Well it’s only a week late, but here’s a short video Cayla and I put together from our time wandering the streets together on New Year’s Eve.

Clustered parties lined one of our city’s main drags for the last 6 hours of 2011. I’m always surprised at how furiously Kurds will celebrate the holidays of others, and this was no exception. Their cultural new year isn’t until March, but thousands of people still partied, ate and danced the year away.

It was an excellent ending to an excellent year.

Check out this clip Lydia Bullock and I recently put together for a PLC donor!

Since most Kurds don’t actually know the month and day they were born, January 1st is a common fallback date.

That’s why Cayla and I celebrated two Kurdish birthdays last night. The first was with our good friend, Awara, and the other was at a neighbor’s house to celebrate their son turning nine.

Below are a few captioned photos from our neighbor’s house. It was so nice of them to include us!

Face paint to commemorate the occasion.

The birthday boy (pictured) was upset all night. He kept crying and hiding under blankets all night. Even the giant teddy bear couldn’t cheer him up.

Cayla bought Little Saywa a fancy decorative bowl from Turkey. She immediately filled it with ‘jelly’ and started slurping it down.

What can I say about being married to Cayla? I am a Shakespearean cliche; the most blessed, fortunate, silly man imaginable. Cayla has walked with (and even occasionally dragged) me into a deeper understanding of GOD and His call to live and love fully, and I can’t believe I get to be married to her.

Many of you contributed a lot to getting and keeping us married–thank you! The council and example of our families, and the encouragement we’ve received from friends along the way has been invaluable.

Praise GOD for his constant kindnesses to us. May He continue to use this gift of marriage to make us into the likeness of Jesus for years to come.