Well, it was a short-lived snow. We had about an inch of accumulation, and it was all gone by morning. It was a good fortaste of the massive snow that I think we’re going to get this year. Well, I’m hoping anyway.

We’ve been enjoying our holidays around here.  First, we had a lovely Christmas Eve dinner with our Tel Aviv family. On Christmas day Franklin and I had nice quiet lunch together, then went over to the King’s house for their annual, enormous, everyone-in-the-country-is-invited party. We split our time there between singing carols inside around the piano and chatting with friends outside around the bonfire.  A good time was had by all.  Now we’re enjoying a few days off before going back to the grind.

Happy holidays to everyone!

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We almost got in a massive car accident on the way to Tel Aviv last night. Now, don’t get me wrong, we barely escape car accidents every day - that’s the nature of driving in the middle east - but this one was going to be bad. So today, I’m mostly thankful just to be alive. We were headed to have dinner on the first night of Chanukah with our friends, the Salways. We love to go to the Salway abode for dinner. Daisy is an amazing cook, and Indian food ala Daisy has become our favorite food in the world. But mostly we just love hanging out with friends that are like family. I just wish more of them were in the country.

Yes, it’s that time of year again. All around us people are lighting channukiot to commemorate the miracle that God has worked in keeping the Jewish nation alive and well in a world that seems predisposed to annihilate it. Its a joke here that all Jewish holidays are about the same thing: they tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat! The more time we spend here, the more grateful we are for this land and these people, and for the ability to live here in the middle of all the action.

At the Embassy, we had our annual party to erect a Christmas tree and a Channukiah. Everyone brought their favorite Christmas and Chanukkah foods. Franklin and I aren’t sentimental enough to go through the trouble of putting up our own tree, and we feel rather feeble lighting our channukiah night after night by our lonesomes, so it was fun to celebrate a bit with others. And really, any excuse to have fun and eat instead of working is readily appreciated!

Actually, this week has been fulll of celebration. In addition to the Embassy fun, we celebrated the Bat Mitzvah of Jessye, the youngest daughter of our neighbors and friends, the Kings. All of life’s big moments make me cry, and this was no different. Jessye stood in front of her friends, read from the book of Esther, and explained why Esther is an inspiration to her. It was touching to hear her speak of making her transition from child to young adult. And the food was amazing, and the dancing fun.

The rest of our time since our last update has been spent making diet coke and mentos rockets, providing Jerusalem’s young adults with pancakes, eating dinner at the Dublin with friends, puppy-sitting, and getting ready for the end of 2006. Dave is moving out tomorrow, so our guest room will again be available if you need a place to crash. Franklin is meeting weekly with a group of friends for a song writing workshop, and we expect good things to result. All in all, we are warm and happy (well, warm on the inside. Our heat is on the fritz again - it’s an annual thing, I guess - but we look forward to being warm inside and out in the near future). We love you guys, and hope you have a great holiday season.

We put new pictures up in the gallery - enjoy!

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