March

The beginning of March always brings us a little team.  No exception this year!  We hosted three lovely ladies from Michigan!  We had fun taking them to Ramona's Bible Study where we baked, studied Psalm 23 and played charades.  After that we were off to the boy's house and Rosiori where we baked, had a lesson with the boys and the kids in Rosiori and learned to do quilling.  The rest of their time was spent between Peris, Voluntari and the baby hospital and celebrating birthdays!

She is six and this smart one learned to tie her shoes!  We keep telling her to stop eating so she will stop growing and learning how to do all these big girl things!

These two just love to play in the folded up stroller.  Daria will pull all the snacks and dirty kleenexes  out of the pockets!  Little cuties!

So, for about the last couple of years, Jen and I have been talking about wanting to take Ruthie to Disneyland Paris.  Well, our dream became reality.  We took a long weekend and finally took her.  It was before all of the spring vacations and Easter holiday, so, we got really good prices on flights, park tickets and our hotel.  Melissa went with us and we all had a great time experiencing Ruthie's first flight and Disneyland through the eyes of a six year old!  It was a little cold and one day it rained, but, we still had a great time.  When we ask Ruthie what her favorite ride was, "The teacups!!"  The first time she rode it though, she was a little scared.  She loved meeting the characters, Small World and the indoor pool at our hotel.  We even had a room with bunkbeds and she slept in the top bunk all four nights!  We also visited the Eiffel Tower our first afternoon in Paris.  Ruthie didn't really want to go, but, we told her she would thank us later!!

Last weekend, we took a little day trip to Brasov with some of our graduate girls, Mirela and Alina Mica, and Isabela, the girls that is currently in the girl's program.  It was nice to get out of the city and have fun with the girls!

Whew!!  March was busy!!  Now for April....three teams all in the first two weeks of the month and Easter!

Return to Romania!

I came back to Romania and jumped right back into things!  On the way home from the airport, Jen told me she had some sad news to tell me.  The girls (Ruthie and Karla) were in the car, so, she waited until we were home and they were gone.  One of our girls had passed away, murdered actually, the day before I came and the funeral was the next day.  Maria had been in our girl's transition house program for about a month in 2012, when she decided that it wasn't really for her.  She went back to the little town of Rosiori where she was from and moved in with a boyfriend.  Eventually, she broke up with him and the state gave her an apartment.  After this, she had two more boyfriends, the later being the one that murdered her.  I won't go into all the gory details, but, it was and is a sad situation.  I think to myself, what could I have done differently with Maria to help her stay in our program or taught her more about Jesus?  We went to the funeral which was very Orthodox.  Her brother had been in our program before Maria was and her younger sister was in our program just last year.  I was glad that we could go and support them in their time of need.

I was blessed while I was home, by my church, with a sum of money to get a KitchenAid Mixer!  I'm truly in love with my new "toy" and am enjoying using it to cook and bake!

We celebrated Karla's 2nd birthday with a Minnie Mouse party!  She is such a delight and it is awesome that we are given the honor to watch her grow into a beautiful, little lady!  She is kind and loving, but, doesn't always like to share.  She is smart and talks a lot, in English and Romanian.  She loves to cuddle and gives great hugs, when she wants.  I can't wait to see what the terrific twos bring our way!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Little Love!!

Furlough

From mid January to mid February, I was home on furlough.  The other day, I was going through my pictures from when I was in the U.S. and I was reminded of the good times I had with my family and friends and how blessed I was by certain family, friends and a stranger.  

During the first week of my furlough, my family celebrated my parent's 50th wedding anniversary by going on a Caribbean cruise.  What a wonderful time we had spending time with each other and enjoying the warm weather and warm water!

After the cruise, I returned to the west coast and had some time visiting family and friends in Bakersfield, Fresno/Madera Ranchos and Hume.  It is always a wonderful time hanging out with my nieces and nephews.  I especially had a good time having a "photo shoot" with my niece, Kinley!  I celebrated my birthday and the kids had fun helping me blow out my candles.  My sister actually put the right number of candles on the cake!  I definitely needed help!  I also, met with a team that is coming with Kaylee this summer and answered their questions told them a little more about what they will be doing.

I said a bit earlier that I was blessed by a stranger...  I was having coffee with a friend.  Another friend walked in with a friend, a friend that I don't know.  We said, "Hi!" and then I went back to the conversation with my friend.  A few minutes later, my other friend's friend came over to me and handed me a check and said, "I just wanted to give you a love offering and to bless you!"  Wow!  What a great God we serve!  He meets my needs when I'm least expecting it!