What a diverse collection of activities we took part in this month! Let's jump right in!
When we returned from the USA, our church had a special time of honoring Nathan's mother.
They gifted us with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
Below, on the topic of perspective, Nathan had some fun with this science lesson at VT. You can see a neat collection of poses (and give VT Albania a follow) on their instagram account. ;-)
March 8 is International Women's Day and a big occasion for celebration locally.
We hosted a special evening including games, dessert, a devotional message, and a craft.
Reni has took over this nook as his new 'hang-out zone' in our home this year, thanks to a shift to more online education.
At a recent education conference he made friends with other missionary kids living around the Balkans and other parts of Europe and spends lots of time each day in group chats with them. It's a different kind of socializing, than I experienced at his age for sure!
We brought these "Bubble Balls" back from the USA and had fun inaugurating them with the kids from the Hope Center.
In addition to being a special activity for our local kids, we hope they might serve as a draw for potential party rentals of the soccer field.
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| Above, our neighbor laughs at Nathan's suggestion that they battle it out together with the balls. |
We had promised the Alpha youth a raincheck when our funeral travels caused us to cancel the end-of-course party. We ordered pizza, had a great last discussion (for now) and enjoyed probably the best nerf war I've had the pleasure of enjoying. :-)
March 21 is International Down Syndrome Day and in honor the Special Olympics hosted their first ever basketball scrimmage.
Nathan and Ellie attended to support our colleague, Luis, who was coaching the fledgling new team. It was held in a newly constructed sports arena.
A highlight of the month was Mom and Hannah's visit!
Mom's visit was a full one! Below, she greets the church.
Nathan performed good son-in-law duties which included taking down drapes for cleaning and rehanging them at the Planters guest apartment where she likes to stay :-)
Gigi performed her grandmotherly duty of taking Ellie out for waffles and bananas at a favorite sweet shop reserved for special occasions (like birthdays and international visitors).
Hannah enjoyed drinking Nathan's coffees which he usually makes twice per day... iced or hot!
On their layover to come to Albania, Mom and Hannah ran into longtime farmer friend, Gary Dumm (of Missouri) who was bringing a team from his church to serve in a mountain village. The night before they were to leave, they stopped by Vlashaj for a visit.
The day before they left, we made chocolate cupcakes for church...
We iced them in Argentine blue icing to celebrate one year of the Artoni family serving with us!
We are so grateful for the gift of their presence with us and they love they show this community!
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| A big project this month was building the new website for KF Jeta (the name of the futbol club we are launching at Jeta). I took photos of Luli and Luis for the website. Check it out here! |
Finally, I had to close with the peculiar potato (above)... we had baked potatoes one evening for supper. Mom had been tasked with sourcing them during the previous grocery shopping trip and chose red-skin potatoes as she said that's all the store had in stock. Imagine our surprise when we cut into it discover it was purple!! Have you ever seen such a thing?
If so, don't hit reply to this e-mail -- we won't get the reply :-). But you can reach us by e-mail via the address listed in the margin of this blog.
What a full month! And that only scratched the surface!
Happy Holy Week everyone!
Happy Holy Week everyone!
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