Turkey

Day One:: Travel day. 5 hr flight. 2 hr layover. 9 hr flight. short layover. 1 hr flight. Kids did well, better than me. haha

thank goodness for ipads! kids played with these most of the time. slept (thanks melatonin). playdoh, coloring, and new toys is what kept them entertained.

 layover lunch break.

 YAY! happy to see Grama and Grampa!

 Since their bodies were telling them it was night time- (10 hr time difference) they took a nice nap in the lobby while we waited for our villas to be ready for us. We were all so tired!

 There was such a cool kids area- the kids loved it!!

 and the beach was fun- TK didn't like all the dirty stuff under her, but the boys love dirt and sand!

 We had our own personal pool :) This was so nice to have! Especially for evening swims..

 All ready for dinner. Which lasted us 5 min 'til i decided to take the kids home to go to bed. They were so tired this first day.

Day Two:: a day spent in the water. Enjoying all the things the resort had to offer. :)

 All five of us shared a King size bed. We would all go to sleep together. Naps and bedtime was for all of us.

 Our deck outside our room. D and I would hang out here while the kids slept in. Such a nice way to start the day!! I loved it!

 The food was pretty good. Different. Lots of food we have had just in its own form ;) And the kids completely surprised us with how well they ate, and tried new things!

 The boys were so brave. They loved all the big slides!! Tk was always super nervous we would have to completely convince her to try the big slides. She wasn't a fan but was excited to tell everyone how brave she was.

 Late night at the beach.

Day Three:: Church. It was in a couple missionaries apartment. There were 3 others and a family of 4 aside from our fam and the missionaries. We hung out in this apartment for a bit. Church took up most of the day. With travel time and Mike had interviews and such.

 Always chillin out on the deck. The weather was nice. Days were hot and evening were nice.

 Bedtime stories.

Day Four:: Ephesus/touring around Ishmir, Turkey. There are some old things in the U.S. but there is even older things on this side of the world. Like 1500-2000 years old. Back when Christ was on the Earth. Crazy to think, right?

 This home right here is where Jesus told John to take his mother, Mary, to keep her safe. This is where Mary lived until she died.

 Drinking water to bless us. ;)

 All buildings and homes way back when... Tylee was adorable to pose for me. She was constantly telling me to take more pics. She'd then do her cute poses and tell me how cute this one will be ;)

 The nike swoosh. This is where it came from, this goddess up there shaped in the form of the nike swoosh. True story.

 This is her thumbs up! ;)

 The boys were ready to get out and run around. It was hot and there were so many people!! I was kinda feeling the same way at this point, haha... can't blame 'em.

 One thing that kept us going was all the stray animals. So many kitties and dogs. The cats though were what we saw more of and it was kinda a big deal every time we saw more cats. Woo Hoo!! The kids thought that's probably why we were there cause every time we would move on-- K, let's go find more kitties!

 HUUUGE stadium. This is where John preached to all the people. It was a full house-- can you imagine!

Day Five & Six:: Chill days at the resort. (these were our favorite days) :)

 We brought some Capn Crunch with us. The kids were thrilled to have a normal breakfast that morning.

 TK loves when i let her use my camera and get pictures. She does a good job! Photographer in the making.

 This is adorable, right?!

 Watching the daddys go down the slides.

 They loved to race down these.

 Contrary to what I thought the people would be like towards us "Americans", people were so incredibly nice. This life guard would always stop us and try to give my kids high-fives and try to make them smile. People would always touch their heads and pet their hands and comment on how adorable they are. I loved it- and i'd agree ;) We even had a couple people ask to get pics with the twins.

 Lance had been begging to go on this big slide. They don't really have rules on how big you have to be to go on slides so we let him try it out. He liked it. :) Kyler was ready to go after that too but they ended up closing the slide down for a bit so he missed out.

 To die for.

 and this? This is thee cutest!!!! love these studmuffins!

 Our dinners were so nice and formal! The views were beautiful! And the food- a little different- but pretty good! (I was boring and got chicken every night) ;)

Day Seven-Nine:: Took and hr flight to Istanbul. We stayed in this nice hotel- we loved it! Istanbul was where we did touring and shopping.

 Tk didn't wanna have much to do with Me and Darren when Grama Nise was around!

 Blue Mosque.

 We found a cool little park as we walked around. Let the kids run around for a bit.

 Movie Nights! Wreck-It Ralph one night and Hotel Transylvania the next. :) Darren brought a cord that allowed us to watch movies off the ipad on the T.V. (which became very useful throughout the trip- thanks for that Darren)

 Inside the Blue Mosque, women needed to be cover. As Sean well put it- "Janessa looks like she came straight from the bible times."

 Have I mentioned how much I love this stroller? Truly a lifesaver! Turns out we were there during a holiday- it was particularly crowded!

 The kids loved getting ice cream cause the ice cream man would tease them when giving them their ice cream!

 These barbies have on huge beautiful dresses. Cost us $12! Pretty sweet! The girlies were excited.

 Only a few of our many purchases! Our cool comfy pants, and Tylee's bride barbie! Pretty sure we bought every toy a knick-knack Istanbul had to offer! (everything is so cheap!)

 Jared and Mike were such a big help with the boys! Always offering to hold one and help with the stroller and entertain them-- thanks so much guys!!

Day Ten:: Time to go home :(

And time to say good-bye which is never fun! :( I am so amazed at the two people. They are awesome! And I admire them in so many ways! Thank you thank you for this amazing opportunity! We had to much fun and it was so great to see you both again! Two more years!!!!!