Mason City Friends

After Christmas, we enjoyed having our friends from Mason City come visit. It was a lot of fun for our family.

Our kids got a lot of personal attention which they loved!

Alex and Urban

Holly and Asher reading books together:

We enjoyed lots of laughs together, good conversation, games, and were greatly encouraged to have them travel all this way. Thanks Alex, Holly, & Scott!

More Fun Outdoors

As fast as the snow came yesterday, it is almost gone, leaving our playground full of big, messy puddles. This is equally as fun as snow for the boys!

Snowy Day

It has been unusually snowy here lately. We've been told that usually winters are really mild here, but I guess we brought winter with us when we moved. My language tutor said it hasn't snowed this much in years.

To my son's delight it continues to snow. We enjoyed some time outside today. The snow was perfect for making a snowman so we did make a little one.

Enjoying the Park

Our apartment complex has a small park right outside. The boys have loved going outside to play.

The weather has been unusually cold here recently, but the boys are still happy to be out.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

We have a slight obsession with cars, trains, and planes in our house these days. Asher and Urban love about anything with wheels.

In the current city we live in there is several malls with kids' play centers that have all of these small rides/games for a small fee. I really don't like these play centers. It is over stimulation for small children and usually ends up with one or both of my children crying because we aren't going to go there or because it is time to leave. Despite my feelings towards these places, my boys love them because they have a lot of cars you can "ride" in. So we have gone a few times and have had a fun time watching them have a blast. :)

Asher loves Lightning McQueen, so this is his favorite.

The boys riding together:

We took a little train ride that rode around the mall.

Christmas 2011

Ok, I'm finally getting to Christmas! We enjoyed a quiet Christmas in our new apartment this year. Despite, the crazy Fall we had, we were able to get our tree up and continue some of our regular traditions as a family.

The boys helped decorate cookies this year.

Christmas morning we opened up some gifts.

Asher and Urban got some hot wheels cars and a road carpet from Nana and Popi. This has been a lot of fun for them.

Bucharest, Romania

In late November, for various reasons, we needed to make a quick exit of the country to renew our visa. The closest country with the cheapest airfare was to Bucharest, Romania. We felt like this was a God thing, because we have a friend that lives there. Less than 48 hours later, we were on a plane to Romania to stay with our friend Bambi for the weekend. It was a really encouraging, refreshing weekend. We enjoyed catching up, eating new foods, and seeing different architecture than what we are used to.

Behind us is the People's Palace of Romania:

We visited an Orthodox church:

A view of the old part of the city:

Enjoying some Romanian food with our friend, Bambi.

It was an unexpected trip, but ended up being a real blessing for us!

Nana Visits

I'm really behind in updating our blog. It has been a crazy few months, but I'm going to try and catch up a bit.

In November, Nana came to visit us in Adana where we were temporarily living. This really was a huge blessing for all of us. Reed was going to be gone most of the time, so she was a big help and good company. I think the Lord knew that particular week I was going to need someone around for support. This happened to be the week of the 2nd earthquake that Reed experienced and it was really difficult to be apart during that time.

Our time consisted of taking the kids to the park each day, reading books at the house, and getting a lot of good Nana time.

There was a train that went around this park:

Asher and Urban enjoyed splashing in the fountain:

Our family: Asher was mid sneeze.

Nana, Reed, and Urban

Nana and the boys:

Reading books together:

We took Asher to the zip zip (aka trampoline). He loves it!

It was special blessing to have this time with Nana!

Moving

We're moving! We got our things out of our place and are temporarily moving to another city about 5 hours away. Reed found a moving company to pack up our things. It was delivered to our new place today. Reed has been working hard these days packing, finding an apartment for us, and now unpacking everything. The kids and I will finally join him this weekend. I asked Reed to take a few pictures since I can't be there.

Our moving truck with all our stuff:

Packing up:

Unloading our stuff at our new place: The movers loaded and unloaded everything from the balcony using a lift.

We will miss our city and old house, but are excited to have a place again to call home.

Shelters

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust".

Psalm 91: 1-2

These temporary shelters are being put up for the people remaining in our city. These shelters have insulation and are supposed to be able to last up to 5 years. They have electricity run to each one so that people can run heaters to stay warm. The weather there is quite cold right now. It is hard to imagine having to bear these conditions through the winter. Please continue to pray for these people that their physical needs would be met. Also pray that they would come to dwell in the shelter of the Most High.