Day 8 Walking the City

Caleb and Camel!!

Yeah that crazy thing I mentioned that I did on the mount of olives... I rode a camel lol




So today was a walking day. We were dropped off at the temple mount and got to go inside and walk around and get up close to the mosque. Just behind the dome there Is a smaller one and this is directly infront of the main gate to the temple mount, this little tiny dome is called the "some of spirits" When the Muslims would do their "ceremony" around the dome of the rock they felt a presence every time they passed this tiny patch of bedrock so they built an arch over it and left it. But this spot is actually believed to be the same spot where the holy of holies was!...and even the Muslims couldn't deny feeling the presence of God! They may not have known who it was but they felt him. 
Really cool. From there we toured the actual underground ruins, I was mistaken earlier, that was actually just the wall of the temple mount lol. But this was the real city. After this we went to lunch on mount Zion and then saw the temple institute where the Jews are preparing the holy artifacts for there new temple.  We saw a 4 foot tall solid menorah that weighs about 95 kilos if I remember correctly. After seeing this stuff we went down to the southern steps where an had a teaching and then back to the hotel and it's wifi haha....did I mention we WALKED THE WHOLE DAY!! Yeah no bus all feet -_- but I'm taking off now for another feast of dinner have a good day America =)

Day 7 Israel

Pastor Josh and his sweet family

Good morning home and goodnight israel lol. 
So we started today with a trip to the Mount of Olives and there I did something crazy! haha I'll post pics later. We had our fist teaching of the day over looking Jerusalem and then walked down the path of palm Sunday and had worship in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then we went to the western wall of the Temple mount and took a little tour of the underground ruins of the original wall and the City of David and saw a solid pice of the wall weighing in at a crazy 900 tons...ONE STONE!!! Lol  Then we went for lunch on the house courtesy of the CEO of coral tours. After that we went to emmaus where Jesus followed the two girls who were grieving his death and then showed them he had risen and also where Joshua asked God to extend the day just so that he may defeat his enemies. Even different cultures have an account of a strangely long day and even the Aztecs have a record of a abnormally longer night!.....how does one deny his power with this proof?? After that we went to the birth place of Samson. From there we went to my favorite part of the day, the same river bed where David picked his five stones and we all got to pick our own as a little reminder that no matter how big our giants in our life may be we always have God on our side and can do all things through him. And that brings to the end of the day at the hotel next door enjoying the free wifi, but I'm tired thanks for reading I appreciate it because this is take two...first try it got deleted so...goodnight home I'll see you in four days haha...peace

Day 6 Jerusalem

(Caleb is sending a lot of information, so I am just adding some pictures from the team and sharing with you all. Sure looks like he is having a lot of fun)






"So we started the day by going to see an ancient boat believed to be from Jesus times 

Then we hit the road towards Jerusalem and along the way stopped at the other half of the Jordan river right on the border of Jordan,  this is the believed to be the place where Jesus was baptized not the place I was lol I was misinformed.

Now we are in jerusalem and the hotel we are staying at charge 20 dollars a night for wifi so my roommate went to the front desk and asked where the nearest free wifi is and she totally said the hotel next door! hahaha didn't even try to convince him to buy it here! hahaha  Now it's time for dinner here and breakfast at home lol goodnight America =) "

Day 5 Update from Caleb

Snow on the Golan Heights 

Caleb is doing great and today he posted his own update that I have nothing to add to.  Here is what he had to say.....


So today we started with cesurae Philippi and saw were Jesus asked his disciples "who do you think these pagans think I am" then he asked "who do YOU think I am" and Peter answered "you are the son of God". Pretty cool spot. 
From there we went to tel Dan and from there you could over look Syria and Lebanon and a bunch of signs saying "danger...mines! Do not cross" pretty crazy! 
Then went to the castle of nimrod and that place was huge!! And incredible, the architecture of it. 
 Then went to the location of the six day war and on the way......IT STARTED SNOWING!!!!! YES SNOW IN ISRAEL!!!!!! Crazy!


 I'll post a picture in a bit, but just as yesterday and the day before and since I came here I'm loving it and having a great time miss you guys and I'll check in again tomorrow night. =) Have a good day at church =) Goodnight.

Day 4 Expanded Version

Mount of Beatitudes

I got a message from Caleb this morning and a bunch of pictures and a few more details of his day 4.
They went to the Mount of the Beatitudes, what a beautiful spot, I can just imagine what it was like to listen to Jesus preach his sermon here!

On the Sea of Galilee

Part of the group at the Synagogue of Peter

They took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, and then went to the Synagogue of Peter.







Then they went to the Jordan River and Caleb was baptized where Jesus was! "very cold, but no regrets"....

Not everybody has been baptized in the Jordan

Cold but Happy!

Lunch was "St. Peter's Fish"  he didn't send me a pic of that   but he did say it came with the head and all so I got this  picture off the internet!  Yummo!  :-)

Sunset over the Sea of Galilee

Sounds Like another pretty fun and amazing day.

Good night Caleb.

Matthew 5:3-12

(the beatitudes)

   ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
   for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Israel Update Tour Day 4

Sunrise on the Sea of Galilee 

I didn't hear from Caleb today other than a very quick fb message this morning, his night, but I understand things are going great. He was super tired last night, this time change is hard to get used to, as well as they are busy all day and walking a lot.  Josh posted the pics below so I captured them to share.  How beautiful!  I am seriously getting jealous!

Caesarea Maritime

This is a picture of their view from the hotel this morning few hours ago.  Nice.....

Today the schedule it to drive to Tel Dan, an important biblical city and a breathtaking nature reserve. Continue to the Banias, site of the ancient Caesarea Philippe. It is here that Peter made his confession of faith in Jesus. Matt 16:13  Then on to a panoramic view of the Golan Heights from Mt. Bental, He will visit Nimrod's Castle and end his day with a boat ride on the Seal of Galilee!!

Now this is Trippy!!

Israeli Kitty :-)

Nazareth 

Israel Tour Update Day 3

Caleb left a fb post that he didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night but that might have been because he was out having Israeli coffee after dinner.   :-)

Important to remember what bus your on!!

This is straight of off the tour's itinerary, this is what his day should look like today (Friday).
After an Israeli breakfast they will drive through Tel Aviv and travel via the Sharon plain to Caesarea. Caesarea was the seat of the Roman Procurator of  Judea in the time of Christ and the place St. Peter converted the centurion Cornelius. (Acts 10:24).
Then they will explore the Roman Theater and the aqueduct and view the ruins of Roman, Byzantine and Crusader times, continue ons to Mt. Carmel, to the "Mukhraka" the site where Elijah challenged and defeat the 450 prophets of Baal (1Kings 18:20).  On to Megiddo, the fortress city of King Solomon, later built upon by King Ahab. The books of Daniel and Revelation will come alive as we study about the final Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:14-19). Drive through Nazareth, the home of Joseph and Mary and through the city of Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed his first miracle (John 2:1-11) turning jars of water into wine. Finally drive to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee to dinner and the hotel.
Wow!  I bet he sleeps well after this busy and exciting day.
                                                             
He sent me a couple of pictures from yesterday, I'm not sure where they were taken exactly, somewhere in Joffa, but they are pretty cool looking anyway.

House of Simon the Tanner.

First Stop New York City!

Caleb airport dinning at JFK New York!

Im going to try to blog everyday  while Caleb is gone, I have a copy of his itinerary so I can share where he is and what he is supposed to be seeing I think it will help him remember each day when he gets back and it will be fun for me!

Caleb had to be at the Stater Bros parking lot in Canyon Hills at 3:30 this morning!  He is going on this trip with the group from Canyon Hills Calvary Chapel, Pastor Josh is really a great guy and has done this trip several times so everything should go without a hitch.  They had rented two 15 passenger vans for the team so I hugged good by my baby boy leaving him in a dark parking lot in 35 degrees and totally in God's hands for the next 12 days.

I got a text from him after he got checked in and through security at LAX, a big thumbs up, I can imagine he had some butterflies now that this was really happening.  He had McDonalds for breakfast and was loading up.....  Next stop, New York City!
Caleb's flight touched down in NY around 2pm and I was thrilled he called to check in!  The flight was uneventful and he was able to finally get a couple hours of sleep. He did mention it was long and only half as long as his next flight, oy vey!  For now he was off to stretch his legs and find food!

Thumbs up!

I got one more phone call right before boarding, all was well.
We elected not to purchase the out of country package for his phone so I don't expect to actually talk to him again until he lands in New York on the 28th but with the abundance of internet cafe's and hotel wifi we should be able to keep in touch.
Erik is using a "flight tracker" to follow the flights progress, he just told me, "just think, our son is in a silver tube about 6 miles above the ocean going about 655mph! Wow that is amazing!"  Thanks Babe!! Just when I was feeling better.  ;-)

Caleb, your an amazing young man, " May the Lord bless you and watch over you. May the Lord cause His countenance to shine on you and favor you. May the Lord raise His countenance toward you and grand you peace."

Asher Erik Ray Bowen

Momma and baby doing well

Today my son Michael and his beautiful wife Haley gave me my 13th grandchild. Asher was born at 4:55 Utah time, he weighs 7 lb 4oz and is 19 inches long.  Asher has two older brothers, Ezekiel 5 and Gabriel 3.  They all live in Provo Utah where Mike works in pest control and Haley is a stay at home mom.
Mike and Haley just visited us at Christmas, what a trooper
this little mama is to
make such a long trip so close to her due date.

I will be going to meet Asher in person in about a month, but until then I will have to be satisfied with internet pictures and Skype, we've already had some face time.  :-)

Kickin Up Our Heels

When I was growing up my parents had a small group of close friends that used to go out country western dancing on the weekends, we all had campers and would load up and go to a little dive bar in Yucca Valley called the "Longhorn Saloon".  They had a live country band on the weekends and catered to the local marines and good ole boys. It was somewhat of a family place and blast for us all, good clean fun where I learned how to dance from my Dad and Uncles and also some very important rules for life.

Erik and I recently reconnected with an old friend and co worker who just so happens to own a little place up in Apple Valley The Cadillac Ranch, we drove up and spent the night Partying like Rock Stars with Allison this weekend and it brought back so many fun memories for me.

It also made me think that I have been negligent in exposing my children to the world of fun dancing.  My parents drug me everywhere, I was an only child so it was a lot easier than packing up my brood of 7 or 8 but still.  They really did a good job of showing me very different sides of things. My Dad was a very well respected private contractor and we were invited to open houses and Christmas parties of the very affluent and then we would go yhee haw it up and rodeo BBQ's and back yard barn dances.
I think I could do a better job of well rounding the kids I have left at home.

Countdown

I can't believe that we have less than 90 days till Shawn leaves for bootcamp. WoW!! The last few months have just whizzed by and now the time is at hand.  I have been doing a lot of internet work lately to get an understanding of what is going to happen after we say good bye to him on April 4th.  There are a lot of really good sites put up by the Navy and  a great site for Navy Moms.  I am very grateful for these since I hate the unknown.
The next 88 days need to be dedicated to training, of all kinds.  Physically, mentally and memorizing.
I am so happy for him and grateful for this experience, I can hardly wait to meet the "sailor" they will transform him into.

Blessings Abound

Surprise! 

Just two days into 2012 and already more surprises and blessings than I deserve. Kim and Ed came over tonight with a hand painted birthday sign for us.
In a family our size it is hard to keep track of all of our little blessings special days and this is such an awesome idea.  Kim, being quite the artist did all of the art work to perfectly match our decor and I absolutely love it.
But the BIG surprise was the extra little tag with the ? name...... Yes they are expecting a baby!
What a great fun way to let us know.  I am just thrilled to pieces for them (and me)!  Baby Pairrett is due the end of August, it is going to be a busy year with Mike and Haley expecting Asher in January and Kelly and Nathan expecting Toby in March.  I am blessed!

The Road Ahead 2012

For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100:5
This is the verse that was our focus at church this morning, Amazing!
For the last two weeks I have been trying to think of a title for my blog for this year, I have my theme picked out but just couldn't quite put my finger on a title verse. But this is it!!
Everyday this year I want to remember, the Lord is good, his love endures ForEver and he is faithful to all generations.
This is not always easy to remember, when my life is not going so good,
He is still good, and in control of what is best for me.  When I am
alone and feeling lonely physically or emotionally His love is
there for me in his word and the people he has put in my life.
And when I am worried and concerned about my kids
and friends and family I can rest in that He is there for them too.
So as I sit here on the first day of 2012 thinking about the
road ahead of me this New Year I am deciding  to focus
on the positive, on my haves and not my have nots,
on my cans and not on my can nots, because the
Lord is Good.
And I am Grateful.