Smiles, Eggs, and a lot of Love!

April was a very full month!  As usual when the weather gets nice we take advantage of it and do as many outings as we can with the kids.  We had 2 great teams during the month that helped tremendously in helping us make memories with the kids.  I've been thinking about that a lot lately: memory making.  When someone asks me to name a favorite childhood memory I have so many to choose from I don't know which to pick.  When someone asks the kids from the orphanages that we work in to name favorite memories from the last years, they almost always revolve around something done with H2H.  I LOVE that we get to be a part of making positive, lasting memories.  What a privilege it is to be a part of!  Thanks to all of you who support us and help to make it possible!

Here are some of the highlights of the month of April!

Smiles
After not being able to find dentist that could come to Romania, after 7 years we were once again able to put on the H2H Dental Clinic.  They were here for only 1 week and our goal was to treat 100 kids and young adults.  We had a glitch in the plans, when one of the dentist's bins did not arrive with the rest of the luggage.  We couldn't throw in the towel though, so with a lot of flexibility, creativity, and hard work we in the end saw 71 patients, did 132 filings, and 73 extractions.

 Dr. Brett and Dr. Larry hard at work.

 One of the things that didn't arrive was headlamps, so we had a flashlight holder in place for each doctor!

 Marius, one of our transition grads had a broken front tooth.  This is the before....

 This is the after

Jenny and I acted as assistants for the week.  It was quite fun relearning to number teeth, how to hand off instruments to the doctors, and how to know and anticipate what they would need.    In addition to assisting, I gave a few injections, did a filing and pulled out a few teeth myself---of course with the Dr. Larry standing right there.  Need some work done?  Give me a call!

Whew!  This is how we felt after the end of each day.  But it was a good tired after a great week!


Eggs

Right after the Dental Team left, Easter arrived!  We had the Transition Boys with us for the weekend, in addition to the annual H2H Easter gathering.

 Dying eggs is fun at any age!

Dressed up and ready for church.

The golden egg was found in the last minute.  This is a highly sought after egg worth 50 lei!

Lots of Love
A couple of days after Easter the Canadian Team arrived.  This is an annual team that always brings lots of love and energy into whatever we do.  A few of the highlights of this team was a carnival to reward good behavior and a couple of field trips to the zoo.

 A few of you might remember a few years ago, on a field trip to the zoo. My little guy, Vic, was able to get Luna, the tiger, to run back and forth after him.  Well Luna and Vic were reunited and after a little convincing from the kids was running with them and Vic again.  Vic loved it and it was so fun to watch!  Definitely the highlight of the day! The picture below is Vic and I watching Luna.

 Some of our little ones at one of the orphanages!  Lots of love to be shared by all!  Thanks everyone for a great month!!!

March Musings!

I jumped into the Mission Possible Team when I returned to Romania on March 5th, so I hit the ground running!  It was fun to see all of my kids again and catch up on what I missed.  The weather has turned to spring here in Romania and so it has been fun to be outside with the kids more, which always helps with attitudes!

                                                 Our Daniel and the Lion's Den Craft!

Fernando is my Birthday Buddy.  We have a birthday on the same day and every year take a picture
                                              and celebrate together.  He turned 11 this year!

At one of the orphanages we enjoyed the nice weather by playing a human-sized Sorry game with the
                                                             youth group.  Tons of fun!

                                                                    The cheering section!

 Today the Peris boys participated in a local communities soccer tournament.  Some of the staff went to cheer them on.  I definitely felt like a soccer mom, cheering and providing snacks for our                                                            kids. Other then the cold wind, it was a fun day!

                                                       They took 3rd place! We are proud!

Time in Kansas

This year I decided to push back my furlough time in the US a few weeks so that I could be in Kansas for my birthday.  I turned 40 this year, and I haven't celebrated my birthday in Kansas with my family since I moved to Romania 15 years ago.  So, this year I went I was in Kansas from Feb. 1st through March 4th.
The first weekend of February, my family had our family Christmas at noon, followed by a superbowl party. 

Other highlights of the month were lots of shopping, coffee, eating out, and girls weekend out with college friends. My mother had surgery on her rotator cuff at the beginning of February, so helping out with things at home and my Mom's recuperation was a big part of my time.  I was glad to have been there for that and glad to be able to help out. 
Another huge part of the month was dealing with bad weather.  It snowed almost the whole month!  There was a birthday open house planned for me on March 2nd, and it was postponed until the next day because of bad weather.    It was cutting it close, since I flew out on the 4th, but for there was a nice turnout and I was very blessed but so many people in so many special ways! 

The Holiday Team!

The Holiday Team is always a special team because they come during a special time of the year, the kids are on vacation so there is more down time to play, and there is usually a fair number of returning team members that come mixed in with a few newbies. This makes it feel like it is family coming home to spend Christmas with us!  This year was no exception.  It was a good team and also very big, with 24 team members in total.  Their comings and goings varied so there were many, many trips to the airport.  I told my staff that if at any point during the team they couldn't fine me, I was probably at the airport!  The team helped us hand out presents and pour out lots of love and attention to many of the kids we work with.  We also were able to had out gifts to 2 orphanages that we don't work in full time, but do special projects with when possible.  One of them, is an orphanage with kids with severe special needs, and though an emotionally challenging place, everyone leaves feeling that they were blessed as well. 

 At the airport welcoming team members.

 Training time!  The first morning orientation and planning.

 Handing out gifts is always a lot of fun.  I don't know who is more excited to look through the bags the kids or the team members, but doing it together makes it more fun!

 Craft Time!

 Game Time!

 Our annul New Year's Party was another success.  Jenny and I are ready for 2014!

Another way we try to share Christ's love is also to bless the directors and workers from the State that work at the orphanages that we work in.  This year we baked goody trays to take in and Starbucks donated free coffee for us to take in as well.  The team also had some special treats for the orphanage staff like chocolates and aprons for the cooks.  We hope that they felt the love of Christ through us as well.  We believe if we can love the staff they will be more willing to love the kids. 

Thank you Holiday Team of 2013-2014!  Thanks for all of your time, sacrifice, gifts, hugs, bruises (from soccer!), ministry materials, and every way that you showed the love of Christ to our kids, to the H2H staff and to each other.  Thanks as well to each of you that prayed for this team and financially gave to make this Christmas extra special!

The Boys

I had the priviledge to host the five boys that are currently in the Boys Transition Program here at the team house during the first week of Christmas vacation. This is an occasion that is always full of those moments where I'm reminded how much "normal" life our kids miss out on growing up in the orphanage. 
When they arrived we had the tree up and presents under the tree, and I expected them to be curious and go check out who the presents were for.  They didn't.  Even when prompted, there wasn't much of an interest.  I was reminded that if you've never had a present under the tree before, you wouldn't know what to be excited for.  To be the one of the ones that got to shop, pick out gifts, wrap presents, fill stockings, all to provide a family Christmas for these boys was my Christmas present this year.  By Christmas morning the excitement had heightened, but we did have to explain what they were supposed to do with a stocking.  It was a very fun day!

 In a special addition to the day, we were joined by Grant and Riley from Nevada.  Grant was able to obtain a large donation from Patagonia of clothing and some backpacks for H2H.  This donation was put on our shipping container and Grant and Riley were with us Christmas morning to see the boys unwrap some of those items.  Do you want to guess how many backpacks were in this donation that was made months before we started this generation of boys?  Exactly 5--the number of boys in the program.  I'm so glad that God has all of the details in His large, capable, hands!

We tried to do something special each day of the vacation with the boys.  One day we went to look at the Christmas lights in the city.

We also went Christmas caroling.  My favorite part of the evening was seeing Florin, the young man that I would have pegged as the least likely to get into caroling, singing with all of his heart and a huge smile on his face.

 They also got to go ice skating, to a movie, participated with the church Christmas program, played soccer with the kids at Peris and visited the baby hospital.  The hospital was another surprise for me. The boys insisted that they got to go and visit the babies, and they were amazing with them!  Not only did it show us a soft side of all of the guys, but it led to an amazing discussion of why parents abandon their children and the importance of forgiveness. 

When the team arrived, we moved the boys out of the team house to the Snagov house.  They slept there, but participated in the daily events of the team.  They went daily to the orphanages and helped hand out Christmas presents.  It was a great experience for them to see other orphanages and to see that there are so many children with needs and problems out there.  It was so fun to watch them connect and pass on love! 

On their last evening with the team, we put them on the hot seat and let them share highlights of their experiences.  All of them expressed gratitude for the time.  Florin said it helped increase his faith.  Vasile said that he understood now what it meant to have a family Christmas. 

Tis the Season!

December is a busy time for everyone and H2H is no exception.  We had a very fun and full month with some staff in the US on furlough, doing special Christmas activities with the kids, packing Christmas gifts, and getting the house ready for Christmas Day and the Holiday Team that quickly followed.  It was a great time, full of many precious moments, and building memories that will last.  I was also reminded, once again, that I have an amazing staff that I'm honored to work with!

Talitha, Corni, and Mariana helping to pack up Christmas gifts.  We packed and delivered around 800 presents during the month!

 The Team House went through its Christmas transformation which included putting up the tree.  I has some great little elves that helped out.

A shipping container full of ministry materials was shipped from California and we were anxiously awaiting its arrival since it had a good portion of the Christmas presents we needed for this year.  It arrived with perfect timing and the boys that are in the Boys Transition Program helped unload and sort it.

We also had another grandchild's birthday.  David turned 2!  What a privilege to be apart of these milestone moments. 

Other Noteworthy Things in November

I continue to teach in 2 of the orphanages that we work in.  We usually tell stories and do projects with the kids.  November focused on Thanksgiving, and was a lot of fun!

November is also Emi's Birthday month.  He turned 3 and we celebrated by having a fun day out with a movie, McDonald's lunch, cake, presents, and time to play.  It was a special day that we all enjoyed!

H2H hosted a teacher's in-service in November.  Haley did a great job of talking to the teachers from one of our special needs orphanages about how to work with special needs children. The teachers that came were very positive and it is our hope that they left the day feeling supported and encouraged. 

What a GREAT month!  I am so thankful for the ministry that I'm so fortunate to be involved with and all of you that partner with me!