Saturday, October 31, 2009

A Happy Day

Yesterday Noella's sister, Jennie and her husband, Miguel welcomed their second child in to the world. We rejoice in the blessed addition of our second niece, Tasha Lee Morel! And the kids are most excited that they now have 4 cousins!


Happy Birth Day to Tasha Lee!

Today is Uncle Cody's 25th Birthday so a big Happy Birthday shout out to him for celebrating his first quarter century of life!


  Finally Happy Halloween!

I have to admit after spending last fall in the states, it made it really hard this year to not celebrate the autumn season complete with the vibrant color changes of the trees, going to the pumpkin and apple farms, carving a pumpkin, dressing up for Halloween, drinking apple cider and indulging in way too much candy! Feeling a bit nostalgic today I figured I would attempt to make a pumpkin shaped cake. However, I ran in to the issue of not having access to shortening here in Italy and so piping the frosting turned out to be a big flop with the alternative cream cheese frosting I made. I finally succumbed to just putting chocolate sprinkles on top and omitting the extra work of making a pumpkin stem. The kids were thrilled nonetheless to see a frosted cake and can't wait to dig in to it!  Next week we WILL hunt down some pumpkins so I can make my pumpkin puree for the holiday season.  We know for sure we can find some several cities over from us, so we'll see if they are still selling them next week.




The kids dressed up for a little bit today in their costumes and this is how they celebrated Halloween today.  Oh, and next year I won't purchase mums for decor around the house.  I found out later after purchasing my pot of beautiful orange mums that they are symbolic of death and used for funerals and cemeteries here in Italy.  Traditionally white mums would be for sure tied to the above symbolic meaning, but it seems all colors of mums are intended for the same purpose here.  Oops...now I know!  





 



Today also brings back memories of Samuel's first episode of tachycardia that occurred one year ago after trick-or-treating. Has it already been a year? Wow, so much to be thankful for!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

In Roads

I've just been super encouraged lately in that I finally feel like I'm making some in roads with people here. One of the reasons being Samuel's entrance into elementary school. We are so thankful for the small school, meaning just one section for each grade, 1st to 5th. I am thankful it is within walking distance and that I don't have to rely on Jonathan to drive me here and there all the time. Going to the school four times a day, Monday-Wednesday, would get a bit tedious if always having to drive and interrupt Jonathan from his work day. The weather has been descent so far so the four minute walk has been quite enjoyable. However, as of late various mothers from the school have stopped to ask if I or we want a ride. It has been great to have these brief encounters that have then led to more openness in conversation and building friendships.

For example, the only other mother that regularly walks to get her child invited me over for coffee last week. We spent a couple of hours together and it was great. This week I invited her over to our house, so tomorrow P. and her daughter A. are coming over in the afternoon. Samuel is very excited for this play date as A. and him are classmates. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I continue to build relationships especially with P., B., M., and K. and that there might be opportunities for more regular interactions with them and their families.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with Cristina and baby Nathan. Another great afternoon and opportunity to build friendship (and language skills). She offered to host a weekly women's gathering for fellowship, encouragement and prayer at her house. I was super excited to have her initiate this, even though it was an idea we had talked about last spring. We pray this will unite us and draw us deeper in to each others lives as many of the women in our core group are unable to attend the studies on Thursdays, mainly because of little ones. Hopefully we can find a day and time that works for most of us so we can begin next week. Cristina lives here in Leini' so maybe this would provide opportunities to invite some of the mothers from school to come as well.

On Monday night we also had the opportunity to discuss and study the Bible with L. and G. who are Jehovah's Witnesses. There are many JWs in our area and we thought it wise to hear from them what they believe and yet at the same time be able to ask them questions that hopefully will make them think. The discussion was very focused, no rabbit trails. We spent nearly two hours with them around our kitchen table and they will return in two weeks to pick up the discussion.

So a lot is going on as you can see as we are making in roads in to people's lives. We would covet your prayers in these areas and for these people. May each interaction build the trust needed to then be able to share the love of Christ with them.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Fall Visitors

What a joy it was for us to have our pastor and his wife visit us this week from our sending church in Cedarville, Ohio.  Pastor Craig and Kathy are in Western Europe to encourage three missionary families sent out from Grace and to see the work and field first hand.  How much more they are now equipped to communicate to others and pray for us more effectively.  We are so thankful for the priority they place on missions and that we are viewed and treated as their extended church staff.  Their visit was very timely and encouragement much needed as we continue to seek God's leading, direction and wisdom for the work here.  We appreciated the fact that they too have been in our shoes as they have planted a church in southern California.  Different cultures of course, but very similar struggles.

They arrived on Wednesday morning and left Saturday morning.  We had two days of rain, but finally on Friday it cleared up just enough for them to view our gorgeous (now snow capped) Alps.  They received a whirlwind tour of downtown Torino, met all but 1 colleague, attended ESL class, Bible study and lots of time in fellowship around the kitchen table.  It was truly a wonderful time and we count it a privilege to serve alongside them.  Thanks GBC for sending them our way!  


Craig and Kathy Miller


Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Agape


This past Sunday we had the joy of hosting our first Agape for the fall at our house.  Several families were unable to attend thus making it possible to accommodate 12 persons in our home for a meal.  Later in the afternoon another family of five joined us.  Our living room turned into a dining room and we had a lot of fun together in fellowship over lunch.  I officially made a right of passage when complemented that my Bolognese sauce was made like a true Italian with seconds being requested.  It made my day as I know how high the bar is set for making pasta just the right way here.  It has been a while since we have been together in a group of this size and it was truly a blessing to be together again.  Hopefully next month we will be of even greater numbers! 

Cristina and Nathan (6 weeks old)

Posing for Dada's photo experiment

Luca loves his Superman jammies and would wear them 24/7

Love that twinkle in Emma's eye

Monday, October 19, 2009

Random Pics

I just realized that I have not taken many pictures of the family at all recently.  I really need to try to capture more random moments so we'll see how that new resolve goes from here on out. 


Definitely a rare moment to catch this boy sleeping. Lately Luca has been having a harder time going to sleep during nap time and so when it's time to get him up he has been in this deep heavy sleep, not stirring a muscle as the serrandas are raised. One of those times when I appreciate Luca's independent spirit is during the night. When he wakes up he is stealthy quite. He doesn't call for me or wake his sleeping brother. For example, last night he woke up at 2:30am. I heard the bathroom light click on and I lay there wondering if he had wet his bed and needed to be changed. I lay there waiting to see what he would do. He just proceeded to use the bathroom and then turn off the light and return to bed closing the doors ever so quietly and getting back under his covers. So awesome!  Or sometimes he'll wake first in the morning and walk in to our room and then just stand there next to the bed waiting for me to either let him crawl in to bed for some cuddles or venture downstairs to the living room without ever saying one word. Samuel on the other hand still to this day screams for Mamma upon waking.



Right after "Mamma's barbershop" closed--my boys and their fresh hair cuts!



And of course, Emma wanted in on the picture taking too



Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Phase 2 Complete

Having connections with someone on the inside of the Ministry of the Interior certainly has made our recent visits to the Questura here in Torino so much more tolerable. No longer do we have to rise before sunrise and wait outside in a "line" of immigrants for 2+ plus hours in order to obtain a reasonable ticketed number that hopefully would ensure you being seen before noon. We have done that several times with all three kids and believe me it is a horrendous experience trying to keep them happy for 6 or more hours at the immigration office.

But, like I said thankfully that was not the case this time around. We had an appointment arranged for us between 9 and 9:30 this morning. We bipassed the line of people still waiting outside and then began the name-dropping in order to get us moved immediately to the front of the lines to be waited upon. (I always seem to have this sense of guilt for not waiting like everyone else--but it sure beats the meltdown of kids and parents!) Another huge sigh of relief always comes when they finally find all your paperwork somewhere in their not so organized system. Everything was found to be in order with our papers and signatures and fingerprints were obtained before exiting the Questura one hour later. Now we wait for the final phase of the process--the printing of our permessi and then pick-up once again at the Questura, with the above procedure hopefully arranged for us once again.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Saturday Musings

We went out to the market today for the first time in a long while. The park is right next to it and we saw a few weeks back that they had put in a new playground. The kids were so excited to play but when we arrived there were large heavy metal barriers around the new equipment. We saw that the slide had busted in the middle and clearly was unsafe for little ones. However, we were a little perplexed (okay, maybe we shouldn't have been) as to why parents had moved the barriers just enough to get through and were allowing their kids to play. We had to explain to our kids that the restriction was for their own safety and we should obey the rules. The whole situation just made us laugh. It's so typical.

Jonathan also had a chance to strike up a conversation with some JWs at the market. They would like to get together at some point with us, so we'll see what comes out of that. Other than that I got a pot of mums for the front porch, which makes it feel more like autumn to me. Now all I need to do is hunt down some pumpkins!

I'm not sure if I'll get the chance to post again before Wednesday so I'll mention this now as a point of prayer. Wednesday we head to the Questura to complete some paperwork for our permits to stay. Pray for no glitches in any of the stuff that needs to be filed, also pray for the kids as it is never a fun place for them to be waiting. Thanks so much!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Cultural Lesson in Coffee

If you don't want to be taken for a tourist in Italy, you should drink coffee as and when the locals do.

London Guardian ; By Lee Marshall ; September 30, 2009

I once met an Italian who didn't drink coffee. He made light of the fact, but you could see that he was tired of having to explain his disability every time some new acquaintance uttered the standard Italian greeting: "Prendiamo un caffè?" ("Fancy a coffee?"). His breezy but faintly passive-aggressive manner concealed, I suspect, deep pools of self-doubt and underground lakes of wounded masculine pride. Vegetarians develop the same nonchalant yet haunted look when travelling in places like Mongolia, where meat comes with a side-dish of meat. But this Italian guy wasn't a visitor, he was local. He was the Mongolian vegetarian.

Coffee is so much a part of Italian culture that the idea of not drinking it is as foreign as the idea of having to explain its rituals. These rituals are set in stone and not always easy for outsiders to understand.

In fact, as in any self-respecting cult, they are made deliberately hard to comprehend, so that the initiated can recognise each other over the bar counter without the need for a curious handshake (which would only lead to stubborn cappuccino stains).

Some might object that the Italian coffee cult is now a worldwide church with branches in London, Dubai and Bora Bora. But although the Arabica coffee blend is often perfect, the cups just the right size and shape, the machines as Made in Italy as they come, Italian coffee bars outside Italy almost always adapt to the host culture just like the vast majority of Chinese restaurants outside China. If you take your cue from your local high street espresso purveyor, you risk straying from the True Path on arrival in Italy.

Here, then, for those who fancy going native in true Lorenzo of Arabica style, are the Ten Commandments of Il Culto del Caffè.

1. Thou shalt only drink cappuccino, caffé latte, latte macchiato or any milky form of coffee in the morning, and never after a meal. Italians cringe at the thought of all that hot milk hitting a full stomach. An American friend of mine who has lived in Rome for many years continues, knowingly, to break this rule. But she has learnt, at least, to apologise to the barman.

2. Thou shalt not muck around with coffee. Requesting a mint frappuccino in Italy is like asking for a single malt whisky and lemonade with a swizzle stick in a Glasgow pub. There are but one or two regional exceptions to this rule that have met with the blessing of the general coffee synod. In Naples, thou mayst order un caffè alla nocciola, a frothy espresso with hazelnut cream. In Milan thou can impress the locals by asking for un marocchino, a sort of upside-down cappuccino, served in a small glass which is first sprinkled with cocoa powder, then hit with a blob of frothed milk, then spiked with a shot of espresso.

3. Which reminds me, thou shalt not use the word espresso. This a technical term in Italian, not an everyday one. As espresso is the default setting and single the default dose, a single espresso is simply known as un caffè.

4. Thou can order un caffè doppio (a double espresso) if thou likest, but be aware that this is not an Italian habit. Italians do drink a lot of coffee, but they do so in small, steady doses.

5. Thou shalt head confidently for the bar, call out thine order even if the barista has his back to you, and pay afterwards at the till.

6. If it's an airport or station bar or a tourist place where the barista screams "ticket" at thee, thou shalt, if thou can bear the ignominy, pay before thou consumest.

7. Thou shalt not sit down unless thou hast a very good reason. Coffee is a pleasurable drug, but a drug nevertheless, and should be downed in one, standing.

8. Thou shouldst expect thy coffee to arrive at a temperature at which it can be downed immediately as per the previous commandment. If thou preferest burning thy lips and tongue or blowing the froth off thy cappuccino in a vain attempt to cool it down thou shouldst ask for un caffè bollente.

9. Thou shall be allowed the following variations, and these only, from the Holy Trinity of caffè, cappuccino and caffé latte: caffè macchiato or latte macchiato, an espresso with a dash of milk or a hot milk with a dash of coffee (remember, mornings only); caffè corretto: the Italian builder's early morning pick-me-up, an espresso "corrected" with a slug of brandy or grappa; and caffè freddo or cappuccino freddo (iced espresso or cappuccino) but beware, this usually comes pre-sugared. Thou mayst also ask for un caffè lungo or un caffè ristretto if thou desirest more or less water in thine espresso.

10. Anything else you may have heard is heresy.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Opening Week

It was definitely an exciting week for us to be able to officially open the center, Reset. The beginner ESL class began on Wednesday bringing many residents from Caselle and surrounding cities. We had 18 people preregister but had 22 show up. The place was packed out and we had exactly the right amount of chairs to accommodate them. Jonathan was very encouraged to see the high level of enthusiasm and participation in a group of strangers that size. The evening could not have gone better in Jonathan's opinion. Everyone signed up to return next week, but in two different class sections at 7:30 and 9:00p.m. Since then he has allowed 2 more people in to the class bringing it up to 24 beginners!

Friday night was the intermediate class with 13 students in attendance. Again, things went really well and Catherine was also pleased with her first lessons. Thank you for sharing in our excitement and your continued prayers for this ministry to the community. Now that ESL has launched we can now more fully concentrate on working through the next steps for church services and other outreach projects. We will not be lacking for things to work on this fall that is for sure!