Our time in Tirana

We have been using our time in Tirana to recharge our batteries and spend some time with Gigi (Cydil's mom) and some of our Albanian friends who live in the area. Many of you have been praying for Cydil and Ellie as they have been sick. Thank you for your prayers. Neither of them are feeling 100% yet, and both are napping as I type, but there has been some improvement. Keep praying!

We visited Dr. Genci an old family friend to have him check Ellie. She wasn't thrilled with the surprise doctors visit, but weathered it OK and even was sort of willing to pose for a picture with him at the end (as long as Gigi was a buffer between Elisona an Dr. Genci).

Making cookies with Gigi was a lot more fun than the doctor's visit. Cookies also make good bribes for taking medicine!

You can't get a greater endorsement than this!

Ellie could barely wait for them to cool down before tasting.

We ate some really good Chinese food with "Aunt" Vera. Vera has been a long time friend and is always so helpful during our stays in Albania. Ellie loved the lazysusan and thought is was hilarious that she could swap plates with everyone at the table! She learned a few more Albanian words as Aunt Vera told her to speed up or slow down the spinning. Even the waitress got into the game!

After supper we went for a walk in the park that included a man-made lake. I ended up carrying Ellie for most of the time.

Cydil loved the light at dusk and Vera and Gigi were perfect subjects. Just over the mountains in the distance on the left of the picture is where Elbasan is located. We will be driving back over those mountains tomorrow morning to see David.

The bag in Ellie's hand was to feed any birds we would happen upon. Birds seem to be Ellie's most recent obsession, and she was disappointed that there were no hungry birds to be found.

There are rides at the Tirana park too, and of course Ellie wanted to ride the tall ferris wheel. Cydil, Gigi, and Vera all passed on the opportunity to join her, so I was elected to go. As you can see, the seats were more to scale for Elisona, but we had a good time. At the top Ellie saw one bright star and said, "Look Dad, the wishing star!" I asked what she wanted to wish for. She said, "For David to come home." I couldn't wait for the ride to stop to share this with Cydil. We are both so proud of Ellie's tender heart.

Though we usually limit Ellie to one ride, Gigi wanted to treat Els to something a little more tame. I think they both enjoyed the carousel. I am not sure if I have ever seen a double decker carousel before.

After some ice cream, we went to bed with lots of memories. And while we don't put our trust in a wishing star. We prayed before bed that God would continue to make straight paths for us to bring David home!