Days 10-15 - Hanging out in Houston

MAY 24th-29th

Our first week in Texas was filled with so much fun. We were able to catch a little down time with family and friends as well as meet with some dear supporters in the area.

The Pigotts - Jason, Jennifer, and Halie

Many of you know that the Pigotts are one of God's sweetest gifts to us in friendship. Jason and Jenn even came and visited us last December in Albania for a week. When we arrived in Houston, we learned that their 3 year old, Halie, had just been diagnosed with an agressive form of cancer. They have 3 other children as well. It was an immense blessing to us that we were able to be here and to visit with them at Texas Children's Hospital during this overwhelmingly difficult time. We continue to be amazed at the faith and fortitude that they are showing in the midst of this trying time. At this time, Halie has finished her 2nd round of chemo and is doing well. Please pray for her!

Taste of Texas restaurant

Kaitlyn, always the melodramatic one, plays around with a bronze statue of a true Texan cowboy. This photo was taken outside Kris's and my favorite restaurant, Taste of Texas. We had a fantastic lunch and great fellowship with family and friend, Jeff Wood. Thanks, Jeff, for a super lunch! We LOVED every minute of it!

Incredible Pizza Company

One highlight for the girls was a night out with just us 6 to the Incredible Pizza Company. We got a deal with games included and the girls played to their hearts content. Kaitlyn won the jackpot on this game and won 200 tickets (which "bought" a few do-dads at the toy center). However, the lights and smiles on the faces were worth the price of admission. We had a super time together and they made some fun memories doing bumper cars, miniature golf, racing cars (Whitney won), and bowling.

Lunch with the Taubers

Chelle and Kris were privileged to get to spend some quality time with dear friends, the Taubers. This amazing couple have been a source of great encouragement and support during the past 3+ years. We had a super time with them talking over a yummy Mexican meal. We are thankful for their faithful example of remaining steadfast and pliable to God in the midst of difficult times.

Sprinkler time for the girls

The hot Texas weather has allowed plenty of time for the girls to get out and play in the sprinkler. Dad and Amanda also set up a little pool with lawn chairs, an umbrella, and a cooler like a little beach area. The girls are having a blast running in and out of the pool and spraying each other with the sprinkler. They are such hams for the camera! They are loving all the Poppy, Mimi time too.

Rite of Passage - ear piercing!

Kaitlyn, age 13, finally got her ears pierced. She has been waiting ever since her 13th bday in December to get her ears pierced and she finally got it done. She did a super job and looks so much more grown up with earrings. It was a fun girls day out with Chelle, Kaitlyn, and Mimi. We went to the mall to get her ears pierced, had lunch, and shopped for a few clothes for Kaitlyn. What a super memory we made!

Day 9 - Second Baptist Houston and Boyd family Thanksgiving (in May)

Our first Sunday in Texas brought us to my dad's church and Sunday school class at Second Baptist in Houston. After coming from a small church in Tirana (about 120 people total) this church campus and people gathering to worship (well over 8,000) was a bit overwhelming. What a great joy and blessing it was for Kris to be able to communicate with the dear folks in my dad's Sunday school class how grateful we are for their faithful prayers for our family and to give them and update on what God is doing in the country of Albania.

Everyone was so gracious and warm to us. We had a splendid day of worship together with this dear body of believers.
Happy (official) 11th birthday to Whitney Laine Stire! This may the 11th year of her physical life, but it is the first year of her spiritual life. ON April 26th, Whitney came downstairs with a paper that had these words on the front "The Prayer of My Life". Inside was this prayer that she had written to God:

"God, please forgive my sins in the past and in the future. I know I don't deserve to go to heaven and I am sorry that You died on the cross for my sin and You took the blame for me. I am thankful that You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but please send me to heaven where there is no sickness, no cuts or bruises, and no sin, just You. In the name of Jesus, Amen. "

Praise God for opening her spiritual eyes and awakening her spiritual heart to seek Him and find salvation! So, this birthday is an extra special one for us!
There is nothing like a traditional Thanksgiving meal - especially in May. We certainly were thankful for all that God has been doing in our lives and for bringing us together with our family again. My mom, sister, dad, Amanda, Aunt Wanda, Uncle Tom, and my cousin Elise with her sweet husband and 4 kids all gathered for a huge thanksgiving feast! Boy, was it good!
The girls had a wonderful time re-connecting with their 2nd cousins, Brooke, Bradley, Bethany, and Brenna.
Chelle and her dad, Bill Boyd.
Stephanie (Chelle's sister), Elaine (Chelle's mom), and Chelle
All the adults enjoying turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole (!), etc. Also, brownies, cookies, lemon meringue pie... for dessert.
Stephanie, Elise (Chelle's cousin), and Chelle
Chelle and Steph
Chelle, dad, and Steph
It was such a blast to talk, catch up, and play games together. One fun game involved blowing ping-pong balls across the table to try to get it off the table at other players spaces. I almost passed out from blowing so hard. I think Kris was victorious.
Brad and Kris were like long lost brothers together. They are hilarious playing ping-pong by their own rules. It was driving Amanda and Steph crazy.
Cousins - Stires and Groenemans
The Groenemans and the Stires - what a blessing to be together.
What a fun photo of all the kids! Memories in the making.
Uncle Tom (Bill's brother), Aunt Wanda, Bill, Amanda, and the Stire family.
What a tremendous day we had! Praise God for the church family and for our physical families. We are blessed indeed!

Day 8 - Houston or bust!

We were on the road long before the sun rose over the Texas hill country. As we drove, the slate- gray clouds raced across the sky allowing us glimpses of the splendid sunrise beyond. As night gave way to day, we saw the variegated greens on the gently rolling hills contrasted with the gray/blue sky as they met on the horizon. The smell of rain was in the air. Wildflowers - vibrant reds, bright yellows and rich purples - lined the strip of highway we travelled. Altogether, this stunningly gorgeous scene caused my heart to rise up and worship the ONE who spoke all of this into existence with a word.

The wonder of this all led me to ponder Psalm 65:8b and following, "You made the dawn and the sunset shout for joy. You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; You greatly enrich it; the stream of God is full of water;...the hills gird themselves with rejoicing...they shout for joy, yes, they sing." If all of yesterday's unexpected delays were soley to allow me the intense pleasure of these moments of worship, it was worth every second. Ahhhh, if this fallen nature is just a mere shadow of the beauty of the Lord, how I long for heaven to worship the glorious splendor of His majesty in all it's true splendor!
I drank in the beauty of the country side. I had forgotten how beautiful Texas country is. It's gently rolling hills, green plains, fence lined roads, content livestock feeding in the pastures, and windmills, made me thankful to be back in Texas (as they say, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as soon as I could"). I have surely missed this land.
The girls continued to sleep contentedly as the miles rolled by. I just love to watch them sleep. Their sweet faces are so dear to me! Thank you God for giving us these gifts, blessings, and rewards (Psalm 127).
Everything is bigger in Texas - including the American flag. You can't really tell from this picture, but this flag is enormous!! I was so thankful to see it, not only because it reminds me of how thankful I am for America, but also because it is in Houston!!! Yeah, we had finally arrived (a day late) to the Houston city limits.

We pulled up and sounded the horn (which played the song "Somewhere over the rainbow"). What a great joy to see my mom, my sister (a wonderful surprise!!!), my dad, and his wife Amanda all at my dad's house. We laughed, cried, and thanked God for bringing us safely to Houston.
Then we ate a wonderful Mexican feast!
What a supreme blessing it was to look around the table and see the faces of all my dear loved ones. God had brought us safely home again to see their faces on this side of eternity! Praise His mighty name!
Whitney also celebrated (a day early), her 11th birthday. The presents were great, but the most wonderful part of the celebration was being able to be with family.

I love this photo! It captures the sweetness and fun that is all rolled up to make Whitney such an immense blessing to us!

Day 3 - day of preparations

** This posting has been post dated 5 days due to lack of internet **

Hanging out around L.A. with family


Monday was full of fun and preparations to begin our journey to Texas in the RV. Our day started early since our bodies are still adjusting to the new time in the states. I was up at 4 a.m. and ready to head back to bed when everyone else started waking up. But, we had so much to do that weariness soon fled. The girls had been waiting patiently since our arrival to open gift bags from Nonnie, Kris’s mom. She is in Israel with her Sunday School class and was sad that she would not be here when we arrived. However, she left lots of goodies at her house for us to enjoy and she worked extra hard to provide everything to make our stay wonderful and relaxing. The girls were so excited to get American candy, journals for their summer journey, and some fun things to do in the RV. What a super grandma!

Chelle and her sister, Stephanie, had a treasured time together talking, laughing, and recalling so many wonderful times together over yummy cups of coffee. Oh, how my heart was blessed to be with her. She is indeed a humble and willing servant in the hand of her Master. I am so honored to be called her sister (twice over)! Not only did she drive us all over the place to get some last minute shopping done, but she joyfully helped as we corralled 6 energetic children (her 2 and my 4). We made quite a racquet everywhere we went, but oh what fun all the cousins had together! My heart was full of thankfulness to God for this sweet time with together. Kris, meanwhile, was going with his dad to pick up the RV, have the tires changed, and learn all the ins and outs of RVing.

Whitney was ecstatic to open her birthday present from the Flowers family. She will turn 11 on May 23rd, but got an early birthday present from Steph, Jay, and the kids. Mason and Steph pose with Whitney and her new glittery art project. They chose her gift well since she LOVES anything artsy.




Another highlight of the day was visiting Kris’s grandpa in his assisted living home. He was so happy to see his “grandgirls”. What a privilege is was for us to share this time with grandpa Shipman. Finally, after loading the RV we headed to bed eager to start out on the next leg of our adventure.

Day 2 of furlough - Los Angeles, CA

Our first day on the states was a tremendous day for our family. We did have a bit of a challenge with the time change - we were all up before 4 a.m. but that meant we were ready for church and Sunday school at Grace Community Church. This is the church that Kris grew up in and where Kris and Chelle met in 1992. The girls were so excited to visit and were amazed at how big it was. It was a joy to see so many old friends and enjoy the big choir and orchestra. We have missed that. The girls were entranced by all this. What a blessing to hear the Word of God from the book of Mark by our former pastor, John MacArthur. One other blessing was that Kaitlyn got her first taste of an American youth group. She was really nervous to go by herself to that big group, but God brought along a friend she had met a couple of years ago with our mission organization. She was so happy to join in with that group of girls and then she was off. All the girls couldn't believe how many kids were in their Sunday School classes. Everything was so different for them.

In fact, it has been pretty comical to watch them and hear them as they interact with all the differences between life here and in Albania. It's even more funny to watch other people when they hear the girls. I think that on-lookers must think we have kept our children locked up in the basement for a decade or something because they get so excited about "common" things like:
* Ice from the ice machine - and we can actually use the ice b/c it's not bad water
* Drink dispenser at fast food restaurants
* FREE REFILLS!
* Flowers on the side of the road
* Lush grass you can walk in
* Signs on the side of the road that they can read
* People all around them speaking English
* Huge selections of clothes, food, toys, etc. at the store
* Parking lots
* Wide roads with lines down the middle - and people actually driving in the lanes.
* Cheddar cheese - OK, that was me who got so excited about this that I got some weird looks
* Donuts!


It was a real joy to go to dinner with Kris's sister, Kimberly, and her family. We haven't seen Kimberly, Neil, David, or Jonathan in over 5 years. What a true family reunion.


Kris with Neil - brothers-in-law


Chelle and Kimberly - sisters-in-law


We had a SUPER meal at a sushi restaurant in Valencia. Wow, I ate so much sushi. It was amazing! Thanks to the Stillers for a great meal and a wonderful time catching up. The kids had a fun time with their cousins too.


What a superb first day back in the states - worship at our old church, reconnecting with friends and family, and vising a super Target. Ahhh, nice.

Sierra's 9th birthday - July 28th

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Girls Perform at end of school Spring Fling program

On June 12th the girls celebrated the last day of school by performing in a school wide program. Each class put on a skit or song and also gave awards to each student.

Here are the girls, all dressed up in their school uniforms with curly hair, for the Spring Fling.



Whitney, grade 3, received the award for Most Oranized. Kris and I was both really surprised, more like shocked, that she got this award. She really does like to put things into their places, but they are usually lots of small containers. Her room is full of all kinds of boxes, bags and containers of all sizes, stuffed full of "precious" things like a zillion shells and nondescript rocks. She is the consummate packrat. However, we are holding out hope that the organization of her desk will eventually move to her room.



Sierra received the Crafty Creator award. It really is amazing the things that this girl can come up with. Just a couple of weeks ago, she made a card for Kris for Father's Day and used all sorts of scrap paper and markers to make a really unique and fun card. She definitely has an artist's eye for color and detail. Of course, she can also be quite crafty in the other sense of the word too. She is always trying to be crafty and do practical jokes on us. Watch out for this girl, she is a handful.



Breanna thoroughly enjoyed her Kindergarten year. Actually, she doesn't want summer vacation to be here because she wants to go to school everyday. She received the Sunshine Award for always having a bright and helpful disposition. She was so excited to get this special award.



I was sorry to miss the photo op for Kaitlyn's award. She received an award for being caring at all times. She is so consistent in praying for her classmates and in trying to make everyone feel a part and not left out. When each class has a max of 12 students, it's easy to become "cliquey". Kaitlyn is a wonderful friend and is always trying to bring everyone together and settle any fights between friends.


This video is of Whitney's class performing one of the three songs they sang. She is the second child to the end on the left side. She has really blossomed this year, despite all the interruptions in her learning because of medical trips to Greece or America. We have seen her really grow into a lovely and caring girl that wants to work hard in her academic endeavors as well and play. She is a super sports girl (THE sports girl of the family. None of the others really prefer to play sports. She also really wants to learn to play the guitar. She has a lot of talent in that tiny body of hers.)


This video is of Breanna's Kindergarten class (minus 2 students) performing a Seeds song. She is the last child on the right. Even though she is one of the oldest kids in her class (she turned 6 last February), she is the smallest one. She really knows how to play up to being the baby of the family. She also has the greatest sense of humor. We are always laughing at her for the spectacularly funny things she says and at just the right time (she has the comedian's timing down perfect). I don't know where she gets it b/c I am not all that funny. Oh, yeah, Kris. He is hilarious.


This video is of Sierra's class singing the song Indescribable. Sierra has really come out this year with a true talent for singing. Her music teacher told me that she needs some professional training b/c she has perfect pitch. Again, another trait from Kris. She is always making up some song and humming around the house. Her personality is so very different from Whitney (who often gets pegged as her twin because they are the same size although they are 14 months apart in age). Sierra is always ready with a smile and a laugh for anyone she comes across. She is just a ready with an argument or a fight. She has the extreme type personality that makes her fun to live with. It is never dull when Sierra is around. We are really thankful that she has made a profession of faith and seems to be making choices that reflect a desire to honor God.


This video is of Kaitlyn's class performing a hilarious skit, based on Cinderella. One of the student's parents wrote this skit for them and they did a superb job on it. Kaitlyn is one of the "ugly step sisters". I was so sad that the video ran out in the last few seconds of the skit so you can't see the end, but I am sure you can get the idea. Kaitlyn had such a better year this year in 6th grade. It seems that it just took her a while to get into stride with a new school and new friends. She did a wonderful job this year.

Shipley's donuts in Albania?

Well, it's not really Shipley's donuts, but our donuts still tasted so yummy!
One thing that the girls miss the most about living in America is the donuts. We decided to try to make them at home. My mom used to work at a donut shop in high school, so I thought that maybe there was some transfer of expertise to me. Kailtyn did all the research on the computer for the best recipe.






Kaitlyn and Sierra were great at rolling out the dough and cutting them out. The donut holes were one thing highly anticipated by all the girls.










Here is everyone in on the deep frying process. I have to admit that after seeing the donuts frying in all that oil, they were not so appetizing to me. I am sure that is a good thing, considering how fattening they are. The girls had so much fun dropping the dough into the oil and watching them puff up.





And here are the wonderful results. They looked and tasted really good. The best thing about this adventure was the great time we had doing it together.

By the way, I am a little late in posting these photos. They were taken the first weekend of January. No, I do not still have my Christmas table cloth on the kitchen table. :-)

Whitney's second surgical procedure in Greece - lessons in the fog

Precious friends and prayer warriors,

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Yesterday morning, as we drove out of Thessaloniki, Greece, we saw a spectacular sight. It was dawn, and the mountains surrounding the valley that Thessaloniki lies in were visible in the distance. The plane in front of us was lush green. In the distance the land was covered with a low-lying fog that ended as the purple mountains jutted out of the ground. The mountains were covered with sparkling white snow and behind these mountains God was painting a gorgeous sunrise with rich oranges and vibrant pinks. It was a breathtaking view! We all commented on how creative and magnificent God’s power is. Not long after that we drove into the mountain pass. Almost immediately we were surrounded by dense fog. We kept going on and on in this thick, cold murkiness. We began to discuss how easy it would be to think that the sun was not shining at all because the fog was so dark and we could hardly see the road in front of us. Every so often, the sun would penetrate the clouds allowing us a quick glimpse of the blue sky. We were thankful to know that the fog would end and that eventually we would come out on the other side of the mountain range to a sunny valley.

While we were in that fog, God reminded us of an important truth. These past months have been like that heavy, dark fog. There have been so many uncertain times and unknown endings. We have been moving forward in the vehicle of God’s protection, energized by the power of the Holy Spirit. We have not questioned that we were on the highway of His perfect will, but it didn’t change the fact that we could not see what was in front of us. It was even difficult at times to remember the majestic displays of God’s power that we have personally seen in our lives. Often we would find ourselves focusing on the dreary “sameness” of this small trial and our spirits would sag and match the grayness around us. But then God, in His lavish love, would break through that fog and pierces us with His Light at just the right time. It may just be for a short time and then we are back in the God ordained fog of a trial, but how merciful is that refreshing reminder that He is with us. His Light is still guiding us and He will bring us out of the darkness and into His glorious Light in His perfect timing. The profoundness of this visible lesson left us worshipping God, in tears.

This trip to Greece, for Whitney’s second surgical procedure on her right eye, has been like one of those breaks in the fog from God. We are overjoyed to be able to share with you what God has done! When we visited the doctor here in Tirana 2 ½ weeks ago the results of the visual acuity tests that he performed were not so encouraging. Although the hemorrhage was gone from her eye, Whitney’s vision was still at 20/200, the same as before the first procedure. We were told that Whitney’s vision might return to 20/50 where it was before the hemorrhaging began in early December. When we arrived at the ophthalmologist’s office in Greece on Monday, they performed this test again. How amazed and speechless we were when Whitney’s vision was confirmed at 20/30!!! This is the best vision she has had since the initial injury in August.

When the doctor performed the OCT scan of the retina, she said that Whitney’s results were very close to a normal, healthy scan. We sat there and looked at the healing power of God with tears in our eyes. Whitney’s retina and macula are still damaged and will always have residual problems (humanly speaking), but at this time she only has a slight myopia, or near-sightedness. And just to let Whitney know that He heard her prayer (she was the only one who prayed it), the doctor said that Whitney did not need that IV dye test this time. We all praised God right there in that office!

Whitney did have the second injection of Lucentis into her right eye on Tuesday morning. Thankfully, she also responded better to the anesthesia this time. We are praying that the combination of the three shots will continue to sustain the healing that God has brought about. We do not know how long these shots will maintain this level of eyesight, but we are thankful for the mighty work of God at this time in our lives.

Thank you for your faithful and fervent prayers for Whitney and for our family during these past months. He has answered your prayers in ways that are beyond all that we asked or imagined. We proclaim with David, “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your mighty acts,” (Psalm 145:3-4).

We are scheduled to return to Greece at the end of February for the last of this series of procedures. During the intervening weeks we will take Whitney for a follow-up visit to the eye doctor here in Tirana and continue to monitor her vision.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us. It has been a tremendous thing for us to see and experience God’s answers to all of our prayers. We are so grateful to God for each of you.

Bondservants of the King,
The Stire family

Christmas 2008 in Tirana, Albania

Make a Smilebox scrapbook