Steve and Jenny Valentine

April 8 - We have great neighbors. This couple has been a joy to get to know and we are glad for their friendship and how they love on our kiddos too. Steve often goes to their house for coffee and will on occasion take the kiddos with him, Olivia (as you see) really enjoys their dog. April 9 - You may wonder why we have a picture of a bare (well nearly bare) tree...Spring, that's why. It's finally arrived here in Poland and we couldn't be more excited! Buds are popping out all over the place on trees and bushes and the weather is finally warming up (sporadicly). April 10 - Steve speaking with some visitors from the States at Poznan International Church. It's a joy to have people come from the States and be a part of the International Church and share encouragement to the people of PIC. April 11 - As you can see, potty training is in full swing with our youngest, and it has become a family affair! Haha.  April 12 - With Spring, comes rain and bugs. Our...

April 1- This is Makayla, Karis' sweet friend. They became fast friends when we moved here and have many things in common, which is why we think they bonded so quickly. They are both MK's who have dads that are pastors, both have a back for being very silly (as you can see here) and both born in August (just two weeks apart). We are thankful for their friendship and for a spontaneous movie date today. April 2-Had a long overdue conversation with a sweet friend from back home. Those moments always lift our spirits and bring much joy. As we talked, this was the view from our bed, unfolded laundry (ha) and a world map. The map is from our commissioning ceremony back in the states and if you look closely will see notes written all over it from our friends back home in Florida. This is my favorite part of the room decor and I love walking by and reading the encouraging words written all over the map.  April 3-Warmer weather means we can finally h...

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 th...

March 11-Batman Bear was ready to bust out of the hospital as much as Steve and Isaac were...and they came home this day and we are happy that Isaac has made a full recovery! March 12-These three were VERY happy to be back together again. March 13-We were tired from the past couple weeks of sickness and had some early nights to bed and tried to rest and get our own energy back after several weeks of sickness around our home.  March 14 - Lots of catch up to do on homework for language class as we missed several classes.  March 15 - Getting our guest bed ready for a two week visit from our sweet Florida friend! March 16 - The kids were SOOO excited to go to the airport and await the arrival of our friend from Florida. This was a sweet moment and I was just as happy to hug her too! Our kids love Larinda and she is affectionately known as "rinda or Aunt rinda" around here. She has loved on our family since we first met her and our kids adore he...

March 4-Both of our older two kids attend Polish speaking schools. Isaac's is more of a day care type school and they do fun preschool type activities. Karis' school includes different subjects such as basic writing letters, religious education and English class. Of course her main goal at this point is trying to understand and learn Polish as best she can. Next year she moves up to class one and that will allow for the opportunity for her to have a language helper, but now she is figuring things out as they come. And honestly, she is doing great picking up on things. When her teacher sends home notes, it's all in Polish and that leaves us to figure out what she needs to bring or be prepared for the next day or week. Sometimes she types the messages, and that helps, but other times (more often) they are hand written and it's hard for us to figure it out many times. With the help of google translate, we make sense of many of the notes, but there are a l...

February 26-Isaac headed to school with treats to share with his classmates. Here in Poland it is a big deal to celebrate your "Name" day but birthdays are special too. In class, kids can share treats with their classmates they bring. He was so excited to do this and had fun when all the kids sang "Sto Lat" to him, which is what is sung to you on your birthday here. February 27-Today was Isaac's 4th birthday and one of his gifts was a batman costume.  He has worn it every day since getting this (with the exception of this past week where he was in the hospital-more pictures about the week in the hospital to come in the next blog post). His name means "laughter" and he embodies the meaning of his name! He is our family jokester, witty, caring and tender hearted. He is extroverted and learning how to express himself in a new culture in light of this. He is a rambunctious little boy and we couldn't imagine life without him!  ...