The Party.

Yesterday we took some time to celebrate Samuel’s 5th birthday with some friends. More had planned to come last week but unfortunately with us having to change the date some were unable to come or were either sick. Nonetheless, it was a good time of fellowship with those that came.

The kids could hardly contain themselves knowing there was a party, presents and cake to dive in to. I made Samuel’s cake on Saturday afternoon so it was a “long” time until Sunday evening for him. I got caught up in conversation and forgot to take more pictures but this is what we do have from the event.

Noella & Barbara

Ivana & Danilo

I thought I would write a couple of funny quirks about Samuel. We call him our little “Monk.”

• He can’t stand it when the Ketchup bottle is upside down. He has to have the lettering right side up and faced towards him if it on the table.


• All his food has to be separated…not on separate plates like Monk, thankfully.


• The other night we had spaghetti and there was one noodle sitting on top of the sauce and he was really getting upset saying “Fix-it, fix-it! It has to go under!”


• If he receives a set of cars, in the future he has to play with every one that came in the set and he knows if one is missing after months of not touching them.

It would be nice if he applied this orderliness and desire for things to be “just so” to picking up his toys!

Third Time's a Charm

Today the kids and I finally received our Permessi!! We are so thankful that at last they got all the information printed correctly and the right pictures to match. I was so nervous they were going to mess up again that I thought Luca's birth date was wrong, until my dear husband said "no, it's the right date!" So, after 10 months of waiting and processing and reprocessing and reprocessing...we now have everyone's in hand. We are so excited and so relieved that we can relax for 16 more months before we start the process over.

Happy Birthday Samuel

Five years ago today God blessed us with our first son. We are so thankful for our Samuel David and for his vivacious spirit and enthusiasm for life. Lately, he has been talking a lot about how he wants to grow to be a man of God. This is really important to him and we are thankful for all the teaching moments this has given us to help him understand what is required for him to someday become just that. He understands it is not just growing in stature. We pray for his little life each day and that he will indeed give his heart to follow Jesus.

We had planned a big birthday celebration for him to take place yesterday, but surprises of surprises...Jonathan and I both came down with the flu on Friday night. We were completely out with weakness of body and nauseousness all through the weekend. The kids were in full strength so it made for an interesting weekend of them learning to fend for themselves as much as possible (i.e. changing movies, bringing the juice to me on the couch for me to refill cups, and making other errands for us) We are feeling better but completely void of energy. Going up and down the stairs is deserving enough of a half hour rest period. Pray for strengthening of bodies and that the kids stay healthy.

However, TODAY is Samuel's birthday and the mother in me just could not NOT do something special for him. So with trembling hands here is Samuel's birthday "Cookie" made with so much love. (The John Deere Tractor Cake is YET to come!) He opened some gifts after lunch today and really LOVED the space themed gifts (books, cards, Legos). We plan to reschedule the birthday party for this coming weekend, granted no further illnesses invade our home. Here are some pics and hopefully a video if I can get it to download correctly.

P.S. Happy Belated Birthday (yesterday) to Grandma! We love you and can't wait to see you!

Recent Family Photos

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Just wanted to give a quick update on how things went at my language lesson this morning. First of all, thank you for your thoughts, encouragements and prayers. I wrote out my thoughts on Valentine's Day and how our demonstration of love for each other as human beings is conditional and imperfect, since we ourselves are imperfect. I then spoke about Christ's perfect demonstration of love for us on the cross using Romans 5:8. In a nutshell the message of the gospel was there and clear. Jonathan reviewed it for me and really helped to correct a lot of major errors so there wouldn't be alot of distraction to the message. When Alessandra asked about my assignment I pulled out my paper and was prepared to read it for her but she quickly grabbed it and said "okay, tell me." I protested slightly about wanting my paper but she refused and so I quickly proceeded praying all the way. I was so nervous! The strength and words came to express in brief what I wanted to say about the verse and it's message for us. She then read the paper and said that my oral explanation was clear and good and so was the written. I asked her what she thought and she said it was good and that she agreed with me. That was about it. Regardless, the message was stated and it was another opportunity to share with her on a deeper level. (By the way, she thought I needed to read a passage and then explain it during my final exam...I just need to read the passage. But that may be the reason why she gave me the assignment.)

Noella & Alessandra

New Friends

Here are just a few examples of how new friends being made here in our neck of the woods this past week.

1. Last week Jonathan was out and about snapping pictures of our lovely city and also in Caselle. People find it very curious to see someone taking pictures and you really get the stares at times. Evidently, one concludes he is a tourist. However, when he speaks the language with such ease this then leads to questions like: what are you doing here, you're American?...why in the world would you want to live here? etc. It is a great door of opportunity to begin conversations. Last week Jonathan spent a good amount of time with two older men just hanging out in the town piazza and then was invited to join them for a coffee. He had a great time and now is even more motivated to pursue his interest in photography. Who would have thought the simple use of a camera could open up a conversation?

2. Also last week Jonathan attended his first class of Kick Boxing. He is so excited about this outlet to not only get some amazing excercise but also to meet more men. He plans to go twice a week from 8-10pm. There were about 25 men there so there is great potential for good relationships. The owner and his wife have a newborn as well.

3. Saturday I needed just a couple of items at the store and instead of taking three very tired and hungry kids in we opted for Jonathan to zip in and out while we waited in the car. After a half hour had passed I began to wonder if he had passed out in the store or something. Because seriously, it should have been a 5 minute run. Anyway, before I could spout off my frustration of his "diddle-daddling" he said: let me explain. He was about to place his items on the check out belt when he heard a family speaking English. When you hear English spoken here it is definitely a head turner and really sounds out of place. He then got out of line and made his way over to this family to introduce himself. Seeing their two small children and basket full of groceries he concluded they must not be visitors. Davide is Italian and Linda is Irish and they live here in Leini'. They have a 3 week old baby and a 2 year old daughter. They exchanged numbers and we hope to get together with them in a few weeks. They need some more adjustment time with the new baby first...which we completely understand!

4. Finally, blogs are great and the most unlikely people stop by on occassion. Hello to "Meri" our fellow citizen of Leini'. Thanks for visiting our site and we hope to meet you sometime too!

Countdown

I really am debating whether we should be having a countdown for our departure for The Michigan or if it should be the countdown to winter's end (meaning no more sickness!) I opted for the more positive option and created a "countdown chain" for the kids this morning. They are so excited to go to Michigan and California to see their grandparents that it is almost a daily question of whether today is the day they get to go on the very fast jet. We have been saying that Samuel needs to have his birthday first and then we'll go. Since Samuel's birthday is a week from tomorrow we will either be saying "soon, soon, soon" for over a month until we are blue in the face or we can give them a visual and physical marker for them to keep track of time. This morning we made 46 links in our chain and so we begin....

Why did I orginally have an idea for counting down winter's end? Maybe it was because Samuel threw up 4 times last night going through 3 sets of sheets, 2 comforters, 2 pillows and a very smelly "doh" and blanket. My washer was running through the night and all day today. Jonathan then went in to the ER as he acquired his second ear infection of the season. He was gone all morning and needless to say I am completely shot...since Samuel seems just fine and in full energetic form despite a lack of 2 or 3 hours sleep in the night. I'm still groggy after my afternoon nap and hope this will be the end of it.

So on a lighter note...here are the kids who can always bring a smile to my face.

My Assignment

Just wanted to share with you real quickly about my homework assignment for next week. Alessandra asked me today at the end of my lesson if I would prepare for next Thursday an explanation of a Bible passage for her. I was absolutely shocked, but of course enthusiastically agreed. She has mentioned before that she reads the Bible from time to time and I asked her if there was any particular passage she is interested in and she said that it's my choice.

When I told Jonathan about it he immediately asked: "What are you going to do?" I responed "PRAY!!" So that is what I am asking y'all (like that one Michelle?) to do.

#1 pray that the Lord will lay the right passage on my heart to share
#2 pray for the ability to convey this in ITALIAN!
#3 pray this will open the door wider for more conversations in the future
#4 pray that my confidence and strength will be evidently from the Lord

Alessandra corrected my written testimony in Italian a couple of weeks ago and she knows why we are here. I am thankful for this challenge but am very nervous. Thanks in advance for your prayers and I'll be sure to let you know how it all goes!

Carnevale

Here are the photos that many have been asking for. Samuel was exstatic to get his Spiderman costume and mask! He did not sleep well knowing that he would be able to wear his costume to school. We've made a note for next year not to tell him until the day of as it was a long week for him (okay, for us). He said it was "Spiderman Day" at school, maybe due to the fact that there were many other little boys in the popular attire. He had a fun time with his classmates and at the pizza party. Emma did not want to be left out and she refused to put on her princess costume dress. Thankfully, the Superman costume was handy and she was just as thrilled to play superhero with Samuel all week. You can see her intense Superman face in the pics above. Samuel studied the picture on the costume bag and made sure he had the right finger placement to throw his web. He worked hard at pefecting his precise pose.

For those who might desire a lesson in Italian culture and history of Carnevale, I have copied an excerpt I found on the web for your education and enjoyment:

Origins of Carnevale

Taken from: www.twistedimage.com/productions/carnivale/

Carnevale (or Carnivale, or Carnavale, alternate spellings you may find), is a festival which can trace its roots back to the Roman Saturnalia, a festival held in mid-December to honor the god Saturn with feasting, gift giving and role reversal. As often happened with such festivals, Catholics found a way to work the festival into their own liturgical year.

One commonly accepted derivation of the word "carnival" is the Latin "carne vale" or "farewell to meat." Carnival was the final hurrah as winter headed towards spring, and the long Lenten season of fasting and abstinence. It was, perhaps, not only a last chance to indulge the passions of the flesh, but an opportunity to consume any meat which had been put up for winter that might not stay fresh enough for consumption until spring brought the end of Lent and Easter.

Because of its ties to the liturgical calendar, Carnivale varies in length. It can be considered to begin with the feast of Epiphany (the 12th day of Christmas) on January 6, and always ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The Lenten season is the 40 days before Easter, which falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Confused yet? Don't worry about it. In 2003 Lent starts on Wednesday, March 5, which means the last day of Carnivale is Shrove Tuesday, March 4. (If you've never heard of Shrove Tuesday, perhaps you've heard of "Fat Tuesday" -- also known in French as Mardi Gras, or in Italian as Martedi Grasso. Is it all becoming clear now?)

Carnivale is celebrated with enthusiasm around the world; in the US the celebration in New Orleans is best known. In Brazil, Carnivale in Rio is famous (or infamous) for its wild abandon. Many cities in Italy have maintained or revived their traditions of Carnivale; especially well-known among them are Venice and Florence.

While Carnivale has a rich history and ancient roots in Italy, the festival remains a vital and contemporary celebration. A simple web search will reveal many images of celebrants in both historical and contemporary costumes. One of the common elements found throughout the tradition has remained the Carnivale mask.