Standing Tall

Living By The Sea

There's this saying we recently learned... "If you want to learn to fish, you need to live by the sea." (rough translation)

In other words, one doesn't learn fishing unless one lives where the fish are.

Obviously, learning to speak Albanian can only come when we immerse ourselves in opportunities to practice (i.e. live with/by/around/near Albanian speakers)!

One of our favorite ways to learn new words and vocabulary is by playing games.  Here's some pics from a game night last month at the Hope Center.  First up was "Spot It."  I love that this game is small, has over a dozen different variations, and can be learnt quickly.  It appeals to all ages from Reni (age four) to the oldest adult.

Personally, I love 'team' games, and while Sequence can be played individually, it's even better with a partner.

I wasn't part of this circle, but here Anna and Abby got schooled on some traditional Albanian card games.

Reni was thrilled to help with token placement

A game sounds really fun right now... any takers?

P.S.  Speaking of fishing, Vera told us that if you fall down, folks might joke (I assume as a means of helping you cover your embarrassment), "Did you catch any fish?"

They Keep Growin' Up!

It's a quiet Saturday night.  The kids are bathed and in bed.  Not 10 minutes later we were turning off lights and seeking the sweet relief of sleep ourselves.

But before I retire, I have to share just a couple of special memories from the weekend in Vlash.  After church and games, Ellie begged last night for the umpteenth time to spend the night at  Ambra's house.  I don't know what was different this time but I said yes.  Oh my goodness was she excited. Her first real sleepover where I was not under the same roof.

The next morning was oddly quiet.  All I could think of was, they're going to offer her kos (a salty, drinkable yogurt) for breakfast and she's going to be in for a BIG surprise!  About 30 minutes before kids club was to begin this morning, she walked back up the road with Ambra, happy as a clam, albeit a bit confused that they actually slept.  Apparently she thought you stayed up all night at "sleepovers."

Our big Reni moment came when he actually wore his tall legs for the first time in months.  Okay, maybe his parents bribed him with a Kinder Egg (a German chocolate egg containing a tiny surprise inside).  His stubbies have been great, but he kind of lost his courage when it came to raising his center of gravity.  A little shaky at first, he was soon back up and at 'em.  Here's an early morning video of him playing soccer with a few guys who showed up around 8:30 this morning.




Finally,  before we left this afternoon to return to Tirana, we took a peek at the preliminary mural sketch drawn by Abby and Anna on the big meeting room wall (it will be painted in later this month).  Ellie took one look and in an ominous tone said, "Oh no.  That is going to cost a LOT of dollars to fix!"

Alright -- next up:  photos of Village Winter Olympic games... in the dark (because the power went out right before we were to begin).

All Kinds of Girly

Last month Abby and Anna approached us with the idea of doing special event for the village girls for Valentine's Day.  Back at Asbury I had done something similar with the Cabinet girls on this holiday (pasta bar, chocolate covered strawberries and chick flicks for a night) and Abby and Anna wanted to do something similar with their own twist.  It was a huge hit.  As you can imagine, it was full of food, giggles, finger nail polish, music, and hair braiding.  Oh, and lots and lots of photos!  (more on my FB page)

Albanian folk dancing looks beautifully simple.  Let me assure you, it is NOT!  I'm a hopeless cause and Women's Day is fast approaching!

Nathan was a trooper and sat with the kids back in one of the bedrooms.  The laptop cinema film of choice?  Planes.

These boys could hardly tolerate not being included.  Dying of curiosity, they sat outside the door for any glimpse of the festivities inside...

Yeah, I know I look a little tired, but keep in mind this is just a few hours after our fender bender and I was just happy we had made it to the village in time for the party and the girls were none the wiser!

Last Week

Last week seemed to be one of those weeks full of a bunch of little 'unplanned' events -- we thought it would be marked by starting Shqip 2 (Albanian II) but instead was noted for Nathan going to the police station about the accident to Reni coming down with Scarlet Fever (yeah, I hadn't heard of anyone succumbing to scarlet fever since Little Women).  

But we had some high points too.  Like Skyping with a special niece/cousin...

Comparing dental gaps/missing teeth...

After lots of grins, giggles, and jokes, Ellie spontaneously just hugged the monitor to give her cousin a hug.  "I wish I could hug your real shirt," she said.
Be still my heart.

So about the accident... Nathan showed up at the police station with Mandi and Arjan, armed with printed photos.  The officer in charge was sympathetic, agreeing that the law about liability when making left-hand turns made no sense (especially in our case of being hit from behind), but in the end stated that if he didn't ticket Nathan and uphold the law, the other insurance company would never pay out and our insurance would never cover the difference, so ticketing was the only way to ensure we didn't have to pay any more out of pocket than necessary.  He gave Nathan the minimum ticket penalty which was the equivalent of about $10.

Reni's illness was thankfully not as serious as it sounded.  When his body developed a strange rash, it was after hours here in Tirana ... but not in Lexington.  Placing a quick phone call to see if Reni had been vaccinated for chicken pox, a quick run down of his symptoms led Nurse Connie to suggest scarletina (or scarlet fever). Sure enough, the next morning her theory was confirmed at the ABC Clinic and he was started on antibiotics.  A short while later he was back to his old self and out of quarantine!

Here's trusting for a week free of illness and accidents!

Happy Birthday, Nonna!

So happy and blessed to have another year with Nonna!
The kids recorded this audio birthday 'card' for her... then we just kept recording their silliness.

There She Goes...

The ladies have continued knitting and two of the scarves they've given me were made on the smaller side for youth.  Who better to model them than my Ellie girl.

I got such a kick scrolling through some of the photos we captured for the scarf site, that I just had to share my favorites... and talk about how she's growing up so fast.

Since Christmas her new front teeth have really come in and change her look so much.  She is growing up in other ways too -- asking to do jobs around the house to earn money for a second bird (though if her first bird keeps squawking as much as he has, she made get a cash infusion from mom and dad for his companion to come sooner and quiet him down!).  

She's especially been putting not-so-subtle pressure on her parents to adopt her another sibling (or 8)!  In fact, she is pointing out her growing independence as a sign that we would have more time on our hands to take on new babies.

Recently Ellie has begun to indicate a growing frustration over her inability to communicate with her Albanian friends.  In so many words she has wondered why Albanian is so much harder for her to learn than she remembers 'learning' English.  As a result she has begun asking why she can't see her American friends and wishing she had more kids in her school. If you think of Ellie, could you pray for her in that area?

Going back to the 'adoption' talk, she's already come up with names for her new siblings.  Currently her favorites are are Russell and Jillian.

I love it that Ellie has such a tender heart for kids.  In particular she expresses concern for the gypsy children begging in the streets.  We've started carrying cracker packets in our vehicle so we have something to give them if they approach us.

Oh Ellie girl.  You exude joy.  You bring joy. We love you so much!

A Visit from Reni's First Valentine

On a weekend devoted to remembering those we love most, it was apropos to receive a woman very dear to our hearts into our home.

She loved our boy when he was only a few weeks old.

She served as his godmother at his baptism when he was under the care of the Sisters of Charity and gave him the name, David, after reading the account of David dancing before the Lord. In faith she believed that this little boy with no feet would one day dance too.

On his first birthday she showered him generously with gifts and graciously stepped back from spending time and working within eyesight of her favorite little boy in the green and white orphanage so he could start bonding and attaching with us, his new family.

When we learned that we would be moving to Albania, I dreamed of including her in our family's special days ... and other ordinary days in between.  

At great personal sacrifice (and after finishing up the night shift with 25 little ones) she made the trip to Tirana from Elbasan on Sunday morning.  We worshiped together at church, then she came to our home for lunch.

She watched Reni build his legos and got a tour of his bedroom.

We went for a walk in the park and enjoyed a beautiful afternoon and talked about visiting again, and meeting her family.

It's difficult to put into words what she means to us, for the gift she gave us in loving our Reni before we even knew of him, selflessly giving away a piece of her heart to him, knowing it would be broken the day he left with his permanent family.  Her generosity and courage humble me.

  All I know is that we are so blessed to be able to continue a relationship with this special woman.  I think she found joy in seeing how well he is doing and I hope it gives her courage to continue loving those who God puts in her care.

*P.S.  Special thanks to Kerri Nixon for helping arrange this visit.  We literally couldn't have done it without her!