The Tummons iTimes

Armutlu Summer Program 2010

2010-08-11T17:15:00.003+03:00

In craft class the kids made masks one of the days!
English lessons
Berke and Beytullah learn some English in class
More English lessons

Mother/Daughter Retreat 2009

2009-07-15T19:46:00.003+03:00

Brianna and friends, Dove, Anna and Mindy enjoy our walk on the beach on the Black Sea near Şile.

Emirgan Park

2009-04-23T18:43:00.001+03:00

Like always, we went to Emirgan Park. It was the last day of the Tulip Festival. We had church and ate lunch at the park. We walked around the park to see the tulips. Other pictures are in the "Family Photo Album."

Austin's Activities

2009-04-23T18:39:00.001+03:00

Austin has been joining a soccer club near our house with his friends, Umut and Cengizhan.
He has been going on Sunday and/or Saturday depending on which day we have church. He has been also joining the school's baseball team. Which practices on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

Spring Break

2009-04-23T18:29:00.001+03:00

Over the kids' spring break we went to Bolu. Bolu is two-in-a-half hours out of Istanbul. We went to Bolu Termal Otel meaning Bolu Thermal Otel. They had a swimming pool and some thermal baths that we would go to during the day. We stayed at the hotel two nights. For other pictures visit "Family Photo Album".

Ashley's Birthday

2008-12-08T14:13:00.007+02:00

The birthday girl, Ashley, the Queen, sat on her royal, pretty, pink throne with a crown on her head, her pretty flowers behind her on the table.
Ashley invited 6 friends. The party was very international. There were 2 Americans, 2 Koreans, and 2 Turks that she invited to the party.

Ashley decided that she was the "Queen", her friends were the "princesses" and Ashley Thain, Brianna, Carissa and Austin were the "servants". They dressed up like princesses, put makeup on, painted their fingers and put on "patik" slippers. They had pizza and pink lemonade. Afterward, we opened presents and had chocolate cake with pink dye colored "Krem Santi". Then only the two Americans slept over at our house. The girls had a great time at Ashley's party.

Ashley's B-day Eve

2008-12-08T13:50:00.006+02:00

The night before Ashley's Birthday we bathed her then Gina started to braid her hair. In the morning...

her hair was curly and very wavy. This is a picture of her at breakfast with her mickey mouse pancake with her nice, pretty clothes on before going to school. Also with a "Special Plate" in front of her with her pancake on it.

Macedonian Trip to the Türks

2008-11-12T15:10:00.000+02:00

To see Türks in Macedonia was a culture shock for Brian and I, but it was a pleasure to serve the people through translation to improve their medical and economic situation. This is one of the favorite part of Gina's trip was talking to these young girls. They are all 18-20 years old, have only a 4th grade education, and are waiting to be married. In the meantime, they live with their families and help on the farm. They were so sweet and curious about us, and really open to talking. Please pray now for the Türks in Macedonia!

2008-11-12T15:03:00.000+02:00

Brian and Gina took a trip to Macedonia to help with translation work for a medical team. Brian also assisted with an agricultural project to help Türkish farmers begin to learn to care and raise sheep for income. Here is one of the shepherds and his wife.

2008-11-12T14:56:00.000+02:00

At a Turkish home in Macedonia, Gina helps a little girl, Sibel, walk with the help of her mother to see her new wheelchair. Many Türks left from the Osman Empire live scattered throughout parts of Eastern Europe. They are Türks according to culture, language and religion. The Türks in Macedonia live in small villages near or up in the mountains and live as farmers or growing tobacco.

Budapest, Hungary...

2008-09-05T18:28:00.000+03:00

We went to visit Hungary for Brian to celebrate his 20th year friendship with Richie. We had a great visit during our time in Hungary.

2008-09-05T18:24:00.000+03:00

We had seven days of fun with our friends who live in Budapest, Hungary. We toured around, went swimming and had a very nice vacation in Hungary with our friends Richie and Edit.

IN Sophia...

2008-09-05T18:14:00.000+03:00

ON our way to Hungary we stopped at Sophia in Bulgaria. We took a tour around the city visiting churches and other musuems. We had a fun time with our frineds who toured us around the city.

Yaz Program 2008- Armutlu

2008-08-23T17:23:00.000+03:00

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." When he placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
For the second year we were privileged to serve our community and the children living in Armutlu through a summer program. We provided sports, art, and English lessons to the children. The goal of our time with the neighborhood children was to show unconditional love as an incarnate witness of Jesus' love for all of us. Thanks to our teammates and the volunteers from Cornerstone Community Church in Iowa, for providing a time of love and fun for the children in our neighborhood. We pray it will provide 'open doors' to proclaim the name of Jesus to our neighbors. Thanks to the rest of you who provided prayers for our ministry in our neighborhood.
(If you go to the right side of our blog, click on "Family Photo Albums" and you can view more pictures)

Kalkan Vacation June 2008

2008-08-17T16:51:00.000+03:00

After school, we headed for the Mediterrean Sea in southern Turkey. We spent a week there and vacationed with another family, and we were accompanied by Gina's mom. This is the second year we went to Kalkan and we enjoyed many adventures there along with relaxing at our villa and swimming in our own outdoor pool. See our family photo album at the side, click on it to see more pictures from the photo gallery.

Turkish Folklore Festival- May

2008-08-17T16:39:00.000+03:00

Ashley gets ready to perform with her classmates in Çınarcık, Turkey. She had a great performance and we were very proud that a blond American girl could dance like a Türk.

2008-08-17T16:34:00.000+03:00

Ashley and her classmates perform in a Turkish folklore festival. They were honored by being picked to perform and all the kids and mothers had a fun experience together.

Mother-Daughter Retreat April 2008

2008-08-17T15:17:00.001+03:00

Gina and Carissa spent a weekend together in Şile, Turkey.

2008-08-14T17:15:00.001+03:00

Ashley, Maggie, Kaitlin, Carissa, Aubrey, and Victoria at the Black Sea for Passport 2 Purity Retreat.

Christmas in Uludağ

2008-03-31T20:02:00.001+03:00

We enjoyed some time in the mountains in Turkey. Ashley learned to ski this year while we skied with the kids. Grandma Sue enjoyed time in the lodge with her coffee and watching Ashley.

Black Sea family picture

2007-11-20T16:25:00.000+02:00

Last September, we took a trip to the Black Sea with our team. We welcomed our newest member to our team, Susan, Gina's mom.
Grandma Sue has been regularly watching the kids on Sundays to allow Gina to join the Turkish group we meet with in the afternoon.
She regularly sees Carissa and Austin at the same school and spends the weekend with us, and rides the service bus to the school with them.

Our 'outdoor' cats, Yeşim and Maviş

2007-11-20T16:16:00.000+02:00

Summer Program 2007- Armutlu

2007-08-06T19:20:00.000+03:00

View from our window

2007-07-18T18:49:00.000+03:00

Family Photo Albums

2007-02-13T15:25:00.000+02:00

We are now putting our family pictures on another website. It is very easy to access this website. Just click "Family Photo Album" under Links to the right and you will be taken to our new Web Albums page.

2006-11-11T20:17:00.000+02:00

To see more pictures of our American vacation click on the picture below:

American Vacation

Happy 7th Birthday, Austin!!

2006-06-04T13:32:00.000+03:00

We celebrated Austin's birthday with our neighbors and we
look forward to a party at the Tummons' farm as well.

Bosphorous Strait Day Trip

2006-06-04T13:12:00.000+03:00

Before, returning to America, we took a day trip with
Hakan and Eşay on a boat along the Bosphorous Strait and
then had a seafood and fish dinner. They are close friends
and valuable partners here in Turkey.

2006-06-04T13:11:00.000+03:00

Brian and I climbed a steep hill to see the entrance of
where the Bosphorous Strait meets the Black Sea.

2006-06-04T13:07:00.000+03:00

At the entrance to the Black Sea and the Bosphorous Strait
once stood this look out tower and castle. We were surprised
to see a cross posted on the castle, possible signifying the
Constantinople reign before the Sultans took over the city.

Cappadocia, the land of the once persecuted

2006-06-04T12:55:00.000+03:00

This is probably my favorite part of our trip as we explored the
underground caves. The caves were any where from 6 to 8 levels
deep, with passages to squat through and areas to climb up and
holding up to 10,000 people at a time.
I didn't like that part, but...if you look behind me you'll see a
huge stone they used to cover passages or rooms for protection
against enemies. It reminded me very much of the stone used
to cover the tomb of Jesus' grave.

2006-06-04T12:51:00.000+03:00

We got to see many of the small cave churches
scattered throughout the region. They were all
in one room with some art work done on the walls.
It really made me appreciate the freedom of religion
we have in America, and what we would like to see
in Turkey some day.

2006-06-04T12:48:00.000+03:00

The fun part of our trip is that we got to stay
in a pansion that used to be a cave house.
This is it...cool, huh!

2006-06-04T12:39:00.000+03:00

These cave houses lie in a valley throughout the central region
of Turkey. The cone-shaped tops on the rock formations are
due to erosion. The top layer is volcanic rock, and the area
around the caves were easily carved out due to the soft,
sandy rock below. The effect is due to a questionable number
of years of erosion.

2006-06-04T12:31:00.000+03:00

Gina took a trip to the town of Ürgüp in Turkey with her cousin,
Jodi Lambert and her friend, Candace, to explore the area where
persecuted Christians lived in caves build into the rocks and
underground during in about the 6th century A.D.

Happy Mother's Day

2006-06-04T12:26:00.000+03:00

We went on a picnic in a forest outside of Istanbul for
Mother's Day with our neighbors, Reyhan, Şenay, and Ali, and the kids.
It was a great get-away from the city for all of us.

2006-06-04T12:24:00.000+03:00

Carissa bought Gina some çay glasses with strawberries on
them and gold trim and with her own money.

2006-06-04T12:21:00.000+03:00

Brianna wrote Gina a poem in Türkish for Mother's Day, and
drew a picture.

Anneler Günü Kutlu Olsun!!

2006-06-04T12:08:00.000+03:00

At school, Ashley recites a poem in
Türkish about Mother's Day. She was able to
say it in front of about sixty other mothers.
Now...if that doesn't make a mother proud and
bring tears to her eyes...well, it did!

Emirgan Park Picnic and Tulips, Tulips, Tulips!!!!

2006-05-01T16:09:00.000+03:00

We found out the kids would not have school so
Şenay, Reyhan and I took the kids to the park
and enjoyed a picnic together.

2006-05-01T16:01:00.000+03:00

After our picnic, the kids had a tug-of-war match with the moms.
Pictured are Carissa, Beyza, Brianna, Rabia, Cengiz-Han, Austin,
Umut, Kaan, and Ashley.

2006-05-01T15:53:00.000+03:00

After the picnic, we enjoyed a walk and admired the tulips.
Carissa and her best friend, Beyza (since 2nd grade) had a
fun day together.

2006-05-01T15:43:00.000+03:00

Ashley shows off some of the tulips that grow in the park.
This year the Istanbul city planted millions of tulips all over the city.
By the beginning of May all the tulips are gone. Five years has made
a big difference in the beauty and pride of Istanbul and the people.

2006-05-01T15:35:00.000+03:00

During our walk in the park, we went by this large pond,
observed the fountain and watched the ducks.

2006-05-01T15:30:00.000+03:00

Emirgan Park is our favorite picnic spot, and has a beautiful
view of the Bosphorous Strait. It is also great for the kids to
play on the playground equipment (most schools do not have
playground equipment).

Traveling in Istanbul

2006-04-17T17:23:00.000+03:00

Every Wednesday, Gina "hops" on a ferry carrying passengers
only and travels to a friend's house for Bible study. It takes
at least an hour both ways to go by bus, boat and walking, or
longer if the traffic is bad. These boats carry 100s of 1ooos of
passengers each day, and they leave every ten minutes from the
Europe side to the Asia side of Istanbul.

2006-04-17T17:18:00.000+03:00

The Bosphorous divides the city of Istanbul and the continents
of Europe and Asia. There are two bridges such as this one that
takes traffice across the water, but our favorite way to travel is by
boat. The is the 'first' bridge, and we live further north where the
second bridge is.

Rabia's Birthday

2006-04-15T17:40:00.000+03:00

Our family spent the evening with Rabia and her family
to celebrate her birthday. Just some interesting information...
the Turks acknowledge the age of a person differently. For example,
Brianna and Rabia were born the same year in 1997, but Rabia
turned "10" because the she is finished with her 9th year of life,
but passing into her 10th year. In America, we would say she
turned nine years old.

Gina and Friends make 'Faith Bracelets"

2006-04-15T17:15:00.000+03:00

What a great day we had making our 'faith bracelets' as an opportunity to witness to our Turkish friends. These beads were sent to Gina courtesy of Polly Schoen, a friend from high school and college. We can use the beads to witness and tell about our spiritual journey with the Lord Jesus. Gina's friends are from her Bible study (left to right) Terri, Margaret, Lisa, Leesa (she hosted our party) and Jennifer. Thanks Polly! for your creativity and desire to serve us in a fun way!

Turkish Breakfast with Friends!!

2006-03-24T20:15:00.000+02:00

Gina has breakfast with her friends and neighbors: Şenay; Reyhan, her son, Kaan;
Leyla, her son, Selçuk; Türkan; Yeşim and Ashley. Usually we sit on the floor and have
cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, bread, eggs, and of course, çay. Afiyet Olsun!!

Sevgili Günü or Valentine's Day

2006-03-21T20:58:00.000+02:00

Gina celebrated Valentine's Day at Austin's school by helping the kids create a Valentine's letter for their parents. We spent the night before making sugar heart cookies and we shared them with the children's friends, teachers and neighbors.

2006-03-19T21:29:00.000+02:00

Austin's classmates proudly display their finished Valentine letters.

2006-03-19T21:25:00.000+02:00

Austin and classmates, Umut, Hatice and Ibrahim, start creating their Valentine letters for their parents.

Siberian Cold Front Brings Snow to Istanbul; School Closes for 8 days

2006-02-12T17:50:00.000+02:00

A snowstorm brings three days of snow to Istanbul with school closing for a whole week. And then, the following week brings more snow, school is closed again for three days. More fun for the Tummons kids and our neighbors that live in the apartments above us!

Our house in Karanfildere (it means "Clove River" and the river used to run where our van is parked) is blanketed in white snow!

2006-02-12T17:29:00.000+02:00

The view from our living room window. If you look, you'll notice that we live in the bottom of a valley. (See the mosque or camii at the top)

2006-02-12T17:25:00.000+02:00

A view from our living room window to the left.

Snow ! No school! No sleds or taboggans?...we can still have a blast!

2006-02-12T17:12:00.000+02:00

Brianna and Carissa slide down the hill opposite our house with an improvised sled made by our neighbor! What fun!

2006-02-12T17:04:00.000+02:00

There Ashley goes...and sledless, too.

2006-02-12T16:53:00.000+02:00

Austin has a collision and slides down without his plastic bucket!

2006-02-12T16:47:00.000+02:00

Austin, Umut, Cengiz-Han, and Kaan enjoy sliding in the snow together!

WE LEARNED TO SWIM!!!

2006-02-07T14:53:00.000+02:00

Ashley learns to swim by herself with floaties! Good job!

2006-02-07T14:50:00.000+02:00

Austin learns to swim on his own while vacationing in Antalya

2006-02-05T16:10:00.000+02:00

Three cute girls!

2006-01-29T23:57:00.000+02:00

Brian and Austin jogging on the beach

2006-01-29T23:55:00.000+02:00

Carissa, Brianna, and Ashley on the beach

2006-01-29T23:34:00.000+02:00

A veiw of the resort and sea.

2006-01-29T23:23:00.000+02:00

The mountains and Mediterranean Sea in Antalya.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2005-12-23T22:04:00.000+02:00

Merry Christmas from Istanbul

2005-12-23T21:54:00.000+02:00

Merry Christmas from Istanbul, Turkey. As we celebrate the miraculous birth of Jesus, we want to send you our "wish" list.

We "wish" that your holiday season is FILLED WITH:

generous giving-like God the Father lavishly gave to us

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

wonderful celebrations of the birth of our Savior-like the shepherds

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2:17-20

deep meditations on the coming of Emmanuel (literally "the with us God")-like Mary

unrestrained worship of the King-like the wise men

When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:10-11

meaningful fellowship with family and friends

We also “wish” that your holiday season is FREE FROM:

a focus on what you am going to get for Christmas

celebrations of the birth of iPod nano, XBox 360, and other hot Christmas items

disbelief that the Son of God could be born in a stable

putting yourself on the throne of your life

We are thankful that, even though we live in Turkey, we are able to pursue most of the positive aspects of Christmas and avoid most of the negative aspects of the Holiday. In fact, without all the usual distractions and craziness of the typical American holiday rush, we are left mostly with the humble "birth of Jesus" as our reason for the season. What a blessing! If only our family was here, we would have a perfect Christmas.

We will be celebrating Christmas Eve this year with a few friends. Then on Christmas day, we will spend the morning together as a family, the afternoon with our neighbors and the evening at a Turkish Church for a special Christmas service. We are looking forward to spending time with friends and enjoying a simple Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Tummons’

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Istanbul skyline with the famous Aya Sofia and Blue Mosque as seen from Taksim

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Ashley with a classmate, her abi (big brother) Austin, her principal Gulten, and her teacher Songul.

2005-12-17T14:32:00.000+02:00

Ashley with her daddy and her good friend Ali.

2005-12-17T14:28:00.000+02:00

Princess Ashley on her 4th birthday (12-5) at her preschool.

2005-12-04T19:57:00.000+02:00

At Gina's 40th Birthday Party

2005-12-03T18:26:00.000+02:00

The kids with our friend Turan

2005-12-03T18:10:00.000+02:00

Thanksgiving Dinner with our neighbors

2005-09-29T18:24:00.000+03:00

Carissa, Austin, and Brianna dressed in their uniforms and ready for their first day of school

2005-09-29T18:01:00.000+03:00

Ashley on her first day of school (with Mommy and Daddy)

2005-09-29T17:55:00.000+03:00

Our Home (the blue floor)

Beginning

2005-09-29T14:53:00.000+03:00

We got the blog up and running. Hope to be posting soon.