Volleyball Season 2018

Soon after Spring Break, it was time for our final volleyball tournament. I had the most delightful team! They worked well together and supported one another. I loved every minute of practice and games with them.

We decided to do something "new" this year and order some matching volleyball t-shirts for the season. I think they got more excited about that than anything I said to them! This was at a pep rally the school had for us.

I loved coaching with Andrea this year. She was my assistant and worked with the B team while I took the A team. She was a sweet little middle schooler at our school in Singapore. Now she's all grown up and is my colleague in Turkey. I love her to death.

Our girls dominated. We matched up with teams all over the city and even teams who came down from Istanbul. Here's Twinkle Toes with a spike.

And here's Miss Middler who is our star setter. She is like a little spider, all over the court, getting under each ball to set her teammate up for a hit.

This is BY FAR my favorite sports photo someone has ever sent me of my kids. Twinkle is diving for the ball. Yes, she got under it. Yes, we got the point.

I think that I get more stressed out coaching volleyball than basketball. I haven't yet figured out why. Ideas?

We took third place overall, and here were all the teams who placed and received trophies. It was a great tournament!

I couldn't be more proud of these girls.

This is a very special photo, and I want to include it for my memory book. This precious girl, a fellow senior and friend of Twinkle Toes', is now with Jesus. We could never have imagined that at this last tournament when we took this picture, she would pass away in a few short months. At this game, she came to tell me that her mama (a single mom, working hard to give her daughter all she could) had come to the tournament, and could she please play in the games today. I said, "Oh, you're starting today. You got this!" I get a lump in my throat when I think of that conversation. 

And I have to end with this. This was the moment of the last game I would ever coach Twinkle Toes. She has made me proud in every way since she first started dribbling, kicking, shooting soccer balls, basketballs, and volleyballs. She is extremely competitive and good in all three sports. But what sets her apart is her heart as a leader on her team. I will miss these days. So much. But I'm trying to focus on all that is good. And what is good in my heart right now is that I got to coach them during these years.

I wouldn't trade that for anything. 

Meanwhile Back in Daily Life...a Hodge Podge of Memories

We quickly got back into the school routine and even enjoyed a few days of down time at home for Spring Break, since we did not go to the coast for the entire week. I knew Twinkle Toes' graduation was just around the corner, so I pulled out the project I had been working on from time to time: her t-shirt quilt. I got it all cut out and organized and got the flannel backing ready to sew it.

Big Ben got to see his buddy Coach Andrew, who flies in yearly from Germany to run a short basketball camp for us.

My sweet girl and me...

Always on our mind is Firstborn. She talks to us almost daily, and we love getting pictures of what is going on in college life for her.

The kids busied themselves one night with an intense card game.

Twinkle finished her watercolor of our city, a commissioning by a friend of mine. She sent me a picture of the final framed painting. Beautiful!

My kids make me laugh every day. I think at this point I was accusing someone of getting into the chocolate chips, when a little troll came after me.

International Day came, and we represented Tennessee!

 Our city...

Now that all the girls are old enough to attend youth group, we get one night a month to hang with our boy alone. This night we decided to treat him to a 3D super hero movie.

 It looks like we only play and don't work! I guess I just take pictures of the play!

Cirali Cheer 3

We had hiked quite awhile and decided to head back. The girls and I just knew that the shortcut we could see would get us back much quicker than turning and following the trail ALL the way back from which we came. CC said it was not a good plan. We need to stick to the trail. After much convincing, he agreed to split up and meet back at the cabins. Big Ben stuck with his dad (good choice.)

It looked so close. And we are tough girls.

So, down we went on the rugged terrain, discussing all the way how we were going to beat them back.

Our view from up top were spectacular.

These hearty wild flowers grew right out of the rock. It reminded me of our life in Turkey. So much has bloomed, even in hard places.

It wasn't long before I realized that our decision to get off the path may not have been the best one.

It's hard to see here, but it was sheer cliff below. Those are the tops of trees we are looking down on. Our main goal was to stay safe, so we took it slowly and helped each other. And thought of the guys on the path.

There were several points that we had to reach and help each other. It looked so close and so easy from the top, but it was not!

But I will say that my girls are like Turkish mountain goats. They find a way through hard spots. And then they help their ol' mom get down too!

We got all the way down, FINALLY, and realized there was a massive creek between us the home base. We hiked even further and finally found a spot where we could ford the creek. We clapped in case there were snakes. We secretly admitted how wrong we had been. And we pushed through until we finally got off the mountain, across the creek, through the shoulder high grass, up the other hill, and on the road to home. Yes, they beat us. But I'm glad for the memory. Dinner tasted good that night. Sleep came fast. And the next day we drove home.

Cirali Cheer 2

Cirali is just perfect for a family who works hard and plays hard and then finally has a little time to rest. The attraction for us is just the time together, with no real agenda, and the beautiful creation of God all around us. We went for a hike that CC mapped out for us, which was part of the Lycian Way.

I momentarily lost our guide, then found him up in a tree.

He wanted to take this picture of us, then we insisted we should take a selfie. We don't own a selfie stick and probably never will. We have CC's arm....it's like a selfie stick.

And so he took the photo. When we looked at it, would could not stop laughing. For whatever reason,  though he truly was in our photo, it looked like he had stayed home and we had photoshopped him in....with grass surrounding his face.

Can you see all my people down there?

Cirali (Cheer-ah-luh) Cheer

As you know, last year we found a little spot down at the Mediterranean Coast that became so special to us, called Cirali (pronunciation in the title) . It's completely empty during our week of Spring Break. In the summer it's hopping, but in March/April, it's dead. So, we decided to go again this year. The drive down is about 8 hours. It would be about $20 to fly there, but CC likes his drive. For a few dollars a night we can stay in rustic cabins and eat a homemade village Turkish breakfast. Our days are spent reading, swinging in a hammock, sitting by the beautiful sea, or napping. The only event of the day is when we walk to town to eat dinner. The walk is a half hour each way, but it's the perfect way to end the day. So, we booked a four night stay and left the chill of our city.

Our first night we happened upon this cute hedgehog.

The flora is just beautiful. Cacti and wild dessert flowers line the paths and streets.

I'll admit, it's cold. The kids are wearing sweatshirts sitting on the beach.

Isn't it beautiful? I will never get over the mountains and ocean combo.

Meanwhile, Firstborn celebrated her 20th birthday! We had a fun birthday FaceTime call to her!

We wake each morning to this breakfast: olives (with tiny leaves still on them), honey, butter, homemade jellies, cheeses, greens, an omelette, sigara boregi, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

Of course, we skip lunch. Breakfast is enough to carry us through until our walk into town. I love this picture of my kids. Not staged, just all hanging on to each other.

Dinner is a delight too. Here's the giant bread that is served right away. One pop and it falls flat so we can eat it.