Winter wonderland!!!

The week started off pretty normal-doing laundry, as usual.



It has been nice having Carolyn and her family around while I was working there. Carolyn has 5 children and is expecting her 6th any day (any minute!) now. We had a couple of things that had to be done on our end, so we asked Carolyn not to have her baby until Sunday afternoon (today). She says she is waiting until she gets her last thank-you note written and the basinette cleaned.



Glenn and I went in the opposite direction of town, out to the country where they have built all these mega stores such as IKEA, Kika, Cora, Auchan, etc. to do some shopping for the Eden House. We need to make some purchases but had to wait until close to the end of the year to make sure there was enough money in the budget. I am always amazed at this site. The commercialism reminds me so much of America, and as many times as I've come out here, it still shocks me! These stores are all built out in the middle of nowhere. However, I remember when Towne Center Mall was built back in the late 80's, it was out in the middle of nowhere and I wondered if people would drive all the way out there to shop!



Dad, I just want you to know that if you don't get your green elephants back from you know who, I can pick you up some nice blue ones. These are from Vietnam too!

Big news this week! We're having an electric gate opener put on our front gate so we don't have to get out of the car in the rain (and snow!) to unlock and open the gate. This man came to do the welding for us. The big news is not that we are getting an electric gate, but that we found someone with whom we could talk! We invited him in for some homemade potato soup, and we were able to practice our Hungarian. It's really sad that we have to bribe people byfeeding them to get opportunities to practice our language, but hey, we'll do what it takes!

Sunday morning, early, very early, we took Darrin and Kesha to the airport to catch their flight to America. They have finished their ISC term and are going home for a while. They are open to returning to CEE in the future but they have some things they need to take care of beforehand. We will miss them. They were our closest neighbors and they were the first couple we got to know when we went to Poland in June 2006. May God bless them!

We got Darrin and Kesha off just in time! Their flight left at 7:30 am, and this photo was taken about 6 hours later! We had to call Carolyn up at the Eden House and ask her to postpone the birth of her child until another day since we didn't want to have to take her to the hospital in all this snow! First snow of the year, November 12th.

We decided to go for a walk (I know, we're crazy) to enjoy the beautiful snow

and to check on the folks at the Eden House. Everyone there was all snug like a bug in a rug; only, we don't have bugs in our rugs at the Eden House, thanks to Szylvia, the housekeeper!

Isn't it gorgeous?

Watch out for yellow snow!

We left our house about 3:15 pm for our "little" walk, and

returned about 5:00 pm. It gets dark at 4:30 pm. It was great to walk down deserted alleyways and see everything sparkling and crystal white clean. Saci (the dog we're babysitting) loved frolicking in the snow too. I know I may get tired of snow by time April comes, but I'm going to enjoy it for now!

Of course, it was a little sad to see what the snow did to my rose garden!

Glenn is now relaxing in front of the TV, watching "24", thanks to Karin and Eric loaning us their 1st season DVD's! I am going to cuddle up with a good book, and Saci, well, she's

conked out in the mud room. Well, she's supposed to be in the mud room because she's not allowed in the house, but as soon as she thinks we aren't looking, she likes to slip just inside the door. I guess it makes her feel like she's a part of the family.

In closing, would you thank God with us for the welder and the opportunity to practice our Hungarian? It was a blessing to have someone who would give us time to painfully stumble through a sentence, correct us, and then keep the conversation going like we were old friends.

Pray for Carolyn and Barry as they have their 6th child. Pray that getting Carolyn to the hospital 45 minutes out of town will go smoothly and that the baby will be born without any difficulties.

Pray for Darrin and Kesha as they adjust to life back in America. Pray for them to find those people in whom God is speaking about following Him overseas so they can share their excitement and experiences with them! Pray that they will "accomplish" all the things in their hearts that they desire to do.