First Days and Weeks in Budapest…

Our friends, Jen & Ryan and their three boys Ben, Drew & Cade hosted us for almost 3 weeks when we first arrived here.  We are forever grateful to them!

Playing the Wii was a favorite while we were there {We may ask for this as a family for Christmas…we’ll see}

We found the Hungarian-English Bi-lingual school that the kids will be going to through this family.  Cade will be there for his second year this year and JJ & Susie are excited to be at school with him!!

I think she’s Wii bowling or just being goofy

The very first thing we did on our bed after it was set up was to let the kids jump on it!  Our dear buddy Jasper who moved to East Asia one month after we got here got to enjoy this inaugural jumping with the kids.  In the process he taught JJ & Susie how to count to three in Hungarian!  Great fun all around!!!

{Later that day Jared and I had the best sleep we’d had in a year collapsing on our long lost bed}

We take walks around our neighborhood in this Radio Flyer wagon.  And it creates quite the stir…there is nothing like it sold here.  We are always asked where we got it which immediately tells everyone that we are Americans.

In the background is a uniquely shaped Catholic church that you can see from far away.

Jared has been getting ready for the baby by holding our friends’ Dave and Rivers’ son, Jackson.  He hasn’t lost his touch

JJ, Susie & Jasper jumpin’ on the bed, Round #2!!!

Jasper & Family :: If you see this, we love you and miss you!  We think of you a lot and can’t wait till we can jump on the bed with you again!!!!

This was my first batch of chocolate chip cookies made in our home in Hungary!  They are usually chocolate chunk cookies since you can’t get chocolate chips here and you break up chocolate bars to make the cookies.  I am really happy that my Pampered Chef chopper works well to do that

Our flat is in a building of four flats and there are three more buildings like ours.  There is a common courtyard with this sandbox.  The kids love to play there

This is the view of one of the other buildings {the cream-colored one} that is like our flat building.

There is a slide that goes down into the sandbox which, of course, the kids love!!

Our neighborhood is located on the outskirts of the city of Budapest and is called ‘Gazdagret’.  It is in a beautiful part of the city that is built among the Buda hills { Buda is the side of the city to the west of the Danube river}.

Cherry trees are big here and they were in season about 2 weeks after we got here.  There is a big one in the courtyard area and therefore a ready snack while playing!

What can I say?  She’s quite the character

In action!!

She’s our little artist!

Jared has been taking the opportunity to do some cooking.  This was a bread pudding that he looked up and made himself.  He’s already stellar with {usually} late night omelets for his preggo wife.  He’s so patient that I have no doubt he has amazing potential and can give me a run for my money!!

They REALLY DO love each other

And she REALLY is crazy

 

Five Minute Friday :: Remember…

Remember…

and this day when I hold you in my arms and you four big years now.  and I cuddle you and I remember how I held you when you first came to the BIG doctor’s office and you so tiny and this world so big.  and I lost it when you cried with your first shots and it takes a piece of me today, 4 years later when I cuddle and you cry because it hurts.

And I cry for all that hurts in this life and I can’t protect you from it.

And I think of how just last night you sigh at dinner and say you are sad having to give back all of our houses, our Florida house, Colorado house, first Pennsylvania house and now this second you know we will leave soon.  And your little heart is weary born into this sojourning family following the bigness of God leading us across an ocean.

And so I remember how He is writing your story.  It is bigger than your mommy and daddy’s calling and it is bigger than shots that hurt to protect you and it is bigger than all that we will fail you in and that this whole world will fail you in and you with your big heart feeling the shots and I feeling them right with you.  And I remember that the pieces that this Mama’s heart is breaking into are the very heart of God given to me for you to intercede for you and to make a Home where He is all the hope and refuge and strength and tender grace to see us through this long journey home. 

Stop.

As of Late

Lately, I’ve been realizing how little I truly love.  (doing Loving Well by Beth Moore with my wonderful small group from church.  suffices to stay started with a bit of pride, asked Him to show me my heart…and He very much did.)

Lately, I’ve been seeking to love better by receiving His love and not settling for ‘no’ as it regards if I will love another.  I must love…and not in indifference or numbness but in thought, word and deed.

Lately, I haven’t been enjoying my kids as I know is the life-giving path I need.  I’m praying to BE HERE. PRESENT. AND LOVE THEM BY SIMPLY BEING WITH THEM.

Lately, I’ve been learning about homeschooling through the homeschool pre-school my friend, Anita, and I have been doing.

Lately, I’ve been saved by beauty, in particular sunsets and glorious moons, but I’m praying it grows to seeing the beauty in the four walls where I live.

Lately, I’ve started writing a Twin Book with my…TWIN!  Very early and we may poke at it for years, but we’ve started and were raised, ‘you start something. you finish it!’  It will be a wonderful keeper of us as we move to being an ocean apart.

Lately, I’ve had the chance to bless my best friend and neighbor, Anita.  She has blessed me immeasurably since I moved to Florida…become family.  Been everything a friend (or sister) could be…I was able to nominate her and she won ‘Woman of the Week’ for our Christian radio station!  (funny aside, they announced it this morning, but played the pre-recorded message of another winner! oops! first time it’s happened.  They recorded me yesterday morning and I knew they’d have to edit, but joked, ‘it really was bad! they had to use someone else’s!’…they’ll run it next week, Thursday morning at 7:20am)

Lately, I’ve been overwhelmed with our overseas transition.

Lately, I’ve wondered if I should just let go of ‘order’ in this year of transition…

Lately, I’ve been so encouraged to walk more intimately with my husband as he’s joined the blogging world He’s my hero and I cannot wait to follow as he shares more intentionally the conversations he has with others about the Gospel.

Lately, I’ve been stressed about money/finances and been breathing in and out and feeding on Philippians 4:4-8 in particular.

Lately, I’ve been so blessed by these free sermons of Tim Keller’s that are all from the Story of the Prodigal Son and go with his book, ‘The Prodigal God’.

Lately, I’ve been seeing how inconveniences are preparing me for when I will not have some of things I have here…over there…in Eastern Europe.

Lately, I’ve been wondering what life will look like this same time next year.  Colder (for sure)…and so much more…different.

Lately, I’ve been carrying a beloved couple in my heart (our hearts) and tears have been close and praying Romans 8:26-39 for them as times are uncertain and the extent of cancer unknown…

Lately, I’ve wondered almost constantly if I’m a good mom.  I always feel like I’m falling short and this certainly doesn’t get me anywhere better.  The Gospel is hard to receive when you realize your failures are affecting little impressionable people.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about my Dad and have written several posts that include something about him, like how he has prayed with a Papa heart for me (and my husband, kids, siblings, spouses, and kids and many more) every day since either of us can remember

Lately, I’ve been wondering about my two blogs.  The one is my ‘family and ministry blog’, though very much just the family side and I’ve been posting less and missing more of bringing our friends and family far away into the life we live where we are. That’s because I noticed that a fire was so lost inside of me I was forgetting who I was in the doing and then watching (i.e. tv, movies, to ‘relax’ etc.) because I was tired and all of these thoughts of something more were there, I just didn’t do something about it until I started my ‘writing blog’.  But, lately, I’ve been longing to bring the two together. somehow.  Or at least feel like the friends and family I’ve lived near and we’ve shared life that are my reason for keeping up the family blog can share life as my new and dear bloggy friends do even though we’ve never met.  And, vice versa.  I want my blog friends to share more of my family’s life.

So, lately, I decided to make this my first post that I am posting exactly the same in both of my blogs.  Family and friends, I would love if we connected not only here, but there.  And blog/writing friends, I would love if we shared more of the daily stuff that I post here (with some of you, we do!)  And maybe someday I’ll figure out a way to have it all come together in one place. 

What have you been up to lately?

So thankful to find out about this monthly link up, ‘As of Late’, hosted by Christy at CrittyJoy, through my blog friends Natalie and Jen.

Join us?

Party on the Plane and Soccer Field)

Here's Susie at the hotel we stayed at in DC for one night before we flew out...
It was with the kitchenette and was the perfect size to give her a bath in...she LOVED watching the water trickle:)

This was just too cute on the plane for the flight over the ocean...
First of all, we were so blessed to get the row behind the bulkhead, so no one was in front of us and then they have built in these rails to slide in a bed for babies! Susie was really funny on this plane ride...she was so tired having no afternoon nap and we left after 7pm, possibly closer to 8pm and she konked out for maybe half an hour, then she was up and ready to go! When they brought out this "bed" and before we kept trying to get her to go back to sleep and she was really upset about it, but when we just "let her be up" she was so happy and was as excited as I've ever seen her just sitting in her bed...she was yelling excitedly...she wanted no parts of sleeping in the bed until the lights went out . We were on the side so the cabin lights were really bright.

JJ was such a champ. I had gotten him some Thomas Take Along trains along with the Maithwaite station/Sodor Mail take along track and he played with it so well in the time we were on the plane before taking off. (We were in the check-in line for 3 hours because the Lufthansa computers were down and so we went right in the plane, but waited for a long time until all checked in passengers got through security and boarded. It was about 1.5 to 2 hours of delay)

I love this picture of him and Susie having so much fun with each other:)Love this one too!

They ran out of economy class meals, so we got First Class ones:-) I had some really good salmon and Jared had pasta and ate most of JJ's too...because he was ready to konk out once dinner came.

He has a bit of a belly, but it was actually the money we had to bring over.

Susie slept for about 4 hours...the whole time the cabin lights were off, but once they came on, she woke up...as you can see, JJ is still sleeping. He was such a champ and slept 6-7 hours on the plane...thanks for praying !

Here is Leah (JJ says "Aunt E-ah", I think he is thinking of his "Aunt Nea":-)
She is such a gift to us...she nannies for 2 boys and she is just amazing with kids. He loves her and looks for her constantly around the camp.
She is playing with him here because we were in the Frankfurt airport for about 4 hours because we missed the connecting flight due to the delay in Dulles.
Really great though was that they had already re-booked us on the next flight--we just had to get new boarding passes.

Here's Susie playing on this cool mat on the floor of our room here at Speakout. JJ and she sleep in a second room, but they only sleep there.

Sorry this is blurry, but this is what it looks like when they both play with Daddy!

Here we are at the soccer field at the Kolegium (dorm) where we have Speakout camp. Are you surprised to see my husband in the midst of all of the kids? I'm not;)

Sorry Dad A, but JJ is really loving soccer here;) Jasper (Julie's son, see "My Life with Boys" blog on the blogroll) has no pants on because he had a rash and they were trying to "air him out"...he looks like a little European boy to me, Julie, haha:)

Our little athlete:)...Everyone here has been commenting on his calve muscles (and in the States too--random people will notice his calves, it's funny:)

Here's Jared playing some fun game with Eli:-)

I can't believe how big Eli is! He was just 1 when we were on STINT here!! '05-'06

Love this one...I actually think he got out of this without "flipping out"--that's a major victory for us:)

These 2 are quite the buddies...JJ looks very serious here, though doesn't he?

You can kind of see the calf muscles everyone talks about:)

Awesome ACTION shot!!!

Now you can really see the muscles...watch out!!!

Here is Joy with Susie. Joy's family moved to Hungary a little more than one year ago and we are already becoming good friends:)

Here is Nikki neni with Susie:-) Nikki trusted Christ the year before we came on STINT and since then she has grown in amazing ways--all of the children love her and she gives the best hugs:)

"this is a very good burger Mom!"