A very belated Merry Christmas to everyone! We pray you all had a wonderful and meaningful Christmas with family and friends. Papa and Nano arrived on Thursday the 20th, just barely. The had a long journey of delays due to weather and then a strike by the baggage handlers on their last leg of the trip. They arrived just before midnight exhausted, sick with colds and yet so thrilled to finally be here! We enjoyed a few days with them before Cody arrived on a 3 day journey from Texas to Italy. He also had flight delays, missed flights and an unwanted stay in the Instanbul airport, finally arriving almost 24 hours past his planned arrival. He came in last Sunday and we have so enjoyed spending time together as a family.
Last Saturday, Jonathan and I spent about 6 hours in the ER. It had been two weeks that I had been experiencing major constant pain around my ribs and it had gotten worse. With every deep breathe, laugh, cough etc. it was very painful. I have been sick since October so the concern was maybe that I had pnuemonia or some inflamation in the lining of the lung. I had blood work, lung x-rays, rib x-rays and the works to discover nothing concrete and to assume that it was muscle related. I was given some antibiotics to combat my cold and put on an ibuprofin regiment for the muscle issue. I am doing a little better with the pain so that is good. However, I have a new strain of a cold it seems.
Sunday we began our journey with the influenza and it still is ongoing. Fevers, aching bodies on top of a bad cold and cough that has now spread from the kids to a few of us adults, but all of us have bad colds. We are praying week 2 will be a tad better. The kids have been hit the worse and we feel so badly for them...but that means lots of cuddle time on laps and of course Veggie Tales to soothe and distract.
Despite the circumstances we continue to eat up our time with each other. God is good, faithful and gives strength for each day. Michelle (Cody's girlfriend) arrives late tomorrow tonight, Lord willing if she has smoothe travels from Waco-Dallas-Chicago-London-Instanbul-Rome-Turin. Please keep her in your prayers as well.
Okay, that's the update for now. More to come...
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Happy Anniversary Dad & Mom!
How the family has grown and changed...I couldn't resist posting a few photos to give you a blast from the past!
34 Years...
What a journey you have had over the past 34 years! A journey of keeping a Covenant before God and to each other and one that has shone so brightly as a testimony of Christ's love to everyone around you. You have been an incredible example to your children most of all! You have given us a picture of faithfulness, love, devotion, service to Christ and because of your love for Christ, then for each other, then for your children we can see how God has honored and blessed your lives.
We wish we could celebrate with you today...you're probably wishing you could be celebrating it with each other too! Thank you for serving Christ as a team and the support you have for each other in His service. We are praying for Dad's trip to Mexico today and for a blessed time of fellowship with those who are going to give materially to those in prison through the ministry of Pablo. And Mom will be laboring in the kitchen to then give gifts of love to friends and family.
We love you both so very much!! Have a wonderful anniversary!!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Surgery & Questura Update
Coming to with a smile! The hospital is very nice and much what we would find normally in the States. He has a private room and is getting excellent care. It really helped to ease our minds especially when doing this kind of thing in a foreign culture. Brad and Lori were such a help and support to us yesterday. It's nice to now be closer to our coworkers and for all of us to team up as a "family" especially during times like this.
I returned home last evening because Samuel had a super hard day. A very emotional and off day for him...poor Catherine. He would not stop asking where I was and no form of reason was penetrating his mind about it. We hope that the doctor will release Jonathan this afternoon but he told us yesterday that the procedure is to keep him until Friday morning. We'll see what he says this afternoon.
The Questura visit went fine. It was just a couple of blocks from the hospital so that was nice. Brad went with me and it is his neighbor, Sergio, who works at the main Questura office and has been trying to help our permesso situation. I still have no idea why I needed to be re-fingerprinted. Sergio's friend went through all of my information and the kids' once again, thankfully. Samuel's birthdate was still wrong in the computer and we made sure that the photos corresponded with the names as well. The guy said that now we just need to wait 1 to 1.5 months for the cards to be reprinted. Pray they get it right or else I'll be banging on the doors in Rome for them to get their act together!! :0) We were told that from the point of application to the time of completion is now taking 10 months. What an incredible new and improved system (not)!
Monday, December 3, 2007
A Jumble of News
Jonathan: Gallbladder surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, December 5th in the afternoon. He will be admitted around 7:30am for pre-testing and then surgery will follow around 3pm, give or take. The pain is manageable for him and he has not had any major attacks since before we left for Spain. We are so grateful.
Pray for us, the kids and our co-workers as we all work together to make this happen. Catherine will come to stay with the kids. They know Dadda has rocks in his tummy that the doctor needs to take out. They find that fact very fascinating. Brad will take us to the hospital in downtown Torino and will stay through the day to be of help (and to take Noella to the Questura...more on that in a minute). Lori will come in the afternoon to wait for a doctor's report in case I am still gone when the surgery is complete. Someone will take me home if I can't stay overnight at the hospital and then Jim will go to pick Jonathan (or us) up on Thursday afternoon. At least that is the plan. Thanks for your prayers in regards to this whole process.
Samuel: Yesterday afternoon when he woke up from a nap both Jonathan and I noticed huge swelling around his neck, specifically the lymphnodes. They were painful to the touch so today we sought out a pediatrician to get it checked out before we get tied down with Jonathan's recovery. The doctor was able to squeeze us in this afternoon so off we went to Giaveno (50 minutes away) to see this private doctor we took Emma to over 2 years ago. Samuel was the best little patient. He was a little too eager to take his clothes off and was quickly stopped from dropping his pants. He had a fun visit and he said he felt "all better" after the check-up. Unfortunately, his throat and ears were red giving signs of an ear infection. He hasn't complained about his ears but his symptoms say otherwise. He is on antibiotics now and has some cream to help with the lymphnode swelling which will take a while to decrease in size.
Emma & Luca: Are battling colds as well.
Noella: I have a severe cold with lots of sinus headaches and have also acquired laryngitis. We need physical healing!
Questura: I'll end with this new twist to the Questura saga...While in Spain we received a phone call from the Questura telling us that my finger prints need to be redone. Your obvious question of "WHY?" is the same one we have. My fingerprints were take in June and why after 5 months they now decide they are no good is a complete mystery. The problem the past 2 attempts to retrieve my permesso has only been on their end i.e. Printing Samuel's wrong birth date and then mixing up the kid's ID photos. The Questura gave me an appointment date slated for Wednesday, December 5 at 3:15pm. Thus the reason why Brad needs to escort me to the main office (not the usual place for foreigners to go) while Jonathan is in surgery. Crazy, crazy...and yes, it gave us a good laugh!!
Pray for us, the kids and our co-workers as we all work together to make this happen. Catherine will come to stay with the kids. They know Dadda has rocks in his tummy that the doctor needs to take out. They find that fact very fascinating. Brad will take us to the hospital in downtown Torino and will stay through the day to be of help (and to take Noella to the Questura...more on that in a minute). Lori will come in the afternoon to wait for a doctor's report in case I am still gone when the surgery is complete. Someone will take me home if I can't stay overnight at the hospital and then Jim will go to pick Jonathan (or us) up on Thursday afternoon. At least that is the plan. Thanks for your prayers in regards to this whole process.
Samuel: Yesterday afternoon when he woke up from a nap both Jonathan and I noticed huge swelling around his neck, specifically the lymphnodes. They were painful to the touch so today we sought out a pediatrician to get it checked out before we get tied down with Jonathan's recovery. The doctor was able to squeeze us in this afternoon so off we went to Giaveno (50 minutes away) to see this private doctor we took Emma to over 2 years ago. Samuel was the best little patient. He was a little too eager to take his clothes off and was quickly stopped from dropping his pants. He had a fun visit and he said he felt "all better" after the check-up. Unfortunately, his throat and ears were red giving signs of an ear infection. He hasn't complained about his ears but his symptoms say otherwise. He is on antibiotics now and has some cream to help with the lymphnode swelling which will take a while to decrease in size.
Emma & Luca: Are battling colds as well.
Noella: I have a severe cold with lots of sinus headaches and have also acquired laryngitis. We need physical healing!
Questura: I'll end with this new twist to the Questura saga...While in Spain we received a phone call from the Questura telling us that my finger prints need to be redone. Your obvious question of "WHY?" is the same one we have. My fingerprints were take in June and why after 5 months they now decide they are no good is a complete mystery. The problem the past 2 attempts to retrieve my permesso has only been on their end i.e. Printing Samuel's wrong birth date and then mixing up the kid's ID photos. The Questura gave me an appointment date slated for Wednesday, December 5 at 3:15pm. Thus the reason why Brad needs to escort me to the main office (not the usual place for foreigners to go) while Jonathan is in surgery. Crazy, crazy...and yes, it gave us a good laugh!!
Monday, November 26, 2007
Thoughts from Spain
We are safely back home and want to thank you for all of your prayers for us while at the All Western European ABWE Conference in Almunecar, Spain. We are still trying to digest everything from the week, so sorry in advance if my thoughts are not so cohesive. We had an overwhelming sense of God's people praying for us. The buffet food didn't seem to affect Jonathan in any way in regards to his gallstones and he was feeling the best physically that he has in a few weeks. We all managed to escape the 24-hour flu bug being passed around the hotel. I would say 2/3rds of our group got sick. I think Jonathan may be coming down with something as I write but we'll see (hopefully not!)
We were spiritually refreshed and encouraged. The first couple of days were extremely hard for me to vocally participate in the worship time as tears choked me with every song. For the first time in 2 1/2 years we were singing in English with a large group of fellow brothers and sisters. I can't even begin to explain how much that meant to us nor would you ever be able to understand unless having walked in the shoes of cross cultural living. It was an enormous blessing!
All the speakers were wonderful in giving valuable information on church planting tactics, a study from the book of Daniel and also 2 Corinthians. Again for me to be able to sit in on each session and to hear God's word in my mother tongue was such a huge blessing. The ministry team from PA did a fantastic job with the kids despite the flu sweeping through their ranks. Samuel was able for the first time to participate in a VBS type of program each morning and evening--he has never had a Sunday School experience with other kids so this was a wonderful thing for him. Emma and Luca flip-flopped from the infant/toddlers to the older kids for story time and puppets. Emma finally made some girl-friends and really bonded and played well with them. Several times she had to be yanked from my neck but adjusted as soon as I left the room and had a wonderful experience each time. At the end of the conference all the kids were each given a big bag of gifts--the time, thought, preparation, money and love they invested in our kids was amazing!
Jonathan and I were able to get away on a couple of sightseeing dates withOUT the kids. Again, people went above and beyond to make our time special and meaningful, especially for those of us with small children who rarely see a date. We went to Granada and visited the Ahlambra and then to the Nerja Caves (Samuel joined us & did fantastic on this short visit). It was so wonderful to connect with other young couples from various fields. It's just nice to know you are not alone in the discouragements and struggles of missionary life--and yes, of course to be of mutual encouragement as well. Too much to write about but I must stop for now.
I will post some pics from our week and hope you enjoy them!
We were spiritually refreshed and encouraged. The first couple of days were extremely hard for me to vocally participate in the worship time as tears choked me with every song. For the first time in 2 1/2 years we were singing in English with a large group of fellow brothers and sisters. I can't even begin to explain how much that meant to us nor would you ever be able to understand unless having walked in the shoes of cross cultural living. It was an enormous blessing!
All the speakers were wonderful in giving valuable information on church planting tactics, a study from the book of Daniel and also 2 Corinthians. Again for me to be able to sit in on each session and to hear God's word in my mother tongue was such a huge blessing. The ministry team from PA did a fantastic job with the kids despite the flu sweeping through their ranks. Samuel was able for the first time to participate in a VBS type of program each morning and evening--he has never had a Sunday School experience with other kids so this was a wonderful thing for him. Emma and Luca flip-flopped from the infant/toddlers to the older kids for story time and puppets. Emma finally made some girl-friends and really bonded and played well with them. Several times she had to be yanked from my neck but adjusted as soon as I left the room and had a wonderful experience each time. At the end of the conference all the kids were each given a big bag of gifts--the time, thought, preparation, money and love they invested in our kids was amazing!
Jonathan and I were able to get away on a couple of sightseeing dates withOUT the kids. Again, people went above and beyond to make our time special and meaningful, especially for those of us with small children who rarely see a date. We went to Granada and visited the Ahlambra and then to the Nerja Caves (Samuel joined us & did fantastic on this short visit). It was so wonderful to connect with other young couples from various fields. It's just nice to know you are not alone in the discouragements and struggles of missionary life--and yes, of course to be of mutual encouragement as well. Too much to write about but I must stop for now.
I will post some pics from our week and hope you enjoy them!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Not Something You Want to Post
We were reminded this week of how fallen and depraved we are as humans and how desperate we are in need of a Savior. Whenever we see headline news coming out of Perugia our attention is immediately caught. Having lived there for nearly two years and with many friends that remain there our hearts remain burdened for the work and people in Umbria.
A week ago there was a British exchange student that attended the University for Foreigners that was murdered. When we saw the house where she lived we quickly recognized it as being a place we passed on our daily walks to school, just down the road from where we lived. We were saddened to hear the news but devasted when we heard this week that the suspect in the murder was a man we knew. Patrick was a very close friend of several GBU (Intervarsity) students and thus we met him through them. Our nanny, Renee, was even a guest singer in one of his band concerts. He was recently married after his girlfriend became pregnant and their son was born the same day as Luca in the same hospital. Although we were not close friends we would always stop to talk whenever we saw him. Patrick, an American girl and her Italian boyfriend are all being held as suspects in the murder. You can find more details on the BBC Europe site.
Our prayer is that Patrick will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and truly know the love and forgiveness that can only come through Him. Pray for his wife and child, we can't even begin to imagine what they are going through. Pray for our believing university friends that they might be able to have more opportunities to speak of the hope we have in Christ and how this is a realization of our utter depravity and the result of a life without Christ. Our hearts are heavy for all involved. Thanks for praying!
A week ago there was a British exchange student that attended the University for Foreigners that was murdered. When we saw the house where she lived we quickly recognized it as being a place we passed on our daily walks to school, just down the road from where we lived. We were saddened to hear the news but devasted when we heard this week that the suspect in the murder was a man we knew. Patrick was a very close friend of several GBU (Intervarsity) students and thus we met him through them. Our nanny, Renee, was even a guest singer in one of his band concerts. He was recently married after his girlfriend became pregnant and their son was born the same day as Luca in the same hospital. Although we were not close friends we would always stop to talk whenever we saw him. Patrick, an American girl and her Italian boyfriend are all being held as suspects in the murder. You can find more details on the BBC Europe site.
Our prayer is that Patrick will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and truly know the love and forgiveness that can only come through Him. Pray for his wife and child, we can't even begin to imagine what they are going through. Pray for our believing university friends that they might be able to have more opportunities to speak of the hope we have in Christ and how this is a realization of our utter depravity and the result of a life without Christ. Our hearts are heavy for all involved. Thanks for praying!
Monday, November 5, 2007
The Bug Party
Emma has a contageous and enormous smile. She is a complete girl and attempts to change outfits several times a day. She was thrilled to receive SO many clothes for her birthday! She isn't much for sweets but at least she did eat the ladybug wings and lots of cookies. Emma is a very joyous little girl and we love her so much!! She is a great cuddle bug as she can curl up in the tiniest little ball and fit in the smallest spots. She will forever be our little girl!! Here are some pics from the party...wish you could have all been here to celebrate!
Samuel & Simone (4 mos. difference in age)
Mamma & the birthday girl
(I think she was okay with not having a "tomato frog" cake)
Samuel was just as excited for the party!
Emma enjoying her new "fish" book
Danilo, Marco, Davide & Fili
The ladybug cupcakes
Everyone was amazed by the ALL the color...no frosting dyes here!
Carol, Emma & Catherine (co-workers)
Samuel & Simone (4 mos. difference in age)
Antoinetta & Emma
Handmade butterfly pillow from Grandma
Don't anyone try to take her with you as a carry-on eventhough she would fit in a backpack!
Mamma & the birthday girl(I think she was okay with not having a "tomato frog" cake)
Samuel was just as excited for the party!
Gift time...thank you everyone for all the beautiful & fun presents!
Emma enjoying her new "fish" book
Danilo, Marco, Davide & Fili
The ladybug cupcakes
Everyone was amazed by the ALL the color...no frosting dyes here!
Carol, Emma & Catherine (co-workers)
David, Brad & Beth (co-workers)
Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Happy Birthday Emma!
Tomorrow is Emma's 3rd birthday!
Can anyone tell me where the time has gone? We are so blessed to have our little girl and all the joy, tenderness and enthusiasm she brings to our family. Someone asked her the other day what she wants for her birthday and she said: a monster truck. She also wants a tomato frog birthday cake. Can you tell she is surrounded by brothers?! Maybe one of these days she will be a baby doll loving girl. We'll see.
Emma loves bugs so we of course are having a bug themed party for her tomorrow. We have the ladybug cupcakes, butterfly cake, butterfly cookies, bugs stamped on napkins...to be honest I'm going a little buggy!!
We'll post pics of the big birthday bash later this week, but I knew I would not be able to post a thing tomorrow and just wanted to say:
Can anyone tell me where the time has gone? We are so blessed to have our little girl and all the joy, tenderness and enthusiasm she brings to our family. Someone asked her the other day what she wants for her birthday and she said: a monster truck. She also wants a tomato frog birthday cake. Can you tell she is surrounded by brothers?! Maybe one of these days she will be a baby doll loving girl. We'll see.
Emma loves bugs so we of course are having a bug themed party for her tomorrow. We have the ladybug cupcakes, butterfly cake, butterfly cookies, bugs stamped on napkins...to be honest I'm going a little buggy!!
We'll post pics of the big birthday bash later this week, but I knew I would not be able to post a thing tomorrow and just wanted to say:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Random...
Okay, so this is completely random and so stupid, but I was SO excited yesterday when I found this 5K (10+ lbs) bag of flour. Usually I have to buy 3 or 4 small bags (1K) at a time which is very annoying. Groceries are about half the size than what you would find in the states with the same price tag so you can understand my excitement of seeing BIG! A great find for all the holiday baking I have planned. Oh, and we have also been graced with OREOs on the grocery shelves this past month. We need to stock up because you never know how long they will last!
Like I said...random...and completely useless information. Maybe I was just a little too excited about the "pick me up" after the Questura visit.
Half a Victory
We had hoped to report to you that yesterday was a great success in our visit to the Questura. However here is our story:
We kept Samuel home from school yesterday so that we could make a family visit to pick up our permessi. Everyone must be present in order to receive these documents. We went two months ago to pick them up only to find that they printed Samuel's birth date wrong, thus unable to obtain my permesso or the kids'. Jonathan had to get his fingerprints redone for the second time and two months later his was also ready. OR so we were informed.
Our last visit and this visit were assisted by one of our coworker's neighbors who works in the Questura. Thankfully we did not have to stand in line and obtain a number. We were able to talk to our inside contact who then took us to the front of the line, probably disgruntling a few people in the process. Jonathan's permesso was completed properly and he was able to obtain his. Praise the Lord!!
However, when they asked us to look over the kids' cards for accuracy, we were a little shocked to see that Samuel had Emma's ID photo and Luca had Samuel's photo and Emma had Luca's photo. What on earth?!! All we needed was Samuel's card reprinted with the correct birth date which it now had but with the wrong photo. Unbelievable!! So that means I once again was not able to get my permesso.
What does this mean? Another two months of waiting, if the holidays don't slow down the processing. The cards will be sent back to Rome where they are printed and so we need to pray they'll get it right on 3rd try and we can get them before furlough. Thankfully our permessi are good for 2 years this time around, so there is hope I will have the card in hand for at least one year before we reapply for renewal.
We had to laugh once again!! We continue to marvel at the lack of quality control in this country and the lack of desire to perform one's job to the fullest. 10 seconds of a cross-check to make sure the card matched the computer would have saved us 2 months of more waiting and them more work and money. But hey, this is Italy...and so very typical!
Points of praise are that Jonathan at least got his permesso and can now formally enroll in the driving school and take his driving exam before we leave for furlough. Secondly, we praise the Lord we only had to spend 45 minutes of our time at the Questura instead of 5 or 6 hours to receive the above news.
Point of prayer would be obviously for mine and the kids' permesso to be completed properly in the next few months.
So that's our saga.
We kept Samuel home from school yesterday so that we could make a family visit to pick up our permessi. Everyone must be present in order to receive these documents. We went two months ago to pick them up only to find that they printed Samuel's birth date wrong, thus unable to obtain my permesso or the kids'. Jonathan had to get his fingerprints redone for the second time and two months later his was also ready. OR so we were informed.
Our last visit and this visit were assisted by one of our coworker's neighbors who works in the Questura. Thankfully we did not have to stand in line and obtain a number. We were able to talk to our inside contact who then took us to the front of the line, probably disgruntling a few people in the process. Jonathan's permesso was completed properly and he was able to obtain his. Praise the Lord!!
However, when they asked us to look over the kids' cards for accuracy, we were a little shocked to see that Samuel had Emma's ID photo and Luca had Samuel's photo and Emma had Luca's photo. What on earth?!! All we needed was Samuel's card reprinted with the correct birth date which it now had but with the wrong photo. Unbelievable!! So that means I once again was not able to get my permesso.
What does this mean? Another two months of waiting, if the holidays don't slow down the processing. The cards will be sent back to Rome where they are printed and so we need to pray they'll get it right on 3rd try and we can get them before furlough. Thankfully our permessi are good for 2 years this time around, so there is hope I will have the card in hand for at least one year before we reapply for renewal.
We had to laugh once again!! We continue to marvel at the lack of quality control in this country and the lack of desire to perform one's job to the fullest. 10 seconds of a cross-check to make sure the card matched the computer would have saved us 2 months of more waiting and them more work and money. But hey, this is Italy...and so very typical!
Points of praise are that Jonathan at least got his permesso and can now formally enroll in the driving school and take his driving exam before we leave for furlough. Secondly, we praise the Lord we only had to spend 45 minutes of our time at the Questura instead of 5 or 6 hours to receive the above news.
Point of prayer would be obviously for mine and the kids' permesso to be completed properly in the next few months.
So that's our saga.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Pumpkin Time
We found our pumpkins at a local fruit and vegetable store this year. No pumpkin patches to be found here, but maybe someday. Halloween is just starting to become a holiday here. Costumes are all witches, ghosts and scary stuff. Sunday someone in church made Angel cookies and gave a lesson why Halloween should not be celebrated by Christians during the Sunday School time for the older kids. I had a conversation with Barbara today who really doesn't know what to do about sending her kids to school on Wednesday because they will be partying and celebrating Halloween and other believers are telling her not to send her kids. I honestly don't even remember the whole reason behind Halloween anymore as it is all about dressing kids up in cute little costumes and getting candy in the States. But with it just starting to be recognized here in the past 5 years or so, people are asking the why and purpose. Guess I need to do some more research.
With Cody's birthday falling on Halloween we always had an excuse growing up to be partying for another reason. By the way Happy Almost 23rd Birthday Code-ster!
Samuel's pre-school is having a party on Wednesday but he will not be going only because we have a very important date at the Questura. Our permits to stay (permesso) are complete so we need to go pick them up and every family member is obligated to be present. So that will be our excitement for the day (and year) to finally have those in hand after 6 months of processing and waiting.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Sickbay
This week we have been house bound with heavy colds, probably an upper respiratory infection for all and touch of influenza. Samuel stayed home from school all week and is still working his way through this nasty cold. The week has been abundant with sleepless nights, soar throats, fevers and throw up. We love that Samuel is able to go to pre-school but this is definitely not one of the aspects we enjoy...him bringing home all kinds of lovely germs. Oh well!So to pass the time and make things fun we have played lots of dress up and made some crafts.
The other night as we began our family devotions Luca crawled up in to my lap looked straight in my eyes and pointed his index finger at me and said "YOUUU!" It was the funniest thing because he kept his lips in a perfect little O for the longest time. Of course, my burst of laughter and surprise of his language use just egged him on to keep doing it. So here's a pic of Luca saying "YOUUU"
"American Girl Dolls"
As a mother I would probably would never spend the money to buy a doll and matching clothes for my daughter. But hey, GRANDMOTHERS are totally allowed! Emma was very excited to match her baby. Samuel kept saying Emma is a "Cheetah" and she kept responding: "I'm not a cheetah, I'm a GIRL!"
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