Thanksgiving in Ohio (in pictures...)

Well if Ellie and I can make it through tonight, Cydil will be joining us again tomorrow! The house hasn't burned down (although it may not have always been as neat as when Cydil is here). We are both anxious to have Cydil back. Today Elisona walked around the apartment calling for Cydil as if she were playing 'hide-and-seek' with us. She then turned to me and said, "I think she's hiding in Albania!"

For much of last week I had help from Nonna and PaPa in Ohio with Ellie. I will let the pictures tell most of the story with captions if needed...

At the Lancaster Mall play area Ellie found this car which she proudly exclaimed, "It Cruella's car!" I never did see any dalmations though.

Ellie is constantly playing doctor these days. She not only diagnosed her leg as broken, she fasioned a fairly creative splint for it!

Mom's Thanksgiving meal is always a feast. I didn't realize until I had dumped this picture to the computer that Ellie is about to sample the mashed potatoes!

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we decided to take Els bowling. Although she has palyed with the plastic Fisher Price bowling sets, this was her first time to experience the real thing and she was really excited. She sang a song about bowling balls the whole way there and then when she saw the sign with a ball and a few pins she said, "Yeah! We're at bowling ball's house!" She picked the brightest orange ball they had and even with a slightly broken ramp to guide her ball, she had lots of fun.

Aunt Rebecca and Ellie celebrate their first roll!

Bowling must have worn her out because she fell asleep leaning against Nonna during the movie that evening! You can't see it in this picture, but she was sitting Indian style (or the more politically correct 'criss cross applesause') when she fell asleep. Miracously, I was able to carry her to bed without her waking up!

On Saturday we decided to go to the Zoo, but we first stopped at a cool park that had topiaries that were laid out to depict the famous painting "A Day at the Park" (I plan separate blog post with more pictures about it later). Elisona was more intersted in the ducks than the art, and she had a blast feeding them some crackers.

The Zoo was decked out in Christmas lights which was cool! We saw a really fun animal show made up of mainly rescued animals and Ellie had her 'happy hands' going the whole time!

We had to stop by the reptile house while we were there. Nonna had a book about snakes that Ellie had been dragging around the house and she wasn't about to leave without seeing some in real life. It may look like I am having to encourage her to touch the snake, but actually I am pulling her hand away so some of the others waiting in line could have a turn! Ellie seemed to enjoy practing the word 'slither,' since she would use it to try to convince every snake in each enclosure to move.

Thanks Nonna and PaPa for a wonderful time! We promise to bring Cydil with us at Christmas!

Visit to Darshen

Thanksgiving morning we left the city and headed up and over Mt. Dajti on once-nice roads destroyed by truck after truck hauling gravel down into Tirana for another construction project.

Here is the view on the other side.

In Darshen at last...

The first stop was the village school...

The school administrator (in white jacket) requested an American flag to represent the relationship between the school and America. Jake, a team member who recently visited, sent this flag back for the school. It was from his military father's funeral. Wow. What a gift. It was too nice (and too large) to hang outdoors.

I love the tenderness with which he smoothed the flag out.

Some individuals also gave some money for the school to have some computers. The students (and teachers) were SO excited!

yes, even in Darshen...

Tiana and Dad inspecting crafts made by some of the girls for a craft fair coming up December 10 at the embassy.

One of my highlights was taking some photos of these girls. Below, Katerina laughs while her dog won't run away... he was howling for attention. So funny.

(Above) Klodi, (Below) Megena

(Today) The drummer just walked down the alley below signaling today's significance, the holiday of Bajrum (muslim holiday). His drumming was so intense he set off a car alarm!

Post #500

A few hours ago distributing prints from the photos taken on Sunday. Sure was fun passing these out!

A requisite "bunker" photo -- once a common 'eyesore', these guys are becoming harder and harder to locate!

Up at Petrela castle with Mandi and Tiana

Here I am channeling my inner 'Anne Lowe.' Some of the women in the village are producing hand made cards to sell in the capital city. One bookstore owner wants a hundred by Thursday! I tried to do my part to pitch in by cutting 'Christmas trees.' The ladies are going through paper supplies faster than you can spell 'cardstock'. Thankfully, Melissa is replenishing our 'red' supply when she arrives on Friday!

some samples of their work!

Here's Tiana with a few of the ladies (and one of their sons)! Tiana is a recent Asbury grad who is helping them get their product marketed so they can hopefully supplement their income with the proceeds of the sales. Tiana has an amazing heart and determination to help, and the women love her!

There are several more photos on my Facebook album, unfortunately I can't get the link to post! Maybe another day...

Photo Collage from the village

Here's a sampling of some of photos from yesterday's photo session in the village! This morning Tiana, Mandi, and I visited Petrela, a 600-year-old castle ruin, followed by the national cemetery for a beautiful view of Tirana. I'm snapping my shutter button a lot to gather some photos to build up Planters' stock photo collection! Tomorrow we're back in the village to deliver some prints from yesterday's session as well as document the men's coffee hour in the minisry center! Turkish coffee, anyone?

Family Photo Day in the Village

Yesterday I fired off nearly 500 photos (edited down to just over 300) family photos. Click here to view some images from the day. These are some from Mom's camera!

Day 3 - Skype x 2

Today after church, Ellie and I had the chance to 'visit' with Cydil in Albania over Skype. When we got connected, Elisona didn't want anyone but mommy on the camera, and would get frustrated if anyone else would be seen behind or beside Cydil. After a while of visiting and even a virtual feeding of popcorn chicken (Cydil would pretend to hand it through the screen and I would 'grab' it from the monitor and feed it to Ellie. Apparently it tasted much better after flying through cyberspace), Ellie consented to other Skype guests like Gigi.

Ellie and I tried to get some things done in the center to prepare for tonight's meeting, and in the process she discovered my laser level. Somehow that became an airplane in her mind and she 'flew' it all around the center until the batteries started to run low which really frustrated her!

Cydil 'revisited' Wilmore again through Skype right before our Global Cafe service as a virtual greeter. She and Tiana had fun saying 'hi' to all of the students that came through the front doors of the student center. Cydil may have actually gotten to see more students that way than a normal Sunday because she wasn't chasing Ellie around! Ellie doesn't make it through the services yet, so Cydil is often upstairs with her until after the service is over. Els made it through the singing tonight with the aid of a toy found on our speaker's display table. It was a wooden fox sitting at a computer that had some strings and a weight dangling below it. When the paddle was swung in a circle, the weight would pull strings and make the fox type on the keyboard. I probably wouldn't have thought to even mention it except for the fact that I found it in our apartment after the missionaries had already left. Thankfully they are returning to town for breakfast, so we can return it to them then.

Tomorrow will be a busy day of getting things done and packing. Els is getting excited about going to Nonna and PaPa's house, and so is her dad.

Day 2 - Football and more...

Cydil arrived safely in Albania, but one of her suitcases didn't. Hopefully it will follow tomorrow.

Elisona had a chance to practice her O-H-I-O today with the Ohio State vs. 'that state up north' game. Ellie doesn't have any Buckeye clothes that fit her, so we opted for an Albanian soccer outfit.

We set up the snacks and divided the room down the middle. Did you know that Big Red Soda also has a Big Blue counterpart. Both were made available as were buckeyes and 'Rich' brownies (named in honor of coach Rodriduez).

Most of the students who arrived to watch the game with us were fellow Buckeyes, but there were a few brave Wolverines who ventured out. By the end of the game, Ellie had settled in with a bag of Cheetos.

Els was a little cranky during clean-up after the game, so a nap was in order. It seemed to help to know that mommy was sleeping in Albania at the same time. Of course I had to 'sacrifice' and nap with her. It was good for both of us, but I may pay for it tonight trying to get her to sleep tonight.

As I type, Ellie is playing with some audio cards from Hallmark that were given to us recently. Hearing "Let it Snow," "Mr. Postman," and the 3 stooges theme song all playing together is a little crazy. Add to that commotion that Elisona is singing the peanut butter and jelly song while opening and shutting them like puppets to sing along and you have a picture of what is going on right now! How long do the batteries in those cards last?! Don't worry mom and dad, I will leave the cards here when we come to visit you next week for Thanksgiving!

Dad and Els - Day 1

Cydil left for Albania today to help with some photography projects for her parent's ministry there. She will be gone 12 days, so Elisona and I are on our own for a while. I hope to update the blog regularly while she is gone to prove that I haven't burned the house down.



This morning, we dropped Cydil at the Lexington airport. It is under major renovation in preparation of next summer's World Equestrian Games that will be hosted in Lexington. Ellie really wanted to join Cydil on the plane, but didn't fuss when it was time to say 'goodbye'. On the way home, she kept looking out of the window for a plane and when we arrived home she said, "Mommy's going to Albania to get Elisona!" We have been trying to prepare her for a sibling when the referral comes and have been recounting the story of our traveling to get her. It is one of her three favorite stories to hear (along with "Ellie goes to the doctor" and "Ellie goes on the kayak").


This afternoon after school, we spent some time in the kitchen preparing for the Ohio State vs. Michigan game by making 6 dozen buckeyes. Ellie loves to watch the Kitchen Aid mix and eat the batter. As she was going to bed tonight she asked her normal, "Tomorrow, after I wake up?" I told her that we would be watching football downstairs with 'the students,' and we practiced O-H-I-O one more time. She is currently softly snoring next to me on Cydil's side of the bed. I still remember hearing this beautiful sound coming from the crib at the foot of our bed the first night we were able to take Ellie out of the orphanage.


I am sure that Cydil is not getting the restful sleep on the plane that I will be getting after locking up the center. The last text that she sent to me read "Stuck in the middle. Very hot." Hope you were able to get some rest, Cydil!


Well, one day down - 11 to go!

"The Blind Side" Movie and Article

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/djenkins/2009/11/18/blind-side-predictable-critics-and-their-predictable-criticism/





Excellent editorial by my cousin, Dallas, on BigHollywood.com about the movie, The Blind Side, and transracial adoption.

Monkey See...

Last night Ellie and I had to exit a meeting out in the center and found ourselves looking for an activity to pass the time. For Ellie's 3rd birthday we bought her this toy below. The batteries eventually died and it sifted to the bottom of the toy box. A tiny screwdriver and 3 new batteries later we got it working again. Ellie's much more understanding of the point of the toy now (than where she was when we first gave it to her) and really has fun playing this game with us. One of us will hide the monkey, then Ellie comes out and tries to find it with her 'detector' stick which has a series of lights that progressively light up the closer she gets to the monkey, eventually beeping when she's within a few feet of it. Needless to say, she loves it.