Life Here Lately

A collection of cell phone pics -- May 1 to present...

This spring has been unusually wet and cool.  The upside is that Albanian's roses have never been so beautiful!

(Below) We gather together once a month to fellowship with some local and expat families who also homeschool.  This was our last gathering we were able to attend.

Quarterly mix-up for kids' club!  Working with Eda and Luli to redistribute the teams...

The big guy in the middle got a job at a local restaurant so we miss seeing him so much!

(But think the work experience will be really good for him!)

Reni is super athletic and interested in sports, but unable to participate in most for obvious reasons.  Recently, though, he discovered the Frisbee.  Below he's playing a game called "Can Jam". It's lots of fun! 

Reni LOVES these sour plums that grow on a tree on our property.  He's also proud that he figured out a way to scale the wall to get access to the goodies all by himself!

Lots of rainy days mean spectacular skies and sunsets when the rains blow over!

We've had a few sets of guests this month and discovered the Free Walking Tour of Tirana, and in the process learned about the 'graveyard' of communist-era statues! Notice the marble bust turned side-ways.  That is Albania's infamous dictator, Hoxha.  He was only uncovered a few months ago, and obviously the hard feelings remain!

Nathan discovered this water brand while in southern Albania.  I so want to try and find it in our part of the country... He thinks it would be fantastic to sell at the soccer field.  I agree!  (And know where we can find such water for free!)

Super proud to find this guy weeding our grape vine beds one afternoon!!

Last month this special friend came for a 2-day visit to Albania thanks to 60-euro plane tickets from Hungary!!! 

This hymn text was in Reni's language lessons book. (This curriculum places a strong emphasis on poetry memorization as a building block of good written and oral communication skills.)  This particular hymn is one of my favorites of all-time, bringing back lots of childhood memories.  I couldn't resist snapping a photo to revisit these beautiful words...

Nathan and Mandi met late into the evening to reconfirm details with our builder.  We received permission to develop our property on May 11.  Still awaiting permission to build!!

Even in town... (there is a donkey under all that greenery)

One Saturday afternoon we photographed our student friends at the Hope Center then enjoyed coffee together... this particular young lady is such a sweetheart.  I will miss seeing her! (She just graduated this week from school!)

The kids finished another year of school with Miss Pam.  We are so grateful for her help with their education!  You can tell they love her very much!

Since school has finished, the kids still need a bit of structure in their day.  They have started these scripture art journals published by Kids Read Truth.  I love that it engages them with the Bible in a creative way, often having to look up passages on their own and consider the meanings of the text.

Nathan traveled with Luli and Tiffany for a week to Korca to delve into deeper training in the methods of CHE...

This past month our muslim friends have been observing Ramadan.  While it's maybe a blip on the news in America, it's prominent here... The sign below reads, "Welcome Ramadan, Month of Mercy and Forgiveness."

While the crew was in Korca, Nathan captured this lovely pastoral image of sheep in a nearby mountain village.  The prevalence of vehicles in our area means our interactions with livestock require a bit more intentionality.

A friend from America flew into Tirana for a few days of business and brought us some fantastic treats!  It's the little things... like crunchy Cheetos, pop tarts and Lucky Charms.  (Probably a good thing that our exposure to these processed snacks are limited, ha ha).

We celebrated Nathan's life near the end of May.  Above is Reni's Lego tribute in lieu of a card. A friend gifted Nathan with an ice cream cake! Yum!

The last weekend of May we traveled to Permet with some dear local friends.  A major landmark in the town is a large rock that sits prominently at its entrance.  The photo below is the back side of the rock which has stairs to the top. 

Of course, we climbed the rock!

Permet

Arguably the most fun you can have for $1... 5 minutes on this trampoline.

Ellie was thrilled to experience her first independent trail ride!

It was probably one of the most fun activities we've ever experienced here!

At the very end of May we hosted our friends Jonathan and Anna for a few days on their way back to the States from Kenya. 

Climbing Reni's favorite monument in Durres...he gives me high blood pressure every time!

One night (since the kids were camping in the loft where we have our TV) we watched a movie on the deck with the projector.  It was a bit chilly, as you can see from the blankets, but we didn't let that stop us!  If you haven't yet heard of The Chosen, you need to check it out!  My cousin, Dallas, is the creator/director/producer.  Super proud of his work on this project! We watched two episodes!

I mentioned earlier that Reni has natural athletic inclinations.  But he's also caught in the tension of living in Europe, but identifying as American.  He claims his favorite sport is baseball, yet he knows nothing of the rules, the positions, the lingo... Below, he gets an enducation on futbol watching the Champions league final.

Sunday was a momentous day!  The first Burger King in Albania opened!  I know, we barely eat at Burger King in America, but on this side of the Atlantic, it has entirely different meaning.  No offense to my dear Albanian friends, but burgers here are just... different.  We were happy to report that with closed eyes we were instantly transported to our childhoods.  The kids were pretty thrilled, even though they don't have the same connections as their parents.  Albania is a changin'!

If you look carefully at the photo below (Reni getting his hair cut -- as absolutely long as he could delay getting it done), above the barber's right shoulder is a photo of Nathan getting his hair cut by the original owner who has since passed away. You can imagine Nathan's surprise to see himself on the barber shop walls!

We have a team arriving tonight from Texas!!  This week has been busy with multiple shopping trips and large blocks of time devoted to making freezer

 meals, shredding cheese, making sausage, browning hamburger, chopping veggies...

It's all easier though with help!  Tiffany is on a break from language study and has come down a couple of extra days to the village to help with setting up the house and cooking!

Happy summer!