Family photo night

We are so tired... the packing seems endless (but we are beginning to see a glimmer of light)! 

Today we got cleaned up and braved the humidity for one last photo session in front of Mom and Dad's home before we say 'goodbye' to it.

So many memories -- it has been a blessing for our family get togethers over the years!

While the work has been hard, I think this was the most fun for our kids.  So many fun, cool cousins to play with!

Okay, this pic below might seem kind of random... Keep scrolling down.

Isn't it fun to see how they have grown?

Renewing

The past couple of days have been spent at WGM's home office for some time set apart to discuss rest and renewal.  It's required of any missionary coming home from the field to make sure we're all taking care of ourselves, body, mind and spirit.  It's been a joy to meet colleagues from other fields as well as reconnect with other missionaries and staff we've known over the years.  We may live in different places, but we 'get' each other.

While the grown ups have been processing during the days, the kids have been having their own activities.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful people who have known our kids and love them and help them process in their own, age-appropriate way (like going to see the movie "Inside 0ut"!).  Pretty cool, eh?

Really, the whole experience has been so refreshing because just stepping foot here on campus with our WGM family means we're at a place where we're "known."  We're not "the missionaries" who the church supports, we're not "the Americans" who live in the village.  Here we're Nathan, Cydil, Ellie and Reni.  That's it.  We don't have to say anything more.

And like home, you can even record your growth on the wall!

See how much the kids have grown since 2012??

Since Reni's birthday falls next week, the staff was so nice to surprise him today with a birthday cake.  He was so pleased, I couldn't believe it since he typically hates being the center of attention...

Going Under

I had nearly given up hope that she'd ever take to water.  

After all, our sensory-challenged girl preferred baths over showers, absolutely petrified of standing under flowing water.  Of course, we moved to Albania and our apartment was sans tub, so she had no other choice but to adapt to use the hand-held shower sprayer.

And don't forget -- the mere mention of 'eye doctors' would send her into full blown hyper-ventilation over the thought of having eye drops administered.

But then we had these weeks in Ohio at Nonna and PaPa's.  

In between taking loads of belongings over to the condo, packing boxes, sorting piles of stuff we'd drop the kids in the hot tub to have some water time.

I noticed last week that she started dipping one side of her head in the water, then the other.

Dare we hope that a full head dunk under water might not be too far behind?

And then she did it.  Going under water for longer and longer periods of time, feeding on our praise as she learned about holding her breath and diving for objects on the bottom she found joy in what she once feared most.

Above I asked her to smile for the camera.  She insisted she would only do it under water.

At the end of her first day as an official 'under water swimmer' she proudly declared, "Now I can get baptized!"

Oh Ellie girl, we love you!

A brief visit to the Keystone State!

Our summer travels took us on a quick overnight trip to western Pennsylvania earlier this week!

Some folks are only in your life for a short season before one or the other of you moves on, yet you stay in touch and marvel how you can pick up right where you left off.  The McCready family is one of those families.  When we knew we'd be in Ohio for an extended time, we knew we had to carve out some time for a visit.

Since we last saw them, they moved out to a little piece of the country, within eyesight of John's family's farm.  The kids were in heaven.

The selfie stick made another appearance... documenting a pic that included us all!  It's so hard to think that the next time we see each other, the kids will all be that much bigger and older!

The next morning we were blessed to connect with some folks who have partnered with us in Albania!  They graciously hosted us for lunch!

Then, we met our friend Karli and her TWO boys!  Her oldest was a buddy of Reni's in the Elbasan orphanage.  How special to see how they are all doing, 15 months after coming home from Albania as a family!

Thanks, Karli, for driving over to meet us!  And congratulations on newborn E!

A Wish Fulfilled

Before we left Albania in May, the kids started making lists for their summer in America.

Reni's list was a list of all the restaurants he wanted to visit.  #1) Starbucks (I didn't know he loved cake pops so much), #2.) McDonalds (for the H@ppy Meal, of course), #3.) Chick-Fil-A (not really sure, except I think he just likes to say the name), and #4) Sonic (for the tater tots).  

Ellie's list was more experiential:  shoot a bee bee gun, ride a four-wheeler, and drive Pa Pa's boat.  Oh, and she might have added driving Gjysh's pick-up truck, but we told her, "Dream on."

The fourth of July weekend, Ellie got one of her wishes fulfilled.

No worries -- we we going quite slow! ;-)

I think Reni's face says it all.

More memories from summer 2015!

Representin'

We've been in Buckeye land for one week!

But before I share any photos of cardboard boxes and trailers full of furniture (we're trying to help Mom and Dad in their move to their new condo), I want to share a handful of photos from our time at WGM's Celebration of Missions the last week of June.

Nathan was chosen to share the missionary spotlight (a 10-minute 'testimony' of sorts) before the keynote speaker at Saturday evening's service at Huntington University.

After years of attending similar conferences, Nathan joked that he finally had permission to dress in 'native costume.'  So when he was approached earlier this past spring with the request to share, he immediately set about to pick up some pieces of Albanian garb before our summer return to the States.

He did great, by the way. I was a proud wife. ;-)

The photo below is from Thursday evening's flag processional.  Who wouldn't want to wear clothing that included a saber and a pistol (plastic, of course)?

Free trivia:  Did you know that Albania's King Zog is the one and only head of state to have ever returned fire during an assassination attempt?  It's a handy costume, I tell you!

For Ellie and Reni, they were treated to time with some of their mission 'cousins' and special missions lessons like some from Dr. Chupp (whom Ellie nick named "The Magician-ary") and "Uncle John" Muehleisen's friend Lazarus (below). 

But they weren't the only ones enjoying themselves. Once again I was having too much fun reconnecting with former students, colleagues, and dear friends to have my camera out much.  For us, it felt like a big family reunion and we were so blessed it fell during a time while we were in the States!