Special Moments in March!

I feel obligated to begin this post with a disclaimer: in spite of all of these special activities highlighted below, the month had its share of mundane moments.  If you know of a way to interestingly document cleaning trash up around the playground, editing homework and visitor information guides, batch cooking freezer meals, turning over the guesthouse, meeting with a local tax experts, painting the kids' bedroom, etc -- let me know! :-)

The first of March we took our annual spring trip to the Share Education conference.  It's an incredible time for our entire family. We met up with our friends, the Duls.  Meg was president of our student leadership team back at Asbury in 1999-2000!  Our colleagues, the McMunns, also attended.  It was a joy to share meals together!

The youth program is a wonderful week of spiritual refreshment and fellowship for Ellie and Reni.  It's so good for them to reconnect with friends they have made at previous conferences.

On the final day, all graduating seniors took part in a farewell ceremony. We love the intentionality with which the conference staff invests in each of the kids, especially preparing them for transition and understanding their identities as individuals who have grown up with feet planted in two different cultures.

The day after returning from the conference, Nathan and some of the guys on our team hiked to Dove Cave with our visitor, Luke, an avid hiker,

While the guys hiked, the ladies visited a dessert shop for Women's Day.  I have no photos because I was sick in bed -- thankfully a relatively rare event for me (Cydil).

On Sunday we celebrated Luke's birthday.  Our family made him a custom t-shirt that reads, "A Real Man."  Bonnie made curry and we enjoyed a game of Monopoly Deal!

Soccer school resumed in March...

On Tuesday morning we said goodbye to the Andersons!  We were so grateful they came and served us and the community!

In honor of women's day, I shared the story of my journey to motherhood through Ellie's adoption to a group of special women from church and the gym.

I was so honored by everyone who came.  We enjoyed a dinner, made a beautiful pop-up card craft designed by Belen, and of course, we danced!

One of my favorite memories of the month was hosting a Sunday night dinner with our village teammates.  Forgive me for photographing the lasagna that Nathan and I made.  I actually didn't burn it this time, ha ha! And when one is preparing to return to the USA for furlough, all the carefully saved chocolate chips get used! :-)

Catch Phrase is a fun game -- and even more humorous when you're playing with a lot of non-native English speakers! Needless to say, we didn't keep score.

We took some more senior photos for Ellie -- this time in some of her favorite clothes with her favorite guitar! We took them at the waterfront city of Durres, about 20 minutes from our home.

The third weekend of March we were honored to celebrate the first birthday of Reni's cousin in the famous Albanian city of Gjirokaster, a 3+ hour drive from the village.  We stopped at the picturesque pitstop called Cold Water for a morning coffee to break up the trip.  I loved these pretty capuccino vessels and couldn't help but take a photo.

The party included lots of yummy food, music, dancing, and fellowship.

It's not a celebration without baklava!  And homemade is even better!

The morning after the party, we visited the old town.

Later we drove higher up the mountain for a beautiful view of Gjirokaster Castle

,,, and the old town.

Rain didn't seem to stop for the last week of the month.  I caught this sight of our neighbors chickens across the street trying to stay dry.

With a team arriving 5 days before our departure for the USA, we packed our suitcases before they arrived.  Our dog Lucy knows what it means when the bags come out.  She curls up on our bed like she is trying to convince us there is space for her too, lol.

On March 30, we were pleased to welcome this special group who came to serve the students, parents and staff at Valued Treasures!

Check back to read about all they did in April's post!