Part 2

On Tuesday, May 11th we flew from Istanbul to a resort town on the Mediterranean called Antalya.

For the next couple of days we hung out at the pool, played games, went to the beach, read books, and just enjoyed each other company.Sisters Leslie and Jessica

Trevor and me playing boochie.

One of the days we went on a boat tour along the coast.Jessica, Trevor, and me swimming in the Mediterranean.

Curtis, Jessica, me, and Trev on the boat.

The boat tour went right past our hotel.

This is Cleopatra's face. Turn your head and you should be able to see it. I still haven't figured out how to flip photos. They say that this is where Mark Anthony met Cleopatra because Cleopatra used to like to bath in this part of the Mediterranean because it is so rich in minerals

For those of you getting jealous I have to tell you that it was during the day of the boat tour I became...well...a little beat up.

I woke up the day before with a couple of cold sores on the inside edges of my lips and cankers in my mouth. I have maybe had one or two cold sores in my life, but it had to be on this trip that I got the cold sores/cankers from hell -we think maybe I was allergic to something there. I had been using medicated chap-stick, but while we were swimming in the Mediterranean Sea I came up with the brilliant idea to rinse my mouth out with the nice and salty sea water. Worst idea ever! That night my mouth sores went from bad to worse and I spent the next couple of days not even being able to speak my mouth hurt so bad. Notice the pathetic half smile of mine in pictures of me from here on out. I'm not kidding when I say it took all I had to muster up those pathetic grins.

It was also on this day that I was tired of waiting for the elevator so I decided to take the spiral staircase and race Trevor to the lobby. As I took my third step I misplaced my foot, my bad ankle popped, I gave out a yelp, and vol la...a sprained ankle.

If you are not feeling sorry for me yet let me tell you about the nasty sunburn I got on the boat tour. The whole trip I had been using SPF 85. I was determined not to get a sunburn! But of course on the day of the boat tour I decided to only use SPF 30 and for some idiotic reason I only used it once the whole day. The next day I woke up to blistered shoulders and blistered and swollen knees.

Needles to say I was pretty pathetic for the following few days. Good thing I had a wonderful husband and family to nurse me through and an amazing one day trip to Jerusalem that took my mind off of everything.

Stay tuned for the details!!!

Our Adventure to Turkey - Part 1

Its hard to believe that our 10-day trip to Turkey has come and gone. Despite a few kinks in the plans a combination of beach time and sight seeing was a perfect recipe for an amazing trip. We have lots to report on so enjoy and so stay tuned for the next three parts of our trip!

My mom, dad, brother, two younger sisters, Trev and I left bright and early Saturday, May 8th. Our adventure began by taking a 4-hour flight from SLC to the JFK airport in New York. We made the 10-hour flight to Istanbul, Turkey, but not before sitting on the runway at JFK for 2 hours making the already long flight even longer. But none-the-less we made it to Istanbul in one piece early Sunday afternoon.
Later Sunday night we ate some dinner and took a stroll on the on the local boardwalk along the Mediterranean Sea. It was such an amazing view it made us wish we had something similar to that in Utah.On Monday we made our way to downtown Istanbul. The city is unbelievably huge with a population of 13 million. My family was expecting a more middle-eastern atmosphere, but we were surprised to find that only half of the women in the city wore the traditional head scarves.

(A street market near the Blue Mosque)

We visited the Blue Mosque.
And the Hagia Sopia which was my favorite of the two buildings. They are built across the street from each other. The Hagia Sophia was built before the Blue Mosque and the Blue Mosque was supposed to outdo the Hagia Sophia. I still think the Hagia Sophia is still far more impressive though.The Hagia Sophia was the 3rd church built in that exact location. The first two churches had previously been destroyed. The building was used as an Orthodox basilica and then the overtaken by the Muslims and used as a mosque until it was turned into a museum in 1934. Both Christian and Muslim elements are displayed in the Hagia Sophia. I was amazed to see the incredible detail of the building.

We also took a bus tour of the entire city.

(The city wall)


That sums up Istanbul. Next to come will be our stay in Antalya, Turkey.