Israel Follow Up

Remember that amazing Arabic meal I mentioned?  See pictures below of the deliciousness. 

While we were in Tel Aviv we had an interesting homeless man come and join us on a park bench...not cool.   He kept trying to shake our hands and kiss them...yikes.  Each of my friends let him shake their hands...I was the only one smart enough to just say no. :)  

 As you can see, I am not impressed...

 A good shot of the wall that Israel continues to build around the West Bank...on their land no less.  

The Fountain of Youth-THE DEAD SEA

We went to the Dead Sea TWICE! We did two mud baths with the magic mud of the Dead Sea each time.  After the first trip I looked like I was 12 years old...following the second trip I now look like I'm 6 yrs old.  It possibly has been my favorite experience in Israel.  It was so therapeutic!  I can totally see why women pay outrageous amounts of money to go to spas and have mud baths.  I haven't enjoyed playing in the mud so much since that time as a kid when Lindy and I made mud pies and it took Mom hours to wash Lindy's mop of hair.  I think that all the Erickson and Berry women should take a trip to the Dead Sea for next year's girl outing...I'd definitely attend this outing!  Folks always comment on how young my Grandma and Mom look and I'm here to tell you the Dead Sea could keep those comments coming at least another 30 yrs (at least).  When I washed off the first layer of mud it felt like my legs had been freshly shaved (clearly I'm on vacation and so I hadn't shaved my legs all week), after washing off the second layer of mud it felt like my whole body had been lasered.  Pure bliss is the only real explanation of the Dead Sea that can begin to do it justice.  After the magic mud, we had ice cream for lunch (oh yes and I had a snickers ice cream bar for breakfast each morning...the perks of vacation).  Send me back!!! 

 The three Inca warrior women...you could have shot an arrow at me and it would have bounced off with the  layering job I did.  

 Who else agrees that I should submit this photo to the National Geographic?  I imagine if I lived in the time of Inca warriors I'd be one and this is how I'd prepare for battle.   

 We were so happy to bring LS on Dead Sea Day 2!  She may not love it as much as BE and I but we made sure she looked great!!  

Mama Berry thinks it is time for a new profile picture on the blog.  Maybe this should be in the running?  

 See we look like teenagers again, at least!  

Too Young For Kindergarten!

Averina is growing up way too fast!

Crepes Disaster

Yes I did this tonight...I blame the blender, luckily we had plenty of ingredients to make more. Not the best start to cooking gourmet crepes at someone's home...but the bright side is that the ones that actually made it on the pan turned out delicious (as always). Thanks to KW, JLS, IW, and HB for cleaning it up!

If Being Adorable Was A Competition...

Then my little ladies would win, hands down.

Love these girls!

Friday Night Feast At Leilee's

Friday night Leilee and her family hosted us for a fabulous feast. It was so wonderful. Her Dad is a master on the grill. Each dish was delicious and she made her amazing blueberry crumb cake (Lucy's favorite)! My photo only teases at how amazing the evening was. You should check out Leilee's food blog here. She is very talented.

The sweetest part of the evening was spending time with these wonderful folks: Pete, Leilee, Lucy, and Roy. My first team at HP and still my closest friends. I was very lucky to work with them for so long and miss them. You'll never find a manager better than Roy (we would all agree). It was so fun catching up and visiting about life, work, "meals", growing old, and the future. For as much as they all tease me for my Idaho accent and other things that will remain unmentioned, I think they are all pretty great! Thanks again Leilee for such a delightful evening!

The Greatest Grilled Cheese EVER

Tuesday we had a DB Dinner, DB chose the menu: Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, and salad. Now do you see why I love DB? A girl after my own heart! We will miss having her around, but my couch is always available for visits!

TB, marked mine with a J and look how well it turned out?

Golden, extra cheese, and my initial = Greatest Grilled Cheese Ever!

The Dead Sea-Sneak Peek

The Dead Sea, Jordan is on the other side of the sea. Britta, her Dad, and I went to the Dead Sea on a Wednesday and had a blast...we also left the camera in the car. We loved it so much that we went back on Friday, with LS and our cameras. The tragedy is that my camera died about 10 mins into being at the Dead Sea so for the awesome photos we'll have to wait until LS sends me the photos...so stay tuned for those.

PS: Driving a wheelchair is hard, especially one-handed. LS is a hero among mortals as I watch her successfully maneuver through just about every type of obstacle.

Tel Aviv-Joining 300 Protesters

The week before I left for Israel KM sat by me in RS and said: So are you excited to be with the 300 protesters next week? I looked at her blankly and said: What? In true KM fashion I got the eye look that says: You're kidding me, you don't know? I know, following the news is last on my list of things to do most days... Thanks to KM being much more versed in news than I, we were ready to join the 300 friendly protesters in Tel Aviv, protesting housing costs. Of course, we had to document it, if only for KM!

BE's friend Michael photographing for us...taking a classic shot of himself.

We are so adorable...

Housing conditions?

An argument...not surprising

Entering the protest...which was really just a huge amount of tents setup on a highly trafficked street in Tel Aviv, populated by hippies (I mean friendly protesters), their children, and of course their pets.

Among the locals...

See the tents? As we sat on a bench for awhile I became increasingly more nervous in my surroundings. Not because it was a violent protest but because the "living conditions" were a breeding ground for fleas and I was just sure that I was going to come home with fleas since they love my blood (not kidding folks, I am itching as I type...luckily I haven't found any bites on me thus far...). Yet the risk of another flea infestation was well worth the chance to document the news for KM! We heart you, KM.

The Crepe Cook-Off:The Israel Competition

BE had a brilliant idea that her Dad and I have a crepe cook-off (mostly so she, LS, and CR could enjoy the fruits of our labor) one evening.

The cooks

The masterminds and bias judges.

The golden crepe...it took me several crepes to get the pan just the right temperature but finally it was ready for judging. It is really hard to compete on foreign soil, without my own pan and spatula (it really does make all the difference).

The scoreboard and a crepe that I consumed immediately after this picture.

RE won (based on bias judging and one piece of criteria that isn't really in the control of the cook: whether you can get it in your mouth without making a mess, yeah right BE!) I will say however, RE's crepes are delicious. RE and I agree that we now need a cook-off on my home turf, to make it fair.

The proud winner (wearing ME's morning bonnet)