Merry Christmas 2012

The McCown's wish you a Merry Christmas!

And a belated Happy Halloween!

We're back!

Monday morning our family caught a noon flight from Athens back to Little Rock. Unfortunately we didn't actually arrive in Little Rock until 3:30 am due to equipment failure and other issues on our connecting flight. I estimated that the total trip was 27 hours from door to door! On a good note, when we got home and walked in the door, we were greeted with a "Welcome Home!" sign that our friends had made, and our frig was full of food. We have some great friends!

After a very busy summer lugging our kids across three continents, Becky and I were certainly ready to be home. At the same time it was sad saying goodbye to our time in Greece. Living and traveling with 32 college students was an extraordinary way to spend the summer, and we will certainly miss the students and the daily interaction we shared at the Artemis. The boys are sure to miss the swimming pool and all the attention they received from the students. I'm thankful we’ll get to continue seeing many of the college students in a few weeks when the fall semester starts back up.



We wrapped up the summer semester with a ton of class days followed by final exams. Becky’s composition course seemed to go well. To the chagrin of my students, we covered every chapter in Part 1 of McRay’s Paul book in the Bible course I taught. I learned an incredible amount of information about Paul and how the gospel of Christ was spread across Asia and Europe in those decades following Jesus’ death and resurrection.

My Speech Comm course also was a positive learning experience for me, and the final week was mainly students giving persuasive speeches. One student did so well that he made me re-evaluate my stance on teaching kids about Santa Clause!

Teaching these courses outside my discipline was challenging, but I found that I enjoyed teaching them about as much as I enjoy teaching CS courses. The great thing about being a professor is that you always get to keep learning new and interesting stuff.

The final week at the Artemis also included a Toga party to celebrate the end of the summer. All the students, the directors, and even my family received humorous awards. I think the best one went to Ethan: Most Likely to Dress Up Like Spider-Man to Chapel.



About twelve of us also took a day trip to the Corinth Canal where we bungee jumped off one of the bridges. It was the first time any of us had bungee jumped, and it was a great place to do it for the first time. A few of us (me included) actually hit the water below!



On a closing note, Becky and I were very appreciative of Mike and Beth who were very supportive of our family. They are excellent directors, and you can tell the students absolutely love them.

Trip to Israel

We're back from our trip to Israel. This is the last of the big trips we'll be taking this summer (the previous ones have been to the Peloponnese, Egypt, and a Mediterranean cruise). I've enjoyed all the trips, but this is the one I have looked forward to the most.

Our guide Yossi was kind enough to provide us a summary of all the sights which I've included (with some editing) below. A typical day involved getting on the bus at 8:30 am and returning around 6:30 pm. It's amazing how much you can see when touring hard for 10 hours a day for 9 days!

We started our tour of the Holy Land in Jerusalem where, and as Yossi noted, all the ingredients were present for a "fire"; all that is needed is for someone to strike a match. We ended 9 days later in the capital Tel Aviv for a very short night where we caught a flight back to Greece at 7 am.

The boys did great (it's amazing what a sucker can do for morale ). Braden spent a lot of time on my back, but he rarely complained and often fell asleep, even in 100 degree heat!

Day 1: Fly from Athens to Tel Aviv and bus to Jerusalem

Day 2: Jerusalem

• The old city of Jerusalem: the Dung Gate, Temple Mount - El Aqsa facade, Mosque of Omar - Dome of the Rock, Via Dolorosa: St. Ann, Bethesda Pool, the Austrian Hospis - general view of the Old City
• The Ethiopian village (on the roof of the Holy Sepulcher), the Ethiopian Chapels, Church of the Holy Sepulchre: Mount Golgotha, the Armenian Chapel, the Roman quarry, the Holy Sepulchre, tomb of Joseph of Aramithea
  
• Garden Tomb
  
• Mount of Olives: panoramic view of the Old City, the Jewish cemetery, Getsemane: Church of Agony and the Garden of The ancient Olives
• The underground Church of Mary's Tomb
• The Western Wall, the Western Wall tunnels, the Damascus Gate

Outside the Dome of the Rock

Day 3: Judean Lowland (shefela)

• Beth Guvrin (house of the Nephilim): the Columbarium cave, the cisterns cave, the underground oil press, the Sidonian ornated tomb (Cerberus)
• Elah Valley - David against Goliath, archeological site of Beth Shemesh (house of the sun)- the monumental building, view of the Sorek Valley
• Birthday party at the underground crusader passage in the Sorek winery
• Emmaus: meet Anton - the Jewish-Catholic monk, visit the Byzantine Church, the Mosaic room
• Neve Shalom: walk along the Emmaus Road to the Dome of Silence (where we sang and got kicked out )

Yossi playing his flute in the caves of Beth Guvrin

Day 4: from Bethlehem to Wadi Qelt

• Bethlehem: Shepherds' Fields, Basilica of Nativity, Grotto of Nativity
• Israel Museum: scale model of Herodian Jerusalem, Shrine of the Book, the archeological department - the best exhibition of biblical archeology in the world
• Shopping at the Old City Market
• Last view of the Golden Dome from Mount Scopus and to toward the desert
• Wilderness of Judea: afternoon walk along the cliffs of Wadi Qelt, view of monastery of St. George and the Jordan Valley

Next to the scale model of first century Jerusalem

Day 5: the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea

• Nabi Musa: a desert walk in the Judan Wilderness high plain through the Bitumen quarries and the Muslim cemetery to the cloister of prophet Moses' tomb, visit the Aiubic Khan
• Qumran, home of the Essenes, finding place of the Dead Sea Scrolls
• Bathing in the Dead Sea at Kalia Beach
• Visit the Ahava factory in Mizpe Shalem
• Swim in oasis of Ein Gedi: walk between the Acacia trees and Apples of Sodom to the upper pools of David's stream
• Masada: the museum of the Ostraca (named clay pieces) and the reconstructed Roman camp
• Mount Sodom: sunset hike down the eastern sloops of the mountain, birthday on the flower button, panoramic view of the southern basin of the Dead Sea, the salt shafts

Floating in the Dead Sea which is 1/3 salt

Day 6: the Jordan Valley to the Sea of Galilee

• Oasis of Jericho: Tel-es Sultan, Jericho excavations, the oldest city in the world, view Mount Temptation and monastery of the Qarantal
• Drive along the Jordan Valley to Harod Springs: story of the selection of the 300 warriors by Gideon and refreshing in the Roman pools of the spring
• Beth Shean: the Roman theater, the public bath house, the cardo and the Dionysus capital
• Drive across the Jezreel Valley to Beth Shearim, the underground necropolis: Cave of the Coffins, the candelabra relief, coffin of the lions, the ancient glass museum
  

The springs where God separated 300 men for Gideon to use to defeat the Midianites

Day 7: Golan Heights and Upper Galilee

• Drive across upper Jordan river to the Valley of Bethsaida
• Minefields of Golan Heights up to volcanic crater of Mount Bental: panoramic view of Mount Hermon and the Damascus Valley
• Drive through Druze villages of Bukata and Masaade
  
• Banias Nature Reserve: Hermon Springs, Cave of Pan, the Hellenistic cult center, walk along Banias River to Caesarea Philippi, palace of Salome, city of Agripas II
• Drive through Hula Valley to Mount of Beatitudes: walk down the mountain on the Roman country road to the Byzantine area, Sermon on the Mount, view of Tabgha Valley
• The hidden cascade and swimming in the Sea of Galilee
• Evening walk on the Tiberias promenade to the sound & lights show

Standing by the Sea of Galilee

Day 8: Lower Galilee and the Sea of Galilee

• Drive via Cana in Galilee to Nazareth: Sunday service at the Church of Christ of Nazareth, Church of Annunciation - Grotto of Annunciation, the Byzantine rotonda, upper basilica, the biblical village
• North-western shores of the Sea of Galilee: St. Peter's fish on the shores of Capernaum
• Gennesaret: Jesus boat museum, boat ride to Tabgha Valley
• Capernaum: St. Peter's house, Jesus' Synagogue

Eating Peter's fish on shores of Capernaum

Day 9: Jezreel Valley, Mount Carmel and the Mediterranean Coast

• Mount Precipice, Nazareth Village
• Megiddo - the ancient city of King Solomon: the Solomonian gate, panoramic view of Valley of Armageddon, the Canaanite altar, the underground water system
• Drive up Mt. Carmel to the Muhraka where Elijah the prophet fought the prophets of Ba'al
• Caesarea Maritima: the Roman theater, the Herodian villa, the Herodian pool, the ancient port
• Drive through Sharon Valley to Tel Aviv; evening tour in Old Jaffa: house of Simon the Tanner, Gate of Faith
  

Standing on Mt. Precipice where people of Nazareth may have tried to push Jesus to his death

Greek cruisin'

On Monday morning, June 20, the HUG group boarded the Calypso cruise ship in Athens and set sail for a four-night cruise around the Mediterranean. Dr. Cliff and Mrs. Louise Ganus accompanied us on the trip which made the trip even more special for all of us. (Chancellor Ganus is a former president of Harding University).

Our first stop was in Mykonos, a small Greek island where the buildings are painted white twice a month. We mainly just walked around and enjoyed the beauty of the island and did some shopping.


The next day we sailed to Kusadasi, Turkey, early in the morning and toured Ephesus where Paul once roamed and established a church. The ruins were in much better shape than what we had seen weeks ago in Corinth. It was especially neat to sit in the theater where people had shouted "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" for two hours, an event initiated by those who profited on the worship of Artemis and saw Paul's teachings of Jesus as a threat (Acts 19:23-41).



In the afternoon we sailed to the island of Patmos where there the Apostle John had been exiled and where he wrote the book of Revelations. We visited the Monastery of John the Evangelist and the Grotto of the Revelation. We ate dinner with the Ganuses that evening and got to know them much better.

The next day was spent in Rhodes where we swam at a beautiful (although very rocky) beach in the morning that was near where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood. After lunch and naps, we visited the old part of the town where we found a playground for the boys to burn some energy. Ethan made friends with a Greek boy, and the two of them played ball for a while.



On Thurs morning we arrived in Crete and toured the Minoan Palace of Knossos, home of the legendary Minotaur.

In the afternoon we sailed to beautiful Santorini for a very quick trip. Becky and Ethan rode a donkey up the long path (599 steps) to the top of the island as did all of the HUG students. Braden and I took a cable car to the top along with the Ganuses and Steven. We walked around and admired the beauty of the island and did a little shopping. Note to self: Great place for an anniversary some day. We arrived back in Athens early the next morning.



We really enjoyed the cruise. The boys loved sleeping in their own bunk bed on the cruise ship and eating hot dogs and jello for lunch. They also were the center of attention since they were the youngest kids on the cruise... the cruise staff were constantly smiling at them and playing with them.



We are now back at the Artemis and are on the second half of our trip. We've got a few weeks straight of classes and one big trip to Israel coming up.

Braden sleeping

It's Father's Day, and Braden's gift to me was a 5:45 wake-up call so we could watch the sun rise together. It's hard to believe that a kid who so easily falls asleep could be the same the kid who wakes me up way too early on most mornings. Just for fun, I thought I'd compile all my photos of a sleeping Braden while we've been overseas. Enjoy.



He was sleeping so well that I left him in the baby carrier.


Historic ruins? Boring!
(Photo by Mike James)


Sometimes Braden falls asleep while eating and twirling his hair.




Not quite asleep, but a cute pic.

Braden: From 1 to 12 months

My youngest is one today. Just like our oldest son, we took pictures of Braden next to marshmallows every month so you could see how he grows. I'm a little biased, but this guy is one cute kid!

Month 1



Month 2



Month 3



Month 4



Month 5



Month 6


Month 7


Month 8


Month 9


Month 10


Month 11


Month 12


Getting these photos was not easy. Here are a few out-takes:

Merry Christmas from the McCown's

The McCown's wish you a very Merry Christmas. May God bless your holidays.


Photo by Stacy Schoen