POLAND 365 :: WEEK 4

January 22-On this particular day, I found Olivia "carrying" around her
grandparents! We have small pictures printed of their grandparents and
she just found them on the shelf and was staring at them. It was so sweet,
and she can identify them all without hesitation. Thank you FaceTime for
allowing our kids to still see their grandparents regularly! Then later that
day I found the kids fighting over who's grammy was who's, and who's
papa and grandma and grandpa belonged to. They carry these around, in
the car, around the house, hiding them from each other. We even had an
exciting game of hide and go seek with papa this evening before we finally
found him under the couch and then they all proceeded to sit on the couch
and just stare at them for a while. Of course, Olivia saw me take the camera
out and decided to cheese it up! Have I won you grandparents over to hurry
and buy plane tickets to come visit yet?! They love and miss you all tons,
as do we :)

January 23 - In Poland we have found that at several
ice cream stands in the malls they also sell "gofry"
which is a waffle basically topped with every other
unhealthy option imaginable. It's a yummy dessert
I suppose, we haven't actually tried them yet in the
mall, but one day! For dinner this night, we couldn't
figure out what to cook, so I decided on "gofry" and
cut up berries and other fun toppings for the kids to
add to their waffles. Suffice it to say, Isaac ate three
and they were delicious. And no we don't have a
backdrop hanging in the background for this picture,
that would be our bed sheet hanging to dry on the
curtain rod. Since we don't have a dryer here, the
bigger items as such have to hang on the curtain rod!

January 24-Still not feeling well...Steve who usually ventures
off to church on Sunday before I do...took the older two kids
so I could have an "easy" morning to get ready without all
three together by myself and not feeling well. He was hesitant
if they would behave while he prepared for preaching, but
they did great and even built a snowman while waiting on
the bus to arrive. 

January 25- Language Session with our tutor.
I actually am not having the best of times
with language learning...Steve on the other
hand really enjoys it and is learning very
rapidly. I can often get discouraged, not
because he's learning faster, but because it
sometimes seems as if I'll never learn Polish.
But I continue to ask God for strength, and
thankful for many encouraging friends and
family back home who cheer me on and pray
for us both as we learn this very challenging
language. 

January 26-New haircut for Steve...trying a
new look. I have cut Steve's hair off and on
since we've been married...which is paying off
now as it's much cheaper to cut his hair and
he has yet to find a place to get it cut. I'm
sure as he figures out "this is how I like my
hair cut" in Polish, he will be right on over
to the barber shop to get a cut and practice
his Polish!

January 27-The man behind the camera...Steven is our friend
and fellow ministry partner here in Poznan and we LOVE
this guy and his wife. They have been huge blessings to us
during our time here in Poland. Steven is from Belgium and
produces the media for Bread of Life Ministries here in Poland
and for the international church, so we asked him if he would
take our annual Valentine family picture for Valentine cards...and
boy did he have his job cut out for him with three spunky kiddos
for the photo shoot! He did a fabulous job and we can't wait for you
all to see the final product...coming Valentine's Day!

January 28-The sun is out (yay God!) and we bundled up the
kids (although you see Isaac lost a few layers) and headed
over to the park just a few minutes away and let them run
around on the soccer court playing soccer and riding their
scooter. It's nice to have some warmer weather, and as you see
in just a few days nearly all the snow we had has now melted!
Karis' school (pictured in back) is just under a 10
minute walk from our house and they have a fun playground
next to it that the kids like to go run around. Isaac is really
getting good with his soccer ball and we are hoping maybe
next year he will want to start playing on a club soccer team
as he learns a little more Polish and feels more comfortable
with his surroundings!