Christmas with Grandparents Part 1

Both Frank's parents and my parents flew from Utah to Jerusalem for what was meant to be an 11-day stay.  Their vacation expanded to 14 days because of stateside storms, and we were thrilled to postpone our goodbyes a little longer.  They were all supposed to arrive on December 17, but my parents took a detour to Los Angeles by way of Detroit.  Frank's parents Frank Sr. and Carole arrived as scheduled, and the first presents didn't even wait until Christmas. 

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This is a picture of the cheddar cheese Frank's mom brought.  Scrambled eggs have never tasted so good, and we even had tortilla roll-ups again.

This is Frank's dad, still smiling after a day and a half in airports and planes.  We talked and had birthday cake that night, and Saturday morning Frank drove his parents to several overlooks to give them an overview of the city.  Church on Saturday was cozy with the students so recently gone, but the Christmas songs and talks were extra sweet, not only because we were near the Savior's favorite places, but also because we were with some of our favorite people. 

That evening Frank returned to Tel Aviv to pick up my parents, Bruce and Ann Fillmore.  I drove his parents and our kids to a site known as Shepherd's Fields overlooking Bethlehem.  It is a rocky slope covered with small thorn bushes, dirt trails, and hundreds of bulbs (lilies?) sending up leaves. 

As the sun set over Bethlehem, a shepherd riding a donkey drove his sheep and goats south along the rocky path between us and the rock wall behind us.  We don't know exactly in which field the angel appeared two millenia ago, but being here sharpens our mental picture; now when I think of shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night, I think of hills, rocks, and thorny plants rather than a grassy meadow. 

 

 With other branch members, we perched on rocks and sang Christmas carols by flashlight.

The young women are good friends and welcoming to visitors. 

We could hear the church bells of Bethlehem ring, and I figured that was as close as I'd get to Bethlehem this season.  It is on the other side of the separation wall, and therefore BYU faculty need special permission to enter the city. .

When we returned from the Shepherd's Field, we were thrilled to see my parents safe and sound.  The airline had given them food vouchers and a hotel room for the extra night, so they had been relatively comfortable during the extra day of travel, aside for wearing the same clothes for three days!  We had a second Christmas as they brought us more cereal and cheese and other American items we missed.

Sunday morning we showed everyone around the Jerusalem Center, then Frank drove the grandparents to Seven Arches overlook and Dominus Flevit, the vantage point from which the Savior may have looked on the city and lamented its future struggles.   

We drove our parents to the Bethlehem checkpoint and waved as they entered the cement walkways, turnstiles, and gray hallways.  In the photo above you can see the outside of the gray separation wall cutting through the middle of the photo.  A smaller road curves in front of the wall to the right allowing access to the tomb of Rachel outside the separation wall.  Sahar Qumsiyeh greeted our parents on the other side of the checkpoint and took them to the Church of the Nativity, a local restaurant, and then sacrament meeting at Odeh Marcous' house.  This was a real highlight for their trip, and they truly enjoyed meeting both families of the Bethlehem Group. 

Monday morning found us heading north to Galilee via the western route through Tel Aviv.  If you want to follow on the map, click here.  En route we stopped in Hadera to see the ancient Roman city of Caesarea Maritima, where Paul almost persuaded Agrippa to be a Christian (Acts 26). 

The ampitheater has been restored, and the acoustics are still great.  No one would doze off in these stadium seats. 

This is a replica of an inscription which formed a dedication to Tiberius Caesar by Pontius Pilate, prefect of Judea.  It dates back to 26-37 A.D.

Lisa is such a supportive little sister.

The Mediterranean was playing tag with us; my mom got all wet trying to take a photo of Carrie getting wet.  Recent storms had eroded the beach to the left of this walkway.  To our right is a hippodrome, where the Romans would have raced their thoroughbred hippos.

After the races, the upper class Romans could relax in this snazzy bathhouse.  They sure knew how to make cool mosaics. 

 

This is Carrie underneath some arches in a Roman ruin.

Megan was enjoying the weather which changed from cool to perfect and back again. 

The beautiful man-made harbor behind my parents would have sheltered the boats carrying people and goods all over the Mediterranean, so Paul would have embarked for Rome here. 

We drove along the coast, then turned east and climbed back into hill country to Nazareth.  We went to Nazareth Village, a Christian sponsored recreation of an early Jewish village.  Behind Lisa is our nice Mennonite tour guide from Lancaster, PA explaining the process of winnowing grain. 

A shepherd poses with his sheep and goats in the background. 

The gap in the sheepfold is just the size of the shepherd, who became the door by lying across the opening at night, thus risking his own life to protect the sheep from any predators.

Megan exits the reconstructed tomb.

Lisa, Megan, and Frank Sr. learn the intricacies of grape squishing.  For instance, no shoes were worn while treading grapes, or else the seeds would be crushed making the wine bitter.

In contrast, while harvesting olives, it is ideal to crush the seeds, because that is where much of the oil is found.  Hus-hus the donkey demonstrated the use of animal power to crush olives.    

A weighted press illustrated the great pressure which would squeeze the oil out of the mash, and we were reminded of the great weight which the Savior took upon himself on our behalf in Gethsemane.  We learned that the first-pressed oil was used for anointing, the second was for cooking, and the last pressing was for cosmetics and fuel. 

A carpenter would have also had the skills of constructing with stone. 

Grandma Fillmore keeps Lisa warm while our guide explains ancient dyeing and weaving techniques.

In this replica of a synagogue, stone walls and columns support a wooden roof and enclose a central rectangular area lined with stone benches.

In this view of the synagogue entrance you can see a Torah scroll on a wooden platform.  The synagogue was a place where the Torah was read and discussed, such as when Jesus entered into a synagogue in Nazareth, read Isaiah 61:1-2, and declared, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21).  His message was not well received, and the listeners wanted to throw Jesus from a cliff, of which Nazareth has many.  

But we were a good audience and gave our Nazareth Village tour guide a round of applause.  

As dusk fell, we drove to the city center and hurried to the Basilica of the Annunciation.

We arrived just before the 5 pm mass in Arabic, so we quickly walked through the lower level...

and then took our time enjoying the upper level.

On the left was a beautiful Christmas display.  In the center, the floor opened up to a view of the church below. 

The octagonal walls were covered with murals from around the world  honoring Mary in a variety of artistic styles.  On the left is the mural from Japan, and above is the mural from the U.S.A.  Then we returned to the narrow city streets and drove down to Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, where we spend a comfortable night.

The next morning, we drove clockwise around the Sea of Galilee to the Church of the Beatitudes.

(Thanks to Chad Emmett for permitting us to borrow some of his wonderful photos.  Besides having an excellent camera, Brother Emmett is also quoted in the Nazareth Village display.)  The Church of the Beatitudes.  This is a beautiful site for contemplating the Savior's discourse on the kind of people we should become, striving for the purest motives as well as actions.

Mural

BYU Students have painted murals at several local venues, including the Princess Basma Hospital for disabled children, but this past semester the administration wanted to have a mural on our own playground wall.  I was asked to help Amy Faust lead the committee of talented students such as Rachel Reese, Jamie Price, Ally Mocan, Kylie Jones, and others who sketched ideas for the 200 yard-long mural. 

Above, Emily, Sabrina, and Amanda enjoy climbing and sliding at the playground.

The final plan consisted of 4 arches framing 4 scenes: an olive tree and view of the city as seen from the Jerusalem Center, an underwater aquascape reminiscent of snorkeling in Eilat, an open air market similar to those found in the old city or the shuk, and Egypt. 

 I was assigned to work on the arches and the city silhouette.  This is the view from our balcony, so you can see that the imitation could never match up to the original:

Our excellent maintenance staff bought paints, brushes, and a huge roll of cardboard to protect the rubber surface of the playground.  This worked really well during the dry November weather, but not so great during the windy rainstorms of December.

The kids drew on the wall with pencil before the mural covered all their scribbles.  We fit in one painting session before the students went to Galilee, and everything went smoothly, excep that we ran out of the "Maple Pecan" paint for the arches.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get more immediately because it was after 3 pm on a Friday, and the paint stores were closed.  But it was good to make some progress.

 Heather Benefiel, me, Lisa, Aly Seifert, Lexi Goates, Amy Carsten, and Jocelynn Maughan lent a helping hand.  Only two shirts were ruined in the making of this photo.  Below is the beginning of the cityscape and the original arches. 

The next painting session was ten days later around Thanksgiving, however the new cans of "Maple Pecan" didn't match the previous one, so we ended up painting over the arches we had done before and redoing the "Herodian stone" edges.

Below, Jamie Price sketches her adorable fishy scene.  Jamie is studying medical illustration, but the others are majoring in fields other than art.  And all sacrificed study time (or city time, or sleep time) to work on this project.

Ally Mocan filled a last-minute vacancy with her wonderful Egypt landscape. 

More helpers fill in fine details: Megan, Amy Faust, Lisa Compton, Carrie, and Tashara Muhlestein. 

 Caitlin Clark helped straighten out our final arches.  The arches were described with a pencil taped to a jumprope.

McKell Jesperson, Rachel Reese, and Lisa work on the shuk scene.  My kids begged to help, and the older ones were graciously allowed to use the "grown-up paint."

Tahna Black and Ally Mocan progressed quickly on Egypt.  Great teamwork! 

B.J. "Jack Sparrow" Muhlestein helped paint around the light in the background.  

   

Cherysh Hubbard, Sabrina Muhlestein, Amanda, and Jamie Price bring the sea to life.

 The Judd and Muhlestein children added their handprints to the grass under the cityscape

.Progress continues on the Shuk and Egypt as well.

Some wet days slowed the project, but the accompanying clouds brought new beauty to the real cityscape.

 As the end of the semester drew near, the mural moved closer to completion.

Working around the clock, and determined to finish before they got on the plane, Justin Haslem, Austin Ko, Jamie Price, Cherysh Hubbard, and Amy Carsten finalized the mural just in time.  I wish I had a Zane-quality camera to show off the student's marvelous paintings!

So lifelike, you wish you could reach out and pick a pomegranate!

What would Egypt be without a cat?

It was hard to watch our first group of students leave. They will always hold a special place in our hearts, and I am so grateful I had this opportunity to work on an amazing project with them. Our kids and the future children of the BYU Jerusalem Center will enjoy their artwork for years to come.