Getting ready..........

The month of December, my housemate and assistant, Jenny, was in the US on furlough. That, along with preparing for Christmas had me hopping! Ioana returned to work, after maternity leave, so Daria began to come stay at the team house around 3 days a week. It was a rough adjustment for her, leaving Mommy, but we made it. Though we were all occasionally exhausted!

Decorating the Team house is has become a tradition.  We get a tree and Ruthie puts the star up.  Then we decorate, watch a Christmas movie, and have a slumber party.  Our tree, this year, was an interesting shape!  But it grew on me!

We did a lot of baking, assembling, and packing presents.  With all of our kids, plus the directors and staff in the locations we work in, there is PLENTY to do!

Melissa and Ruthie are baking.  Everyone gets to help out to get everything done!

We also attend Christmas programs at the orphanages.  Romanians love their poems!

Parties, Parties, Parties!

 

Ready or Not Christmas is here!

Time of Thankfulness!

As Most of you know, the H2H Thanksgiving Feast is a huge annual event here at the Team House. I knew, when I moved here, so many years ago, that celebrating Thanksgiving was something that I'd bring with me. What started out 5 people in my apartment living room, has grown to be between 60-80 people here at the team house. I LOVE Thanksgiving. It is a time to reflect and what we have to be thankful for while celebrating the people that make up our lives. I've added some of my favorite pictures of the day, so that you can celebrate with us!
 

We had 4 of the grandkids in one place at one time so we tried to get a picture of them all together, smiling....We were close!

The feast!



Costel, Doro and some of the kids--They always love to be together.

Emi turned 5, and since we were all together we took advantage of the time to celebrate.  

Growing Grandkids!

 I believe one of the best parts of our ministry is that we know the only way to truly disciple our kids is by living life alongside of them.  How else will they ever understand the love of Christ and the importance of trust and family unless it is lived out with them.  Most of you know that one of the most amazing facets of this is the H2H grandbabies that have come along.  August 30th we added baby 8, Abygail, and 9, Daria to our family.  Yes, they were both born on the same day!  We have 3 that live close by and are around often.  We help babysit Ruthie and Karla several times a week and will also help provide child care for Daria when Ioana returns to work.  I'm going to pull the "grandma" card and brag a bit about these 3 in this blog.

 Daria was born on Aug. 30th to Alex and Ioana Oprea.  Romania hospitals are very strict about allowing visitors to see the baby in the hospital, so although we visited Ioana before we left on vacation, we didn't get to meet Daria until we returned.  In the picture above I'm introducing myself to precious Daria!

 

 In mid-September Daria was dedicated at our church.  It was another great milestone for Alex and Ioana and for the H2H family!

 

 Karla is getting big!  She is now 8 month old.  She "talks" alot, smiles often, loves to be on her stomach, but more so standing on her legs.  She dislikes sitting up.  She loves to be sung to.  Her favorite song is The Wheels on the Bus.  When someone she knows comes into the room she moves her arms and legs in excitement.  She is a very sweet baby and is good natured. 

This is our attempt to get that adorable fall picture of a baby sitting in the leaf pile!


She liked being a cute pumpkin much better!

                                                             At Ruthie's Birthday party!

Ruthie has turned 5!  We can hardly believe that she is that big.  The little boy in the picture is Emi, another of our grandkids.  Ruthie is a princess and a frozen party was a must this year.  We had fun helping her parents plan and throw it.  I think that Ruthie smiled the whole day!

Ruthie loves pumpkins and being outside.  She understands English but speaks half Romania half English with Jenny and I. (She of course, speaks fluent Romanian).    We are really working on her saying full English sentences.  She loves going on walks and going to the mall.  She is pretty athletic and will run with me for quite long distances for her age.   She paints, cooks, does nails, writes her name, sings, and dances.  She loves mac and cheese, popcorn, and spicy chips, and is more comfortable on an ipad then most adults!  She is smart and confident and says I love you often.  I'm so proud of the little person that she is!

I hope that you can tell from this blog how much I love these little ones and how blessed we are to have them part of our legacy here in Romania!

Summer Fun!

Summer Ministry is my favorite time of the year!  It is a time when we don't have to worry about school schedules and interuptions, but can focus on providing fun, memory-making experiences with the kids.  This summer was no exception.  We did day camps for the kids under the age of 14.  They were able to come to the team house and have pool time, games, crafts, great food and good lessons.  We also did a tween camp this year for kids 12-14 and a teen camp.  The theme for the year was Perseverance and we focused on different parts of this; faith, hope, purity, purpose and discipline. 

There were so many great moments that I can't tell you about all of them, so I'll let the pictures tell most of the story.

The pool was a favorite activity, as usual!  The month of June for us, was pretty cool and rainy, so many of the swimming days with the little ones were was a bit cold.  But if you only get to swim 2 days a summer, you swim, no matter how cold you are!

 Our new addition to the pool this summer was basketball hoops.  James Lynch, from Buhler along with Steven came up with and built (with some helpers), 2 hoops.  We had a lot of fun playing basketball!

There were some intense games--but I was able to hold my own!

 I always pray a lot for protection over the summer.  With all of the driving that we do, activities with the kids, and pool time, there are tons of opportunity for injury.  But God was faithful again this summer and it was a very safe summer!  The biggest injury....when one of the kids' head connected with my ribcage in the pool.  His head was fine, I had a bruised rib all summer, but all is good!

Part of the fun of summer camps is good food.  The kids look forward and argue about what they are going to eat each year! A typical conversation in the van on the way to came is, "what are we having for lunch?"  "I bet pizza, because we had pizza last year, or maybe soarma, or maybe hot dogs, or maybe...."

 I was blessed to have "Buhlerites" (people from my home town), here ministering with me this summer!  Parker Wedel, Elisa and Josh Brikerhoff, and James Lynch.  They were great, and once again proved me proud!  They were hard working, flexible, and ready to jump into wherever the need was, including cleaning up from the Flood of 2015!

Craft Time!

The kids love skits!  This was an amazing rendition of Daniel and the Lion's Den!

Putting on their Armor of God!

 For the Tween and Teen camps we had obstacle courses to encourage the idea of persevering.  They were FUN!

 This is the new favorite treat of the summer.  A new ice cream store that opened down in the old city center.  Want to know how good it is......come to help out with summer ministry and we'll take you!

Dental Team

We were once again privileged to have Dr. Larry Payne and Dr. Brett DiSalle here to put on a H2H dental clinic.  This year the clinic was held here at the team house.  We focused on Transition kids and graduates as well as some kids from Rosiori.  This is always a different kind of ministry for me, as I fill the role of dental assistant and translator for the week.  In addition to the dental clinic we had 15 other team members here do a Vacation Bible School in Rosiori, Peris and Voluntari.  It was a busy week!!

                             The dental team after we finished putting in a bridge for Mariana

 Ruthie came to the dentist for the first time.  Mommy had to sit in the chair with her, but she was able to be brave and get her one cavity filled.

                                                            Dr. Larry and I in action!

                            One of the most important jobs of the week---holding someone's hand!

If you spend must time with me (have sat through my orientation), you know that I don't put much importance in numbers defining success of ministry.  But, dental week is a special week, and here were our numbers:  69 patients, 1 bridge, 1 crown, 10 sealants, 142 filings, and 62 extractions.

Thank you God for blessing the work of our hands!

Wrapping Up the School Year!

 The end of the school year is a busy time for everyone, and that is the same for us here in Romania.  We try to get in end of the year field trips, rewards for good behavior that have accumulated, celebrate Children's Day on June 1st, and recognize the accomplishments of another year.  

As a reward for good behavior throughout the year, we were able to take the kids from Peris to a special children's concert at the main symphony hall in Bucuresti.  This is a beautiful building that most Romanian's find it a privilege to go to, so to be able to take some of our kids, was a rare treat.

We had a team here from Biola University again.  They bring a group from their symphonic winds every other year.  It is always great to have Bob Feller back and his talented crew!

 They also helped us to celebrate Children's Day.  This is an international holiday that occurs on June 1st every year.  It's equivalent to Mother's or Father's Day, but celebrates Children.  It is widely celebrated here, so we try to do something special for our kids as well.  This year we held a BBQ in Rdv, and a carnival at Peris and Voluntari.  Fun was had by all!

 Romania schools also have end of the school year promotion programs.  Think about that for a moment.  Who attends promotion celebrations?  Parents and grandparents, right?  So who attends to cheer on our kids?  We do.  Getting to fill in the role of a proud parent and cheer on our kids and their accomplishments is one of the best parts of our ministry here.  It is such an honor!

 This is the annual family photo of Nicu, Vic and I that we always take on the last day of school.  For the first year, they are both taller then I am.