Milestones

It's been showing signs of loose-ness for several days.

On a whim, I asked Reni to stop on the steps for a quick pic with all his baby teeth still in his mouth.

He didn't want to cooperate.

But then I think he realized, I wasn't going to let him off the hook so he gave me a few quick grins, before scampering up the stairs with his after-school snack.

It must have only taken one bite because less than two minutes later he hollered, "My tooth came out!!!"

And then he tasted the blood...

And then he saw the blood.

 

And all my hopes of a smiling photo were dashed...

First baby tooth gone.

Weekend Guests

Weekend before last the Zirkles, our regional directors, came for their annual visit!  It's been a joy to grow our relationship with them and have someone from WGM whom we feel knows what we're doing.  They are a good source of accountability as well as encouragement -- and, coincidentally, their two grandchildren are the same ages as our kiddos, so they get along great with Ellie and Reni too!

We discussed so many different things in the short time they were here -- evaluating the past year, talking about upcoming changes in the mission, and fleshing out strategies for the next year.

We also paid a visit to the nearby village where we hope to start a new kids' ministry next month.

But it's not all business, though!

Sunday afternoon we took a little trip about an hour and a half south to see the city of Berat.  It's one of my favorite places in Albania, but we hadn't visited in more than 18 months as the roads were notoriously poor.  We heard though, that construction was complete, so we thought it might be a good place to show our guests and made the trip in record time!

We drove straight up to the castle town above the city proper.  To put the drive up to the castle in perspective, our vehicle registered on the dashboard that we were driving on ice -- our tires were slipping on the steep, ancient stone pavers.

My knuckles were a little white and I didn't breathe again until we heard the strain on the engine pass.  But it's definitely worth the excitement!  At the top for a whopping 100 lek (about $0.80) we walked through the entrance of the castle town and visited a place that time forgot.

This time we took a different way around and stumbled upon this beautiful home.  The owner had turned the front room into a little shop where she sat behind a sewing machine, stitching embroidery on white linen.

Across the road she had planted shade trees and assembled some picnic tables and chairs from re-claimed wood.  It was the perfect place for a little rest from the hot sun.

We bought juice and canned ice coffees.  Simple pleasures!

I photographed the house below because I loved the roof-top terrace with its grape arbor.  Come summer time, that will be a delightfully shady, wonderful place!

Tourism to Berat is not yet booming (perhaps the new road will help?) so many of the antique, Ottoman-era homes are not wearing their age well - either from vacancy or lack of funds to maintain them.

Others looked spruced up and ready for guests, but empty...

In the mean time, our kids entertained themselves admiring the bugs and butterflies.

And looking for bats in the ancient cistern that provided water for the city during sieges.

Thanks, Kevin and Becky, for the gift of your visit! Mirëardhsh! (Come again!)

Budding Musician

Last fall Ellie started asking for a guitar.  Not sure if it was a passing fancy, we gave her the choice of another bird (to replace Marie, who flew the coop) or a guitar, and she said she would rather have a bird.  But after the bird proved to be lacking in the social arena (unlike his roommate, Squanto), she started to express regret for her choice. 

Knowing she wouldn't expect it, it was fun to surprise her on Christmas morning with the gift of a guitar from Nonna and PaPa. 

To say Ellie has taken to her guitar is an understatement.  She is playing it, now nearly four months later as much as the first days she owned it.  Throughout the day (often before even eating), she sits and strums or picks, or is watching an online tutorial on how to play a new chord.

Her goal is to play well enough to accompany in church or at kids club. We couldn't be prouder and want to encourage her to continue working on a skill that she says she wants to use to bless God and others.

Special Delivery

It all started with a daily walk.  

Our neighbor and colleague, Shpresa, walks around the neighborhood for regular exercise.  On one of those walks she met a friendly young woman and her mother working in the fields.  

They came to look forward to the daily meetings, gradually moving beyond the pleasantries and sharing more about their lives, including spiritual matters. Shpresa told me about her new friends and her desire to get to know them more.  We were both encouraged by their hungry hearts.

Then Shpresa told me that the mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to stop working while she received treatments.  Adding to the financial stress was the fact that the farm which employed them had been unable to pay their salaries for nearly one year.

About a month ago we paid them a visit in their home in a neighboring village to deliver some food.  It quickly became evident that a few bags of food were not going to go far -- there were 27 people (three generations) living in one home!

On Monday Shpresa visited a warehouse in Tirana and was able to fill the Planters van with as much as she could take for the family.  On her way back to the village she called us up to see if we wanted to come and photograph all the goodies she was going to deliver.  Of course we said, "Yes!"

Our friend -- can you tell by her smile why we enjoy visiting her so much?

The kids were all just back from school and helped with the unloading!

This is my little buddy below.  She is studying English in school and is always eager to practice with me (very unusual for someone her age -- most kids I know are way too shy to try to engage with an English-speaking adult!).

After we finished up, we were invited inside for a cold glass of dhalle (think buttermilk).  I had to get a pic of baby Romela in her baby cradle, a special gift from her maternal grandmother in the north.

In Sickness...

This has been our life the last 2 weeks.
I have no deep thoughts or reflections yet.

Being sick stinks.  A couple of weeks ago I got hit with a virus.  I was in bed for a solid 2 days, and the third day I didn't move much.  All I wanted to do was sleep.  And cough.

Then the joint pain hit. I have a new appreciation for my friends who suffer from chronic pain.

There was/is no place in our home with ergonomically correct furniture.  To my Albanian friends -- I'm sorry, this is not a criticism of you or your beautiful country, but you do not have very comfortable furniture (or at least not 15 years ago when this apartment was furnished).  Everything is angular and firm. What we would give for a recliner! The only place I could be without tears or moans was to lie flat in bed.

Then Ellie got it.  She had a fever for four days.  Our usually energetic, sparkly girl sat or laid around with a dull expression on her face.  You parents know how it makes you feel to see your kids unwell.  Even though she didn't complain, it didn't take an expert to look at her and know she wasn't feeling good, so we kept things quiet and waited for the virus to pass.  We basically didn't leave the house for about a week and a half.

48 hours after her fever passed we busted out and went to Tirana.  We felt like we had been set free into a world where spring had arrived.  It was glorious.

Then it hit me, again.  I shouldn't have been surprised. I really didn't think I had been pushing myself too hard, but I had heard from others who had been afflicted that this could happen (and recur for up to another week or two).  I napped more than four hours yesterday and still managed to sleep all night too.

Now today I feel better (the joint pain lingers, but is getting manageable with Aleve or ibuprofin).

A few months ago when Reni was sick with something he had picked up at Kopesht he asked, "Why did you bring us to this place to get all these weird sicknesses?"

Oh sweet boy.  Yes, we have contracted things here we never expected like scabies, worms, and scarlet fever... but we can get sick in America too.

We are grateful that Reni and Nathan seem to have been spared this time.  Nathan has been a saint in all of this and carried more than his fair share of the workload.

To those of you who pray for our family -- thank you for lifting us up in sickness and in health. We are thankful for your partnership knowing we are not alone, even when we are too sick to share our needs.

P.S.  We will probably never know what exactly we were struck with since we didn't consult a doctor nor have bloodwork done, but we do know that there was a confirmed outbreak of parvo in Tirana and our symptoms matched everything we read from the CDC. Yes, people (not just dogs) can apparently get this disease.  Add it to the list, Reni... :-)

10 years...

As this one lies in bed for the 2nd day with a fever and sneezes, I can't help but wonder where the last 10 years have gone...  10 years ago this month we submitted our first adoption dossier to Albania.  We had no idea the brown-eyed beauty that was waiting for us in Vlora.  So glad God entrusted her to us...

Spring Breakers

I don't know about you, but my Facebook feed has been inundated with spring break photos!  The calendar has declared that it is now officially spring and last week we joined a lot of our friends by pushing 'pause' on our routine and got out of the house (and the village) for a change of scenery for a few days!

standing on an Ottoman-era bridge an hour and a half north of our village, Monday, the day after Easter (a national holiday here)

Last week we were treated by a visit from our fellow WGM-ers, Robyn and Joy!  Based in Nairobi, both had conferences/continuing education "in our area" that allowed them to stop by Albania on their way!  How cool is that?

Tuesday we took them up and over the mountain pass to visit Darshen where we had a little Easter program for the children after school.

We brought candy-filled plastic Easter eggs.  Reni was thrilled to have the job of hiding.

He got creative in his hiding spots -- we had a very small space in which to hide them -- it had just rained!

As you can imagine, the hunt was short, but fun!

Then "Aunt Robyn" (a pediatric nurse practitioner) got out her stethoscope and otoscope and set to work checking ears, noses, throats, eyes, hearts, and lungs!

I wish you could have heard the giggles as these kids were checked out while their classmates looked on.

Darshen has no local nurse to consult.  If anyone needs to see a nurse or doctor, they have to come up with the $2.50 for the round-trip van ride to Tirana.

Aside from a few waxy ears, everyone got a clean bill of health!  Then the ladies started coming.

Oh!  And one little one not yet in school...

Then down the mountain to see Xhesi...
A washout took out an old stone wall...

Friends from a variety of organizations pitched in to renovate a new living room and bedroom for Xhesi... She goes back to the States in August for a one-year, post-surgery check-up.

The next day we accompanied our friend Mira on her rounds.  Below is a follow-up visit for a little one recovering from a virus.

The little one in red pants was suffering from an ear infection...

Then a stop at our village clinic to give an injection to another little one...

We also had the benefit of a coaching session with Joy.  She left us with a plethora of resources to comb through for future ideas here in our village as well as Darshen.

Thank you, Robyn and Joy, for blessing us with your visit!  Thank you for letting us share a little bit of our lives in Albania with you and thank you for sharing of your gifts and expertise with our neighbors!