Month of Mishaps

It is hard to believe that this is the final day of August. It has been a good month for family time, reading, taking a "break" from language study and working on some special projects. As I also reflect back on this past month I can't help but think of all the mishaps we have had from small to big.

Do you ever have times where you feel that everything you touch breaks? I think I have more than contributed to the normal destruction of the house that usually falls upon the kids to fulfill. Wanting to enjoy some treasured and savory Mexican hot chocolate the other night ended up in a cleaning fest. I did not screw the blender base on tightly and thus when I poured the scalding milk into the blender it proceeded down in to the motor and in to every kitchen drawer below it. The hot milk inhibited me from making a quick save in the situation. Good thing: The blender was not ruined.

The other night I went to turn off the light by pulling the cord on our ceiling fan in the kitchen. There is a huge glass ball that covers the light bulb and as I pulled the cord the whole globe came loose and shattered over me and the kitchen. Thankfully Luca was the only one in the kitchen and he had just moved over to the far corner when this happened. Praise the Lord I only got a few minor cuts and that none of the kids were injured. Dinner was served late that night.

Or how about starting off the month when we left for vacation? The day we left Jon decided to turn off the electricty in the house. Two hours down the road it hit me that the frig was turned off as a result. Praise the Lord there was very little in the frig as we were going to be away for a week, but it still was a chore and smell to clean up when we got home.

The same day we left for vacation we also accidentally rear-ended GianCarlo and his family when following them to Switzerland. It happened at a yield sign when GianCarlo started to go then stopped, and Jon turned to see if he could make it in the gap of traffic when we heard a crunch. Praise the Lord, no one was injured and little damage was done...although enough we have to file with the insurance company to get the Farina's car fixed. Unfortunately, our car insurance will go up.

Okay so the list could go on with Luca having his first fall down the spiral steps, his toe sliced open and not caring and then me not realizing it until there were blood spots all over the carpet and couch. Or Samuel taking a toy and driving it all around the van leaving permament scrape marks.

In all of this there is no better solution to each mishap than to just laugh and praise God things weren't worse. I have also found that having kids makes you less concerned about "things". I could allow myself to be steaming angry anytime something breaks or it's aesthetics are ruined, but what would that accomplish besides bitterness and placing value of things above relationship.

Well, hopefully September will be a better month in the mishap department!

Our First Nephew

We want you all to meet our first "nephew", Vlady. The best way for me to give you a background to his story is to just copy what Jennie wrote on her blog. We are so proud of Jennie and Miguel, for their 7 months of marriage, for their outpouring of love to all people, for their sacrificial giving, love and service to the Lord in the Dominican Republic. Vlady couldn't be in better hands!

Vlady is the son of Miguel's cousin, Susa. Susa has basically abandoned her 4 children and has taken up drinking a lot. Vlady's dad is a drug dealer and is currently on the run from the police. Vlady gets shuffled back and forth from family member to family member and he is quite aware that nobody really wants to take care of him. Miguel and I are trying to step in and take him under our wing...but need prayer for wisdom in knowing what our roles need to be in his life.

The result of much prayer: We originally planned on only taking Vlady in on the weekends and see how it went. But after a conversation that Miguel had with his grandmother....it became clear what our decision needed to be in the end. Vlady told her, "Finally, I have a home. We eat dinner at the table and pray. I have clothes and a place to put them. Finally, I think I'm going to be ok." So what started as a weekend trial, turned into indefinite. Pray for us as now we've become parents over night to a 7 year old boy who has never had parents and who has 7 years of undisciplined energy. Pray for patience for all.

So although he is not officially our nephew, we do welcome him in to our family as if he were. We love you Vlady!

Vlady's first day of school this past week.

a night out

I don't think we will ever again take for granted having a date night. Sadly, and yet realistically Jon and I have not had a date in five months. The last time was right before we moved from Perugia. The real snag always come in trying to find someone to watch the kids. Thankfully, we are now closer to co-workers and Catherine was our life saver last night. She loves the kids and the kids love her and it worked out really great. Here in Italy there is never a need for a babysitter as there is always a relative close by to take the child or children if it is a "large" family of 2 kids. I remember asking a senior in high school to babysit our kids one time and she said she had never babysat before in her life and was scared to do so. How strange! My first job was babysitting at 12 years old, but you just don't find that here.

Okay, so back to our date...we celebrated our anniversary late only because most of the restaurants are closed for the week of Feirre or maybe even closed for the whole month. There is one Mexican restaurant in the area and we had been dying to check it out. We were told that it would "scratch the itch" for Mexican food. For us it truly did! Or maybe it was because we haven't eaten good Mexican in over two years. So I will admit that my rice and beans are better but the fajitas and tortillas were awesome. Finally, something better to eat than Uncle Ben's flour tortillas. We also enjoyed the fact that the atmosphere felt as though we stepped in to Mexico. For 3 hours it was great to have an escape from Italy (and the kids).

What a refreshment it was for us as a couple to have some isolated time away from the kids, away from familiarity, and just to escape. God has been so good to sustain us during the constant surrounding of our precious kids but everyone needs a break now and then.

Speaking of the kids...it has been a great week! Samuel has been napping and the kids have slept in til 8am almost every morning this week...which I can't remember ever happening before! It has been wonderful to sleep a bit longer and to still have time to myself with God's Word and a cup of coffee before the day begins. The sleep has helped make a huge difference in attitudes and it really has been a great week! I am so grateful and give God the glory for this seemingly small, but huge gift.

Seven Years

Here is Jonathan recording all of our wedding music and love songs he has written to me over the past 9 years...CD release coming this Christmas!

Today marks our 7th Wedding Anniversary. Wow, how quickly time has flown and how much our lives have changed. We give God the glory for these wonderful years of marriage. We have had our laughs, tears, struggles, disappointments, excitements and we love each other all the more as we walk hand in hand keeping Christ the center of our lives. I have an incredible, godly husband and I am so blessed to have him as my best friend, husband and father of our children.

Thank you, precious, for an amazing 7 years!! I love you so very much!!

Switzerland

View from the mountain top in Isenfluh

Luca loves slides...the faster the better!

Lago Blu

Family pic in Thun
Our Alpine View from the Lodge

We just returned from our first real family vacation since our arrival here in Italy over two years ago. We had an incredible week in Isenfluh, which is located in the heart of the Swiss Alps. If you ever saw the movie "Heidi" this is the area where it was filmed. Also, J.R.R. Tolkien used this area as inspiration for his valley of Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings. The views of God's amazing creation were breathtaking! We enjoyed our time getting to know more Italians from our church as well as others throughout the country. We even got a proposal to switch countries and move to the Italian speaking part of Switzerland to help with a church plant there. So I guess if we ever get kicked out of the country we have a place to go. Something you may not realize is that Switzerland has 4 national languages: Italian, French, German and a Swiss Dialect. Oh, and of course most can speak English. And we think we are something in America if we are bi-lingual!

The kids had an incredible time being outdoors (when it wasn't raining). We visited the capital city of Bern, Thun, Lago Blu- where there was a trout farm, awesome playground equipment, boat rides etc., we took a gondola ride up the mountain in Isenfluh and more. We kept busy on top of having Bible study sessions in the mornings and evenings. Jonathan helped lead the worship time as well as leading a discussion group. So it wasn't so relaxing for us on top of having to speak Italian. The food was amazing and I thouroughly enjoyed not cooking for a week. I really wanted to park myself in the kitchen and pick up tips, but maybe another time. I was a great time but now we need a vacation from your vacation!

The Adventure Begins

Well, we have finally entered the world of blogging! With the desire to give our family and friends around the world a better sense of our cross-cultural adventures here in Italy we hope this blog gives you the inside look, specifically life from our home on Via Isonzo. Enjoy!