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!

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.