FINDING OUR PLACE…

It is an interesting life.
Leave all your possessions behind and move to a totally new country.
Learn a new language, learn a new culture, make friends and disciples for Christ.
Then say good-bye.
Come back to your home culture for one year and…
Try to fit in?
Share about missions to as many groups that ask?
Spend time receiving spiritual renewal?
Connecting with supporters?

Finding my place here in the US has been harder than I thought.
We chose to make Belton our “home” (a town where I have never lived).
This means being “the new kid on the block”, which no matter how many times you’ve moved, is always tough (not just for us, but for the kids too).
It means finding a church home.
It means finding activities for our children to be involved in.
It means finding like-minded families to get to know.
But remember….it is only for a year.

I feel like this month we may finally be finding our place.
We joined a home-school co-op.
The kids are each taking 3 classes every Monday.
They loved it and I enjoyed the fellowship with other moms.
The three older kids have been taking piano lessons and have finally moved passed “Mary Had a Little Lamb”.
Ryan and Joshua are in city basketball and are having fun, especially since games have started.
I just signed Tyler and Ryan up for city soccer to begin in March.
Joshua loves his karate class.
And Ginny enjoys her once a week tap and ballet class.
We have been attended the same church since we arrived and are feeling comfortable.
We attend a Sunday school class and a small group and slowly but surely remembering people's names.

Things that made me laugh this week....

Ginny said as she was in the bath with the plug half up, "Mom! The water is all shrinking out."

Joshua declared, "I love root-beard." (root-beer)

Tyler, "I want a doughnut with sparkles on top." (sprinkles)

One of Jeff's patients asked if he was a medical student. When Jeff said no. They said, "Oh then you must be a resident."

SIGHT-SEEING in COLORADO

We did many cool things while we were in Colorado. One day we visited the Focus on the Family headquarters. The kids enjoyed seeing Witt’s End and the “town” of Odyssey (we love the Adventures in Odyssey tapes – especially while we are driving). Another day we drove up Pike’s Peak for a breath-taking (literally) view and then we crossed the Royal Gorge for an incredible view down (YIKES!). We toured the Olympic Training Center and the Air Force Academy and ate lunch in an airplane. We spent two nights in a hotel with a big twisty indoor waterslide that the kids LOVED (that was probably their Colorado trip highlight).

One night ate dinner with friends that we knew from Harlingen. We stayed two nights with friends from medical school (they took us to some awesome hot springs) and another night we stayed with a college friend and her family (fireplace roasted hot dogs and s’mores…yum!).

On our way back to Texas we stopped at Capulin Volcano in New Mexico and stayed a night with some dear friends.

It has been a fun filled vacation and we are so thankful!

Family photo at the top of Pike's Peak


At the top of Pike's Peak


Seeing bighorned sheep (Colorado state animal) as we traveled up Pike's Peak.


I just love this picture.


Jeff with my dad - I love their hats!


Ginny and Oma


Royal Gorge


The inclined railway taking us to the bottom of the Royal Gorge. This was a fun ride!


Air Force Academy

SNOWY VACATION

January 2010

Saying good-bye to my family (who lives in Bosnia) is always interesting because we never know when and in what country we will see each other next. Among the many blessings that I count, is the fact that we were able to see each other this year in the states (it had been two years since I had last seen my dad). However, since both of us are “homeless” while in the US, we were looking for a nice place to be able to hang out and, boy, did God provide. Through a relative of Liz, we were able to housesit for a family in Colorado Springs. The house had ample space for the 10 of us (Ryan and Ginny each got their own room for the very first time that they can remember). The backyard was a winter wonderland complete with sledding hills, a trampoline, a play ground and beautiful land to explore (Ginny enjoyed tracking animals). One day, Ryan, Jeff, Uncle Jedidiah and Justin (friend) went to Monarch to ski. Since it was Ryan’s first time, he took an all day lesson. He loved it and was all smiles when he was telling me about his day.





You can click on the picture to make it bigger.

OUR FAMILY

January 2010



The 7 of us in Colorado.

This year in August we will be adding another one. I am 11 weeks pregnant with #6.

We feel so blessed!



more snow pictures coming soon...

ANSWER to the previous post's riddle!

Here’s the answer:

Today is January 1, 2010.
The day before yesterday (on December 30, 2009) Ryan was 9 years old….
He turned 10 years old December 31, 2009.

Today is January 1, 2010.
End of this year, Ryan will turn 11 years old

Next year in 2011, he will turn 12 years old.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

January 2. 2010

We spent New Years with my 3 best friends and their families in Denison. We started the afternoon with Taco Bueno (we're very sophisticated) and then the kids played for several hours at Jump Land (blow up slides and trampolines, games and a huge play set). That evening after dinner we played games and rung in the New Year. Man, I haven’t laughed that hard and for that long in awhile!

While the guys were playing Mind Trap, Ryan’s exact scenario came up. See if you can figure it out.

The day before yesterday Ryan was 9 years old and next year he will turn 12. How can this be?

Does this get you thinking? If you really want the answer e-mail me and I’ll explain the rational. It’s pretty cool.

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY RYAN!

December 31, 2009

I have always thought that Ryan had a cool birthday – December 31, 1999. I was in the hospital with a newborn baby when the world was supposed to come to an end over Y2K. I remember thinking that the hospital was probably the safest place to be if all the computers in the world failed because they had backup generators for their backup generators.
This year he turned 10 – double digits. I cannot believe that he is that old or that I am old enough to have a kid that old! He is a great kid and we are so blessed to have him.

This year he celebrated a couple days early on the 29th. Uncle Steve helped make it a fantastic birthday by taking Ryan, Joshua, and Jeff to The Main Event in Austin. The 4 guys spent all day rock climbing, playing glow-in-the-dark putt-putt, playing shuffle board, bowling, eating pizza, and playing laser tag. When they got home we ate salmon (that was Ryan’s birthday dinner request) and then had sports themed cupcakes.