POLAND 365 :: WEEKS 11 & 12

March 18 - This little one is Olivia's sweet friend
that we met through the International church. They
are just a couple months apart and we are thankful
that Olivia has a little friend she can play with. Our
family enjoyed a day with her family when we went
out to eat at a Family Cafe, which is of course very
kid friendly and we always enjoy going to places
like this and so do the kids. Thankful to be building
new friendships (for our entire family).

March 19 - Headed to dinner with some of our Polish friends,
and we brought these lovely flowers and willows for them.
I was doing some research and we found out that for Palm
Sunday here it is common to see willows to commemorate
Jesus entering Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week
(rather than palm branches that we've always associated with
Palm Sunday). We found this to be unique and interesting.

March 20 - The gentleman on the far left is a very Godly man and loves Jesus.
He has helped translate the Bible from it's original texts into Polish. He has also
started several Evangelical churches here in Poland. We first met him
when we visited Poland back in 2013 and feel honored to have the
opportunity to partner alongside him and the work he is doing in Poland. 

March 21 - our friend from the States was
still in town during this week and we went
out with one of our Polish friends here to
a traditional Polish restaurant. We asked
our Polish friend to introduce us to some
foods we would typically find here and
we ordered this as an appetizer as well
as a couple other traditional meals for
our main courses. Although we have
tried many new things living here, I had
not yet tried this Tartar, which is basically
raw ground beef, raw egg yolk, pickles
and onions. You mix it all up and put it
on bread, and enjoy! I wasn't so sure at
first, but it was delicious. 

March 22 - It can sometimes be a rare occasion that these two get along now
a days as they are both growing in their own independent ways...but when they
do have these sweet moments, we are thankful. They have a special bond and
they have each other as best friends in the midst of all that they've experienced
in the changes for our family over this past year and a half. 

March 23 - Date night out to celebrate our Anniversary. We were thankful for
a couple date nights out while we enjoyed Larinda in town who loved on our
kiddos so we could step out for a few hours. 

March 24 - Exploring the Easter Markets in the Old Market here. They also
had these markets set up at Christmas time, so it was fun to take the kids down
there to look and run around. 

March 25 - Dying eggs for easter, here they are called Pisanki (not sure if I
spelled that right exactly). Painting eggs at this time of year is pretty traditional
thing to do and our kids enjoyed the process.

March 26 - The days are beginning to warm up, and we are thrilled about that.
I don't ever remember being so excited for Spring (except maybe growing up
in Minnesota)...but the winter and gloomy days need to be behind us and we
are hoping to see more and more sunshine (today is supposed to be in the 60s!)
We took advantage of this lovely day and went to a nearby park as a family
(We try to do a family day on Saturdays if possible) and the kids love running
around and we had a picnic in the park and walked around. Very good for our hearts.

March 27 - We celebrated Easter Sunday at Poznan International Church where
Steve preached that morning and then after church we spent several hours at one
of the PIC families' home with about 40ish other people from church for
a meal, easter egg hunt (for kids) and fun time of hanging out. Here are the kids
on Easter morning after we arrived at church. 

March 28 - As we looked through pictures
over the past couple weeks, we had to laugh
that this was the only picture we got on this
day. I do believe we laid low this day (it had
been a pretty busy week prior) and Isaac was
sporting his new Batman hat that he got in
his Easter basket. 

March 29 - We toured Poznan this day with Larinda
so she could see more of the history of this city. I
joined them on the tour after my language class and
snapped this picture of the small cathedral here in
Poznan where it is said Poland began. Such rich
history here and especially in Poznan, and we are
enjoying learning about all these things. Our minds
are constantly in awe of the long history to be found
here in Poland. 

March 30 - Can you believe our friend has been here nearly
two weeks and we had yet to take her to get some pierogis?
So off we went to a small cafe so she could order some before
heading back to the States. These two girls enjoyed playing
in this little area more than eating and they are becoming
quite the duo. Isaac keeps saying we need more boys in
this family ;) to which I just laugh!

March 31 - Larinda stayed for two weeks, and now that she's gone it seems
like two weeks too short. We all loved having her here and sad to see her go.
She got to experience a little piece of our life here and ministry that we get to
be a part of (we have small group Bible study in our home on Thursdays) and
so this is us before Bible study began. It was fun to share a little glimpse of
what we do here and also thankful to be encouraged by her friendship.