Christmas is here! Well, almost.

Christmas is almost here, and there won't be much under the tree for Glenn and me. (Don't feel sorry for us! Everyone gave us our presents when we were in the States a few weeks ago and we either "already spent it" while in the States on something we wanted or we already opened it and are using it!)



However, one gift I may still be getting is a new washing machine! Just before we left for the U.S., ours stopped working. So, upon our return to Budapest, I headed up to the Eden House to wash all our clothes and decided I wanted a washing machine like the one up there! Not only is the barrel HUGE compared to the one that came with our house (I'm not complaining about the free one in my house, mind you!), but also it washes a load in less than half the time! My old washer holds about 3 pairs of pants at a time and takes 1 hour and 15 minutes, whereas the ones at the Eden House hold about 7 pairs of pants and takes only 30 minutes!!


Fuzzy Logic???

As I was washing, I noticed the name of the machine is Fuzzy Logic. Somebody needs to tell them in their own language what that means!! Glenn and I decorated our house and tree this week, but before we could begin, we wanted to pick up a few things. I am SO THANKFUL for the Christmas tree we bought from Kristie and Mark before they left!


A color for everyone!



And while at Tesco (British version of Walmart), we did a little grocery shopping but jumped right over these pizzas! The pizza on the left has corn and kidney beans on it (among other veggies). On the back right, 8 slices of raw bacon with a tomato in the middle. The front one has 4 pieces of sliced luncheon meat (similar to balogna) with a tomato. And this is why we make our own a lot of time!!!

After our trip to Tesco, we were ready to decorate!!!


Putting on the candy canes

We brought out with us all of our ornaments from when the kids were growing up, but not a lot of other decorations, which I sorely regret! The tree we got from Mark and Kristie came with a lot of Christmas balls so between their balls and our ornaments, we filled the tree. While in the States I bought a couple of dozen candy canes to hang on our tree, and I'm really glad I did since we can't buy them here. Not yet, at least. I did see them in Ukraine, Estonia and Czech Republic so they will probably make it here soon. I "babied" those candy canes by hand carrying them on the plane because I didn't want them to break. Every one made it intact!


...and getting myself out of the way!


Glenn decorates the spiral staircase


Very beautiful!


Peace on earth to everyone!

The ceramic Christmas tree on the right was made by my mom for us. The snow globe card beside it was a recent gift from Pam and Adam, and the PEACE letters were a gift from Donna before we moved (one of the few decorations we brought).


We love our fireplace-

Even though our fireplace here is small, we really enjoy it! Glenn likes to keep a fire going and I like him to keep a fire going.


At the end of a busy day, Glenn strums me a tune


I love to fall asleep to the sound of music (but I had to get up to take the picture)


Glenn bought us more firewood in anticipation of SNOW!



Something very special happened this weekend! Friday night a couple from our church came for dinner. Gabor and Zsuzsi are the first couple we met upon our arrival in Hungary almost 2 years ago. We had invited them to dinner when we first arrived but they were not able to come, and then they invited us to their house for a BBQ our first summer here, 2007, but this was their first time to our house in 2 years! With such a busy schedule and no hopes of slowing down, we had to set the date 7 weeks ago! Gabor often translates the message on Sundays for us and he does a GREAT job! There will be extra stars in his crown when he gets to heaven for the ministry he provides for us. They have been a blessing to Glenn and me.

On another note...Chris and Kate are in New Jersey with Kate's family for the holidays, and Kari and Jonathan have gone to Spain to spend time with Jonathan's brother and sister in law so Glenn and I are "on our own". Not really. The Member Care team has invited all the Journeymen in CEE to spend Christmas at the Eden House, and we have 15 that have accepted our invitation. Needless to say, we will have fun spoiling them with goodies we brought from America, making Christmas cookies, attending the international churches' Christmas eve service, enjoying a Christmas day feast, and just being Mom and Dad to them (if they need it). We are looking forward to the week!

As we move into the final days before Christmas, let us wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas. Or, as the Hungarians say, "Boldog Karacsonyt!" We pray that the birth of God's Son, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be the reason you are celebrating!