December 2025 | Changing up traditions

December is a hectic month, pretty much around the world, but this year felt particularly so. As such, this year I gave myself permission to deviate from my usual ways.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a tradition, but in order to stay sane, I had to 'let go' of some self-imposed expectations.

One tradition I couldn't let go, was a family Christmas card photo. I gave myself permission to forego finding a new, creative location and we pulled on some holiday colors and stood in front of our tree.  Check! 

We love seeing all of our expat friends at the annual Christmas Bazaar in Tirana, but it really snuck up on me this year.  My choice: scale back the volume of products we brought and focus on the best of the item.  Our sales were actually higher.

The morning after the Christmas Bazaar we loaded up the Valued Treasures and took them to Albania's version of Home Depot or Lowes.  We are quite the sight to behold, our little parade of wheelchairs and walkers and such, but I don't think anyone else has as much fun!  The excursion started with a coffee in the store's cafeteria...

To get a better picture of the experience, watch this 1-minute highlight video.

Nathan and I gave each other permission to buy our own Christmas presents.  Nathan bought himself an espresso maker that also doubles as a form of entertainment!  Though he legitimately needed to replace his moka pot after burning it during a telephone interruption.  I replaced my bedspread after one-too-many rips from Lucy's claws on our original bedspread. Don't get me started about how she likes to sleep on our bed when we are not at home...

We even made our own classroom decorations at Valued Treasures!  And yes, that's pink and purple because we are out of green and red construction paper.

The seasonally confused chocolates made a reappearance this year...

Regular programing continued as usual (kids club, above). An early Christmas gift to me:  an enormous bag of lemons from a friend's tree -- which I squeezed and used to infuse my drinking water!

I still marvel at the ability to pick fresh mandarines in our backyard.  Also, I love morning sunshine in the winter...

Part of what made Christmas feel extra this year was the responsibility for Valued Treasures' Christmas party.  Last year's (thrown by the Artonis) was incredible, so we had big shoes to fill.  But also, sourcing gifts for all the students, staff, and volunteers!

Nathan employed the Cricut and made logo t-shirts for the volunteers and personalized stockings for the students (which we stuffed with gifts).  Making personalized t-shirts might be Nathan's NEW tradition.  I love that he enjoys being creative!

The Christmas party turned out to be a lot of fun.  You can watch a short video here.  I was so thrilled Reni agreed to dress up as Santa.  It was really unexpected, though Gerti running up to sit on his lap caught Reni off guard even more!

One stressor during the Christmas party occurred when we discovered that I had ordered the catered lunch to be delivered on the day of the Planters Staff Christmas party and not the day of VT's party!  Thankfully a nearby restaurant saved the day and whipped together a bunch of pizzas and these three guys delivered them for us!

A HUGE Christmas gift to Jeta was the delivery of second-hand solar panels!  We hope that they will allow Jeta to operate without drawing any electricity from the State!  Pray that the contractor shows up SOON to build the structure.  We have been waiting for more than a month. 

The final Advent Christmas story saw Pastor Genti preaching about each of the participants at Christ's birth using the ceramic nativity set we display at the front of church.  I love how it captures the attention and imaginations of everyone who visits.

We took the Planters staff out for supper the last Friday before Christmas.  Sadly, I got very few photos!  That's probably because we were having such a good time visiting!

The weekend before Christmas found us busy in the kitchen -- both preparing for Christmas celebrations at home and in church.  Usually we make and decorate HUNDREDS of Christmas cookies for a variety of different events.  

This year, we scaled back drastically and only made simple candy canes (instead of all the other shapes) AND we did not decorate them.  Read on to see why... this saved us so much time.

Below, Nathan and Ellie roll out candy cane cookies that participants would ice at the Christmas Eve service.

Below, Anneco and I visited Dhurata and Merita for Dhurata's birthday.

Probably the BIGGEST deviation we made from tradition was to forego our regular church service for Christmas Eve.  Knowing that people learn differently, I thought a hands-on experience might help some 'hear' the Christmas story in a fresh way.

Christmas Eve morning we set up Jeta for the evening's event with three rooms of activities explaining the symbolism behind many of the elements of Christmas. 

Below, in the first room, we discussed the meaning of the Christmas tree -- it's color (evergreen for eternal life), shape (an arrow pointing to heaven), lights (Jesus came as a light to a dark world), decorations (representing the fruit eaten by Adam and Eve in the garden), and star (pointing seekers to Jesus).

Participants got to paint their own Christmas ornament and take it home, along with a word search including the concepts from the mini-lesson.

At the second station, guests decorated candy cane cookies and learned how the candy cane represented the shepherd's crook, used to guide sheep and rescue wayward lambs.  Also, that Jesus called himself the Good Shepherd, and the colors represent his purity and shed blood.  The peppermint flavor reminds us of the healing he brings, just as peppermint oil is well known for its healing properties.

In the final room, we learned about why we exchange gifts at Christmas as Shpresa explained the Christmas story.  

On the way out, each child received a Christmas box, thanks to Project Hope.

After a crazy, full night, Christmas morning was pretty low-key in our home. 

One Christmas tradition we let go of:  Mom Lois' Quiche Lorraine.

One tradition we kept:  Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal for the kids.

Hannah, Luli, and Eda came over for lunch and games (no pics, unfortunately).  Then, later in the afternoon, the Dukas joined us for our traditional Christmas dinner and activities. Some traditions you just don't let go of...

After they left and we cleaned up, Ellie dove into her Christmas gift, a subscription to some online music courses.

I have discovered I LOVE the days between Christmas and New Years.  We used to take the time for our family vacation, but I am so glad we chose not to this year.  This may be a new tradition we adopt!

We used the time to prep and cook for Nathan's dad and sister's arrival and work at our own pace, free from interruptions.  One day we treated ourselves to lunch at Pizza Hut in the mall across Tirana.  It was heavenly to not have a schedule.

It also finally got COLD, at least for a few days.  Below, the temperature in the kitchen before we turned on the heat.

A missed connection in Chicago meant that they arrived about 16 hours later than planned, but nevertheless, just in time for the New Year's fireworks at the stroke of 12.

But first, a NYE supper of lasagna and...

Nutella Pie!  Ellie votes this is a new tradition we keep!

Happy New Year!  May your 2026 be off to a great start, with evidence of God's hand at work in your lives and situations.  What are Christmas traditions are non-negotiable for you?  Which have you decided to let go of?

November 2025 | Picking time!

November started out as a beautiful month!  We enjoyed a surprise visit with the family of one of Reni's friends.  They came to Albania for holiday and met up with us for supper at a local restaurant on their way to the airport to fly home.  The restaurant has beautiful gardens and Ellie's pullover just so happened to match the mums... she was a good sport to sit for a quick snapshot after supper.

From our living room window, we have a view of the mountains to the east, including the medieval village of Preza that has a historic signal tower used during the rebellion against the Ottomans (signalling between Kruja and Petrela).  A long-time dream has been to have this view painted because I could never capture it with a photo as beautiful as I know it is. Then one night the sun set with clouds that directed the rays like a perfect spotlight. I tried with my cell phone and it didn't turn out too bad! Can you see the signal tower and adjacent minaret?

In November, Jessica and her boys visited for a few weeks from Toccoa.  It was a pleasure to introduce her to Jenny, whose husband is a pastor in Durres and children take part in soccer school and music lessons with Ellie.  Ellie, as you can see, was thrilled to be one of the gals. :-) 

One evening during soccer school, a 10-year-old from our village picked up a computer mouse next to Nathan and casually asked what it was.  We remembered that most of these kids don't get to interact with computers -- at all.  One evening during study hall, I opened up a computer and let a few of the girls play some games on a typing website. They had a blast.  On Black Friday we purchased a few inexpensive android keyboards so we can make keyboarding a regular add-on to Study Hall in the new year.

Before and after kids club you can find me playing table games with the ones who aren't into playing soccer in the kalceto. :-)  I know, tough job, but someone has to do it!

Quiz time at the end of the Kids Club unit!  Using the faithful "jump seats."

Meeting the Dukas in Tirana one Sunday afternoon...

It was our pleasure to host a group of seven from the Torchbearers program during their fall week of practical ministry.  Above, they post with Group A at Valued Treasures during craft time.

November is also olive-picking time!  Reni came out to help Demir, Ismail and I pick the olives off the two trees on Jeta's property.

You can watch a video (1:28) here of our work here!

37.8 kilos!  We took it to the olive oil factory just down the road from Vlashaj.

Later in the afternoon, I returned to see the factory in action (the machines take a break during the day, and resume activity at 4PM, as deliveries begin to arrive from the various farms in the area). 

While Reni and I picked olives, Nathan and the group visited a couple from church at their home.

The next morning, while picking up some students for Valued Treasures, we stopped by the olive oil factory to pick up our oil!  It yielded about 5.5 liters of oil!

The good weather continued so I popped over to Jessica's rental to pick some olives on her trees.  Not quite the same as riding in the combine with Dad, but fall = harvest time, am I right?  Gotta be outside as much as possible before winter!

Before sending our new friends back to Erseke, we took them up to Preza (remember the first pic in this post?) to debrief the week over coffee and some beautiful views on the ridgeline.

I love the friendship between these two!  At church, Friday night.

Saturday morning, the team facilitated a dramatic interpretation of the story of the Good Samaritan, then we broke into small groups to discuss.

Saturday afternoon Ellie and I went out for coffee with Jenny and Jessica as a farewell to Jess before leaving... it was our first spotting of Christmas decorations of the season!

Our weekdays are full of hours at Valued Treasures.  While there, I love to take photos and videos to share the activities and show off our special students to those who support the ministry.  In November, I learned how to find royalty-free music so I could post those short videos on YouTube, a platform more readily available than Instagram and Facebook, which require accounts.  Most of these videos are around 1-minute in length and you can view them here.

The third Friday of the month, after church, we enjoyed the help of the youth group and five of our friends from Torchbearers who returned for a weekend follow-up visit.

It's true that many hands make light work!

Saying goodbye, below, to our friends before they headed back south.

The end of November may mean Thanksgiving in the USA, but in Albania, it is Independence and Liberation Days (November 28 and 29)!

We celebrated with a really fun Indpendence day party, with folks dressing Albania's red and black colors.

Check out this video of Ellie playing the çiftëli -- a traditional two-stringed instrument -- at the party.

After getting our olive oil, we bought smaller, glass bottles for storing it and giving it away.

Reni shows off his finished work.  Maybe we will make a farmer out of him yet!