Nawroz!

The day they wait for all year finally came...NAWROZ! Spring is here! The Kurds take their picnics VERY seriously! We had to get up at 6 am and get dressed up. We had to prepare the food the night before and some more preparations the morning of! Hawser is helping Tim figure out his jili kurdi!

The men dressed in their best...we stopped to take a picture on our way up the mountain pass! After this the road turned and went up a steep mountain with a dozen hair pin turns. Craziest road ever...packed with other picnickers and tons of people breaking down on the side of the road.

This is half of the picnic gang!

Sukrany, Hawser's mom, is one of the most striking women I have met. All in one glance she is old and young, beautiful and gracious. She bent down and picked this first spring flower for Toby. The looks on their faces were priceless to me!

BLING!

Lookin' good.

When one does not have a mirror in the car...one has to use the camera on their IPOD touch to fix one's make-up! I love you Carol!!

Sittin' round the dolma pot...notice the red head next to me...she is FULLY Kurdish! I love that there are random Kurds that are lighter than us! The dead give away that she was a Kurdish kid though, was that all her front teeth were black and rotten. yikes.

All 3 of these girls are beautiful in different ways...I love the expression on their tender faces.

Hawser and Jesse playing baseball

Mohammed, Hawser's dad, and Tim. This man is kind hearted and generous. He loves to talk and is a well-educated man. We can't wait to see what happens when the Father gets ahold of his heart! Who wouldn't want to picnic with this family...especially with this setting as the backdrop!

Who would have thought I would ever like gold and bling...but I actually LOVE this jili kurdi!

dancin'...i love the guy in the middle...he was having a great time!

Hawser and his parents and brother

I was trying to capture just a candid of this woman cutting up veggies for the salad...but her husband snuck in!

I LOVE this picture of Sukrany and her mom. They are so beautiful to me. I love how they are both standing poised with a hand on their hips and looking in opposite directions.

Tim and Hawser...notice the bandage on his hand. That is BEFORE we prayed for him. And after he ripped off the bandage and all movement to his hand was restored and all pain was gone! He was instantly healed! It was such an amazing moment!

Holly getting force fed some dolma! Love the look on Grandma's face as she crams some of her beloved dolma down Holly's throat!

Hawser and Jesse eating dolma together.

Sukrany again...do you see the stories and grace of age in the lines of her skin??

Tim and Toby...my Kurdish men!

Let's not forget to gather round the bonfire afterwards.

Just when we thought we could not take one more minute of picnicking...they pull off the side of the road on the way home and whip out the grill and kabobs...one last meal outside! They seriously cooked kabobs for all of us in 10 minutes or less. It was freezing by this time, but so tasty!

Even in all their bling...they are ready to squat on the side of the road and cook and work with such ease and agility! I am always amazed by this quality in the Kurdish women. They are so beautiful!

It was such a fun day...a REALLY LONG day...but so wonderful! The highlight was Hawser getting healed of course! We can't wait to see what the rest of the family will have to say about that!