Happy Thanksgiving!
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, friends and yummy food!
Here in Spain they do not celebrate Thanksgiving but at the kids school they did talk about the holiday during their English classes. Alec came home from school with a turkey picture that he colored! And Lynsey said they watched last years Macy's Day Parade!
We celebrated Thanksgviving on Friday because the kids get out school earlier that day. We actually picked them up 2 hours before school was finished which made them very happy. They did not have to eat the school food on Friday---I know they were very THANKFUL for that!!! Yes, the food still continues to be a big topic at our house, but never-the-less they are surviving. Lynsey is funny because many days she will ask me "Is fish good for you", or "Are beans good for you", etc.. She says it better be good for her if she has to eat it! It is funny how she now appreciates my cooking!
Shopping for Thanksgiving food was a lot of work this year and quite interesting. Pumpkins, canned pumpkins, canned sweet potatoes, marshmallows, cranberry sauce, and pies were no were to be found! We almost did not have a turkey but Dave perservered and at 10:00pm Thursday night he finally found a turkey in an English store in Malaga . They only had two turkeys in their store so we were THANKFUL that we were able to eat turkey this year!
We celebrated Thanksgiving at our home with some missionary friends from our church and their son Effy. Effy was in town for a week and wanted a traditonal thanksgiving meal. He is a student at a University in Chicago and plays on the school soccer team. He is going to try out for the Chicago Fire which is a pro MLS soccer team. Of course the boys thought that was really cool! Our friends are from Columbia originally but have lived all over the world including Chicago. Since they have lived in the U.S they often celebrate Thanksgiving and asked if we wanted to celebrate with them because they knew the Spanish people would not be having a turkey meal.
Our kids were excited to help prepare the meal and get everything ready before our guest arrived. The younger boys get so excited when we entertain which makes it fun for us adults. Lynsey was a big help with the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoe casserole (we used the real ones!) and homemade noodles.
I woke up Friday morning thinking about "home" and wishing I were there instead of here. I woke from a dream that I was back in Indy and was shopping in an American store. In the dream I was so happy because I could talk to the sales lady and and all the prices were in dollars not Euros! I miss my family, friends and some of the simplest things...like a large hot water heater! However, I am so THANKFUL that we celebrated Thanksgiving because it did make it seem a little more like home. And of course once again we all ate way too much food! Little Alec kept going back for more---he was so happy to have a hearty American meal!
Our thankful list is very full this year---with all of you taking up much of the room. There is so much that God had done for us and continues to do. We are THANKFUL for our safety here and the people God has put in our path. Even though I really like it here I am THANKFUL that we get to return to the States, to our family, friends and our own home.
Last week we were blessed by visitors from the States. Bill and Vi Goodrich stopped here for a few days before heading to the Ukraine. We toured them around Malaga, Nerja, and they attended a Malaga professional futbol game with us and several other friends. Bill also met with the leaders of the church and gave the sermon on Sunday. We were all THANKFUL to hear a sermon in English. Vi and I were able to sit by the beach and enjoy coffeee, fellowship and sunshine! The weather was wonderful during their trip here which always makes the time more enjoyable. Our kids were thrilled to have visitors and had fun showing them their school and our home. We were all sad when they were gone but so THANKFUL they stopped by to see us! We are so excited for our next visitors---Our Best friends, The Rosners! The kids are driving me nuts asking how many days until they will be here! We are so THANKFUL that they were able to get their passport issues resolved and will be celebrating Christmas with us!.
Dave has been very busy working at the church and the coffee shop/cafe. I will post photos when the furniture is placed and it is open for business. The church is also used as community center so the coffee shop will be a great opportunity and outreach to share the message of Christ to those using the facility.
We are very pleased and excited that Lynsey, Joshua and Alec have had great reports form their teachers. Joshua's teachers were amazed how much he already comprehends in Spanish. Lynsey is working hard and Alec teaches me a new word or two everyday. We have decided to pull Ethan out of school and try homeschooling the last semester we are here. We feel good about the decision as he will be able to keep up on his American studies. He has joined a running club in Nerja with a friend from church and he will coninue with basketball at school. Lynsey has decided to run as well because she still is not able to play in her basketball games due to the federation ruling. Ethan will also be working and serving a few times a week at our church. He will take spanish lessons at church with a group of American college students who are coming to serve at the church here for six months. So any prayers with this endeavor would be greatly appreciated ! We hope this will be a blessing in disguise and not the death of us!!
We are planning a trip to London and Paris from December 6th to the 12th. We have a packed and crazy itinerary so I have been consumed with making all the plans. Please pray for a safe trip and that we would all enjoy one another and the sites of England.
We are starting to get ready for the Christmas season even though it is warm here! The stores are putting up decorations but I don't think people decorate their homes here. We will have to wait and see. Dave and the boys purchased a $20.00 christmas tree and we decorated it a few days ago. They had fun finding the decorations at a little chinese store down by the beach. We laughed at the scrawny tree because as you can see in the photo it is missing limbs on the bottom half! However, it gets the job done and does make our home feel like christmas is coming. Lynsey wants cold weather to come so it will seem like christmas! We all thinks she is crazy!
We have enjoyed hearing from many of you. We appreciate your efforts in keeping us updated and a part of your lives. We are THANKFUL for you!
And we are THANKFUL for a God that loves us so much that he would send his only Son, to die for us... so that we would have life! Can you imagine doing such a thing...I cannot even concieve of giving one of my sons! but God did! And if we accept this free gift, realizing that we need a savior, and believe that God raised him from the dead we will have eternal life. Now that is something to be THANKFUL for!!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Until next time,
Much love to you all,
Dave, Karen and Kids
Scroll down for more photos! (I am still working on new photos for this post, so check back later as well)
Biking in the Sintra mountains and along the coast of Portugal. Beautiful scenery and fun with friends!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Hola!
We are finally back in the world! So sorry for our long delay in updating this blog. We have had no internet at home for the last few weeks---which has been a real challenge. So where do I begin in catching you up on the last month. There's so much to share and not enough time or space on this blog.
But here we go....
Well Dave and I have now become official coffee drinkers! I can say that because a day without a cafe con leche is just not a good day! Here in Spain there are no Starbucks or drive throughs where you can grab a coffee on the go. It is the experience of sitting by the beach or in a cafe with a real coffee cup and enjoying the people you are with. Not to say that we don't ever do that back in the States but it seems to be a everyday occurence for the people here. And of course the serving is only a cup (8 ounces), not a huge serving like in the States. Even though we have become coffee drinkers we have not become smokers. However, I was offered my first cigarrette the other day. A gentleman held out his cigarette pack and offered me a smoke--a polite thing to do here in Spain. I am sure I had a dumb-founded look on my face, but I did reply "No Gracias." Dave was with me so he can vouch for the offer!
Dave and the boys are at a Malaga futbol (soccer) game as I write this. We have season tickets and the game tonight did not start until 10:00 pm! The first game we saw was against Real Madrid! If you are a soccer fan that will mean something to you. Lynsey and I joined the boys for that game. It was very fun to experience the Spanish culture and their love of futbol. My camera was not working the night of the Madrid game so we have no photos, which was a bummer! We are looking forward to watching Barcelona play in May. If this soccer experience does not make Ethan happy I don't know what will---well besides a ticket back to the U.S!
The kids are busy with school and sports and have all made a few friends. I am learning a lot of Spanish because I have to frequently help the kids with their homework. We have to use an English-Spanish dictionary to figure out what the assignment is, let alone how to complete it. Joshua is adapting to the math work as they do division and many other skills differently. All the kids have math class in Spanish and this is probably one of the biggest differences that I did not anticipate. Ethan is completing a saxon algebra cd math course at home so that he will be on track when we return to the States. Lynsey will start a pre-algebra program at home as well. Lynsey has had to do many presentations for her class. She seems to really like and do well with these. She even had to speak in Spanish for one of her presentations! Alec is doing great and full of himself! Very confident and is always asking me if I know what a word means, as if to one up me!
We have had good reports and conferences with all the kids teachers. Except Ethan is still refusing to embrace this experience and is not giving his best effort. The teachers tell us that the students love Ethan and they all want to help him so they speak to him in English! Unfortunatley, this has not helped Ethan learn the Spanish language. We know that Ethan is just "doing his time" but we pray he decides to engage more in his school work and in the language. A recent praise is that he won a race last weeknd in Rincon where we live. He ran against several triatheletes so he did have some good competition. He received his first Spanish trophy and it was good to see him smile! He was supposedly in the local paper for winning--- we are trying to get a copy of the paper. Currently Lynsey is unable to compete in her basketball games because the federation is not wanting to let girls play on the boys team. This has not been a problem for the school in the past so we are praying this gets resolved in her favor. She is still practicing with the team though.
Dave has been very busy at church with the community center. He is helping to start up a coffee shop and they are almost ready to open. Thank goodness---because Dave and I need more coffee! He is also helping in other areas as well. We can't say enough good things about the people of the church here. So many nice and welcoming families who are faithful in their christian walk. I have attended several women's bible studies and have been blessed by the ladies and the teaching. It can be fustrating because I have to ask for translations if I want to really understand what is being said. I can't really converse with the ladies as I would in English but I have still enjoyed the studies. One thing I have learned is to go to the study about one hour later than the time listed. The ladies start showing up 30 to 60 minutes after the designated time and they really don't even start the lesson then. Once you learn how it works it is okay, you just plan on arriving at a later time! I will post pictures of the coffee shop and ladies from church on the next blog.
If you remember on an earlier blog I talked about the difficulties of merging onto the autovia here in Spain. I believe I said I had figured it out---well I was wrong! Yes, I had my first and hopefully last car accident here in Spain. I ran into the driver in front of me. She stopped because she could not merge. Of course I had the kids with me and they were all talking etc... Anyways, the lady I hit was a very nice French women. Her husband was equally as nice and we ended up not turning in the damage to insurance but had it fixed on our own. Of course it was my fault so we paid for both. In the end I guess we were blessed since we were all okay and the couple I hit were very understanding.
On a brighter topic...The weather here has been amazing---sunny and and in the high 70's-low 80's. The temperature does drop quite a bit in the evening and morning. We were able to see some autumn colors on a recent trip to Italy, which reminded us of the fall in Indiana.
We are anxious to have visitors from the U.S and are praying for all the plans to work out for those who are coming. This weekend Bill and Vi Goodrich, the pastor from Horizon Church will be here visiting. They are on their way to the Ukraine and are stopping here until Wednesday. I am excited because Bill will be preaching this Sunday at the church we attend. It will be nice to here a sermon in English! We are also anxouis for the arrival of the Stayton family, also from Horizon church. They are planning to move here for at least 2 years to serve in the same church as us. Please keep them in your prayers as they are waiting on paperwork before they can come over.
Trip to Italy
Several weeks ago we flew to Venice, Italy. We stayed in a little town outside of Venice which was lovely. We were amazed at all the people on bicycles---both old and young. All had baskets on the front of their bikes for carrying bread or other items. These people were not tourist but people who lived there who rode their bikes as a normal part of life. Women and men were nicely dressed as they rode their bikes to the bank, to the bakery, to work, etc... a fun sight for us to see. We loved Venice-- the food, the gondalas, the street artists, the shops, the churches and of course all the water. From Venice we drove to the town of Verona to see the balcony of Romeo and Juliet. The movie "Letters from Juliet" was filmed at this balcony so we just had to stop and see it. A very touristy thing to do, but glad we did. After Verona, on the same day, we headed to the town of Pisa. We were pleasantly surprised at how awesome the Leaning Tower of Pisa was---we were not expecting such a sight. All of us except Lynsey climbed the tower. It was one of the best things we have done so far. The boys all really liked it. Ethan actually came to life during this event! The slant of the tower is very significant, so as you are climbing up it is a strange sensation. The constructiuon of the Tower began in 1174 and after only three floors were constructed it was already leaning. Construction ceased on the Tower for over 90 years due to battles and war. You can google the Tower if you want to learn more--- it is quite interesting. Lots of great photo opportunites at the top. From Pisa we headed on to Rome. The drive from Venice to Rome was about 7 hours but the stops in the towns along the way helped. We spent 2 days in Rome. We did not drive our car in Rome, instead we had to use the metro (subway) and buses. This in itself was an experience. We saw many sights in Rome and will post some photos here on the blog. We ended up using a tour group to see the Colosseum because the lines were so long we would have had to wait for hours just to get in. We also took a tour of the Sistine Chapel and were able to see the work of Michael Angelo. We saw his famous "Last Judgement" mural done over the altar. The chapel was packed with people so it was difficult to really appreciate the art. Rome was impressive but very crowded. We could not really see the Spanish Steps because so many people were covering them! Trevi Fountain was nice but again so many people everywhere. Vatican City was very grand but no sighting of the Pope. Dave and I both really enjoyed the buildings and history of Rome but the kids were done after one or two sites. Even with the hassles of Rome it was still well worth the trip. I think if we went again it would be much easier because it takes a day or two just to learn your way around the city.
Okay I think that about covers it for now. We are hoping to take a trip the second week of December to Paris and England because the kids have a few days off from school. It is exciting to visit these awsome places and learn so much history. However, it is a lot of work and planning with four kids! The photos don't always show the reality of a trip! Sometimes we think we must be nuts! We know in the end it is always worth it.
If you have not emailed us lately please do and update us on what is going on back home in your life.
I am now on Facebook but have not really figured out how to manuever around the site yet. I will continue this blog so check here for more detailed updates.
Thank you for all your prayers and know that you are in ours as well.
Scroll down for more photos!
Until next time,
Love,
Dave, Karen, and family
We are finally back in the world! So sorry for our long delay in updating this blog. We have had no internet at home for the last few weeks---which has been a real challenge. So where do I begin in catching you up on the last month. There's so much to share and not enough time or space on this blog.
But here we go....
Well Dave and I have now become official coffee drinkers! I can say that because a day without a cafe con leche is just not a good day! Here in Spain there are no Starbucks or drive throughs where you can grab a coffee on the go. It is the experience of sitting by the beach or in a cafe with a real coffee cup and enjoying the people you are with. Not to say that we don't ever do that back in the States but it seems to be a everyday occurence for the people here. And of course the serving is only a cup (8 ounces), not a huge serving like in the States. Even though we have become coffee drinkers we have not become smokers. However, I was offered my first cigarrette the other day. A gentleman held out his cigarette pack and offered me a smoke--a polite thing to do here in Spain. I am sure I had a dumb-founded look on my face, but I did reply "No Gracias." Dave was with me so he can vouch for the offer!
Dave and the boys are at a Malaga futbol (soccer) game as I write this. We have season tickets and the game tonight did not start until 10:00 pm! The first game we saw was against Real Madrid! If you are a soccer fan that will mean something to you. Lynsey and I joined the boys for that game. It was very fun to experience the Spanish culture and their love of futbol. My camera was not working the night of the Madrid game so we have no photos, which was a bummer! We are looking forward to watching Barcelona play in May. If this soccer experience does not make Ethan happy I don't know what will---well besides a ticket back to the U.S!
The kids are busy with school and sports and have all made a few friends. I am learning a lot of Spanish because I have to frequently help the kids with their homework. We have to use an English-Spanish dictionary to figure out what the assignment is, let alone how to complete it. Joshua is adapting to the math work as they do division and many other skills differently. All the kids have math class in Spanish and this is probably one of the biggest differences that I did not anticipate. Ethan is completing a saxon algebra cd math course at home so that he will be on track when we return to the States. Lynsey will start a pre-algebra program at home as well. Lynsey has had to do many presentations for her class. She seems to really like and do well with these. She even had to speak in Spanish for one of her presentations! Alec is doing great and full of himself! Very confident and is always asking me if I know what a word means, as if to one up me!
We have had good reports and conferences with all the kids teachers. Except Ethan is still refusing to embrace this experience and is not giving his best effort. The teachers tell us that the students love Ethan and they all want to help him so they speak to him in English! Unfortunatley, this has not helped Ethan learn the Spanish language. We know that Ethan is just "doing his time" but we pray he decides to engage more in his school work and in the language. A recent praise is that he won a race last weeknd in Rincon where we live. He ran against several triatheletes so he did have some good competition. He received his first Spanish trophy and it was good to see him smile! He was supposedly in the local paper for winning--- we are trying to get a copy of the paper. Currently Lynsey is unable to compete in her basketball games because the federation is not wanting to let girls play on the boys team. This has not been a problem for the school in the past so we are praying this gets resolved in her favor. She is still practicing with the team though.
Dave has been very busy at church with the community center. He is helping to start up a coffee shop and they are almost ready to open. Thank goodness---because Dave and I need more coffee! He is also helping in other areas as well. We can't say enough good things about the people of the church here. So many nice and welcoming families who are faithful in their christian walk. I have attended several women's bible studies and have been blessed by the ladies and the teaching. It can be fustrating because I have to ask for translations if I want to really understand what is being said. I can't really converse with the ladies as I would in English but I have still enjoyed the studies. One thing I have learned is to go to the study about one hour later than the time listed. The ladies start showing up 30 to 60 minutes after the designated time and they really don't even start the lesson then. Once you learn how it works it is okay, you just plan on arriving at a later time! I will post pictures of the coffee shop and ladies from church on the next blog.
If you remember on an earlier blog I talked about the difficulties of merging onto the autovia here in Spain. I believe I said I had figured it out---well I was wrong! Yes, I had my first and hopefully last car accident here in Spain. I ran into the driver in front of me. She stopped because she could not merge. Of course I had the kids with me and they were all talking etc... Anyways, the lady I hit was a very nice French women. Her husband was equally as nice and we ended up not turning in the damage to insurance but had it fixed on our own. Of course it was my fault so we paid for both. In the end I guess we were blessed since we were all okay and the couple I hit were very understanding.
On a brighter topic...The weather here has been amazing---sunny and and in the high 70's-low 80's. The temperature does drop quite a bit in the evening and morning. We were able to see some autumn colors on a recent trip to Italy, which reminded us of the fall in Indiana.
We are anxious to have visitors from the U.S and are praying for all the plans to work out for those who are coming. This weekend Bill and Vi Goodrich, the pastor from Horizon Church will be here visiting. They are on their way to the Ukraine and are stopping here until Wednesday. I am excited because Bill will be preaching this Sunday at the church we attend. It will be nice to here a sermon in English! We are also anxouis for the arrival of the Stayton family, also from Horizon church. They are planning to move here for at least 2 years to serve in the same church as us. Please keep them in your prayers as they are waiting on paperwork before they can come over.
Trip to Italy
Several weeks ago we flew to Venice, Italy. We stayed in a little town outside of Venice which was lovely. We were amazed at all the people on bicycles---both old and young. All had baskets on the front of their bikes for carrying bread or other items. These people were not tourist but people who lived there who rode their bikes as a normal part of life. Women and men were nicely dressed as they rode their bikes to the bank, to the bakery, to work, etc... a fun sight for us to see. We loved Venice-- the food, the gondalas, the street artists, the shops, the churches and of course all the water. From Venice we drove to the town of Verona to see the balcony of Romeo and Juliet. The movie "Letters from Juliet" was filmed at this balcony so we just had to stop and see it. A very touristy thing to do, but glad we did. After Verona, on the same day, we headed to the town of Pisa. We were pleasantly surprised at how awesome the Leaning Tower of Pisa was---we were not expecting such a sight. All of us except Lynsey climbed the tower. It was one of the best things we have done so far. The boys all really liked it. Ethan actually came to life during this event! The slant of the tower is very significant, so as you are climbing up it is a strange sensation. The constructiuon of the Tower began in 1174 and after only three floors were constructed it was already leaning. Construction ceased on the Tower for over 90 years due to battles and war. You can google the Tower if you want to learn more--- it is quite interesting. Lots of great photo opportunites at the top. From Pisa we headed on to Rome. The drive from Venice to Rome was about 7 hours but the stops in the towns along the way helped. We spent 2 days in Rome. We did not drive our car in Rome, instead we had to use the metro (subway) and buses. This in itself was an experience. We saw many sights in Rome and will post some photos here on the blog. We ended up using a tour group to see the Colosseum because the lines were so long we would have had to wait for hours just to get in. We also took a tour of the Sistine Chapel and were able to see the work of Michael Angelo. We saw his famous "Last Judgement" mural done over the altar. The chapel was packed with people so it was difficult to really appreciate the art. Rome was impressive but very crowded. We could not really see the Spanish Steps because so many people were covering them! Trevi Fountain was nice but again so many people everywhere. Vatican City was very grand but no sighting of the Pope. Dave and I both really enjoyed the buildings and history of Rome but the kids were done after one or two sites. Even with the hassles of Rome it was still well worth the trip. I think if we went again it would be much easier because it takes a day or two just to learn your way around the city.
Okay I think that about covers it for now. We are hoping to take a trip the second week of December to Paris and England because the kids have a few days off from school. It is exciting to visit these awsome places and learn so much history. However, it is a lot of work and planning with four kids! The photos don't always show the reality of a trip! Sometimes we think we must be nuts! We know in the end it is always worth it.
If you have not emailed us lately please do and update us on what is going on back home in your life.
I am now on Facebook but have not really figured out how to manuever around the site yet. I will continue this blog so check here for more detailed updates.
Thank you for all your prayers and know that you are in ours as well.
Scroll down for more photos!
Until next time,
Love,
Dave, Karen, and family
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