Spring Piano Recital

Samuel and Emma picked up the piano again this year after having taken a year off.  They have enjoyed their lessons and always have a good time with their instructor/director of the school.  Franco is a character and is always making the kids laugh.  I think the first time they met him they thought he looked like a pirate with one large hoop earring, long hair and medallion necklace.  He is passionate about music (and keeping super short nails!!) and just a really fun loving guy who makes the kids feel comfortable.

This is the first recital that they have participated in and so they were kind of nervous what to expect. It was held at the school and so felt very intimate and crammed with standing room only.  Thankfully,  only the piano, voice and violin students participated in this portion of the the recital making our evening relatively shorter.  It began at 8:30 but our kids didn't get on to play until 10:30. Both kids did fantastic! We are so proud of them and their efforts in learning and progressing with their piano skills.

Emma played "Il Nuovo Giorno" (The New Day) by Bastien

Samuel played "Largo" by Dvorak-Bastien and "Come Rock Stars" duet by R. Vinciguerra

I wish I could translate this video and Franco's comments about Samuel and Emma, but maybe you'll just have to ask the kids what he said.  I will say, however, that Franco did mention to the crowd how Samuel is writing a 500 page book and how he has completed 12 pages so far. I missed the comments he had about Emma in the video, but it had to do with the little American correcting his English. 

And just because the sky was so spectacular on this evening here is our painted pink sky, pink tree blossoms and pink blooming flower bush....welcome Spring!!

New Teammates Arrive

It has been a long time in coming for us to receive new teammates on the field. In fact, we were the last ones to arrive and that was nearly TEN years ago! Can you believe that?!

June 2005 - Samuel (2), Emma (7 mos)

Five and a half years ago Lindsey and Meredith started their journey to Italy as career workers. With much perseverance, determination, blood, sweat and tears God was faithful to provide for them and bring them finally here.

They were scheduled to arrive in Torino on March 21, but unfortunately they got caught in the Lufthansa strike and were unable to depart as planned.  They ended up being delayed four days and requiring us to adjust our plans too. Welcome to cross-cultural living where flexibility is key!

We are thankful for their safe arrival and for the four and a half days we had them in our home. Their kids are just precious and actually about one year older each than Samuel and Emma were when we arrived on the field.  Just seeing their little ones brought back such a wave of emotion and memory of our own arrival. And now that Jonathan has been with them in Perugia these past four days, he too has been walking down memory lane of our time spent there. Like driving by our old apartment, the park our kids played at and the hospital where Luca was born...

Our apartment was on the 3rd floor

We are so grateful for the Lord's faithfulness and for his sustaining grace and mercies to keep us here and now to bring a new family to serve here alongside us (well in 2 years that is when they learn the language and move up here). Please keep this dear family in your prayers as you think of them. Their son got sick the night they arrived to Perugia and required an ER visit the next day...nothing like breaking them in easy with the medical system! But at least Jonathan was there to walk alongside them through the process.

Now let's pray we don't have to wait another 10 years for new teammates!

Happy 9th Birthday, Luca!

I tried my best to get this post up during the month of March, but once again it got pushed off until April since parenting solo the past four days while maintaining ministries is kind of tough. Poor Luca was really sad the other day when he was perusing the blog trying to find posts about him and his birthdays and could not find them listed in the month of March. He said "Mamma you don't like me very much because you don't write about my birthday." I immediately showed him that sometimes he has to look at the month of April, but without fail his birthdays are indeed ALWAYS documented and that he is very much liked and loved! With his birthday being on March 29th I am glad he extended some grace towards me once again as I blog about his birthday in April.

This year we celebrated a day early as we had our new teammates arrive on the field and Jonathan had to leave on Luca's birthday to go to Perugia to get them settled in. It was a busy week of hosting a family of four in our home, plus dog-sitting and piano recital over the weekend, so I guess it was pretty amazing that I found time to make him a cake at all. More time would have meant more detail, but he was happy with the rushed result. Luca requested a Jedi Star Fighter cake this year.

This year marks the final year where we will have a single digit person under our roof.  We are passing through these seasons of life far too quickly in my opinion!

Luca you are the energy of this family, always on the move and always ready for a good rough and tumble with your dad.  You are a force to be reckoned with, powerful and strong even with your selected dietary intake. You have grown and matured this past year showing more confidence, perseverance and determination to do hard things, especially in school.  You are a friend to all, ready to defend the weak and not afraid to go against the flow.

You love to make people smile and laugh at your silly antics. You are still a LEGO maniac who loves to create and imagine.  You love math and are a genius at doing it all in your head. This year has been challenging for you at times as you have learned division and multiplication of multiple digit numbers and get frustrated that you have to show your work long hand, when you already know the answer in your head. But we all need to learn the foundations of math that will help us excel when problems get even harder.

You are super competitive in games, sports and with your siblings. It is hard to not always be the first or the best, but you are growing in emotional self-control even though it is a process. You love dogs and it is hard to pull you away after school as you just love to pet your friends' puppies.

You are so loved, Luca! You always will be no matter what! Our hearts cry is that you would trust in Jesus with all your heart, mind and strength, that you would use your God-given talents and gifts for His glory to serve Him and love and bless others. You are one very special boy whom we are so very proud of to has a son.

Happy 9th Birthday, Luca!