Nathan in Albania...

The day we returned from a month on the road in Ohio and Indiana you could find us packing suitcases again... this time, with items to take and leave in Albania!  I'll tell you, I got a little panicky when I saw how quickly those bags filled up! It hit me how little we'll be able to take over when we go 'for real' in August!  As we neared the limits in each bag, Nathan would holler out, "I have room for something the size of ... a deck of cards!"  And I'd go searching around the house to fill that space with something random like sauce packets from the pantry, post-it notes, or a pair of socks. 

When it came down to it, I was glad that in our move we had already culled our belongings down to the most important and sentimental of our possessions. Our primary goal for Nathan's suitcases was to take over winter clothes for the kids in next years' sizes, but we still had room for a few favorite Christmas ornaments, a couple of board games for long winter nights, my absolute must-have kitchen utensils (I could so do an ad for Pampered Chef), some framed photos, shoes, and who knows what else... I probably should have photographed the contents, but why spoil the surprise for myself when we arrive in 8 months? 

Dad and Nathan found a new itinerary for flying to Albania this time... leaving Peoria at 6PM for a 10PM flight from O'Hare to Istanbul.  It meant for a late arrival into Tirana, but lots of time the day of leaving for a few stops to get last-minute items on the way to the airport. It also meant more time for sleeping during their bodies' regular sleeping hours. 

I included the photo below to show Reni's new photo 'face' -- ugh!  Let's be SILLY seems to be his constant state of mind.

As much as we thought we had prepared the kids, they both begged and pleaded to go too.  That begging (and whining) lasted for TWO WHOLE DAYS! (I think it was probably more than just disappointment, it was a lot of transition all at once). According to my recollection from February's trip, the mystique of trans-atlantic travel wore off within minutes of arriving at the airport.  I can't wait until I get to go somewhere and it's Nathan's turn! :-)

Great goodbye hugs for the kids... but not so much for me.  Yeah, he must have not seen me behind the camera (sniff, sniff).

Every day brings a wonderful assortment of new photos from Nathan and Dad...

Nathan has reported that this trip has been SOOO valuable. At one point he said he's had several moments near tears (the good kind) when he thought about next year. Yeah, we're amazed to see how everything is coming together.

PHOTO BELOW
(top row, left) Here Nathan's successfully testing out our ATM card.  I think you could say we're not big ATM users, we can never remember our PIN and we hardly ever carry cash. Shocker, I know, but we're happy to adapt to living in a cash-based society.  I can hear all you Mr. Ramsay fans telling us it will be better for us in the long run. ;-) ... though I'll  miss the paper trail from using plastic (and at the same time I hear Nathan telling me he's found an app for that).

(top middle):  Nathan's showing someone how to run a tech gadget -- some things never change
(all the other photos) -- reconnecting with friends has been the icing on the cake
(not pictured) -- Nathan's gotten the relative schedule for our Albanian language classes and costs,  as well as the cost of our visas and the process for acquiring a residency permit. Tomorrow he'll check out registering WGM with a couple of different evangelical associations in the country which will give us a number of benefits.

The photo below was from this evening at the men's coffee and game fellowship in Vlashaj.  Nathan said the lights went out and without missing a beat, cell phones were whipped out to provide enough light to continue the game.

Some of the patriotic symbols on display in honor of the centennial...

This afternoon Nathan visited with our friend Perparim, director of the teen orphan group home in neighboring Marikaj.  He asked us to consider teaching some classes to the students there -- the idea thrilled us as a great means for getting to know the kids better while also imparting some useful information that might help them develop some skills.  The kids are in a beautiful new facility, but their library is woefully lacking ... Nathan snapped this photo for his mom, who has a masters in library science.

And finally, I think I mentioned that much is happening to prepare our first home in Albania for our arrival.  Below, some iron grating to keep little munchkins from having any accidental falls from a second story window.

And, I think you've heard that everything is smaller in Europe?  Case in point... our beautiful (but compact) new interior staircase pictured below.  While we're not in Africa, you may want to bring that pith helmet when you visit us...

Thanks for your prayers for our family!  In case you're wondering, Nathan and Dad return to the States next week.