Days 18 & 19 - Kris and Chelle's get-away

JUNE 1-3

Time for the two of us

It was a tremendous blessing that Kris and I were able to spend a couple of days together in the midst of all the busy-ness of life these days. God worked on our behalf in such an amazing way to provide the perfect place for us to enjoy. One of my dad's friend, Jeff, offered to let us use his beautiful 150 acre ranch in Hockley, TX. We are so grateful for Jeff and Shanna's graciousness in letting us borrow their lovely ranch home.

Kris especially loved fishing from the stocked, but rarely fished, bass pond - which translates lots fish catchin'. Actually, Kris caught 20 fish in only 1 & 1/2 hours. He was enjoying himself so much I could hardly get him up off the dock. It was so relaxing to sit on the little dock and fish off the deck and watch the sun go down. I took the photo below on the first night there from the dock. It was so quiet and still. We could hear the frogs, the crickets, and the wind in the trees - that's all. It was deafening - the quietness. So unlike where we live in Tirana where there is always the sound of cars, horns, people talking, radios, and city life around us. The quiet was my favorite thing about this ranch.
This is Kris's biggest catch of the day - a 4 lb big mouth bass. We were going to eat it for lunch, but Kris didn't want to clean it, so he threw it back in the pond. I guess the fun is in the catching, not the eating.

In case any of you are wondering...I did fish also. After I saw Kris catching fish right and left, I thought I would try my hand at it.
I only caught 2 fish, but then there was the one that got away. Here's how it was...
We were in the little canoe at dusk (so romantic) and I was rowing us around the lake (I have been doing P90X ya' know). After a couple of hours of rowing (OK more like 5 minutes), Kris took over. I had my line in the water and we were semi-trolling. All of a sudden my line just jerks and pulls the end of the pole into the water. I was reeling and reeling so hard that the little finger rest on the bottom of my pole was digging into my thigh and made a serious indentation. I could not get the pole out of the water. The fish was swerving back and forth so much that the whole boat was following the line. I was afraid to see this monster fish on the end of the line. Kris, of course, was supporting me fully - he was laughing hysterically b/c I was reeling so hard and fast and getting all worn out (more pull ups for me). So, just when it seemed that there was no more line to reel in...SNAP...the whole line, fish, hook, and sinker, snapped off. I couldn't believe it! It was probably a small Lock Ness Monster. Well, right after that Kris gets a fish on his line. He reels in a good sized fish. I was a little jealous at this point. After he unhooked the fish, that silly of husband of mine said, "Heads up!" and threw that wet, wriggly fish right at me! I batted it back into the water but almost dumped both of us in the water. That big monster fish probably would have taken a nip at me. Anyhow, that was my story of "the one that got away". It's true, I promise.

Here's a gorgeous shot of the fishing poles, the pond, and the serene scene that we enjoyed. Isn't it fantastic? God's creation is so amazing!!!

One other thing I enjoyed was sitting on the porch swing and reading, praying, just rejoicing in the beauty around us. It was a superb place to bring a steaming cup of coffee in the early morning and have a quiet time. On our last night, Kris grilled some steaks (nothing like a Texas side of beef) and we enjoyed a yummy meal out on the deck. It was the perfect ending to a perfect couple of days together.

It rained super hard the last night we were there. I loved watching the lightning shoot across the sky, followed closely by the rolling thunder. I love Texas lightning storms. The rain was fantastic and the smell of the wet earth was heavenly. I could have sat on the porch to watch it all night long, but the rain was coming down so hard and fast that I would have been soaked to the bone. However, the dawn broke and the we enjoyed a gorgeous, clear sunrise.

We praise God for allowing us the opportunity to relax together, make some fun memories, and rejoice in His fantastic creative power! He is good, all the time He is good!

7 year old's idea of packing

This is what happens when you ask a 7 year old (Breanna) to pack up some things to do on the 17 hour international trip to America. She packs these "essencial" items:

* 1 cardboard toilet paper roll with a funny face drawn on it - I am still wondering about that one but it may have something to do with the fact that most bathrooms that we have used during our travels in Albania do not have toilet paper in them (we bring our own) and she has been traumatized by this. However, that does not explain the empty roll...

* 1 bear flashlight that growls when you turn it on. Again, she is anticipating the power going out to something. However, I can just imagine the bear growling during the security inspection and us getting stopped for dangerous contraband.

* 1 plastic juice bottle cut in half full of pens and pencils (half of which do not work). At least she is into the recycling thing.

* 3 Leapster units with a game for each one. Hey, a girl's got to be prepared in case one of them runs out of batteries.

* 1 magnetic drawing board just in case she needs to write a message to me on the plane - like, "Mommy, I have to go the bathroom AGAIN."

* 1 stationary box so she can write to all her friends in Albania that she will miss over the summer.

After taking this photo I removed all but 1 leapster and asked Kaitlyn to pack some different things for her. She'll thank me for this after 10 hours into our travels. After all how much fun can you have with an empty toilet paper roll?

Visit from Poppy and Mimi

For those of you who have been following our blog, I know that the posts have been quite sparse lately. Sorry about that. My goal this summer is to have the girls keep a journal everyday with events of the day, directed story writing and prayer requests. Since they are going to be doing this, I plan to try to keep up with some kind of post or photo of my own on the blog. So, here are some photos of the trip my dad and step-mom, Bill and Amanda Boyd, took to Albania last month.



Amanda, or Mimi, to the girls, was not feeling too well when she arrived in Tirana, but that did not keep her from giving lots of hugs or even playing a rousing game of Monopoly Jr. Everyone was so excited to have them here for the second time since we moved to Albania.



We so enjoyed touring city on foot. The weather was beautiful and not too hot (a note for those of you who want to come and see us - May is very pleasant. Hint, hint). We have the national park across the street from us and one day we strolled through the park and had coffee at the Sky Tower (the restaurant on top of a slowly spinning tower) in order to get a great view of the city. The best view though, was the smiling faces of our family as we fellowshipped together.



Kaitlyn and Mimi snap a perfect shot together. Love it!



Who's having fun now? There was no need to say "smile" for these shots, Sierra was missing Mimi and Poppy so much that she couldn't stop smiling once they arrived.



Dad and Amanda in the park. There are tons of trails to go hiking on. The park was created during communism and there are many reminders of that era - was memorials, a military installation, and broken sidewalks. One of my favorite things about the park is the people watching. They come in droves to walk in the park or sit on big stumps and play dominos or checkers.

alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351236582976496946" />

We played plenty of games ourselves during the week. The game of choice was backgammon. Even Breanna got in on the action. I think that Amanda was the over-all winner, although dad came in a close second. The girls even began carrying a small backgammon board with us around the city so we could play while we waited.



While we were playing games, Kaitlyn was doing what she is always doing - reading. She is a voracious reader! "Readers are leaders", that's what my dad always told me. If that's so, Kaitlyn will be some president or something when she gets older. The difficult thing about her rapid reading program is that I can't keep enough books in her hands. We can't just go to the public library and get more books for her, so she has taken to reading many of my books or even re-reading some of her old ones (she has read the Little House on the Prairie series 6 times!).



One day we took the 2 hour drive to a local beach. It was really nice because everyone else was still in school. The girls made a sand fort, played in the tide pools and jumped in the really cold waves. I enjoyed my book in the shade.



Mimi introduced the "Rubber Ducky" song (Thanks Mimi, they still sing it all the time). Kaitlyn dressed up like a yellow rubber ducky for a skit the girls put on and hijacked Poppy's hat and glasses. She is so hilarious. Here are dad and Kaitlyn pretending to read the Albanian newspaper. I was using the newspaper for language translating practice.



So, Uno even got in on the game action. Breanna is such a stinker - she is checking out Mimi's cards during the photo. She is so hilarious!



On the last night together with dad and Amanda we enjoyed a traditional Albanian meal with a meat platter and kos (a yogurty sauce), fried potatoes, salad, bread and pizza (for the girls). It was really great!



What great memories we made together! We praise God that He provided this small bit of encouragement and refreshment with our family. We were so blessed to receive spiritual strength and wisdom from them during our long talks, walks, and prayer times together. Thank you Lord!

Latest update on Whitney's eye

Hello dear ones,

We just wanted to let you know that we arrived home safely from Greece a couple of days ago. Here's a quick run-down on how things went.

The trip down to Thessaloniki was uneventful and rather quick (just under 7 hours). The car is now practically driving itself there since this was our 6th trip in the last 6 months. Kaitlyn was not with us on this trip as she is staying with an Albanian family for at least a week to work intensively on her Albanian language. The other girls did a great job on the drive through all the winding and bumpy (but getting better) roads. The border crossing was very fast. We had prayed about that as we left Tirana. When we drove out of the border patrol area Breanna piped up in the back, "We should tell God thank you that we got through the border so fast." Out of the mouths of babes... Then she prayed.

When we arrived in Thessaloniki we called the doctors office to see if we could get in on Monday night instead of Tuesday, when we originally had our appointment scheduled. We arrived in the city earlier than we thought because of the quick drive and no problems at the border. The doctor said to come on in and she would try to get us out in under 2 hours. We usually wait at least that long because they are in great demand. Actually, I think that if Dr. Kawly, in Houston, had not referred us to Dr. Brazitioks, in Greece, and called him personally, we would not have been accepted as a new patient. It didn't take 2 hours, only 1. Yeah God!!! We were up and out before some of the people who were there before us were even called in.

So, Whitney's vision was 20/20!!!! Praise God!!! The OCT scan showed that there is no accumulation of fluid behind the retina, which is the best case scenario for Whitney. So far the retina is still damaged (and will always have that damage), but has remained "dry". Once the fluid leaks into the damaged area and builds up under the scarred area, then she has the drastically decreased vision like she did in December. We are so very thankful that God has protected her eye from further complications. Based on these steady results - unchanged since her second appointment with him and after 3 shots - they said that we could begin coming in for the scan every 2 months instead of every month. This is good news. We will probably have to make this trip for at least another year, maybe 1 1/2 years. That does sound a little daunting, but very do-able. We are thanking God for all the ways He has provided financially for these unbudgeted/unplanned for trips. What a great reminder that they were not unplanned for by Him when we created out budget before we even left the USA for Albania. He has it in HIS budget. What a relief!

One other really amazing thing...
On the way back to Albania we prayed, as usual, for a safe drive home and for protection for the car and all parts. About 1 hour out of Thessaloniki, we noticed that the car was beginning to vibrate quite a lot. The roads aren't always great, so we have kind of become used to a not-so smooth ride. We pulled off the highway and Kris looked at the tires (they are old but still have lots of tread on them - he had just had them checked in April). They seemed fine. We got back on the road and had not gone 50 yards when we both realized the vibrating was a lot worse. "It just so happened" (such a God thing) that we were right at the off-ramp for Berea (yes, the one from Acts). Once we pass this city we begin the winding and steep climb into the mountains that have lots of tunnels and hardly any place to care for distressed cars. So we are praying, like we had been since we stopped, that we would find a place to fix our Toyota car with Bridgestone tires. Lo and behold, just down the road was a small Toyota dealership attached to a little Bridgestone tire shop! (Imagine lots of cheers in the car). We pulled up and the old guy at the tire shop didn't speak a word of English, but just then his son rode up on his bike and he spoke great English! (Imagine more hurrahs for God). As it turns out, and was now very obvious, the front right tire was severely distended/bowed out and was causing the car to gyrate. The guy told us that if we had kept driving, within at least 2 kilometers the tire would have exploded! That would have been right in the middle of a narrow tunnel on the mountain! WOW GOD!!!! He said that the tires we have on the car are very strong and durable and that if we had had another, less sturdy, tire it would have already blown. God's care over us is just astounding! (Now imagine tears, cheers and some great big sighs of relief).

So, we got back on the road within 30 minutes and arrived home safely. It is great to be back home in Tirana. Thanks for all your prayers for our safety and for Whitney's appointment. Our Father has been immeasurably kind to us all during this long journey of Whitney's injury (almost 1 year now). We are so very thankful for all the ways He has shown Himself so big and also so into the details of our lives. Our faith has been stretched and strengthened. We are profoundly grateful to Him for these invaluable lessons.

Just to give us even more - we found corn on the cob in Thessaloniki!! I know this doesn't sound too impressive, but we haven't had it in 2 years. I bought some at the store and we had huge ears of sweet corn for dinner that night. They were SO yummy! Breanna ate hers down to the cob and even kept on gnawing on it until it got all mushy. Kris called her a "cornivore". Hahaha!

Just thought I would let you in on all the blessings we received on this trip.

There is no other way to end this testimony of God's goodness but to quote:
Psalm 145:3-7
"Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall praise They works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of Thy majesty, and on Thy wonderful works, I will meditate.
And men shall speak in the power of Thine awesome acts; and I will tell of Thy greatness.
They shall eagerly utter (literally "bubble over") the memory of Thine abundant goodness, and shall shout joyfully fo They righteousness."

Mommy's eyes

Well, Whitney's good eye must be working just fine. Tonight, when I was putting the girls to bed she asked me this question.

"Mommy, is there a line next to my eye?"

I thought she must have a scratch or something. I didn't see anything and told her so. She responded with this:

"No, I mean will I have lines next to my eyes like you do?"

Yikes! It's official, my 37 years and 10 months are catching up with me. I told her that most of those lines are recent additions to my face since our past couple of weeks have been rather "wrinkly".

From the mouths of babes.

We'll see about that!

A few weeks ago Breanna, who is 5, was watching very intently as Kris and I were snuggling on the couch. A few days later Breanna told me this -
"Mommy, I don't want to get married. I don't like kisses, I only like hugs."
Well, my dear, we'll see about that. I will remind you of this in about 10 years. LOL!

Cooking lessons with Arta

I have mentioned before how wonderful the Albanian cuisine is. It is so good, in fact, that my running shoes have been beckoning to me from the dusty shelf they reside on. So far I have been able to ignore their cry. LOL! But really, the food is great. I have had the great opportunity to learn to make a couple of traditional recipes from my landlady in the year that we have lived here. My kids are always asking me to make the yummy rolls that Teta Qerime, my landlady, makes. But one thing that I have been wanting to do was to learn how to make a whole Albanian meal working alongside of an Albanian. A couple of weeks ago I finally did that. My in-laws, Arper and RoseAnn Stire, were here for a short term mission trip and I thought it would be great for them to experience real Albanian cooking as well as spend some time with my dear friend Arta and her family. So, RoseAnn and I had a wonderful cooking lesson as well as a tremendous time of fellowship in the process. Here are RoseAnn and I with our teacher, Arta.



Our menu for the night was Speca te mbushur (stuffed peppers), Patellxhan e skuq (fried eggplant), Byrek (a cheese filled phillo dish), Greek salad with white cheese, and Sheqerpare (dessert with syrup). I will give you the recipes for 4 of these dishes in case you are have a hankerin' for a good Albanian meal and want to whip one up. If you do try any of these recipes, please let me know how they turned out and what you thought of them. I hope that you enjoy the process and the food as much as we did that night. Below is a photo of Arta and RoseAnn preparing the stuffed pepper recipe. It turned out perfectly, and even though we had all enjoyed stuffed peppers in the states, RoseAnn said that these were the best she had had.



Here is the recipe for the Speca te mbushur or Stuffed Peppers:
Ingredients -
8 medium bell peppers - seeded and whole
2 onions - chopped
4 large ripe tomatoes - peeled and chopped
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp parsely

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brown the meat in large skillet. Drain fat. Add onions and let them cook for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes and let simmer on medium low heat until the tomatoes are soft and the onions opaque (10 minutes or longer). Add the can of tomato sauce and the salt and let simmer until the mixture is reddish color. Add the uncooked rice to this moist (but not runny) mixture. Mix the rice into meat mixture but do not let the rice cook on the stove top, since it will cook in the oven with the peppers. Stuff each pepper with the meat mixture, being careful not to fill all the way so the rice has room to expand as it cooks. Place the peppers in a large, deep oven pan. Spoon any leftover meat mixture in between the peppers in the pan. Pour 5 cups of water over the peppers and meat mixture in the pan. Bake in the oven until peppers are soft and rice is done. Make sure to turn the peppers over half way through the baking time.

That's it! Enjoy this tasty main course that takes a short time to make.

I will also give you the recipe for the Patellxhan e skuq (fried eggplant) as well:
Ingredients:
Eggplant - 1/2 medium sized eggplant per person
Salt
Vegetable oil
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
1 egg
1 Tbsp parsely (fresh snipped if possible)

Slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch slices. Put the slices in a large bowl. Add enough water to the bowl to cover the eggplant. Add enough salt to the water and eggplant to make the water sea-salty. Let this stand for 10 minutes or so. Next, heat a large skillet with enough oil to thinly cover the bottom of the pan. Take a few slices of eggplant and squeeze out the extra water and then place them in a layer in the pan. Fry them on both sides until golden brown. Repeat this with all the slices, adding more oil if needed. In the mean time, mix the ricotta cheese, feta cheese, egg and parsley together. After all the eggplant slices have been fried, place them all back in the skillet and add the cheese mixture. Heat thoroughly over low heat being careful not the burn the cheese. Remove from heat. Serve.

This dish is one of my favorite side dishes. Yum!



Well, so far things have been pretty easy. Now, this recipe will take more time and will make some mess, but it is well worth the effort. Byrek is a pastryish/philoish dough dish that can be filled with cheese, fried onions and tomatoes, spinach, and even pumpkin. Byrek stands are all over the place and are eaten, usually, as a breakfast dish like donuts or bagels are in the states. They are best eaten right from the oven. Byrek is also common in Greece. Above is a photo of me rolling the golf size ball dough with Arta giving me some direction.




Are you ready? Here is the recipe for this really tasty treat! The picture above is what ours looked like when it was baked.

Byrek
To make the dough -
1 pound flour
1 Tbsp salt
Lukewarm water (about 1 cup)
Cornstarch
A large baking pan - larger than 9 by 13 if you have it (I used a Wilton cake pan that is extra large rectangle shaped). If you don't use 2 large pans.

Mix flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add the lukewarm water little by little, mixing as you go, until a dough is formed. Knead until it comes together.

Remove dough from bowl and half it. Place one half back in bowl and with the other half break into golf size ball pieces. Each of these balls will need to be kneaded slightly and rolled unto a smooth ball. Barely coat each ball with a little oil. The easiest way to do this is to put some oil in your hands and then just roll each ball in your hands, just to lightly coat each one.

Lightly sprinkle the cornstarch on a flat surface for rolling out the dough. Roll out one golf-size ball until it resembles a tortilla, but a little thinner. Brush a little oil the top and set aside. Take each of the other pieces of the 1/2 part of dough and roll out, adding more cornstarch as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the pin or the flat surface. After each piece has been rolled out, brush oil on top and then layer them on top of each other. At the end of this you will have a stack of flat dough pieces. Now, take the stack of pieces and place them in the center of your flat surface that is sufficiently covered with cornstarch. Roll out this whole stack together, making sure that the pieces don't slide much apart from each other as you roll them flat. As you roll this out the layers will look like they have become one, but when they bake they will fluff up and become airy and light. The dough should be rolled out to about 1/2 inch thickness and made into a rectangle shape. You will be surprised at how large the dough will be fully rolled out.

If you are using one pan that is larger than 9 by 13 this can fit in one piece in the pan. If you have to use two pans, cut the piece in half. Pour enough vegetable oil in the bottom of your pan to cover the bottom. Now, carefully place the flat dough piece on the bottom of the pan.

Return to the 1/2 of dough that you have left in your bowl. Follow the same steps of making balls, rolling balls out separately and layering them and then rolling them out all together. Once you have finished rolling out this dough, do not place it in the pan yet, you still need to add your filling.

Filling:
Option #1 - cheese -
1 container of cottage cheese
3 oz. cream cheese
1/2 lb feta cheese, crumbled
5 eggs
1 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together until fully mixed and moist. Spread the cheese mixture over the first layer of dough that is in your pan.

OR

Option #2 - tomato and onion -
2 onion
6 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
salt

In a small pan saute the onion, tomatoes and 1/4 tsp salt until onions are opaque and tomatoes are soft. When they are done and cooled slightly spread the mixture onto the bottom layer of dough in your pan.

NOTE: You can make a large pan with half cheese and half tomato/onion mixture. If you do that, you will need to HALF the ingredients in each filling recipe.

Once you have your filling in place, carefully put the second layer of dough on top. With your fingers gently press the edges firmly to the side of the pan to seal the filling in. Next, pour and evenly distribute enough oil over the dough to cover it. Now, use a handful of water and sprinkle it over the dough.

Bake at 350 degrees until crispy on top and sides.

After you remove from the oven, sprinkle a little bit of water on top and then cover to let the top layer of dough become a little soft.

Cut and serve hot! Enjoy a taste of Middle Eastern cuisine.



Well, here we are ready to sit down for a terrific meal, thanks to Arta. Of course, no Albanian meal would be complete without dessert and coffee to top it off. Here is a recipe for a dessert called Sheqerpare (tranlated sugar money or sugar first). This traditional Albanian dessert is made for special occasions such as the birth of a baby or for New Years. It is a very sweet dessert, so if you have a sweet tooth, this is sure to please. It is a super easy recipe to make and tastes fabulous.

Sheqerpare:
Ingredients for the cake part:
1 cup butter
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix these all together well. Once mixed the dough will be firm and not runny or too wet. Press the dough into a pan until flat. This dessert it not a thick one, so don't be concerned that it is too flat. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until it is golden brown on top and sides. Cool the cake completely! This is a very important step. I let mine cool to touch and placed it in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Ingredients for syrup:
Right before serving make the syrup.
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla

In small saucepan, mix and heat these together until it form a syrup. Be careful not to burn the syrup.

Now, remove your cool cake from the fridge and cut it, leaving it in the pan. Pour the hot syrup over the top of the cake. The syrup will look like it is pooling on top but don't worry the cake is really porous and the syrup will soak into the cake. Let the cake sit until the syrup has soaked through the whole cake. You are ready to serve your Albanian dessert. Place leftovers in the fridge. I think that this dessert tastes best cold anyhow.

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed this Albanian cooking lesson. It has been such a joy for me to learn and become a real participant in the culture that we live in. I praise God for my dear friend Arta who took her time to come and teach me how to make these dishes.

Girls play soccer too!
June 2nd

Well, we might not have any boys in our family, but we do have some soccer players in the house. Some of the international families have gotten together and formed a soccer league for the kids from the missionary school, the home school co-op, and the international school. Kaitlyn and Whitney played for half of the season. They did a really great job, especially considering they didn't know anything about soccer when they arrived. Kris is really happy to show them his moves. He played soccer as a child and was on some soccer leagues as an adult as well. Like father, like son. Strike that. Like father, like daughters. Hey, well at least we know where they got their athletic ability. Not from me.


Kaitlyn's team won the inter-team game. Kaitlyn is still not sure whether soccer is her thing yet, but she stuck with it and is doing a great job defending the goal. See? I am learning too.


Whitney received the "Up and Coming Player" award! She really loves soccer - I have to keep telling her no soccer balls in the house. She has some real natural talent and is a go-getter on the field. We have always known that art and sports are her things.

It's funny how kids from the same family can all be so different. Sierra didn't want to play soccer and had more fun playing on the jungle gym nearby with her friends. However, Breanna can't wait to get out and kick that ball. She's too little yet, but you can't convince her of that. At the awards ceremony, she was sitting with all the "big" kids waiting for her ribbon. She has even learned how to steal the ball from the bigger boys. Here is her trick - stand next to the goal and look really sad, they will ask you what is wrong, then take the ball and score. :-) We better watch out for her!

10 things to do in Albania

I have had quite a few people ask me what kinds of things there are to do in Albania. Of course, in a country that has ruins said to be 4,000 years old, you are bound to find lots of interesting things to do and to see. Here is a list that was compiled and placed on the web. A friend, who lives in Albania, sent it to me when we first arrived. I thought they were interesting at the time, but now that we have lived here for more than half a year, I find these very funny and so very true. I have included pictures, and in one case a link to a website, so that you can appreciate these 10 things a little bit more. Hey, they may even get you interested in coming to Albania for a visit.

#1 GO FOR A DRIVE

"Enjoy the views on the road from Tirana to Elbasan as you cross a 2000m mountain pass. Try not to scream as a Mercedes-Benz, overtaking on a blind bend at 60mph, forces you to the edge of the unguarded 500m drop."

The photo above was taken by me on that said road from Tirana to Elbasan. There are no guardrails, and the drop is quite sheer. The view is very nice though, if you can open your eyes long enough to enjoy it. They are not exaggerating that cars, or even a heavily loaded semi-truck, will pass on the blind corners at high speeds. I was very glad that Kris, my LAPD trained driver, was navigating these roads.


#2 BUILD YOUR OWN POWER STATION

"When Albania collapsed in 1997 everything that could be looted was looted. A browse round the electrical market, housed in a warren of old vans and shipping containers, might produce enough parts to start your own energy utility."

Thank God that the power situation (i.e. having power and water on for most of the day) has been better in the last few months. You wonder that anyone has reliable power when you see the way that the telephone and power lines are run in the city. The picture above was taken right across from our house. Power lines are just tied to some poles, or trees if no poles are available. Most times the lights flicker and dim because of the low power voltage coming into the house. I have been told by an Albanian that this is because so many people splice wires and tap into existing power lines in order to avoid paying the power bills. At the girl's school a "home-made" power line like this, that was spanning their soccer field (which is surrounded by tall metal poles) came undone and was sparking and jumping all over the place. Thankfully, the school guard contained the situation and no one was hurt. Hey, and this is a country that is talking about building and maintaining a nuclear power plant?

#3 OFFER A SAFE DRIVING REWARD

"Promise 10,000 Lek (US$80) to the first careful driver you see. Then go and spend the money on yourself. You will never have to pay out."

No picture can adequately capture the mayhem on the roads in Tirana. Lanes, traffic lights and directional signposts are a rather new development here. I was really happy to see that there are even some streets that are now sporting street names. Not that many people would know what street you were talking about if you asked directions. They tell you how to get places by landmarks (I like that, as I am directionally challenged). My favorite landmark name is "Pesëmbedhjetëkatëshi". This title means 15 story building and refers to the Tirana International Hotel in the city square. Driving is a great way for God to sanctify me and help me to work on my patience. Just yesterday I was waiting at a red left turn light with about 6 cars in front of me, The cars in line behind me got tired of waiting and just started passing me (into oncoming traffic) to make the left turn. All the cars in front of me decided that they, too, did not want to wait and began to just run that red light. It's hard not to begin to view stop signs, red lights and one way street signs with the same kind of disregard. Not a day goes by that I am not surprised anew at the totally selfish, unsafe and chaotic driving on the roads of Albania.

# 4 DINE AT PIAZZA
"Opened by an Albanian-American family, this is one of the best restaurants in town and one of the few places to offer good quality meat, well prepared. The service is good and the prices are reasonable."

As you can see, the picture above is not of Piazza, the restaurant. It is however the most popular place to eat on our street. This is where we take our trash every day. It seems as if everyone else in the city does too. There are numerous wild dogs that enjoy this smorgasbord of tasty food all day long. There is a sidewalk somewhere under that pile. It is interesting to note that during the reign of communism in Albania there were 2 small residential (for American houses) size trash cans per neighborhood. The people did not throw anything away. Things did not come in packages, so there were no extra wrappers. There we no bottles, cans, or unwanted things to be thrown away. Having seen all this trash, I think it sounds like a great thing.
Speaking of restaurants, Tirana has quite a few wonderful places to eat. We have enjoyed Chinese, Indian, Greek, Mexican(sort of), and of course lots of Italian food. I have to say that Albanians really know how to put on a great spread. They love meat! Their biggest meal of the day is at 2:30 p.m. and it will contain lamb, beef, chicken, veal, pig, or a combination of these and lots of salt. I really enjoy Albanian food.

#5 WATCH THE ALBANIAN PREMIERSHIP

"For only 300 Lek (US$ 3) you can watch Tirana's best soccer teams in action at the Qemal Stafa stadium. Albanian soccer is hardly top notch but the fans are entertaining even if the game is not. If you are a women you will be the only one there."

Well, given that I am a woman and we have 4 girls, we have not had the wonderful privilege of attending one of these games. I have, however, heard the roar from the stadium from the last big match Albania played on home turf. The picture above is not of the Qemal Stafa stadium, but of the small soccer fields near our house. The big stadium is nice, but my kids prefer to ride around on this field. Soccer is the preferred sport in Albania, as in pretty much every other country in the world besides the US and maybe Antarctica. LOL. The girls have taken a liking to soccer and may be part of an international soccer league for kids in the fall. Kris is looking forward to playing soccer with the girls. I will be happy to cheer from the stands. You don't even have to go out of our house to see an unevenly matched game of soccer. Kris and I have been playing each other on our XBox 360. It is a rather amusing spectacle, but hey, a girl has to get her exercise in somehow. LOL!

#6 PLAY 'DON'T FALL DOWN THE HOLE'
"Someone in the city government had the bright idea of offering money as an incentive to recycle. The result? Tirana's manhole covers disappeared. Amateur players are allowed torches at night; professionals play by moonlight only."
This is no tall tale. I took this picture at the end of my street and you can see the water and trash hanging out in there. I always wonder that they don't lose small animals and children in these things. Once a week, or so, I hear a man shouting out something in Albanian as he travels up our street. It sounds like the guy selling peanuts at a baseball game - "Get your peanuts. Hot fresh peanuts!" Finally I asked an Albanian friend of mine what he was saying. She said that he was calling out for people to bring him metal scraps or unwanted metal objects. He would pay a small sum and take them to the local metal factory and get paid for this. So, some entrepreneurial people got the idea to take the metal man-hole covers and get some money for this. The middle man doesn't care what metal he gets, so he pays to get it and then turns it in for a small profit. Then the government turns around and makes more man-hole covers with some of the existing ones in the scrap heap. How long they are on the hole before they are taken and recycled, I don't know. I haven't seen too many covered holes around here. This is also a reason to be very careful riding your bike at night. If you hit one of these in the dark it could be very bad!

#7 BUY A CHEAP MERCEDES
"With the highest proportion of M-Bs in the world there are plenty of buying opportunities. Just don't try to take your new car out of the country. Most of them are stolen and still carry their original German and Italian licence plates."
I think everyone has seen a Mercedes before, so I added a picture of another form of transportation available. It isn't quite as luxurious or comfortable as the Mercedes, but you probably don't have to worry about getting stolen parts. There are so many cars in Tirana now that parking is a HUGE problem. It is much easier to walk if you need to get somewhere in town quickly and if it's not raining. The city does have a great bus system, but I have not yet gotten up the courage to travel by bus. I am afraid I would end up 45 minutes away because I got on the wrong bus and then not be able to tell anyone that I needed to get back home.

#8 DINE AT JUVENILJA

"Juvenilja serves the best pizza in town in a pleasant location by the park. Enjoy some gangster chic at the same time. The previous owner was blown up in an elevator. Spot the furtive men in black through the fug of smoke."

The web address to this unique and traditional restaurant is: www.juvenilja.com

Their brochure is tastefully done in Albanian and in English. The translation is a little off however. Here is the exact translation, in English, from their flyer:

"Juvenilja Castle. It's a building build with rocks like castle,it has a nice decorated ambient in the middle of national park of Tirana.Inside there are two big dining rooms with two bars on each room.A modern kitchen,and a wood oven baked pizza.You can also taste the food flavor on terrace or veranda.Garden is very flowerly decorated and goes together with the nature sorrounding it,so it makes a relaxed ambient for coffee,drinks...on morning or terrific afternoons...makes your remaining very kind and relaxed in our ambient."

People do smoke here, like they drink. In fact, the literal translation for smoking is "drinking smoke". There is no age limit on smoking or drinking either. Right before we moved to Albania there was a "no smoking in restaurants" law passed. I think it lasted about a week.

#9 EAT BREAD

"Spared the horrors of industrial baking, Tirana abounds in little local bakeries where all kinds of bread is baked fresh every day. All are good, some are superb. Wash it down with coffee and a sticky bun at one of the countless cafes."

It's true. The bread here is wonderful! A loaf of fresh, hot home made bread is about 70 lek or one dollar. We have noticed that the price is going up though. I don't think I will ever really enjoy the taste of white sliced bread again. I have been spoiled in Albania. Albanians eat a lot of bread and white cheese (somewhat like feta, but more pungent). We have fresh honey from towns around Albania as well. YUM!

#10 SMILE!!!

"The city is shambolic and endlessly frustrating, but the streets are safe and the locals are friendly. Experience the last outpost of post-communist chaos while you still can."

All of these "10 things" are pretty much tongue-in-cheek. However, smiling is right on. We have really grown to love and appreciate this unique and beautiful country - our home. The people are wonderful and the culture so interesting. Here are Kris and I on Valentines night. We went to dinner with a group of the young professionals that we are building relationships with. I will post a blog about this fun night next.

In all seriousness, there are so many great things to do and to see in Albania. I should do a real "10 things to do in Albania". I wanted to post this because it gives a funny view of some different things about Albania. I hope that you enjoyed the more humorous view of things.

First New Years in Albania

WELCOME 2008!!

I just discovered that we can put some video on our blog. That is so cool! (Click on the arrow on the bottom left corner of the video box to view this 45 second video). Anyhow, this is a short video of the midnight fireworks from the balcony of our house. Of course, no video or pictures, can adequately capture the event. For Albanians, New Years is the highlight of the year. They plan big meals (turkey being the main course), give gifts (which they don't do at Christmas), visit friends and family (well past midnight), and spend lots of money on fireworks.

I'm not talking about the spinners or sparklers or the little ones you can set off in the states. I am talking about the kind that you see at large firework shows put on by the city planners. However, these fireworks are not set off in pre-determined places in the city of Tirana. There is no age limit for purchasing these fireworks. People just walk right out their door - or even off the balconies of their apartments - and light 'em and let 'em go.

About a month prior to New Years Eve people start "practicing" for the big event. We were amazed at how big the fireworks were at that time. It was nothing compared to December 31st at midnight. The sky was alight with brilliant blasts of red, yellow, blue, orange, green and silver. The sound was deafening. If I didn't know that it was New Years, I would have thought we were in the middle of a war zone (Two weeks later Kris and I were watching a movie that had gun fighting and a bomb and someone set off a firework outside our house - it was eerily similar). The powder smoke was so thick I could hardly see down the street. The fireworks were going off all over the place, everywhere we looked. It was really neat and we were truly speechless as we stood in the cold to see the displays.

The only unsettling thing about the fireworks going off all over the place, is when you see an enormous burst right above your head (the falling "stars" seem graspable) and then you look down to see your generator's diesel tank full of 75 gallons of diesel sitting there exposed to all the falling fire. Yikes!! Of course, you don't really want to be walking around either because people are shooting off their guns into the air. It's best not to drive either, because many people set off their fire works in the middle of the streets and don't care if you are driving by in a metal vehicle power by a highly flammable substance. So, having been duly warned, we just watched from the relative safety of our balcony.

The fireworks continued in this frenzy of noise and bright light for a full 15 minutes. It was an event that I will not soon forget. So, for any of you guys who are itching to set off some "real" fireworks, plan to visit Albania next New Years and go for it! It will be a blast! LOL!

On New Year's Day we had some members of our mission team over for a bash of our own. We had good ol' BBQ brisket, beans, garlic mashed potatoes and chocolate cake (with carrots in it -delicious- thanks Mary Beth!). It was fun to celebrate a new year with new friends in a new place. The girls even got to light their own fireworks - sparklers.

We ended the night just thanking God that He brought us through 2007 and that we have a greater view of who He is and how totally dependent we are on Him for EVERYTHING. We are looking forward to what we will learn in 2008!

Thanksgiving in Albania

Thanksgiving is a day that evokes wonderful memories for me. I remember going to pick out a turkey with my family as a child from the turkey farm. Of course, it wouldn't have been such a pleasant memory if I had seen what they did to that poor turkey. I remember being a pilgrim in my 4th grade thanksgiving play. I remember waiting expectantly by the door for all my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents to arrive for a whole day of fun and food. But most of all, I remember all the years of recalling what God had done during the previous year to show His love and providence. Of all the Thanksgiving traditions this time of reflection and sharing is the most meaningful. This year was no different.

Thanksgiving was quite a bit different in many respects this year. First of all, our whole family spent the morning at the local soccer field to watch Kris play in the annual "turkey bowl". This much anticipated event features males from churches in the Tirana area playing American football for a turkey bowl trophy.
Here is a picture of this years participants. Sadly, our church team lost the trophy to another church's team this year.
The men enjoyed playing together and also sharing in a time of prayer before the game. Getting together with fellow Christians for fun and good sportsmanship is a great way build unity. The down side of this is that you have a bunch of "young" men most of whom are over 35 running around like they are 20 years old. We only had a few injuries. Unfortunately our team leader ruptured his ACL practicing for this years game. He will be heading back to the states over the Christmas holiday for surgery and rehab. But, in spite of his injury, he was out on the field as quarterback on Thanksgiving day. Talk about commitment, or something. LOL!
The highlight of the day was getting together with over 40 people from our church for a traditional Thanksgiving feast. Most of those who came were American, but we did have a Korean family and a few Albanians. Everyone brought a dish or two and we laid out a table packed with all the turkey and stuffing and cranberry relish and pies you could want. Of course, some things were different than I was used to. The turkeys are quite expensive and hard to get a hold of in Tirana, so we had turkey breast instead of a whole carved turkey. Cranberry jelly has not been introduced into the Albanian culture yet (sad for them) so we had one can cut up into little pieces. Someone did find a box of frozen cranberries to make some yummy cranberry relish. There were lots of "pumpkin" pies and a "sweet potato" casserole. Actually, they were carrot creations made to taste just like pumpkin and sweet potatoes. The pumpkins here are not like the traditional orange ones in the states and there are no sweet potatoes (sad for me). However, these substitutes were hardly noticeable.
I thought we would never eat all the food that was laid out. I was amazed that there was hardly a crumb left in the dishes at the end of the meal. It was unusual and a little sad for me to meet in a restaurant for Thanksgiving instead of being at home preparing the whole meal. Kaitlyn said that it didn't really seem like Thanksgiving because we didn't have our family to spend it with. There were some sad times in the day as we recalled all the fun memories we have made with our family stateside. However, we quickly turned our thoughts toward all that we had to be thankful for this year and the joy we have in sharing this holiday with our church family.
The kids had a blast playing with their friends, having a coloring contest and winning small prizes for games. It is neat to think of the memories that they are making of childhood Thanksgivings to recall later in life.

After we finished our wonderful meal we pulled our chairs into a circle to share in a time of prayer, praise and public thanksgiving for what God has done for us. It was a poignant time as I heard people who have been faithfully serving Him all over the world recount how God has proven Himself abundantly gracious year after year. We prayed for each other and for America. I was more thankful than ever to be an American citizen with a rich heritage of godly men and women as founding fathers.

What would Thanksgiving day be without some college football? We had a few people from our team over to our house after dinner to watch a game on line. Due to a poor Internet connection we watched about 2 minutes of a game. It all worked out because we had a great time talking, laughing, and eating more food.

All in all it was a wonderful first Thanksgiving in Albania. We are thankful to God for His amazing salvation. We are thankful to God for how He has cared for us in the past few months of transition in Albania. We are thankful to God for stretching us in new and sometimes painful ways because it transforms us more into the image of His Son. We thank God for friends, old and new, who have filled our life with a fragrant aroma of brotherly love. We thank God for our dear family who sent us on our way here to Albania with some tears, but mainly with great joy that we can honor God in our lives across the ocean from them. We thank God for our four daughters who have soft hearts towards the Lord and who we have the privilege of discipling for God's glory. We thank God, and often, for you. Thank you for making every day a day of thanksgiving as you pray for us and support us so faithfully.

Pray for power (and patience)

Our family is so thankful for the faithful and loving prayers that each of you lifts up to our Father on our behalf. Please be assured that your ministry of prayer has made you a vital part of our life and work here in Albania. It is in this light that we wanted to let you know of one specific thing that you can be praying about for us.

I Thessalonians 4:18 says, "in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." We have been having lots of opportunities to learn about having a thankful heart in the past 4 weeks. The power situation at our house has been a daily trial. As you know, the electrical power supply in Albania has been in a state of "crisis" for some time. We have gotten used to having our power shut off for 4-6 hours a day. Of course it is inconvenient at times, but hey, it's the way things are here in Albania. However, about 4 weeks ago, the power in OUR house began to become erratic. Often, the power will not return in our house when it returns for the rest of the neighborhood. Even our landlords, who live in the other side of our duplex have power, but our side does not. Sometimes, the power will come back on one or two floors, but leave one or two without any power. Usually, when the power does come on, it is coming in at such a low voltage that it won't power any of our heaters or major appliances. This is really a big deal because it is getting down to 9 degrees Celsius at night (in the 40's) and it remains in the 50's in our house without heating. We do have a generator that we can run, but it is very expensive and we only run it when we must to heat up the rooms, recharge battery operated lights, send e-mails, and things like this. Sometimes, however, the power does come on and everything is fine.

The crazy thing about the whole situation is that it doesn't seem to affect any other house but ours. I have to admit that God has been using this to chisel away at the sinful attitudes, expectations, and responses I have displayed. He showed me how selfish I was because I was content to be without power when everyone else was without power as well. But when we are the only ones in the dark and we are cold...well, that's a different story. One night when our house was dark and I was struggling to not complain that we "deserved" to have power like everyone else, we heard a loud popping noise and saw bright sparks from outside our window. Kris and I looked out and saw the electrical pole by our house burst into flames and begin to rain down sparks onto the street. In my heart I was hoping that at least everyone else would lose power too. It was as if God was just exposing that to me because even though the whole pole was burning, no one else lost power - just us.

At this point, we are trying to go through all the channels to get this resolved because it has begun to affect our ministry, study time, budget and sanity. We want to have a Christ-like attitude in this because we are aware that our landlord, as well as the rest of our neighbors, are watching intently to see how we will respond to this. Please pray that we will not shame our God, but will showcase His sovereignty and joy and peace despite difficult circumstances. We also ask that you pray that we would be able to get this power issue fixed. It is not good for our appliances to have constant power surges and we don't want to be poor stewards of what God has given to us.

It is quite comical to see us in the house though. The other day, Sierra came down dressed for school and she looked like the Goodyear tire man. She had SIX shirts layered on. She could hardly move her arms. Most days, we have on at least two pairs of pants, 2 long-sleeved shirts, a sweatshirt with hood, two pairs of socks, and slippers.

I hesitated to blog this because I didn't want it to sound like a complaint. Have I complained (alot) about this in the last 4 weeks? Sadly, yes. However, I know that you want to know and pray about the issues that we deal with on a day to day basis. We need prayer; prayer that we would remain steadfast in faith and thankfulness with or without power and prayer that we would be able to fix this problem in the Lord's timing.

One friend, who lives here in Tirana, helped me to see this from an eternal perspective. She said that all the other houses in our neighborhood had light and our was dark, but in reality their houses are devoid of The Light and ours is the only one with The Light! We pray that we would "let (our) light shine before men in such a way that they may see (our) good works (attitudes, responses), and glorify (our) Father who is in heaven."

Stire kid's corner

Kris and I are so thankful to the Lord that He has given the girls such an easy transition to life in Albania. He has been so faithful our family. We know that many of you are praying often and fervently for the girls and I thought that you might like to hear from the girls own mouths what they think of Albania, what they miss about America, and whatever else is going on in those little heads.

I hope that as you read each girls section, you will take time to pray for them individually.

*Pray that they would not join the ranks of "M.K.'s" (missionary kids) who have the reputation for rebelling against the Lord and dishonoring His name.

*Pray that they would be soft-hearted to the gospel and recognize their need for a personal relationship with God.

*Kris and I recognize that what they see and hear at home will impact them deeply as they begin to see the connection to what they hear about God and how we live that out. Please pray that we would be faithful and diligent to model Christ-likeness for them.

*Pray that our family devotion times would be consistent and that the Word of God would pierce their souls (Heb. 4:12). Thank you.

Kaitlyn - age 10 (almost 11)

Kaitlyn says, " I really like living in Albania, but I miss Japanese food and friends and family back home. Here are some things that I really like about Albania - for instance, there's lots of adventure and different stuff, like going on short trips to parts of Albania. In this picture we are visiting a castle outside of Tirana with some people from our church. It was really cool to see such an old place and stand on top of one of the old towers (note from Chelle - she scared her mommy to death by standing on one of turrets to get a better look. They don't rope unsafe areas off or have any kind of guardrails and so Kaitlyn just climbed up on the 4 story turret and leaned over to see what was at the bottom. After recovering from a near faint, I was praising God that He is so sovereign and protects my children). It was really, really hot and a long walk to get there, but I still had fun. I hope to visit all of you back in America. For you people who are praying for me and my family, pray that I would do well in school and that I would grow to know Jesus more."

Kaitlyn has really become such a helper for me. She loves to keep things orderly and help me in the kitchen and with her sisters. She is liking school, but thinks that it is much harder than school in the states. She definitely has more homework, but she is diligent to get right to it when she gets home from school. Her Albanian class, at school, is hard for her, but we are able to work on it together at home, as Kris and I are learning some of the same things (colors, days of the week, days of the month, and numbers). Her accent is really good. She tends to get easily discouraged about things, so we have been really encouraging her that she doing well and that school will get easier as she gets into the routine. This is the first year she has a locker and moves from one one classroom to another for different classes.

Pray for her to grow in her walk with the Lord. She has confessed Christ as her Lord and Saviour and we thank God for opening her eyes to her need for Him. It is neat to see her being convicted by the Spirit regarding her sin. Pray that she would continue to be sensitive, but not introspective, to her sin.

Here are Kaitlyn and Whitney before school one morning. They are getting so big! It's fun for me to see them becoming more independent and beginning to form a friendship that will deepen and endure through the years. We praise God for these sweet gifts from the Lord!

Whitney - age 8

Whitney says, "Albania is a great place because there are lots of dogs there. The dogs were thrown out of their homes because people couldn't afford them. They live out in the streets and they eat from the garbage. The people in Albania are always nice. There's nice friends here, like Elley, Lydia, Wesley, and Miss Waites (my teacher). I miss my friends from America. My friends names are Emily and Rebekah and Rebekah's mom and Emily's mom. America has nice homes and nice people at church, and I miss our house. And I miss the church. I miss going to my friends house. I am thankful to God that we live in a house and that we don't live in the street. I miss the food that's there in America and I miss my family that's in America."

This is a picture of Whitney just after Kaitlyn accidentally knocked out her baby, front tooth last week. She cried a lot. There was a lot of blood. But soon after, Whitney was thanking God that Kaitlyn knocked out her tooth because she got Albanian lek (money) for it. She is so cute with that snaggle-tooth smile.

Whitney made mention of the dogs here. She loves all kinds of dogs and wants to take all the stray dogs home. She is even writing a book about some puppies near us and the mommy, daddy and grandpa dogs who find food in the trash bins for them. You should see the adorable illustrations that she made for the narrative.

Whitney also loves going out in the back yard and watching our landlord work on things. He is quite a handyman and is always digging something, building something or fixing something. She will just sit and "talk" with him in English/Albanian for hours. He thinks it is really fun to have her there and gives her fruit and veggies from their garden to bring home. Who knows, but she may be the opening God uses to bring him to the Lord.

Sierra - age 7

Sierra says, "I miss you! I like it here in Albania and I like Chinese food and things here. I miss Rebekah and all my friends. I miss Grammie and Granbud and Poppy and Mimi and I wish I was with Nannie and Grandpa. I miss all the food that's in America. I like all the new friends here, like Abbey and Gemma and Austin. I like the house here and my new room. I like to go to school because I like learning new things and playing soccer. I miss you so much."

The picture of Sierra above is taken right after she pulled out her first tooth! It was just hanging by a thread, but she wouldn't let anyone pull it out. She wanted to do it herself.

She is doing really well in school and her teacher said that she is at the top of her class. Praise the Lord!

Sierra is very faithful to thank Jesus for dying on the cross every time she prays. This morning after I had finished praying at breakfast, she said to me, "Mommy, you forgot to thank Jesus for dying on the cross for our sins." How right you are, little one! What a great reminder she is to be cross-centered everyday. Of course, not 30 minutes later, she was standing in front of me whining that "there's no one to play with". Ha, this is why we had 4 of you little people. Never can they use the excuse that there is NO ONE to play with. She didn't think my reasoning was valid. She wanted somebody "fun" to play with. Such is the life in our house.

Breanna - age 4

Breanna says, "I like to live here because it's beautiful. Albania is beautiful. My friend Isabel goes to school with me. I miss my friends and miss my church in America. "

In the picture above, Kris is having some fun daddy-daughter time playing Play-Doh with Breanna. When he sat down at the table, she turned to him and said, "Daddy, I will make the plans and you do the work." Kris and I just laughed and laughed. Now we just need to ask the Lord to help get that "administrative" (i.e. controlling) personality under the power of the Spirit.

Another funny story about Breanna...She and I were saying good-bye to an American friend who teaches Kindergarten at GDQ. All of a sudden Breanna looked at her and said, "Mary Poppins." Our friend thought that was the sweetest thing for Breanna to liken her to Mary Poppins. As she turned to go, I said, "Mirupafshim (meeruhpahfsheem)", which is goodbye in Albanian. Breanna piped in with, "Mary Poppins!" She had been trying to say goodbye in Albanian, but to her it sounded like Mary Poppins. At least she was making the connection between the Albanian words and the right action.

Being at the Albanian pre-school has been very good for her Albanian language learning. The other day I had an Albanian friend at our house and she told Breanna, in Albanian, to tell her mommy that she was beautiful. Breanna turned to me and, in English ,said, "Mommy, you are beautiful." I was floored! We are thankful that many of the seasoned missionaries here encouraged us to have her get a solid foundation in the language by putting her in the Albanian pre-school for a few hours a day. One English pastor's wife told me that all of her kids are fluent in Albanian because of the pre-school time. We are hoping and praying that Breanna will pick up Albanian quickly and help mommy and daddy with their Albanian. LOL!

Well, I hope that you enjoyed hearing from the girls. If you did, thank my mom, it was her idea. Kaitlyn suggested that we do this once a month. So, hopefully, you will hear from them more often. They would love to hear what you all have to say to them, so please comment on this blog. Thank you for your continued support and prayers.