Jerusalem

Hello My Dear Friends and Family. I have yet to catch up on my blog. I need to finish recording the last month of our families stay in Hawaii. It was the best month ever, and to prove it, I had no time to blog. Too many nights, staying up with friends on the porch, drinking Samoan cocoa, and talking story (as they would say). Since my only time of day to blog was at night, my social life took over. The last month there was magical. To list a few things, Sam's fire knife dancing in the Laie Talent show, Ellie and Jayne dancing in the Tahitian Festival at the PCC, Jake turning Samoan, the greatest farewell luau ever. I am flooded with emotion when I think of these incredible memories. It was extraordinary (the best word I can think of). We are missing our family there in Laie- the Galeai family and all their extend family who adopted us, the Hughes family, the Johanson family, the Weeks family, the Harp family, and many more. When Seth and I arrived on the mainland, two days later we left our kids and flew to Seattle to put our house on the market to sell. We skyped with the kids the next day and Jake kept asking to "go home." He didn't mean Seattle, he meant Hawaii. It was such a short time of our lives, but it became our home. It was not without its challenges or stress free, but it grounded us to the importances of our family and the gospel.

Two days after landing in Utah, Seth was able to contact the hospital in Israel, Haddassah Medical, and make an appointment with the ALS doctor who is running the stem cell therapy trial. No short of a miracle, since we had been trying for 5 months to get through to them to make something move forward. The appointment was scheduled for Sept 3. This threw into motion our trip to Jerusalem.

The last month in Utah has been filled with ups and downs. The highlights have been the time being able to connect with family and close friends. The kids have been extremely happy to be with their grandparents and cousins. A huge thanks to Grandparents,  Aunts, and Uncles who have extended themselves and their families to our children. With this distraction, they were barely aware of the stress of us trying to sell our house, not knowing where we are going to live, Seth and I preparing to travel to Israel, and all the extra stuff. It's not they were unaware, just that they were supported.

So yesterday morning Seth and I left on our adventure/quest to Israel. We've come to get information about the ALS stem cell trial in hopes to be a part of it. We know the trial is already full, but for months we have felt prompted to try and be a part of it. But as I have learned before, sometimes we don't see the reason we are sent to certain places or to certain people. It may be that we will never be a part of this specific trial, but there will be some sort of connection that will lead us elsewhere. I can't seem to guess the Lord and His plans for us. :)

Steph, Seth's sister-in-law, has a brother-in-law, Greg Gerritsen, who works for the airlines. He gave us buddy passes to fly to Israel, saving us thousands of dollars. The trick was, flying standby. I was nervous about it. Especially because travel wears on Seth quickly. He doesn't sleep well on planes and its very tiring to anyone.

We landed in Tel Aviv at 4pm, were able to, finally, confirm our hotel by phone, and jumped on a train to Tel Aviv where we transferred to the train to Jerusalem. Here's the email I wrote from the train-

Photo From the Dirty window of the train.

"Not sure how to communicate with everyone, so I will send out an email. Right now Seth and I are taking the train into Jerusalem. We are staying at the Haddassah Medical Hotel, at least until Monday. Not sure how the accommodation will be? We were so blessed to make all 3 of our flights. We even caught the earlier flight from Houston to Newark, which was so great to be there without worrying about making our flight or not. Seth and I were the last two put on the plane and then Seth ticket was double booked, but there was one more seat and he sat there. We were able to have the isle seats to ourselves, 3 seats together, on the flight to Tel Aviv. I slept both the first two flights, the entire way. I think I was tired. Then Seth and I took turns laying down and sleeping on the bench on the 11 hour flight over seas. It worked out great. Seth was told the best way in to Jerusalem was the train. Hmmm, I think if you know Hebrew and the train system, that true. But since we know neither, maybe not. But we are making our way and always an adventure. Seth is deliriously tired sitting next to me and I am dazed as I watch the sunset on the bland landscape of the Israel countryside through a very dirty window.  And yet I feel so grateful to be here. I am hoping some of my memory returns of the many incredible places we visited 16 years ago. Seth and I laughed about what we remember and what I couldn't remember. He has always had a better memory than I. I was nervous to come, only to because I was worried about disappointment of nothing being offered to us concerning the medical trial. But for sometime, starting when we got to Hawaii, we felt prompted to come here. Its not always easy to move forward without seeing the next step. Something I should be getting better at, but am not. We will see. I am grateful for all of your support. The last three weeks in Utah have been great to be with family, and yet have been stressful as we've had to make so many difficult decisions. Thanks for your patience with me. "

 From there we caught a cab to our hotel which adjoins Hadassah Medical Center. The cab driver asked us in broken English where were from. Seth told him Seattle. He struggled his shoulders, having no idea. Seth then told him, its just above California. Awe, says the cabby. Everyone knows where California is. We use to tell people this 16 years ago, so I had to laugh to myself. Yes, we live just above California.

We made it to the hospital's hotel in Ein Keren.  We checked in, ate at a little cafe, showered and fell into bed. I called the kids as I laid in bed and kept falling asleep as I talked to them. Yes, I was that tired. Seth said I hung up an began snoring. I guess I was tired. We slept a whole 9 hours, more than we've had in a long time. Grateful to be here safe and without any complications. Ready for our next adventure.