Life Changes: A New Country & A New Baby Coming!

The fragrance of jasmine graces the walk to my new apartment and ripe pomegranates hang over my backyard's wall. I hear the call to prayer, relishing the dry autumnal breezes coming through my open windows. We are definitely not in Virginia anymore! It's been one week since we arrived in Jerusalem, and months since this journey began.

Steve's dissertation topic is on Christian/Muslim relations in medieval Palestine, and he'd been talking about the idea of overseas research for years. But it wasn't until last winter that the idea started to become a very real possibility, as he applied for a fellowship that would allow him to research and write at Tantur Ecumenical Institute on the outskirts of Jerusalem. If he was accepted, his plan was for us to leave in January 2019 and stay for 5 months.

Around the time that Steve was sending off his application, I received the exciting news that I was now expecting our fifth child. Welcoming Miriam to our family in 2016 had been such a pivotal and joyful occasion for all 5 of us, and we hoped that having another baby would give us that special experience one more time. We also looked ahead to the not-too-far future when all 3 of the "big kids" would be out of the house, leaving Miriam behind as an only child, and realized we wanted a sibling for her who would be present for her growing up.

My early pregnancy was fabulous and winter raced by as we looked ahead to some huge Spring consignment sales in which we wanted to sell baby clothes, toys and books, all in the anticipation that we *might* be moving soon. In April we received word that Steve had the honor of being granted the fellowship, and thus we'd all be moving to Israel. The baby's due date of October gave us pause for thought, though, and after discussing how difficult the Fall semester would be if we stayed 'til January, we decided to change our plans. Steve's new goal was a start date at Tantur of September 1. The only problem was that the 3 big kids and I had been denied entry into Israel at Jordan/Israel border crossings THREE times in the past, and we had no idea if getting visas for us would even be feasible this time around, given our history.

So began a 4-month whirlwind period of trying to get visas -- getting new passports, expediting those mid-process, asking Tantur to begin the visa application process as soon as possible, waiting to hear of any results, not knowing what was happening; preparing our home to be sold -- deciding on a realtor, massive decluttering, sorting, and packing, fixing things that needed fixing, installing new kitchen counters, painting all the walls and much of the trim, opening the house to showings and then deciding on a buyer, fixing more things they wanted fixed, and then fixing MORE things the homeowners' association wanted fixed; and trying to help the kids transition from their almost-7 years of life in the DC area to the concept of living in a new country, all while pregnant and dealing with new insurance issues regarding care providers.

Packing up to put our stuff in storage

It was a trying time, to say the least. Naomi was involved with a new drama group, which she loved and hated the thought of saying goodbye to. She'd made a few new special friends, including one she went to prom with, and was NOT happy with us for "tearing her away" from them all. The boys were excited at the prospect of living abroad again, but Ethan was sad about leaving our house, our trampoline and our neighborhood. We all grew very tired of living in a state of upheaval, with piles of stuff being sorted and boxes and a seemingly endless to-do list. In the background of it all, we were anxious about our visa status, and often wondered if we were being foolish to move ahead with things like selling our house when the future was still so uncertain.

Visiting the African-American History Museum

One of many trips to see DC memorials!

Our house went on the market by June 15, and in less than a week, we'd signed a contract with a prospective buyer. This was really happening! The end of June was an overwhelming, but fun, combination of Naomi's final dress rehearsals, Naomi getting her driving learner's permit, 7 shows of "Music Man Jr.," my sister and her kids visiting from California, Naomi turning 16 and taking a trip to New York City with her aunt, and continuing to both work on the house and make the most of our last days in the DC area. It seemed like we did more museum visits and field trips in June, July and August than we'd done in the last few years combined!

Naomi and my sister touring NYC

On July 29, friends helped load a moving truck we rented, and on July 30 we moved out of the home we'd owned and lived in for 5 years -- the longest in my and the kids' lives. Steve's parents, who live 3 hours away from DC, graciously welcomed us into their house, offering us not only bedrooms for each of us, but also attic, garage and basement space in which to store our furniture and boxed belongings. We still had no word on visas.

Saying goodbye to our home of 5 years

My parents flew from CA and we drove from VA to visit my brother's family in Wisconsin

August included an ill-fated family camping trip, multiple trips to DC for medical and school purposes, a great road trip to Wisconsin and Illinois to visit with family and friends, some down time in between traveling (though this was a mixed bag of relaxing and finishing/starting homeschool since we'd taken so much time off preparing for the move), and ended with still no definitive word from our contact in Jerusalem as to our visa status. We'd already booked some plane tickets (though not all) and were really growing desperate to get plans finalized, especially as my due date of October 17 grew closer and closer.

Swimming in the Chesapeake on our camping trip

Visiting with my parents in Wisconsin

Finally on September 4, we walked into the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC to apply for visas in person. We'd driven up the day before and stayed with friends. We arrived at the embassy that Tuesday morning, nervous but hopeful, and in an amazing turn of events, walked back out in less than an hour (that had included no questioning) with our visas -- six one-year, multiple entry, student and student-family visas glued into our passports. We were SO happy!!!

Celebrating visas with milkshakes in Georgeotown!

With a departure date of September 9, we began one last whirlwind push -- this time to actually get here! We had to buy our remaining plane tickets (which were now triple what they'd been 2 weeks earlier), do our last packing up (hours and hours of final sorting and weighing to make sure the most important things were coming but would fit within Air France's limits), give Naomi as much driving practice time as we could, and say final goodbyes. In that time span, we also found out the sad news that Steve's mom's cancer had come back and that she'd be facing radiation right after we left. It was an emotional week.

Preparing to leave the US at Dulles in DC

The first leg: DC to Paris

By the evening of September 10, we were not only in Israel, but had arrived at Tantur itself and were being greeted by the many residents who will be our neighbors for the next 3-9 months. (We're here for 9, but some are leaving in 3.) I'm now 36 weeks pregnant, and hoping that all will go smoothly with labor and delivery at a nearby hospital in Bethlehem. I'm grateful to have next-door neighbors who are also moms and who can help me in this first-time-ever adventure of giving birth abroad. It's hard to put into words how thankful we are that, despite the roller coaster of emotions and the intense stress and anxiety we were under for months, everything worked out as well as it did, with selling our house and being able to store our things and the kids having many chances to say significant goodbyes and finally getting here with visas in hand. The year of 2018 will forever be remembered as one of the most change-filled years in our lives!!

At the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Our new home: Tantur Ecumenical Institute