Steve and Jenny Valentine

Almost two months ago now, we crossed the one year mark of living in Poland. I've wanted to write an update about where we are at (emotionally) as we passed this one year mark of living cross culturally and so many thoughts have gone through my head that I just haven't been able to sort through them all; the memories, emotions and lessons learned into one pretty little blog post. All these things just keep swirling around in my mind. So I have attempted to do my best at narrowing it down to blog post length and not a novel-because believe me, we could probably write a novel at this point about our experience in the first year here! So here are some things we would say... We have learned a lot . A LOT! About Poland, the people who live here, the language (oh the language), about ourselves and mostly about how much God loves and cares for people. We find that it's important for our family to keep some type of routine in traditions (ie. family movie night each week, etc...

August 6 - Sometimes we have a hard time sleeping and on occasion will find ourselves surfing the web and we enjoy catching up on what are friends are doing around the world. We can't help but giggle at this meme and please pass the XL coffee!  August 7 - Have we mentioned our amazing neighbor who brings us treats? Haha, yes I think we have. He is from Belgium and always brings back the most tasty treats. This, my friends, tasted much like the chocolate covered donuts we used to eat as kids. Delish! August 8 - I got this picture in a text from Steve that said, "moving in Poland is different!" haha! He was helping some friends move from one flat to the other and this is how they transported the big items. And then carried up several flights of stairs...quite the work out! August 9 - This isn't the best picture, but meet Roma. She is a blessing from God to me and I'm excited that God brought her to Poland for studies (and to be our fri...

July 23 - We often find our children sleeping in odd positions...Isaac the most. I guess if you're gonna move to the floor, take your blanket with you to keep warm. Don't worry we moved him back to the bed after taking this picture! July 24 - Karis has taken an interest in learning how to play the piano. She will often ask mommy how to play something or she will listen to songs and then come find us to play what she learned by just listening to the song. She even creates her own "music" to remember the notes that she heard from the song (like pictured here). It's pretty cool to see her get excited about music. July 25 - Steve had a kid date at the park today. July 26 - View from a bridge where Steve runs. This is a favorite place of his where he finds moments to clear his mind and connect with our Creator God. July 27 - This is what happens when you let kids run wild on a hot summer day, haha! JULY 28 - It was bound to happen at l...

July 8 - Steve at a discipleship training with other area pastors in Poznan. July 9 - Roma (a new friend of ours) reading to the kids. As summer winds down and a new wave of internationals enter town, we look forward to all that God has in store for Poznan International Church. July 10 - As Jenny taught children's class on Sunday morning, she turns to hear Karis say, "my tooth fell out!" and not even a minute later, one of the other kids in class had a tooth fall out! Haha, it was a busy Sunday morning in kids class! This is Karis' first tooth she has lost and was so proud to display her one less tooth grin! July 11 - On a night out near Stary Rynek here in town, this is one of the streets leading up to the main square. It's a beautiful part of town that we enjoy going down to and every time I feel like we notice something new we hadn't seen before. This is for sure a favorite place of ours to go. July 12-We had the grill out...

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...