A Season of Thanks

For those of you that know me well, you know that I love Thanksgiving.  I love the reason for the Holiday-to stop and reflect on the blessings in your life that you need to be thankful for.  I decided when I moved to Romania that I wasn't going to give up celebrating this holiday.  So, 15 Thanksgivings later, the Ziua Recunostinta feast has become a H2H tradition.  We have a family feast together and stop and reflect on all of God's blessings in our lives.  With 60-80 people in attendance, you can imagine that its a lot of food---but oh so much fun!  Here are some of my favorite pictures from this year's celebration.

 One of my favorite blessings in my life here-my sweetheart Ruthie!

 Part of the family!

 6 turkeys this year--our normal store didn't have them so we had to go on a turkey hunt--but found some though slightly smaller then normal. 

This year we decided to focus our graduates on giving back.  Sometimes we think that we have to make a certain amount of money before we help others, or accomplish certain life milestones, but we want our kids to be reminded through thinking of others, how blessed they are.  So at our Thanksgiving feast we had a giving tree.  This tree had leaves on it that had needs for 2 poor families that are outside of the H2H family, written on them.  Our graduates were asked to take 1 leaf, or more, and bring the item, or items, to our Christmas gathering.  We will make up baskets for these two families and give them away, instead of giving gifts to each other.  Our kids LOVED the idea and the leaves flew off the tree!  Their response to this project was a very proud Mom moment for me!

Whew!!! October what a Month!

Yeah! Fall is here!!!  We are having a beautiful fall here in Romania.  The type of weather that makes you feel like celebrating the season!

October is the beginning of a new school year for us and it is always a busy month as we get the program up and running in all of our different ministry locations.  Here is a picture of our current staff in Romania.  We said goodbye to 3 people over the summer, and added one,  Talitha.  Costel and Doro didn't make the pic!

This year we have 6 boys in our Boys Transition House.  They moved in on October 1st and are off to a great start!

Our fall programming at the orphanages also is going strong.  This fall, since we do not have a Girls Transition Program, I'm  able to be more involved with teaching.  So two mornings a week, we are doing story and craft time at one of the orphanages.

 I'm also doing clarinet lessons with 5 students that have been learning in the past years and need to keep up their skills!

 Our grandkids are growing up!  Ruthie and Emi both started pre-school this year!

 Our princess Ruthe also turned 3 on Oct. 19th.  We, of course, had to have a princess party.  She loves blowing out candles, so we had to put one on her breakfast toast!

 Party Time!

 Jenny and Ramona came up with a great castle cake!

 The month ended with another celebration.  Two of the boys that finished the Boys Transition Program in 2012 chose to be baptized!  Adi, is next to me and Marian, in the blue sweater in the front.  We are proud of their decisions and their growth.  With both of these boys, it was a great reminder that God is working even we don't see it.  If someone would have told me 2 years ago that these two would be where they are, it would have be hard to believe.  But Praise God, He is faithful and He doesn't give up on us!

Vacation of a Lifetime

This year Jenny and I were able to take a dream vacation that we had talked about doing for several years.  We were able to spend 2 weeks in Thailand!

 We arrived in Bangkok and spent a few days visiting a friend from college, Sara, who lives in Bangkok with her family. We visited Chonbury on the Bay of Thailand.

 This was at an orphanage that is for children with HIV.  This was started by the MBMS missionaries and it was a blessing to meet some of them and to share a passion for orphans around the world.

We visited some of the main sites in Bangkok, including the huge reclining buddah.

 We tried a lot of new foods, and found some international restaurants that were amazing!

 We also experienced some wonderful Thai massages!

After Bangkok, we made our way by train to the North and stayed in Chiang Mai.   This is at one of the temples there.

 We ziplined!  So fun!

 Tried our hand at cooking Thai cusine!

 Then we fly down to the southern Phuket region and stayed in Khao lak.

 Elephant trekking!

 Bamboo rafting!

 Some of the amazing scenery.

 Seeing the effects of the 2005 tsunami and understanding the magnitude of that natural disaster.

 Interacting with the baby elephant at our hotel.

 We loved our trip.  It was the perfect combination of new things, adventure, and some relaxation. 

The Big Day--Alex and Ioana's Wedding

It was again our privilege and honor to be able to host a wedding for 2 of our kids.  Both Alex and Ioana grew up at the orphanage in Peris and graduated from our Transition program this past summer.  They asked us if we would help them to get married the right way.  It was a joy to see them go through the steps of engagement, counseling, and planning for their big day.  Neither of them had ever attended a wedding, so it was a learning experience, but everything turned out beautiful and it was a day that none of us will forget!

The 16th was the cununie, which is the civil ceremony held at the mayor's house. 

 After the cunanie we had a rehersal and decorated.

 

Aug. 17th-- The moment has arrived!  Getting dressed!

 

 Ioana was blessed to have many MOB (Mothers of the Bride)  Jenny and I got to be 2 of them!

Emi and Ruthie were the ring bearer and flower girl.  They actually walked in and did exactly what they were supposed to!  So sweet!!

 The ceremony

 The reception

What is this?  Costel actually taking a good picture!

 

 Receptions during Romanian weddings include games.  This was a version of the Newly wed game--who is more likely to....

 The atmosphere

 Ioana was only really passionate about 2 things about this wedding.  She knew she wanted to marry Alex and she wanted to dance! 

 The cake

 Cheers and Casa de Piatra!  (Casa de Piatra is a Romanian blessing which means, may your house be built on a rock)

Quilt of Memories

I had an idea quite a few years ago, that I wanted to make a t-shirt quilt with some of my H2H t-shirts.  So over the past hand full of years I found them and took them back to Kansas with me.  I started with the oldest shirts.  I asked a woman from my church, Charlotte Smith, to give me some pointers and teach me how to do it.  I made the blocks from the shirts and Charlotte graciously pieced them together for me, since my time in Kansas was short, and had it quilted for me.  The Buhler team that came this summer brought the finished product over for me, and I love it!  It is fun to look back and reminisce about the first years with H2H.  Thanks again Charlotte!