Take me out to the ballgame...

You may recall from my post one week ago that Nathan took Els to a Cincinnati Reds game with a group of Dads from church.  Here are the pics from the point-and-shoot camera...

Yes -- this was what Ellie wanted.  Not a ball cap or a t-shirt... no, it must be a totally rediculous foam finger... but that made a totally fabulous photo prop!

I loved both of these pics!

Apparently after the 2nd inning, she asked if the game was over!

Then, when hearing the voice of the announcer, she asked, "Is that GOD?"

All in all, great memories!

Meet Winnie

You might remember a post about a month or so ago where I mentioned that Nathan had a seed of an idea planted in his mind by some missionary friends.  That idea was to travel in an RV while we do deputation over the course of next year. As homeschooling parents, our friends had expressed the difficulty of doing school each day in a different place.  One day at a library, the next day at a home, the day after that at a fast food restaurant... (you get the idea).  Then, when one of their children had a meltdown (usually from the stress of frequent transition, something we had little difficulty envisioning happening with our Els), often the only private place they could find to retreat would be a bathroom.

Add to that, the cost savings of having a place to sleep, a place to make simple meals, a place to 'spread out' all the while traveling with a little boy in the midst of potty training (with short legs, mind you -- there are some challenges to which we still haven't figured out solutions) ... it seemed ideal for our family at this particular stage in life.

After doing a little bit of preliminary searching, I quickly dismissed the idea of traveling in an RV as a pipe dream because the only way we could afford such a vehicle would be if God literally dropped it in our lap.  About a month after sharing this idea with a very few close friends and family, we get a phone call from my parents.  Driving through Green Valley, they took a street they had never been on before and guess what they found in a driveway at the dead end?  An RV for sale!  And the price was within our meager budget!  They sent us photos and we pondered it for a couple of weeks, mulling over the decision of purchasing a vehicle that was older than the students who had just graduated from Asbury.

It had a few things going for it besides the price tag... The interior appeared to be in excellent condition.  The mileage was a mere 69,000 miles (not bad for a 1985!) and the engine was diesel (which, when made in that era, tends to last much longer than their gasoline equivalents).  Nevertheless, wanting to be good stewards of the little bit of savings we had, we debated and waited.

Then in early June we had our meeting with the team at Cincinnati Childrens about creating strategies for working with Ellie and all of a sudden, the decision to purchase the Winnebego was a no-brainer.  We gave the green light to my parents and a few weeks ago they drove it down the road to their home.  Tonight we got a phone call that she's been all tuned up:  new fuel pump, new wipers, new belts, new AC... She's been declared road worthy!

So, as we begin planning our months of homeland ministry assignment, we have an extra measure of excitement and a little less concern as we see how God is taking care of details like a cozy home-on-wheels where we can drive and sleep and eat and do school, regardless of which state we happen to find ourselves in!

Meeting 'old' friends...

One of the really cool blessings about walking the path of adoption are the wonderful families one gets to meet along the way.  I want to say it was sometime in 2009 I 'met' Jennifer Santor via e-mail as someone whose family was contemplating adopting from the Bethany-Albania program. (Was that through Katie Baron, whom [ahem] I've yet to meet in real life, either?).  We discovered we had a lot in common (where to begin?), and thanks to the blogosphere, we 'followed' each other's families as within months of each other we brought home sons from Eastern Europe (due to the Bethany-Albania program closing, the Lord directed them to Bulgaria where they found their son, Andrew).

Having participated in a pretty amazing Bulgarian-adoptive families get together in Cincinnati this past weekend, the Santor family pre-arranged to stop by and meet us on their way home to Georgia. Under almost any other circumstance, it might sound totally strange to have folks over for supper whom you've never met before in person.  But this isn't the first time we've done this (e.g. Diana N and Lindsey C!) and it was a real treat to fill in some gaps and talk about all those things that don't make it on the blog.  By the end of the evening we were making tentative plans to visit their home sometime next year!

Thanks, Santors, for veering off the interstate to come down to Wilmore!  We appreciate your love for the Lord, your heart for missions and orphans, and the testimony of your family! So cool that we can be 'real' friends now! ;-)

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Guess what got knocked off the dresser?  And guess what someone found?  And just HAD to empty!

Yep, those eyes know they probably are in trouble...

..but when confronted later by Daddy a certain little boy said, "I sorry. Mommy already took my picture."
I'm afraid I might have sent a mixed message.  What do you think?

At least his room smells REALLY good!
Below... tonight Nathan and Els joined a bunch of Dads from church at a Cincinn@ti Reds game.  I got a phone call about an hour ago from Nathan at the stadium.  We had debated about whether to get her a t-shirt or a cap for her souvenir.  Upon arrival she wanted neither.  The phone call was a beleaguered dad who knew it would be a long night until a certain girl got what she wanted... .... .... a giant foam finger.  I told him it would make for a good photo, so 'yes.' Buy it.  Photo forthcoming.

on their way out the door to the game...

The Loss of a Village Friend

The photo above is one of our all-time favorite images of Ellie in Albania.  This is typical of how our kids open doors and make us welcome guests wherever we go there.  We're re-posting it today to acknowledge the passing of a matriarch in our Albanian 'home town' of Vlashaj.  My mother, Sarah, is presently in Albania and was able on Friday to attend the funeral of the one whom Nathan and I know best as Anselmo and Ada's grandmother.  We are grateful that she had the opportunity to hear about Jesus through my parents, her grandchildren, and our colleagues, Genti and Shpresa, but only God knows her heart.  Times like this make us long for the day when we can be just down the street from our friends to share their sorrows as well as their joys, and tell other grandmas about One who wants to welcome them into eternal life after this one.

July 2010

Photo by Ellie

Reworking and Finetuning

If you're like me, you might be reading this post on Google Reader, or maybe you've signed up to have our posts delivered to your e-mail box via Feedburner.  If so, then you haven't visited our actual blog page in a while to see some of the changes that have slowly transpired on our little corner of the web.

The first change this spring has been the addition of pages to make it easy to find information about us in one place, if you're seeking it.  For example, if you want to know about the timeline related to our transition and move (or just exactly what we're going to do in Albania), go to the page "Our Move to Albania".  If you want to know more about adoption or find resources for families of children with limb differences, go to our "Resources and Links" page...

If you just learned that you can have our posts e-mailed to you and don't want to have to fool with things like RSS feeds, bookmarks, or Google Reader pages, put your e-mail address in the box to the right (see below).

We also send more ministry-specific updates out to those of you who are interested in that part of our lives.  Sign up for our newsletter and customize your subscription to receive as much or as little information as you want to stay up to date on the work in Albania.  We send out weekly prayer updates to our prayer team as well as monthly and quarterly reports.  Some information just isn't appropriate to post for posterity on the blog, but we can share it via e-mail. Thank you to those of you who have chosen to be a part of sending us and participating in the ministry with your prayers!  There will be much to report in the coming days so we want to make sure we stay connected in the mist of much transition on our part.

Our week...

... has pretty much consisted of sorting papers, organizing boxes, and filling trash cans.  And yes, we kept the  blinds closed on Tuesday morning until the garbage truck had come and gone.  It was that bad.

Ellie's Birthday

We are in full packing mode this week!  So much to do, but not too busy to report the celebration our girl's 7th birthday last week! Apparently, in Ellie's unique way of understanding the world, she believed on her birthday she would wake up with an entirely new set of skills that she couldn't undertake when she was six.  After all, one cannot drive a car until they're 16, right? Do you see her logic?  So, when Ellie turned 7, she believed she would be able to do things like write fast and juggle (not at the same time, of course).  Alas, my sweet Els, most of us must practice, practice before we are proficient at anything...

To make her feel special, I made a bunch of signs which I hung around the house with special messages.  She loved it more than I expected, though the sign in the bathroom literally made her gasp in surprise (not from the message, mind you).  I love that my kids love surprises!

On the morning of her birthday we took Ellie, Reni, and their friends Chloe and Essie to a bounce house in Lexington.

  The slide above was their favorite.  I caught sight of them holding hands lots of times.  Oh my... Ellie's going to miss them!

Nathan discovered that the cotton candy machine had a dollar credit already loaded in it, so for another buck, the kids split a delicious treat...

After lunch at Chick Fil A and a shopping trip at the Dollar Tree (Ellie promised the girls goodie bags when we picked them up -- OOPS! -- everyone got $3 to fill their own 'goodie bag' and had as much fun shopping as they did at the bounce house, and for a lot less!), we went home for cake and gifts.

 Do you remember last year's lanterns?  We didn't launch them all last year, and had kept a few for later (which survived getting packed up in a box).  Our friend Sarah happened to be in the center later that evening and accompanied us across the street to send off a few more.

All in all, I think Ellie had a great birthday.  I know I had a good time watching her enjoy the company of friends and seeing what a beautiful girl she is growing up to be!  Ellie, we love you SO much and are so proud of how much you've matured this year.  We love your concern for others and your encouraging heart. We can't wait to see what changes this year brings... just think what we may be doing a year from now!