Toe Jam Fam: Jerusalem, March 21-31, 2008

Headed for Israel!!!

The kids started to get emotional as we were leaving. So we snapped this shot, kissed the back and told them that whenever they were missing us to kiss the picture and we would feel it wherever we were. (Taken from the Kissing Hand...and turned into the kissing picture.) Corny, but seems to work for my family. Joey was loading the bags to the car and James saw him. He asked, "Daddy-Joey, where are you going?" Joey replied, "Mommy and I are going on a trip!" James burst into tears and started running through the house panic stricken. He was yelling, "Mommy, don't leave me." The poor little guy is so attached that we weren't sure how he was going to handle it.

I don't think either Joey or I could have been more excited. We were heading back to the place that we met. Twenty years ago, Joey and I met on a study abroad to Israel. He was studying the broads and I was just studying! (Ha, ha) Don’t ask me when that line is going to get old. I think I find it so funny because it was just the opposite. I had never planned to go to Israel. I had lined up myself and others to spend our first semester at college in Hawaii. I happened to call my friend, Michelle Walker, who lived in Salt Lake City to see if she would want to come with us. She suggested we go on the BYU study abroad in Israel. I changed courses immediately. Now this was an adventure! The Lord has funny ways of molding our lives, and this experience was life changing for me. Not only did I find my spouse in Israel, but I solidified my testimony of the gospel. I had always known that the gospel was true, but I had not always sought after deeply studying it. It was here that I spent 4 ½ months doing just that. It was priceless. We walked where Jesus walked. We heard the sounds, experienced the culture, saw the way they dressed, came to understand what the Jewish people were thinking, and allowed the scriptures to come alive to us. After this experience, I could read the words in the scriptures and see the sights where they took place. It was a once in a life time opportunity. Joey and I were so excited to go back.

We were so excited not only to reminisce over our relationship there, but to deepen our understanding after having had so much time to strengthen our own testimonies and knowledge since having been there. We studied before hand. I finally understood, in a small degree, the conflict of the land and the people. I had a greater understanding of the sights we were going to visit. However, there was a little fear. Israel has always been a land of unrest. This was still true. People were astounded that we would leave behind such a young family and venture to a land that was so unstable. I started questioning myself. However, in those quiet moments, I knew it was our time to return. I am so grateful for Our Heavenly Father, and prayer, that allow us to make decisions on our own with confidence that He is behind them.

So we were off!

You can tell how desperate the two of us were to get away, because we both thoroughly enjoyed the 16 hour plane ride over. We read books, listened to music, played cards, watched movies...and believe it or not...no one crawled on us. We were in heaven. We did have an experience, where I look back, should have scared us a smidgen. We had just loaded the plane in Atlanta for Tel Aviv. We were rolling out to the runway when the plane pulled back into the docking station. I was sitting next to an Israeli man who all of a sudden looked a little ataken back. He said, "What just happened?" I looked up from our conversation to see 2 men being escorted off the plane. My brother in law had been sitting in front of them. One of the men had been joking with his friend about blowing up the plane. The stewardess didn't find it funny. Their suitcases were taken off, and the plane was checked out. We set out an hour and a half later. My brother in laws theory is that they were a special law enforcement agents checking the security protocol in Atlanta. The reason behind the Theory was that these men were with four others as well. When they exited in Tel Aviv...they were picked up by a special government van. Even with all this excitement, we remained calm. After the long trip, we finally arrived at the Olive Tree Hotel. Their olives are green over there....and so was the Hotel.

We are finally here! We arrived in Israel about 5:00 p.m. their time. (nine hours ahead of Utah time)
We had to venture out and find some Israeli snacks. this is a typical store in Jerusalem.