Emre carved his first jack-o-latern. All those years in art school really paid off! ;)

Pumpkins here are actually light green on the outside, but the same inside.

We had a Halloween party last night and was really fun! I was a witch and Emre was a devil, but lost his beard, so looks like a minibus driver!

Turkish Halloween party! Our friend Fusun was a nun and her husband the imam- definitely the hit of the party. (Halloween is apparently only celebrated in the U.S., but everyone got into the spirit here. My sister brought all the decorations and candy from home.)

Joann and Mike came to visit for a week. This is a shot of them in Sirince, a charming old Greek village near Ephesus. They were here during Bayram, a 3-day holiday at the end of Ramadan, so we had a few big family dinners too.

My sister and I at Ephesus. (2 pregnant ladies!) We had a crazy two-day tour of Troy, Assos, Ayvalik, Sirince, Ephesus, the house of mother Mary and St. John's basilica. It was great! Emre and I were so amazed by the new museum that just opened inside Efes where you can see the ancient mansions with gorgeous intact mosaics.

I got a new car! It's a 2005 Toyota Yaris- tiptronic with a 1 liter engine. TINY! It's great for driving in Istanbul. I like it because it feels pretty spacious inside and is a bit high up, but still easy to park. The hills and crazy traffic here are still challenging for me, but I'm getting used to it. Will be much easier to get around with the baby in the car, rather than the dolmus. (I'm not really showing much yet, but did have to buy some maternity pants to fit my belly.)

Cappadocia

We went to Cappadocia for a long weekend in October. Such an amazing place! This is a photo taken at night with the full moon.

We went there with Emre's cousin Asli and her husband Gunner, who were visiting from Germany, and Eda and Heiko. Each day we took a hike through the fantastic canyons. Ancient cities and churches, like this one, are carved into the rock formations and are barely detectable from the outside.

Anna came to visit in September and we went to dinner at 360, the most glamorous place we could find! It has amzing views of the Istanbul skyline. Our dutch friends Helen and Pieter are sitting across from me. We got the very cool round table! Brian and Maurice also came in September and we went to 360 with each of them.