Steve and Jenny Valentine

Today is my grandmother's birthday. This is a big deal. Today she celebrates 93 full and amazing years here on earth. My grandma is a special lady (more on that in a minute) and the only grandparent I ever knew (long story for another time). I often think it's amazing that my kids get to know all four of their grandparents, and we cherish the moments when we are all together. The past couple of years have been a bit up and down for my grandma in regard to her health and honestly I hate being across the world during this time and also a bit envious when my brothers and cousins get to visit her when they are able (so all y'all give her a hug when you see her next for me!) It's never easy being apart from family, but especially when one is ill. So I write, because it's what I can do...no she's not going to be on Facebook reading the link to our blog, but I know my mom will gladly call her and read this to her. So grandma, here is my birthday present to you! Dea...

June 24 - Karis' last day of Zerowka (kindergarten) They had a fun little ceremony where the kids sang songs and each had a line to speak in front of the entire class and parents (Karis practiced her line and was so proud of herself, despite being very nervous, and we are so proud of her too! She has come a long way in her language learning). The kids also got little diplomas and a gift as an end of the year reward. Here is Karis with her teacher after the ceremony. June 25 - Over this past year we have built some really neat friendships with people from all over the world through the international church. This day, we had the joy of celebrating the new baby of our sweet friend Renee. She has been an amazing encouragement to Jenny since arriving in Poland and we are thankful for her and had were honored to help them welcome their firstborn son into the world with a cute baby shower. And how fun is this cake, the cakes made here are usually filled with things, like fruit, nu...

June 17 - The kids were happy to hear that there is a Dunkin' Donuts in Berlin and so of course vacation had to include these colorful donuts! We actually had Dunkin' Donuts twice in a 24 hour span (as we let the kids have it the day before when we arrived in Berlin on our little walking tour). They pretty much concluded that Germany is the best...because it has Dunkin' Donuts, ha! June 18 - So we spent the majority of our vacation days at a place just south of Berlin called Tropical Island. I know you may be thinking, this just looks like a huge airport hanger or something, well you would be (partially) right. This massive structure was built to house blimps...and we found out is the largest free standing structure in the world. They had a small scale inside that showed you could lay down the Eiffel Tower down on it's side inside this and there was still a little room on both ends. It's huge. We were amazed by it's "big-ness" overtime we drove...