A Blessed Day!

This was the happiest day for us and for our good friend who made the most important decision of her life.

Fall Leaves

The beautiful colors on our balcony.

Cracking Hazlenuts

We went to visit a friend for tea and a sweet girl, who was even pregnant, went outside to crack the hazelnuts they offered.  Because I was a foreigner, they thought I might not be able to crack them with my teeth so they did it for me.  I took a hand at it too.

Halloween

On our way home from Mersin we actually found an orange pumpkin that was so much easier to carve than last year's.  So we made a pumpkin together to celebrate!

Reminders of Oregon

We went on a short vacation before winter sets in to Mersin.  The scenic drive back was absolutely beautiful and all the green trees and rivers reminded me of Oregon.

 We had a delicious fish dinner on this boat one evening.

 

And another reminder of Oregon--a chuck-wagon--a smaller version from the Oregon trail.  I loved that game by the way!

Good friends

We had a wonderful dinner with this group.  We are so thankful for their hospitality and caring.

We had a great time sharing with this group of middle school kids.  They asked great questions and listened so carefully.

Eating and Drinking Together

 We shared at many many places about our experiences in Turkey.  Everyone was excited to hear and asked lots of questions.

We shared Turkish hospitality with everyone by offering them Turkish delight and cologne.

We made tea to share a taste that we enjoy every day.

We also enjoyed the tastes of America--international food!  A good friend took us out to Thai food that even included mango and rice dessert.  We went to Italian with my mom, Mexican with my sister, Indonesian food with Indonesian friends, Chinese food with my Iranian friend, and Kenyan, Sudanese, and Korean with my friend's sister.  And of course some people made us some good old American food.  All in all, we were well fed.