LITTLE CHEFS!

As you can see, presentation is very important to Tori and Streicher!! Tori wanted to make sure you could see her triscuit cracker on top of four baby cucumbers and a small caper to top it all off!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration at NATO, where the 3 star General "coined" both Tori and Streicher. I hope to have the photo of our dinner posted soon.

TOMMY AND GIZEM

Tommy and Rob became good friends shortly after moving here. Tommy is from North Carolina and has a real southern accent! Gizem is his girlfriend, she is Turkish. The kids love hanging out with them, especially when Tommy puts on a live concert for them! This last photo was taken just last wknd at Gizem's home with her family. They invited us over for a traditional turkish dinner, it was so delicious!

MISC PHOTOS

Here are a few miscellaneous photos that I thought were cute. First, Tori and Streicher are paying their respects while praying during one of the five daily muslim prayer sessions. The second photo is Tori having her favorite treat...cay tea and simit (turkish sesame breadring). The next photo was taken early in the morning when Tori found 5 ytl under her pillow in exchange for her 2nd lost tooth! The last one is of Tori in front of the Virgin Mary's House where you can write down a prayer on a napkin and hang it on the wall.

MT. BABA & DALYAN (Fishery town)

This was a great two overnight trip we took in October. As you can see, the weather was still very nice and warm enough to swim! This area is in the southwestern region of Turkey, very beautiful. The first photo is from a carpet factory we visited. We were surprised to find that most carpets take between 1-3 years to complete! The kids had alot of fun, as there were other children their age on the trip. Notice the 2500 year old Lycian Rock Tombs in the background of the picture of Streicher on the boat, amazing!!

OLIVE OIL FACTORY

Recently, we were invited by our friends Nicole and Burak, to join the IWAI ( International Women's Association of Izmir) for an olive oil factory tour, about an hour north of Izmir. It has probably been the most interesting and fun time for all of us since we have been here! As you can see, Viktoria and Isabella (her parents Mehmet and Jane own the olive factory) became fast friends. After the factory tour we drove just a few km's to a local olive grove, owned by a turkish/french couple. They not only let us partake in the harvesting of olives, but invited us up to the terrace to taste some Turkish wine and of course their olives! Afterwards, we all ( 15 or so of us) drove to the nearby seaside for an wonderful fish dinner. As you can see, the kids had so much fun with their new friends, especially playing in the olive groves and collecting rocks from the seaside. We all witnessed a local fisherman pull an octopus out of the sea!!

KAHVALTI (Breakfast)

Our two favorite breakfast items: Gevrek, which consists of feta cheese, tomatoes and green pepper. The other bread is also very good dipped in olive oil, it is filled with black olives, the kids love it! Rob routinely picks these up on wknds after his morning run!

EPHESUS (Dating back to 300 BC)

THE VIRGIN MARY'S HOUSE-EPHESUS/SELCUK

This trip was actually taken back in September with our landlord, Tulin. Tori and I were advised to wear a headscarf while entering the Virgin Mary's House, it was a very spiritual experience, especially for Tori. Another picture of Streicher and Rob on one of our very first bus experiences...can you say "no safety laws!!"