Sunday Sneak Peek

A sure sign that Spring is here!

Flowers picked by precious little hands in cup on the windowsill!

Cleats

Did you know that a good percentage of little boys and even teenagers wear cleats all the time?  Like, instead of wearing tennis shoes they wear cleats.  I guess they have to be ready for a match to start up at any moment.

I think its so weird!

Back in the olden days when I played soccer, next to my goalie gloves, my cleats were always the last thing I put on and the first thing I took off.  Those things are slippery on concrete and 99% of this place is just that (or asphalt).  Since there is a desperate lack of turf of any type here I can't figure out the need for them in the first place!

Max & Isaiah Day 1

Isaiah took this picture of Max.
It looks like he is waiting in line for his entry visa.

Max and Isaiah arrived safe and sound, with all baggage in tact on Tuesday late afternoon.  It was labor day here and much to our surprise, everyone must have been home sleeping because the roads were empty.  Justin and Noah went to pick them up and were back home in no time.

Hauling their stuff to the car.

It was so weird to open up the door and see Max and Isaiah on our turf!  My heart was just overwhelmed!  The kids were so excited to give them the tour of our flat.  After over 24 hours of travel they still seemed to be in good spirits.  They surprised us with an iPad that our sending church had so generously given us.

The kids admiring the iPad!

I had made a really mild dinner of chicken and rice with a salad just in case their bodies were revolting from all the travel.  We sat down and ate together, chatting our heads off!  I'm sure their heads were throbbing!  

After we finally got the kids calmed down and in bed, they settled in and unpacked a bit.  Isaiah had asked me for a list of anything we needed.  I sent him a list of some things that were strictly wants, and unbeknownst to me, he sent it out to the whole church!  So, they had 2 huge duffle bags full of stuff for us!!  They had Starburst jellybeans, Reese's peanut butter cups, cake mixes, brownie mixes, frosting, peanut butter, Velveeta cheese sauce, instant pudding, M & Ms, grits (although they exploded en route), hair de-tangling spray for the girls, deodorant, and sunscreen!  They were also gracious enough to bring some things that we had ordered like 20 pounds of books for the kids (no library here :( ), a camera lens, a birthday present for Noah, and some grain that I wanted to try out.  I am telling you what, it was so much stuff!  I was buried in it all!

After a lot more of the talk-y talk they finally pooped out on us and went to bed!  

I'll leave you with this video that Max took of Noah in the car on the way home...

Doing Stuff

Justin's in London for work.  He is meeting with a group that he leads, and they are discussing all sorts of business-y things.  (I am very technical!)  They have a big project that is in the developing and testing phase.  I'd appreciate your prayers for its success as well as his company's success.  He comes home Friday and we can't wait to have him back!

While he is gone I find that I have to start a project or two to keep from going crazy.  Last time he was gone I repainted our flat!  This time I've been too busy for such big projects.  School is ending in a few weeks, so the kids have been swamped with projects, performances, and other stuff that I end up having to fool with.  HA!  So, this week's projects have included buying and installing screens and buying and planting flowers.

The screens here are basically just the screen fabric held in place with a thin strip of velcro.  So, it wasn't all that hard to install them, just a little bit time consuming.  I am hoping that they really work well.  In the past summers we have had a real problem with mosquitos, flies, and bees.  I didn't think they flew up this high, but it turns out they do.  And when they do, they fly right into our open windows, drive us crazy, and the mosquitos bite us all night in our sleep!  Let's hope these screens are the solution to all that!

As for the flowers... even though I don't have a yard to landscape and flower beds to plant and tend, this time of year still gets my flower-planting juices flowing.  I've got some pots that I keep out on my balcony that I love to plant really colorful flowers in.  It's just a little bit of pretty amongst all this concrete, but it makes me happy!

We have a terrace that I'd love to plant some evergreens in really big pots and maybe start a vine with a trellis.  But, as renters (YUCK!!) it would be silly to invest that sort of time and money into something that isn't easily transferable.  So, the terrace will stay bare.

But, when I strike it rich, you can bet that my seaside villa is going to have some beautiful gardens!  I just may have to wait till I get to heaven for that!  HA!

Pop Goes the Weasel

What on earth am I going to do with this sassy little thing?  She is so funny!

Sunday Sneak Peek

See that white sheet hanging off the third story gas exhaust pipe?

Yeah... that's mine.  

My dryer was taking a rest, and I thought that hanging the sheets outside on my drying rack would be a good idea.  I learned my lesson!  The wind caught the fitted sheet and blew it away!  Luckily it only flew to the building next door!  

After realizing that there was no way we could retrieve it on our own (it was 30 feet in the air), we went over to that building several times trying to get it down.  The  people that live in the apartment where it was stuck were not home.  Finally, in the evening, they got home and Justin was able to get our sheet back!

Life... always an adventure!!

Gettin' Round To It

The funny thing about blogging is that when life is just going along like normal, it's hard for me to think of things to blog.  But when life's full of adventures, I'm too darn busy to blog!  HA!

We have had a full, but awesome 14 days.  So I am slowly going to try to recount it over the next few days.  Because this blog is like our family's scrapbook, I am going to backdate the posts a bit.  

I hope that you enjoy our adventures!

Sunday Sneak Peek

An alternate title for this one could be:

One of the Few Things Worth Waking Up at 4:30am For

Yep!  Pretty much the coolest thing EVER!!

The Next Day

Since kids typically spend the entire Children's Holiday wrapped up in hot costumes sitting around waiting for their 5 minute performance, the government decided to give the following day off, too.  That is the day to rest and recoup from another fabulous (albeit grueling) Children's Day Celebration!

The weather forecast called for perfect weather and I was itching to complete my unfinished list from winter break (day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4).  We had such big plans, but then the snow came.  Don't get me wrong!  We had so much fun playing in the snow.  But the unfinished list was haunting me.

So, the day after Children's Day we got up bright and early and headed out for a new adventure.  On the docket today was going to the top of one of Europe's tallest buildings, then lunch out, followed by a trip to our favorite park on the other side.  Too bad Justin had to work!!

My cuties 236 meters above our city

Yeah... this city is kinda big!

It's a LONG way down!!!

Noah holding his team's stadium in his hand.

My beautiful girls

We live way out over that way.

You can hardly tell, but we were able to see the entire Strait- from sea to sea.

She is too cute for words!

After we thoroughly examined the city we headed back down to the food court.  Praise the Lord (and I mean that!) there was a Papa John's pizza!  So, of course we noshed out on that yumminess!

The owner was so happy to see some cute little American kids
that he took them in the back and gave them a tour.

He emphasized the importance of fresh ingredients.
Now every time I try to give Noah some cut carrots he asks if
I soaked them in water to keep them fresh!

The day was going great until I got a bit lost trying to get to the park.  It didn't get much better once we arrived at the park and realized that every kid from that side of the city had also come to the park!

Looks fun, no?

See, I wasn't exaggerating!

Despite the park disappointment, it was a great day.  Really, Papa John's pizza covers a multitude of disappointments!  And the Sky Terrace was super cool!  Another fun adventure goes down in family history!

After Party

After a grueling day of folk dancing and beautiful costumes we went home to rest.  But, since it was the Children's Holiday, and although the big performance has its merits, it's not the funnest thing for kids, we decided to take the kids out to one of our favorite places.  It is a lovely government park/ nature preserve on top of one of the highest hills on this side.

We walked around and explored a bit.

Then we tried to find our building amongst the masses.

We watched the sun set as we waited for a table at the restaurant.

I still cannot believe that I live in this big city!!

After dinner we walked around one more time.

It really is a beautiful city!

Especially at night!

Our Cup Runneth Over

Yall, our pastors got here safe and sound!!  It was a very long journey for them but they made it!  We are so happy and blessed to have them here!  It is such an encouragement to have people from home see our lives, hear our stories, and share our world for a bit.  Not to mention the blessing of having them here to speak into our lives, remind us of the truth, and laugh with us.  Their visit has just started and I can already feel my spirits lifting!

Their presence was absolutely enough, but they also showered us with presents!!  They brought 2 huge bags full of the good 'ole American junk food that we LOVE!  HA!  They brought us cake mixes, brownie mixes, reese's peanut butter cups, Starburst Jellybeans, M & Ms, instant pudding, Reese's pieces, cookies, and peanut butter!!

Can you say YUM?!

They also brought things that are hard for us to get here like deodorant and good sunscreen.

As if that wasn't enough, our sweet church went over and above.  They gave us an iPad!!!  Can you believe their generosity?  I was in tears at their kindness.

We are so incredibly blessed to be part of such an incredible body of Christ.  They just give and give and give so generously to us.  Our cup truly runneth over!

23 Nisan

April 23rd is the big Children's Holiday.  School hardly gets started in September before classes start preparing for their Children's Day performance.

Noah participated in first and second grade, but he's pretty much over it now.  The girls, however, are a totally different story!  They LOVE the opportunity to wear the beautiful costumes and do the traditional dances.

Justin and I agreed that this was our best 23 Nisan yet.  We found out ahead of time when the girls would perform.  So instead of enduring the way too close, standing forever, push fest, we just hung back until Lucy performed.  Her class was about mid-way through, so the crowd had already begun to dwindle a bit.  Callie's class was dead last, so we could stand where ever we wanted to watch her perform.  Otherwise, we just sat on the side in the shade.  It was great!

Here are some pictures from the day.  Get ready, there are a lot!!

My little village girl.

Lucy says she is going to marry this little guy.

Sisters from a village out east.

Callie getting lined up with her friends from class.

Audience shot

Lucy's class getting lined up and ready to perform.

The boys getting things started.

Lucy in action.

Now it's Callie's class's turn.
The boys strut their stuff first.

Callie and her friends lined up waiting for their turn.

Here comes Callie!

Fast Feet

A traditional local instrument.

Callie and her friend after their dance.

At the very end of the day, the folk dance teacher joined the kids on stage.
Then everyone started to join in.  It was such a fun end to a lot of hard work.

I know he was thinking "when on earth are all these people going to quit dancing.
My hands are tired!"

Callie and her teacher.