Ellie's Other Family : )

This family has three daughters.  That's what they tell us, anyway!  

You don't see their third daughter? Oh, you know her.  Her name happens to be Elisona.  

Ellie is so utterly happy at their home, and such a frequent guest, they call her their third daughter!  (fyi: you know your daughter spends a lot of time at someone's house when she tells you her favorite things they cook!)

I really didn't intend to blog each and every set of family photos I capture, but some folks are just so special, I have to share them here on the blog. 

It started after Kid's Club on Saturdays, then after church on Fridays. Ambra was letting Ellie lead her around the center, chatting her ear off about some creature she had found, or another. Before long Xhania (Ambra's mother) was asking if Ellie could spend the night.  That was a big deal because I don't know that Ellie had ever spent the night at a friend's house before, much less stayed the night in a home where language could be a challenge!  Before long, it was a regular occurrence and we were finding ourselves spending more and more time getting to know the family 'at the bottom of the hill'. 

Now they are some of our best teachers of Shqip.  They are infinitely patient with us, speaking slowly and not in any hurry.  At least once a week find ourselves in their home for one reason or another, eating fruit, drinking coffee and learning about their lives.  All the while Ellie's outside chasing the chickens and Reni is in Ambra's arms, right in the middle of the ruckus.

I don't know if you realized how much language is involved in taking someone's photo!  Bend your knee, lift your chin, tilt your head!  Did I mention we haven't yet made it to the imperative case in our Shqip studies?  What does Cydil do when she can't direct someone into the right position?  She puts her camera down and physically begins moving people where she wants them to go! ;-)

It could be awkward, but so far, everyone's been a good sport!  Chalk it up to more language learning opportunities!

(below) Sherif is laughing hugely because I just told his wife to kiss him!  Apparently people don't do that in photos here!

Can you tell I'm having the best time?  I could do this every evening!  Tonight after we finished photos we sat on the porch, drank coffee and talked about how Xhania and Sherif met and all about their hometowns (before they moved to Vlashaj). 

What a treat to get to know these folks!  I really can't believe this is our life.

And this relationship is all because some of you prayed for Ellie and Reni to find a special friend here.  

Thank you!! You have no idea what a difference this relationship has made in their adjustment to Albania and our new village home.

If you want to participate in our prayer project for the village, click here to sign up.

We are looking for individuals/families/groups to pray for a family in our community!  When you sign up, we'll send you a postcard with their photo, along with their names, ages, and prayer requests.  So far, we have about 20% of the village homes spoken for!