Glued...Again

Trying to figure out who is winning between Luca and the furniture.  Both are leaving their marks on each other!  The corner dent was from another encounter to his head several years ago.

Furniture (notch above the corner)

vs.

Luca's head

Today the boys were fighting over something and before I knew it I hear this big crack and cry from Luca.  Thankfully for a head wound we were able to get the bleeding to stop fairly quickly.  However, it appeared that we needed to get him to the ER to seal up the wound.  This is Luca's third visit to the ER for such an issue.  He is such a tough kid...and I think the tears were initially more out of anger at his brother than over his hurt head.  We washed him up and disinfected the area since last time the medical professionals didn't attend to that step before gluing him up.

Three hours later my trooper of a husband and little boy returned home with this...  

So I guess Luca admitted that his neck was hurting him too.  So they took an x-ray of his neck and it appears to be more straight that curved signifying there was some stress put on the neck from the fall.  He will have the neck brace on for a few days and will have to keep his head dry for 5 days.  Grandparents:  don't worry, he is okay.  You know Luca!!  

On the plus side, making the call of whether or not to go to the ER is always pretty easy knowing that you won't have to worry about a bill.  Sure, you wait longer for services, but at least it is free.

California Christmas 2012

For posterity sake, here is looking back on a Christmas like none other.  The obvious bonus of remaining stateside longer than we expected in 2012 was that we got to celebrate Christmas with both our families.  For the Fisher side of the family, this was the first Christmas day together in 8 years.  And eight years ago, Jonathan and I were the only ones wed out of the Fisher siblings and there were just two grandchildren.  Fast forward to 2012 and everyone is married and the grandchild count is at nine!

Cody and Michelle let us spoil and love on two-month old baby Zoe.  We are so thankful our paths crossed in December as we just missed them by days on their stateside visit from Iraq last summer.  Ben and Melissa were in between visits to Ethiopia to bring home their little daughter, Nyah.  So happy to report that they are all home now and we cannot wait to meet her on our next visit.  Miguel and Jennie are gearing up for a survery trip to the Dominican Republic as they seek God's direction for returning to a ministry there.  Papa and Nano are the glue keeping us all held together through prayer, love and support.  So as you can see with this family spread to the 4 corners of the earth, this was a very special Christmas.

Our brief two weeks together were filled with conversation, laughter, cooking and eating together, celebrating my birthday, playing with cousins and unfortunately, several people were struck down with the flu.  Our family did escape all illness, which was a huge blessing with our upcoming travels.

We are so thankful for our families and all the special times shared together in 2012!

Great Nana with 8 of her 28 Greatgranchildren!

We're Here

We have been in "radio silence" mode for too long, and you may have wondered if our radio just plain broke all together.  Be assured that we are indeed still here and hopefully I can soon settle into a routine of regular updates for you.  I have been cleaning and organizing for over a week straight and today my wrist is rebelling and requiring a break...thus you get an update!

After a two week, unforgettable Christmas family celebration in California we made a pitstop in Michigan to repack and prepare for our depature back to Italy.  Transitioning in and out of 3 time zones in one week was pleasant--Not!  Our travels went smoothly and apart from the kids not sleeping a wink on the flight across the pond, we really can't complain.  Our extra baggage got waved of fees and all 8 bags arrived with us in Turin.  PTL!  Our colleague, Melissa, greeted us at the airport and somehow we mangaged to fit all our luggage into our van in one load.  Okay, so we couldn't see out of any windows apart from the front and luggage was squeezed against us so tightly making it difficult to breathe.  Definitely no need for seat belts.  Sorry, there is no picture for you.  Just trust me, the title "mini-van" actually really does mean "mini" here in Europe.

We arrived home to a house filled with 7 months of dust, grime and cobwebs.  Melissa removed all the plastic and sheet coverings we had left over furniture, so it didn't look so overwhelming and nasty upon first glance.  She was kind enough to fill our refrigerater and pantry with items to hold us over for the weekend.  As you can imagine, that gesture was a HUGE help to us in alleviating the need to head to the supermarket right away.  

Umm, yea.  Getting used to a small frig again is not going to be easy.

Emma was beyond exhausted and hit the couch right away to sleep until we went to retrieve our guinea pig, Mac from our friend's house.  

The boys immediately went upstairs to unload their Lego's and check out their toys. 

The first item of business for me, since we had our number one necessity of food taken care of, was to get our beds ready for sleeping by changing all the sheets and giving the bedspreads a good beating.  By the time we went to bed, Samuel, Jonathan and I had been awake 32 hours straight.  Samuel was delirious for sure and was moaning and groaning for a good hour before settling into a deep sleep--for 3 hours.  Then it was 1am and all of us were wide awake and struggling to sleep.  Thank goodness for melatonin and window shades that block out 100% of light that allowed all of us to sleep past 10am the next morning.  It has taken us a good week to acclimate to the time.

Over the weekend I did not get much done on the house as there was a grocery store run we had to make over a holiday weekend, with 3 kids in tow, and in a store that seemed so foreign after 7 months away.  It took us nearly 3 hours to complete that task.  Then I had to get all the kids ready to start school on Monday.  That required labeling and covering notebooks, putting together bathroom bags (yes, they have to bring their own soap and toilet paper to school!), organizing and filling their pen cases and covering their books.  And believe me this is a hefty and time consuming task x3!

The kids had a good first week of school and I'll update you better on that later.  But, thank you so much to everyone who was praying for them!  There were definitely some first day jitters but everyone is doing really well now.

Things are finally put away and the initial layer of dust has been removed.  It took me over a week to do so since our closet space only allows for a current season wardrobe and the kids had clothes from the spring that needed to cleared out and moved to the garage since they had outgrown them.  And then there is the garage packed out with everything from our ministry center.  That sight for sure was a jolt to our emotions in seeing the reality we have returned to is nothing of how when we left here. 

I will conclude for today.  Please continue to uplift us in prayer as we reacclimate to life in Italy.  Melissa has just returned from a week away in Ireland and we will meet together as a team for the first time later this week.  There is much on our hearts, minds and plates as we move forward and try to figure out a new "normal" for the work God has called us to.  It is all about His glory!

A welcome home sunset the day we arrived home.

:: My Precious Family ::

Photos by Nettie Marie Photography

School Christmas Program

The highly anticipated Christmas program for our kids' elementary school was held on Tuesday night.  They were SO very excited about the special night!  They have been working on their songs for months and the thrill only escalated when Emma was chosen as a replacement for one of Santa's reindeers.  She instructed us to just look for the reindeer with the "sharp moves".  Too funny!  We were entertained with classic Christmas songs and carols.  For a public school program to include both secular and religious songs speaks a lot of the unique West Michigan culture.

The program was held at a local church that was overflowing even with the several thousand holding capacity.  The local TV station recorded the performance and will air it over the holidays on TV.  The kids find that oh so very cool! But, for those family members who were unable to attend this video is for you.  All other readers, don't feel obligated to watch.

*This was the smallest size video I could put on the blog, click on the title "Bauer Christmas Program" to view the video in full without the edges getting cut off.

Giving Thanks

O give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for his lovingkindness is everlasting.  I Chronicles 16:34

I love creating family traditions in our home.  This year we have added a new holiday tradition for the month of November.  It is our "Thanksgiving Tree".  Once again Ann Voskamp has provided a lovely Free printable here.  Luca helped me gather some twigs from the backyard, I cut and laminated each leaf with contact paper and then hung the leaves on our tree.  Each leaf has a Bible verse printed on the front in which we read and discuss as a family each night.  Then the kids are writing what they are thankful for on the backside using a dry erase marker (making the leaves reusable for next year!)

Emma's 8th Birthday

The anticipation and excitement was boiling over for one very excited little girl who just could NOT wait to turn 8 years old on November 4th.  Emma Patryce, oh how we love you!  We share in your great joy for another year of life to celebrate.  For indeed it is a marvelous gift from our heavenly Father.  You are all too quickly growing up!

Emma claims that this year was the best birthday ever.  And it rightly may be so as this is only the 2nd birthday in her lifetime that she has celebrated in person with an extension of our family.  Her celebrations began on Saturday with a shopping and lunch date with her great Aunt Mary.  A family dinner with her choice of menu, which included: pulled pork, "smashed" potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, jello, yeast rolls, chocolate cake with a horse theme and peanut butter cup ice cream.  Samuel provided the entertainment with a "stunning" magic show.  I think the family got more of a laugh out of the dejavù feeling, as this was something Jonathan had done at his own 7th birthday party back in the day.  Samuel was clueless about the event in his dad's life, therefore, only further solidifing that the apple does not fall far from the tree.  Luca joined in with his illusion and did a great job too!

Thank you to all who sent cards, emails, called or gave presents.  You made her day!