Highlights from Our Ol' Kentucky Home...

What. A. Whirlwind.

We knew our time would go quickly but we really had no idea.  

Between May 31 and June 22 we spoke in 5 churches.  

In the past 7 nights alone we have slept in 5 different towns.

I'm not even going to look back at our calendar to see how many doctor's offices we have sat in.

During our weeks in Kentucky all but a few days were packed with appointments.  I had no idea how re-fueling it would be to see so many old friends and visit so many special places.  

While we didn't get to see everyone we wanted (many were on vacation, one had to cancel because of sickness), we got to see more people than we expected!  Below is just a sampling of pictures (because I really did a horrible job of getting pictures with everyone we saw).  

From early morning coffees to dinners with conversations that lasted 'til late into the evening, tried to make the most of every day we had.

One of our first visits was to see Abby and her parents!  We didn't tell the kids where we were going!  They were thrilled to reconnect with their old teacher (and see her horses too) ! ;-)

Ellie with her 2nd cousin, Lisa

I think anyone who has been abroad for any length of time has fantasies about food from home.  This was one of mine.  I can't believe we only made it to Fiesta Mexico one time.

Check-up at Shriners

Many an Albanian study session at a Playplace between appointments (I'll let you guess who was studying and who was playing)

We got to see our old dog (and his owners, our friends Jonny & Siobhan)!

How cool was it to visit home after home and see postcards from the Portrait Project hanging in there?  I love my friend Amy's clever way of displaying pictures her friends from around the world in her quiet time corner of her home!

For the most part, Reni is a good patient.  Poor guy had to get four shots.  Then the next day 2 fillings. He was NOT a happy camper after those two visits!

I don't think we've ever laughed more at a doctor's appointment.

Thanks, Dr. T., for making check-ups so personable!

It's been important for us that the kids reconnect with their old friends and remember the relationships we have on this side of the ocean...

We may have bought a selfie stick...

...which we have put to good use!

You may not recognize the special woman below but we met her in Albania during our weekend visits to the Hope Center where she worked as a social worker!  We were sad to say goodbye when she finally got her visa for the States in December, but we knew it wasn't goodbye forever because her fiance` just so happened to work at ASBURY!!!  I know, SMALL WORLD!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed every minute catching up with Anila and hearing about her transition to the US and talking about her mutual friends in Albania.  What a special gift to get to see her!

Our last visit in Kentucky was a quick stop in Louisville with our friend Peter for ice cream cones at McDonald's!  (The kids insist we don't eat there enough!)

As I look back through these photos I can't help up but think of all the other things we did and people we saw -- it's just more than one post can contain.  

I have told many a person I wasn't homesick for Kentucky while I was in Albania, but as soon as we hit Kentucky-68, south of Lexington, a wave of homesickness for what we have left behind washed over my heart.  It's such a paradox!  Our hearts hold a great joy and love for our new home in Albania, but we will always call Kentucky home too and so we deal with sadness for what we miss while we are not there.  

Thank you, friends and churches, for loving us and welcoming us back so warmly -- like we had never left.

Good bye Kentucky!  We can't wait until we can come back!

Growin' Up!

Our time in Kentucky has been so FULL, but good.  Very good. 

This past weekend our big girl turned ten!  I know -- so hard to believe she's into the double digits!  Enjoy a few photos from her celebration (which took place the day after her actual birthday because of speaking engagements). 

We aren't the best at keeping 'traditions', but one I really try to keep is sharing a collage of birthday pics over the years -- I enjoy seeing the changes in their growth!  The first pic I think is from her first birthday at the orphanage (before we even knew of her)!

This year we got to celebrate with our old friends from our Kentucky Adoptive Families group!  Ellie really wanted to celebrate with her friends and the timing of this event was perfect.

Here is a video of this year's birthday candle because a still photo doesn't do justice to the uniqueness of her special candle!

Another tradition we are trying to establish is experiences.  This might be a little easier because their birthdays fall in the summer.  We also would rather spend our money investing in our kids' memory banks' by doing something special rather than emphasizing gifts. So earlier in the day we let the kids get their proprioceptive input (lots of hours spent in occupational therapy sessions taught me that big word) at a trampoline place.

We can't do anything like this in Albania and it's activity both of them could take part in.

Um, yeah, Reni couldn't seem to understand the landing rules.  He just wanted to keep practicing his flips, in spite of our corrections!

Ellie has always been proud of the fact that her birthday falls on "Flag Day" so when she spotted this t-shirt on a shopping trip with Gigi, she had to get it for her birthday (even after I told her it was a boy's shirt).

Happy Birthday, Ellie!  You are loved!

Back in Kentucky!

Friday afternoon we arrived in our ol' Kentucky home!  It feels so good to be back!  We unloaded our things at the student center where we're staying and swung by Subway to pick up a few sandwiches for supper before going to meet some friends.  It felt completely appropriate that we would walk in the doors and immediately bump into someone we would know!

As for who we would be spending Friday night and Saturday with, let me back up a few weeks.  It hadn't been that long after the Santors returned home from Albania when they contacted us to ask us when we would be in Kentucky this summer.  They wanted to coordinate a camping trip here during our days in the Bluegrass so we could have one more time together.  They decided to come up our first weekend here and chose to stay at a campground on the Kentucky River, not far outside of Jessamine County.

Being on the river brought back tons of memories on our kayaks!

The kids had just mentioned earlier in the day that they wanted to go fishing this summer.  Little did they know they'd only have to wait a few hours! (We kept our meet-up with the Santors a surprise).

So that's what a live fish feels like!

That's about all the further out Reni got on the tube...

Beautiful Haley with some golden sunlight!

Poor Andrew got a "makeover" from Reni and Tobin.

Then it was off to pick up their nerf gun wars from where they left off in the village!

The Santors were accompanied by Jen's sister, brother-in-law and niece, as well as a college friend who drove down from northern Indiana. What a nice, relaxing Saturday!

Thanks, everyone, for making us feel so loved and special!  What a fun way to kick off our days in our adopted home state!

O-H ... I-O

What a whirlwind of a week!  Sunday after sharing at Dillon Mennonite, we hopped in the van, popped in a few Radio Theater cds of the Chronicles of Narnia and made our way east.  Before long, we saw this familiar sign:

We were sort of racing time to attend the high school graduation party for the daughter of Nathan's cousin, Dan.  Waiting for us at the front door was the best welcoming party!  Nonna and Papa!

 

The party was in honor of this beautiful girl, who also happens to be called "Ellie", which was almost too much for our girl.

She had one of my all-time favorite ideas for a guestbook: a globe!

On Tuesday Mom and Dad took our family on a special trip to The Wilds, a wildlife conservation area about an hour east of Columbus.  It's part of the Columbus Zoo and features large herds of rare animals raised in captive environments more like their natural environments than a traditional zoo.

We rode in a modified bus and were given a list of animals to look for on our 90-minute ride through the park.

Dad had the foresight to reserve us a ride on a handicap accessible bus! Reni loved riding up and down the lift in his stroller.

At our first stop we visited the Budgie aviary, which Ellie was naturally all about!

Our bird girl wasn't the only one good with the birds!

In one area the ostrich were very comfortable with the tourists and came right up to our bus.

This is Reni, a tad nervous, a lot excited, about a close encounter with another bird.

And since I will probably never go on an actual African safari, here are my favorite "safari" shots from the bus:

The bulk of our time with Mom and Dad revolved around preparing for their impending move to their new condo.  It was great to hear Dad's excitement about their new place and talk through what pieces we could move over and where they would go.

On Thursday afternoon we walked through their future home, even though they don't officially get the keys for another two weeks.

The challenge with downsizing, of course, is, well, the downsizing.  

We thought the easiest way to sell off the pieces that Mom and Dad can't keep would be to sell them online, rather than try to organize a garage sale that may or may not be rained out, or stressing about the task of moving them out of the house and delivering them to Goodwill.

In the end we went around the house and started photographing the largest items, then posted them on a website. 

Thursday we made the site live and waited for the orders to start coming in!  Within the first 8 hours 30% of the items posted were spoken for!  Buyers will come and pick up the items at a mutually convenient time.  If you are in the central Ohio area and need a somethings for your home, you can check out the site at http://waggonermovingsale.blogspot.com/  for some really good deals!

After 21 months of watching Dad care for mom from the other side of the Atlantic, we are finally able to be here in person to lend a hand and we are so glad to do what we can during this big season of transition.  

_______________

The morning we were packing up to move on to Kentucky for our next few weeks, I caught sight of Ellie in the 'granddaughters'" room and got choked up.

After Rebecca moved out and Leah and Ellie joined the family (they are the only granddaughters, 6-weeks apart in age), Mom designed a special bedroom for them whenever they would stay over.

She stocked it with lots of books and toys, perfect for little girls and hung photos of the girls at various ages all over the room so there was no doubt to whom the room belonged.  

As I saw Ellie laying on the bed, reading a book, I knew this was the picture Nonna had in mind when she put the room together!  When we return at the end of the month, most of the furniture pieces will be gone.  Not surprisingly, these items were among the first to be claimed!

While there is so much sadness at closing this chapter, and taking apart something put together with so much love, how much better will our rooms be that Jesus is preparing for us in our heavenly home!  All this... it's only temporary. 

Yesterday came and it was time to move on.  Mom's eyes filled with tears as we said goodbye-- but we told her we will be back soon!