Christmas 2014

I spent Christmas 2014 in Romania.  I thought it was going to be the most horrible thing ever.  I was going to be away from my family (not the first time), but, they were all getting together on Christmas Day to celebrate together without me.  On top of it, I would basically be by myself.  However, it turned out to be a very blessed time.  The H2H Romanian staff, a few other friends and some of the transition graduates made it to be a delightful celebration!

Decorating the tree and house with staff, friends and transition family!

Ruthie and I started a tradition of decorating a pink tree!

Ruthie visiting Santa at one of the Bucharest malls

Celebrating David's 3rd birthday

Christmas Party with the Branesti high school boys!

Christmas Party with the Voluntari Youth Group kids

Ruthie's School Celebration

I also spent some time in Rosiori with our Romanian staff and some of the kids down there.  I rarely get down there, so it was good to just hang out and spend some quality time with friends there!  On the way home from Rosiori, I stopped to visit Adriana and her family in Alexandria.  Adriana was my girl from Peris/Voluntari 10 years ago, then came to the girls house, lived in Bucharest for awhile, got married, had kids and then moved two hours away.  They are doing well, now, with 3 kids!

In Rosiori with little cutie Alina!

With the Badea kids....Rebeca, David, and little Timotei

And then, Christmas Day.  I invited about 20 transition kids, some staff and our friends Amy, Cristi and Gabi.  We had a relaxing day opening some gifts, having lunch together and watching the Polar Express!

Right after Christmas, we were prepared for the holiday team which was small this year, which was good as the whole H2H staff was preparing to go to the U.S. for the H2H 20-year anniversary celebration.  

The Holiday Team with some of our staff!

New Year's Eve...always a party!!

Fall Fun 2014

Fall has come and gone and spring is almost upon us, but, I need to back track a little bit and catch everyone up on what has been happening in my part of the world.

H2H started back up with our fall programs.  Youth groups and character classes at Peris and Voluntary, taking care of Ruthie, administrative duties, visiting Peris kids at their high school and much more were all on my to do list...

Ruthie started back at pre-school...

A group of kids from the Peris orphanage were given the opportunity to finish high school (at Peris they are only educated through the 10th grade).  They are attending a school about 30 minutes away from Peris, so they have dormitory housing at their high school and return to Peris on the weekends.  They have had their ups and downs on who is staying or who is quitting (there were 9 kids that started and now there are 6 kids).  We go to visit them once a week to make sure that they are going to classes, doing their homework and hang out with them.  All in all, they are doing really well...

The H2H staff took a trip to the beautiful Carpathian Mountains...

Ruthie turned 4 years old...

Mirela, one of our transition graduates, moved to London....

We celebrated Thanksgiving with a bit of a smaller group this year...

....and just like that the Christmas festivities were upon us!  Whew!

Vacation 2014

Jen and I were able to take another amazing vacation this year!  Now, I am dreaming about those sunny, warm, relaxing days….

Barcelona

We flew into Barcelona with our friend and coworker,Talitha, on a Monday.  And, we walked and walked and walked!!!  One day we walked over 11 miles!  We saw all the sights and more, including, La Sagrada Familia, Guell Park, the packed out beach, Las Ramblas Street and the Christopher Columbus Columbus statue (which points in the wrong direction…by the way).  We visited this really cool market, called La Boqueria, where we got really yummy fruit every morning.  Oh yeah….and we ate lots of yummy gelato…sometimes twice a day!!  Barcelona was very easy to navigate and a fun city to visit!  We all agreed that we wanted to come back here someday!!

Boarding the Ship

On Wednesday morning, we went for our last breakfast at La Boqueria, headed back to the apartment where we stayed and got our luggage.  Jen and I headed were headed to check in onboard the Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas and Talitha hung around in Barcelona.  We made plans to meet back up with her later to go to the beach.  She had a late flight and we had one more night docked in Barcelona.  On Thursday, we took it easy onboard since we had already seen all that we wanted to see in Barcelona.

Marseille, France

On Thursday evening, the ship left dock and took us the next day to Marseille, France.  We had about an hour drive into Marseille and saw some very pretty countryside.  In Marseille we visited Palais Longchamp, the Notre Dame Basilica and of course had some yummy crepes right by the water!!

Cinque Terre, Italy

All I can say, is what a beautiful place!!  Absolutely stunning Basically, there are these five villages that  you can't really drive to or throughout.  You have to either take a boat or a train or walk.  The pictures will speak for themselves!!

Ajaccio, Corsica

Next up, the beautiful little island of Corsica.  We visited the charming little seaside town of Ajaccio, which is the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.  We walked around for awhile….saw the sights and found a fun little market and then headed to the beach which was so close.  As a bonus, the water was so clear and beautiful.   It was a very relaxing day!!

At Sea and On Board the Serenade of the Seas

The next day we were at sea.  It was also Day 6 and so another day of relaxing and lazing around the ship was in order…

Valletta, Malta

Another very beautiful island and lovely things to see!  We took a bus tour/walking tour around Valletta and then drove about 30 minutes to Mdina which is kind of like a fortified city.  A brief visit to a jewelry factory and we were back to the dock.  The whole time we were on this cruise, we had a hard time finding places to connect to internet.  So, we decided to splurge a little and get something at Hard Rock Cafe….and then the internet didn't work very well.  Alas…

Sicily, Italy

Oh. My. Goodness.  Here we had the most wonderful cannoli.  So sweet and crispy and creamy….just delicious.  We also visited an active volcano and walked around inside the crater.

Amalfi Coast, Italy

We took a lovely little motor coach (by boat) ride to see the beautiful Amalfi Coast.  We arrived to the little seaside town of Amalfi and had a wonderful time walking around, shopping and of course eating gelato!  I think I had gelato ever place we went, except for Malta, because I wasn't feeling very well.  You really can't go wrong with ice cream!

Last Day on Board

All good things must come to an end….

Rome, Italy

Our final destination….the magical, Rome!  We had a hotel booked for two nights to wind things down.  The hotel was right on the outskirts of town and really hard to find.  Think, two hours on a bus and then walking around a neighborhood trying to find the place.  However, once we found it, we realized it was easy to get in and out of the city.  Once we arrived, we hung out by the pool and found some sandwiches for dinner.  The next morning, we woke up and conquered Rome like none other.  We saw almost all of the main tourist attractions, leaving the Colosseum for our last day because it was going to be free the next day.

This vacation was an amazing experience and I was so blessed to have this time to stop, relax, rejuvenate and reflect on what the Lord has done in my life.