I just had it trimmed a little in the back... Do you like it?

Friends--Ali

2010-03-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

Ali is one of Luke's friends from the gym. He came to watch the Saints whoop up on the ponies and found a new friend to play with in Anastasia. Luke had a good time trying to explain football (American style) in Turkish. It went something like this:

The ball thrower takes the ball and throws it to a person who catches it. He runs. Other people try to make him fall. If he goes 10ish meters, he gets 4 new chances to do it all again. When the ball goes over the last line, the team with the ball gets 6 points and gets to try to kick the ball between the high sticks.

If they fall too much or don't catch the ball in 3 tries, they have to kick the ball or try to kick the ball between the two high sticks again.

Ali: Ohhhh...(Turkish for "huh?")

(picture to come)

Happy Valentine's

2010-02-13T09:57:00.001-08:00

We visited Istiklal Avenue a few days before Valentine's Day and had the opportunity to ride the historic trolley. It was decorated for the occasion, so that was interesting. Unfortunately, Stazy decided to serenade everyone inside (and perhaps outside). The Scottish couple behind us had a few things to say, but I just pretended not to notice. The streets were packed, but we still had a great time.

Aggie Anastasia

2010-02-13T09:05:00.000-08:00

It's been a little while, so here are some pics for your Stazy fix.
Her Aggie outfit is still a little big, but she's got plenty of time to grow into being an Aggie fan. :)
Also, she's getting to the point where she can pay attention to images and people, so we like to watch her watch movies sometimes. Don't worry...we won't let her brain rot.

Momma & Child

2010-01-28T12:05:00.000-08:00

More conversations. She is a talker...like her daddy.

Father & child

2010-01-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

Anastasia has started "talking" to us these days. She tells us all about life and being a baby. Unfortunately, we don't always follow, but she's patient with us.

Crazy Old Ladies and Culture Shock

2010-01-19T14:37:00.001-08:00

So we were just minding our own business, walking along having a good time in Thessaloniki. It was a moderately warm day, and being Americans, we decided not to dress our infant daughter in a parka when it was 60 degrees outside--crazy, I know.
Since it was so nice out, we let our friend, Summer, (who happens to live in Greece) hold Stazy as we were touring. As we were walking around in the nice temperature, neglegently dressing our daughter in a mere coat, gloves, hood, and warm socks, this seemingly harmless sextagenarian walks up and sweetly takes Stazy out of Summer's arms without even asking. She spent lots of time oohing and ahhing over her and talking about how sweet she was. Summer and Robyn just stood there agreeing while Summer's husband, Greg, and I headed to Starbucks for a coffe mug with "Greece" on it. 5 minutes later, we come back and now there's this hoarde of women standing around admiring how cute and (ominous voice) how young/small she is. As Greg and I approached, the women continued to chuckle and fuss--seemingly without incident.
HOWEVER... once we arrived, we had a problem. The kind old lady started to change.
Have you ever seen Lord of the Rings when Bilbo goes all scary when he sees the ring?--this was her face when we asked to take back our child. Silly, I know, but after 9.5 months in the womb and nearly 2 months out of it, we'd kinda gotten attached.
Turns out, she just really thought it was far too cold for her to be out. This was though interpretation and sign language: Yes ma'm, she has socks on. Yes, we have a blanket. No we don't have another blanket. You want to see inside our bag? Because you don't believe me that we don't have a down fleece in here? Yes ma'm we are the devil. We're actually taking her to Olympus for a human sacrifice. (ok, those last 2 were made up, but the rest are true).
Even after we showed her the diaper bag and her blanket, she just wrapped Stazy tighter in her shawl and wouldn't give her up. I honestly wanted to go and forcibly take her. Obviously, this wouldn't have helped, but my paternal instincts kicked in and I was none-too-pleased with the little-old-lady act anymore. Give me my child, woman!
Fiiiiiiiiiinally, we convinced her that we'd keep her out of the cold so she gave Stazy up. Robyn tucked her safely into the baby Bjorn so no one else could take her. The lady continued to fuss and tucked Stazy in tightly and I managed to put a smile on my face and say "thank you" in Greek (the only thing I knew how to say anyway). It wasn't my true sentiment, but it was better than violence, right??

Lessons learned: don't let strangers take your child. keep said child strapped in Baby Bjorn so said strangers can't take said child.
Lesson taught: If you are a lady or gentleman; young or old; Greek, Turkish, American, East Timorian, or otherwise--> DON'T REFUSE TO GIVE BABIES BACK TO THEIR MOTHERS!*

*CPS excluded

Mt. Olympus

2010-01-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

You remember all those things in school that you learned but never really thought you'd see. Ok, maybe for many of you, old-timer's has already kicked in, you forgot everything you ever learned, and you'd rather be watching Jeopardy with people who still remember it.
So here's the point--we got to see Mt. Olympus! It was far away, but still visible enough since it was a clear day. This is where Zeus lived. Luke used to really get into the Mythology stuff and even minored in classical studies in college, so forgive him for getting too excited about a big rock. It was cool and admit that you're jealous that you didn't get to see it instead of calling him a big nerd in your head (or out loud).

Train ride

2010-01-19T14:08:00.000-08:00

We went to and from Greece via train. It was really hot on the way there and really cramped on the way back, but we had a good time. We had little better to do, so we took lots of pics :)

Dancing Baby

2010-01-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

Anybody got the ugachacka song memorized? Stazy has the music in her head. We couldn't get it on video, but she likes to do a little head banging to music in the morning these days. In this picture, you can at least tell that she's getting good head control from the still shot.

Pork & Paul

2010-01-18T13:41:00.000-08:00

When you can't get something, it makes you miss it all the more. We were able to satiate our desire for some pork, as it is available all over town. Luke could have eaten pork gyros every meal--possibly even for breakfast. We also found some things that we were craving, but decided to leave on the shelf...i.e. Lucky Charms and Cap'n Crunch. Both of those cost around 18 Euros, which is somewhere around $25 or more... We'll save those for another day.
Meanwhile, we hiked up to the wall overlooking the city to "Paul's Gate," the gate which is traditionally the site where Paul actually entered the city for the first time to bring the good news to the Thessalonians. It's also a great place to check out the city!

Greece!

2010-01-18T12:59:00.000-08:00

We were pretty much resigned to staying in town for the last few months of Robyn's pregnancy. After Stazy was born, we pretty much still stayed close to home. Turks don't even leave the house with their babies for the first 40 days (except for hospital visits and emergencies). So we were ready for a quick break from the city after being cooped up since the beginning of September.
We hopped on the overnight train to Thessaloniki/Selanik to visit our friends and have some relief (not to mention pork). Stazy did great on her first international trip. The border guards were funny since they didn't ask any questions after they saw we had a young child. The only concern they had was that she didn't have any stamps in her passport...uh...because she was born in Turkey. "Ohhhhhhhh..." We gave them our residence permits and everything was fine.
We enjoyed our visit. We ate lots of pork and managed to resist the urge to "pimp our kid."
These are pictures of the White Tower, which was a part of the old city wall and also the interrogation/torture/lookout tower. The other picture is of the ancient agora where experts believe the riot in Acts 17 took place.

Our Downstairs Neighbors

2010-01-18T12:52:00.000-08:00

We had a pleasant surprise from our downstairs neighbors. They brought us something called asure--a warm, sweet dish served for New Year's. Hatice, the wife, created the beautiful patterns with pomegranate, walnuts, seeds, and various other sweets.
We enjoyed our evening with Wii and talking about how things are going. We look forward to getting to know both Hasan and Hatice in the future.

New Year's

2010-01-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

We joined some of our friends for a New Year's party. We were able to see many fireworks since we were on the 9th floor. We found a great recipe for boneless buffalo wings online and one of our friends couldn't help himself...
(this one is a little out of order, but not by much)