We are on our last evening here in Amman and it truely has been the most amazing experience for us all. Jackson has been such a trooper and has captivated the hearts of everyone around him. All of the people here at Kings Academy now refer to him as their mascot. How wonderfully social my little man is and does not know a stranger. It's so neat to see how everyone we come in contact with are mezmerized by him.

To recap yesterday and today...here is what we have been doing....

The Kings Academy set us up with a driver for our trip yesterday to Petra. His name is Sam and he may have been one of the best parts of this trip. Being in the Middle East can bring a little bit of anxiety (at least for me)....there is just so much unknown and almost everything is in Arabic. Sam was a breath of fresh air and security. He took over from the beginning and told us all that we needed to know to navigate through the day. He told us what to do and what not to do. He stopped on the side of the road and got us some Turkish coffee on our way (he picked us up at 6 a.m.! And by the way, have you ever had Turkish coffee? Definatley an aquired taste, but it sure does do the trick!). Jackson and Sam hit it off right from the start and Sam made it his duty to protect us from any harm. What a blessing he was to us!

So Sam took us to Petra which is one of the seven wonders of the world. It was aweinspiring and breathtaking what these people did back in the early days of the Earth with just a chisel and a hammer. We had a tour guide named Ali and a small group who immediatley took a liking to Jackson (Ali even carried him for some of the walk down to the ruins).

It took us about an hour and a half to reach the low portion of Petra where we saw the Treasury which the NY Stock Exchange is modeled after. It's amazing how intricate the columns and architecture is. We decided that instead of walking the 3 or 4 KM back up that a camel would be the best way to get back up the mountain. So, that's just what we did. We rode a camel halfway up the mountain and a horse the other half. Jackson was in heaven and to tell you the truth it was quite a sureal moment...I think I said to Renzi at one point, "Holy crap. We are on a camel in the Middle East. How exactly did we get here?"

After we left Petra, Sam took us to a wonderful restaraunt where we were the only people there and had the most fabulous lunch of Jordanaian food...hummus, tabouli and chicken kabobs. Jackson had his first Fanta drink.

We got back from Petra about 5:30 p.m. (its a 3 hour drive from Amman), and we were all pooped. We ate a quick dinner, then headed to bed.

This morning we woke up and were asked to go with a group to Madaba, Mt. Nebo and downtown Amman. And guess who the driver was...SAM! Yay! We ate a great lunch in Madaba and visited a Greek Orthodox Church there with these beautiful Mosaics in the church that are very well known. I walked in and was immediatley overcome with emotion because I had a chance to light a candle for Isaiah there. I felt such peace doing that.

We then headed to Mt. Nebo which is where Moses stood and looked out at the land and said, "This is the land of milk and honey." He is also thought to to have been buried there. The view was a little hazy today, but still breathtaking and you could see the Dead Sea from one side of the mountain. We also had a chance to light a candle for Isaiah there and say a prayer as a family. I feel so incredibly lucky that we are able to light candles in these special places and remember our sweet baby boy.

We are now back at our place and are packing up for our early flight to Madrid in the morning. I am finally feeling a little more normal regarding the sleep issue, I think I had jet lag worse than anyone, so I am hoping it continues. We are 8 hours ahead of OKC time and Madrid is only one hour behind Jordan so it shouldn't affect us too much.

Thanks to everyone for the continued prayers for our safety and ask that you continue them for us. Know that we are praying for you all as well.

Viva Spain! :)

Lee Anne