1st Thanksgiving

Time is speeding by and Christmas is rapidly approaching. So please forgive the quick overview of our trip to the US for the Thanksgiving holiday as my way to try to keep up to date with our lives on this blog! We traveled to the US for the Thanksgiving holiday. Elizabeth did great on the trip. It helped that we flew through the night, so she slept a lot of the way. But she was definitely more active and vocal this time, compared to her prior two international travels. She loved the people on the plane and made lots of friends with our neighbors.

And speaking of making friends, she also tried to befriend this “man” at Ben Gurion Airport…a very large poster at our gate.

I first needed to travel to California to attend a conference at work.  J and Elizabeth went directly to my parents’ home, so we needed to say goodbye at the airport. It was my first time being away from Elizabeth for more than a few hours and it felt a very strange. I definitely missed her! But I really enjoyed spending time with two dear friends from PA who traveled to California for a road trip that ended in San Diego to stay with me. It made for very fun evenings after my conference duties ended.

Upon my arrival in PA, it was wonderful to visit with our former neighbors from Jerusalem who now live in Chicago area. Winona and her kids (Jason’s schedule, unfortunately, did not allow him to make the trip) drove all the way to PA to visit with us! It was so fun to see them again and to introduce Elizabeth to our dear friends.

It was a busy week, as is usual for us when we travel to visit family and friends. Time always goes by too fast, and I leave wishing I would have at least one more month to spend in the area to be able to spend the quality time I wish I could spend with everyone. But I enjoy and fully appreciate every little moment I do have with my loved ones in Pennsylvania.

A favorite picture of me and Elizabeth with my mother.

My niece Katelyn driving Patches, her pony. It was Elizabeth’s first pony cart ride!

Getting a tour of Grandpa’s school bus.

Playing with cousin Matthew, who you can see in the reflection of the fire place.

Elizabeth learned to climb stairs at my sister’s house on Thanksgiving evening.

Reading with Aunt Teresa.

My father allowed Elizabeth to play with a toy tractor that is a model of one of his tractors. Elizabeth had lots of fun pushing it around the basement. Grandpa provided important oversight to keep her from running into furniture.