The Caldwell Journey...

Yay for technology!

2012-01-27T23:00:00.000+01:00

This webcam photo is from last Fall, but it's just one of those pics I look at often because it just makes me so thankful for technology (my dad & youngest brother are missing from this pic.). I miss them all so much. My g'parents are so cool... they are in their early 80's and are very up to date with how to keep in touch with family!

My family is very accustomed to being physically far from each other (if you're new here... I grew up in Asia from 2 yrs. till high school graduation). Honestly, we don't really like it, but it's just the way it is for us. So our times together are that much more special. But when you're living a life you believe God is leading you to live, then you find a peace that passes all understanding.

If you're blessed to be living near family... appreciate it.

Last fall my grandparents also did something incredible... something I pray that God grants me & Danny.... a 60th wedding anniversary!! I'm so proud to have them and my parents (going on 36 years of marriage) as well as Danny's parents to have as examples of going thru life together side by side.

Is this photo not awesome?!?

We love you, Papa & Grama!!!

"Keep Breathing"

2012-01-23T23:12:00.000+01:00

I've been singing this song all week. A few people on my mind and Danny & I are waiting in anticipation to see how God is going to just bring it all to show His sovereignty! I just pray that they keep breathing and holding on to God. The Devil is not at all happy, we can see battles going on all around. If you would... pray for these people. Pray for us. We need strength and wisdom.

Heard 'round here..

2012-01-20T22:59:00.000+01:00

This post will be more entertaining for our families that don't get to see their g'kids, nephews/niece, & cousins. But others might get a good chuckle too.

Gracie (pointing to something): "deesa one". Translates: "I want that one."

"Guys!!! Heeeere!" (loves when brothers come home from school)

Gracie walks into the kitchen and says: "heeet me" (hit me) a few times. I follow her into the living room where she says it again while pointing to a brother. It happened once and brother got in trouble a week or so ago. She now uses it as a way to get what she wants... she wants a toy that a brother might be holding... she comes in and says "hit me". Knowing we'll go check it out... but that trick was short lived... brothers can talk a lot more than she can right now ;)

She repeats everything! I really can't get over how her speech has just really taken off as of late. It's amazing (yes, she's our 3rd, but I'm always amazed at how kids absorb the world around them!) to see her observe a conversation between me & Danny or the boys and find a phrase she likes and then say it perfectly is hilarious and scary. I guess I'm partly intrigued because I don't recall the boys speaking as clearly or having as big a vocab as she does at this age.

I went to check on the kids after they had been in bed for a couple of hours to make sure the radiators were keeping their rooms warm and I was startled when Nate sat up and said, "I'm so frustrated." (I didn't really want to hear the whining that I was sure was coming next about how he didn't get to have a light to read or that they didn't get to watch a movie, etc.) So when I half-heartedly asked "Why?" His answer made it hard to not laugh out loud and wake up Micah on the bottom bunk! Nate says as serious and frustrated as can be, "I can not whistle!"

Lately, Micah has been a much grumpier boy during the "getting ready for school" part of our morning. Some of his reasons are as follows:

-Why do you get to stay home and play? (Yeah... that's what mom & dad do all day... we play with the laundry, office work, the dirty dishes, etc.)

-My friends don't like me. (he has plenty of friends and he is well liked... just so you don't worry about him!)

-I want to play with MY toys, not school toys.

-I'm sleepy.

-I don't like eating yogurt for breakfast. (which is actually his favorite food... he'd eat it 3x a day if I'd let him).

Never a dull moment in our house!

Chick-flicks & Football

2012-01-15T22:12:00.000+01:00

I like my fair share of "chick-flicks" and musicals. When I was a young girl, my mom & I would get our mugs of hot chocolate and get cozy on the couch and watch a movie (especially on those cool and rainy Baguio days). I'm talking about: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, White Christmas, Singin' in the Rain, Pollyanna (Danny had never even heard of this one till we married!!), My Fair Lady, The King & I, An Affair to Remember, Charade, Holiday Inn, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, House Boat, etc. Basically, if it had Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Cary Grant (random fact: that man was married 5 times... yes, 5 times! Crazy!), Deborah Kerr, Audrey Hepburn and the like, we watched them. So, I like my girlie movies and even spent the night before my wedding watching one with my bridesmaids and so, I come by it honestly.

Now, I was also raised in a house where football was watched and especially if our beloved Dallas Cowboys were playing. But I never really got into it and didn't understand all the rules so I didn't usually sit and watch for very long. But as I grew older I fell into the group (maybe stereotypical) where I would roll my eyes when guys would sit and watch football for hours and ignore the rest of the people around them (I realize this is not every guy out there and so don't get all huffy if you're a guy reading this and if you're a gal, don't get on your soapbox either).

So fast forward to 1999. The year I married my best friend. We got married in August, so that would be pre-season for you non-NFL informed. I soon realized that my new husband was planning on watching a lot of football on Sunday afternoons. We lived in a small apartment and owned one small tv. We both worked, were full-time students and were active in our church. So knowing how busy Sundays would be our homework was usually finished before then. Now what on earth was I going to do for a few hours?!? Well, I decided early on that I wanted to truly be interested in things that Danny liked. I wanted to enjoy life together. Before I knew it I was watching the games and kinda leaning forward in my seat when the Cowboys would have the ball and maybe even have that swell of pride when a touchdown was made, so I watched and asked questions (usually at appropriate times... I learned that from my Dad & brothers).

Now here we are... 12 and a half years of marriage and many football games later... we are sitting in the living room together watching the NFL Playoffs as I write this blog. I'm not saying this to make me sound good or make an interesting blog... but I really, truly enjoy watching football! There have been times I'm hollering at the tv and Danny comes rushing in the room saying "What happened?!? Wait... why am I not in here watching it instead of you?!" To make my point even clearer, I've been playing fantasy football since 2005 and if I do say so myself have had some really good seasons :)

Before you think I'm the only one showing an interest or just tootin' my own horn, I will say Danny has sat thru quite a few of my girlie movies and watched them all the way thru with me. Though you won't ever hear him admitting to liking any of them... there are a few I'd dare say he didn't hate. He takes the time to do things I like... watch chick-flicks, takes me shopping, lets me discuss a book I read (that isn't probably on his list of books to read) and helps me with my love of photography to name just a few. He makes an effort and I have taken notice.

I guess I share this with you because it's important that your spouse, who should be your best friend as well, know that you truly care about what they care about. It obviously does not have to be football, chick flicks, fishing (which I don't really mind.... so long as I'm not putting the worm on the hook or for goodness sakes the stink bait!) or reading html codes, shopping or well, whatever your spouse likes to do. I have women in my life that are wonderful friends and we share similar interests. But those friendships, as great and needed as they are at times... will and should never take the place or fill-in the missing piece of the friendship that I have with Danny.

This also could never really be more sobering a thought than watching a dear friend lose her best friend and husband. She has told me many times to treasure each moment I have with my husband. To hear other women complain, gossip about and tear down their spouse is wrong and not Biblical... it's also crushing to those women who have lost a spouse and would love to be going thru life with their best friend.

Pray that God would develop in you a deeper love and respect for the spouse he has given you. Protect your marriages. Be an example of what a couple that places God at the center of their marriage should look like to others.

If you have kids.... show them that you respect each other even when you disagree... show them how to handle conflict. Show them that God leads your home. Show them a stable home (I can't stress this enough with the week we've had counseling someone). Show them the Gospel. Show them what they should want in a spouse.

Be the spouse God created you to be for the wife/husband with whom He has blessed you to walk on this journey. Be the parents God created you to be-- to the gifts he has entrusted to your care.

Low-cal Recipes

2012-01-11T21:37:00.000+01:00

Danny & I have been trying to be conscientious about our calorie intake. Here are just a couple of recipes that we've tweaked/created on our own (I have more, but they aren't on my laptop). This dressing took a little bit to grow on me, but the few choices that are available here aren't really low in calories so Danny came up with this one.

Dill YogurtDressing

1 tsp Dried Dill - 13 calories
1/2 tsp Lemon Juice - 5 calories
1/2 tsp Vinegar - 5 calories
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder - 4.5 calories
1/4 tsp Onion Powder - 4 calories
100 g - Low-Fat Yogurt - 42 calories
1/2 Salt - 0 calories
Dash of Ground Pepper - 1 calorie

Total Calories: 65.5 Calories

Serving Size: 1 TBSP - 8 Calories

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate.

We really, really like Chinese food. Having gone to school in Springfield, Mo. the Cashew Chicken capitol... well, we get to craving it at times. But that stuff is high-cal! I'm not saying we'll never have it again (the original way), but we do want to try and come up with different ways to enjoy our favorite foods so we can have them more often. So here is our version of Cashew Chicken.

Cashew Chicken (for One)

Ingredients:

¾ cup Brown Rice - 164 Calories

70g Chicken Cubed - 106 Calories

2 cups Frozen Vegetables - 47 Calories

(Broccoli, Cauliflower & Carrots)

2 cups Frozen Carrots - 62 Calories

100g Low-Fat Yogurt - 44 Calories

1 TBL Soy Sauce - 10 Calories

1 TBL Oyster Sauce - 13 Calories

½ Chicken Bullion - 14 Calories

¼ tsp White Pepper - 2 Calories

7 Cashews Chopped - 64 Calories

½ tsp Extra Olive Oil - 19 Calories

2/3 cup Water - 0 Calories

Black Pepper, Garlic/Onion Powder to taste - 4 Calories

with mixed veges - 487 Tot. Cal.

with carrots - 502 Tot. Cal.

Directions:

Add water to wok. Heat on highest temperature setting. Once boiling add chicken and vegetables. Add black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste.

Allow to cook until most of the water has evaporated, stirring often. Add oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, cashews and white pepper. Stir well. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from burner and stir in yogurt. Serve over a bed of brown Rice.

Now, these numbers are based on the brands we get over here... but it'll give you an idea and hopefully you can find the equivalent. The yogurt is the key here... it does give it a different zing than the original recipe, but without it the calories are just too high.

No Fear! Just Belief!

2012-01-09T15:06:00.000+01:00

Yesterday my sermon came from John 14:1-20. The story takes place right at the end of Jesus' earthly life. He is imparting some final words to his disciples. He is preparing them for what is about to happen. He begins by saying don't be afraid, rather believe in God and in me (being that they are one in the same). He proceeds to share with them that he is the Way, the only means of coming to God. He is the Truth not just for some but for all. He is the Life, the source and giver of it. Outside of him there is no life.

He continues by telling his disciples that he has a great plan for their lives. They will, in fact, do greater things than Jesus himself did, not greater than what he accomplished on the cross, but that they would physically carry the message of what he accomplished on the cross further that Jesus himself physically did. We also have that great privilege.

Next he tells them, that even though he is leaving, they will not be disconnected from him. He shares with them two great gifts that God has given us all. First, we have access to God through prayer. Just as the disciples could talk with Jesus before his death, they would be able to do so after his ascension. Secondly, he said, even though I am physically leaving I am not leaving you alone like an orphan. The then told them about the Holy Spirit, which is in fact Jesus living in us as he describes in John 14:20. Jesus is in God (as he is God). Believers are in him (through faith). He is in believers (in the form of the Holy Spirit).

Life in this world is not always easy. Sometimes we need to be reminded not to be afraid of what it throws at us. No matter the situation, Jesus' words of comfort to his disciples apply to our life situations as well. Don't be afraid. Don't be discouraged. Don't give up. Just believe in Jesus (John 14:1). We need nothing else. There is nothing else. There's only Jesus. Stop trusting what you can do and believe what he has done! That is not the starting point with God. That is all there is. We walk by faith!

Video of last summer's camp

2012-01-07T21:30:00.000+01:00

Here is a glimpse of last year's Football Camp. I'm biased, I know, but our guys (Styrian Bears) are just awesome! The coaches that came were just excellent and were such an encouragement to our family and our ministry. They didn't even know us before hand and yet wanted to help us and our ministry... they were our first US visitors outside of family.

Can't wait for the next camp!

Choosing an Email Address

2012-01-06T14:38:00.000+01:00

Being that Krista and I spend a lot of time on the computer, Nathan has an increasingly growing interest in how computers and the internet work. We are able to watch movies on the computer, listen to music, video chat with family and friends and do much more. In a recent conversation with him I explained how email works. I told him that you need to pick a name for your email address and then you can use that to send and receive messages.

This is something that has apparently been occupying his thoughts as of late. Just before Christmas break I was bringing the boys home from school in the car.

Out of nowhere Nathan says, "Hey dad, I thought of an address for me."

I wasn't sure what he was talking about so I asked him to explain what he meant.

He said, "You know, so I can write to people on the computer."

I said, "Oh! What did you pick?"

His reply, "NBC.com" (His intials)

I told him that NBC.com was already taken. He said he would just pick for NBC.de (".de" being the TLD of Germany, which he obviously learned from watching TV).

Football Camp

2012-01-03T23:24:00.000+01:00

Last summer we had the opportunity to host an American football camp here in Graz. Joel Hill of The Way Sports Ministries brought a group of college coaches and a former NFL player over from the States to conduct the camp for us. We had around 30 participants, the vast majority of which, are members of the Styrian Bears, the team for which I play.

We had a great camp! The coaches put on a quality camp. They made it very clear that they have two passions in life. One is football. The other is Jesus. During each camp session the Gospel was presented. On the last day of the camp, 12 of my friends raised their hands indicating an interest in following Jesus. I can hardly describe the emotions that ran through me that day. God is awesome.

Now, six months later, we are beginning to prepare for this coming summer's camp. We are extremely excited about the opportunity to host Joel and his team again. Along with the football camp in Graz we are also discussing the possibility of hosting two other camps in Austria. We will have a firm answer in the next 10 days. We would appreciate your prayers for us in this area as God brings it to your mind.

Above is a collage that Krista made with pictures from the camp. The picture in the center is of coach Mike Cochran (SNU Head Coach). The bottom left is of Joel Hill (The Way Sports Ministries) sharing the Gospel with a group of players.

This is another collage that Krista made. The large picture is of me reading Bible verses in German as former Chicago Bear's tight end Michael Cobb shared a Bible lesson with the camp participants.

2012... oh the possibilities!

2012-01-01T22:39:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year!

We are excited about all the incredible things God has planned for us. I don't know what they are, but as one of His children I know He only wants what is best for me. Now that doesn't mean my life is going to be a walk in the park and no hardships or growing pains, but I know He is holding me and molding me... for His glory.

Please pray for us as this year will be full of activity, ministry, child-rearing, traveling, new ideas for sharing our faith and just the day to day mixed in with bumps in the road that we have yet to see.

Here's to a year of making sure my life as a wife, mom, daughter, sister, aunt, granddaughter, friend bring all honor to God.

A new look...

2011-12-28T22:03:00.000+01:00

It's time to freshen things up.

I like rearranging our house quite a bit, so I'm a bit shocked that I've not messed with our blog more, but 3 kids (one of whom has homework every. single. day), a ministry, a house to try to keep from getting buried with all the "living" we do here, being involved with our community, or just having meetings through out the week keeps me from sitting down and trying to amuse you or enlighten you with something I might've just discovered (which I'm told by my hubby isn't usually all that newly discovered... to the rest of the world).

Danny has been teaching himself to design websites for a while now and I'm so proud... all that html language makes my head spin! I found this background online, but he did all the other arranging and personalizing for me. He's working on our personal website, but with blogger I had to update it when I made changes (today), so this one is a little bit ahead of the overall new look that is-a-comin'! Yay!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-27T22:36:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas!

We had a sweet Christmas Eve service with our church group and then we were invited to spend the evening with friends--this was our 3rd year to do this. It is so sweet that this family would allow us to spend a very family oriented holiday with them. They have made us feel like family for years now and we are grateful.

Our Christmas day was a nice, quiet, relaxing time with just our little family (especially since we had been exhausted from having a long Saturday). We've been going so fast lately that it was a much needed time to just be us in our house.

Thanks for keeping up with us... we have some new stuff to show you soon! Danny's been working really hard and we're excited about the fresh new look.

Time to be Elves

2011-12-11T21:53:00.000+01:00

Here we are again... it's that time of year to have fun and laugh. The kids enjoy seeing themselves become dancing elves and we watch it over and over and..... This is also just about the only place you'll see Danny "bust-a-move"! Haha.

Born in Bethlehem

2011-12-10T13:50:00.001+01:00

...by Third Day.

One of our favorite songs/bands. I could listen to Mac Powell sing all day....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T19:47:00.001+01:00

(photo found online)

Thankful for kids

2011-11-21T21:30:00.000+01:00

These 3 precious faces make Danny & I so thankful....

Thanks to Amy C. for the photos

to have been chosen by God to be their parents.

{ Titus }

2011-11-20T22:41:00.001+01:00

This handsome fella was born back in June.... the 23rd to be specific. Everyone always has their line; "well, if he's born on such-n-such date then he'll share a birthday with my brother... or my friends' neighbor's son....or that was my due date for my 3rd child or..." you get the idea. I've been guilty of the very same thing <wink>.

But what made this particular date that God had already chosen for Titus to bless us with his presence a tad bit more memorable was that it was also the birthday of my Aunt Pam. You see, we've never met her. She was taken from this world at a young age. Though these appointments seem like coincidences, I find them as reminders of God's sovereign reign and His concern for the little details in our lives.

These types of celebrations in a family make the distance seem so much further sometimes. But I am so thankful for technology!! Danny, the kids, and I got to seem him within a few minutes of his birth. So that distance didn't seem as big when we can "sit" in the hospital room and chat with the rest of the family as if we were physically sitting there with all of them.

Matt (my bro) and Sherina are wonderful parents (of course!). We are so happy for them as they begin this fun, life altering, challenging, joyful season of life called.... parenting! Looking forward to meeting this cutie next year! We love you {Uncle} Matt, {Auntie} Reena, and {cousin} Titus!!!!!

Because I am so behind on this blog.... here are some more updated snapshots of the cutie-pa-tutie and his parents! He is 5 months old now!

A very proud Aunt,

{ Krista }

Soup in a Bread Bowl

2011-10-29T22:51:00.000+02:00

I read The Pioneer Woman's Blog... her food just looks so yummy! She takes a picture of every phase of the cooking and so it's really hard to mess up when you also have a visual. I've tried many of her recipes and they have been kid & hubby approved at our house.

A couple of days ago she blogged a soup/bread bowl recipe and though I didn't have time to make the actual recipe (but I will..... it looks delish!) I still wanted to try out the concept with the boys. My boys eat just about anything you put in front of them. Nate has a few things (yogurt, spicy stuff, broccoli) he just won't eat... he's tried them and still can't do it (and that is ok. Our rule is; try it and then if it's still a no-go then the taste-testing is done). Micah is funny.... the couple of things I can think of right now that he doesn't like are what I always thought were your average kids "likes". But our sweet Micah.... well, he goes against the "average" kid apparently. His few dislikes are Pizza and Mac n' Cheese and he eats yogurt and muesli, fruit and veges every day. Gracie... still loves to eat what you put in front of her.

So here is my 'cream of vege soup in a roll bowl'. I sliced off the top, took out the bread inside (and I put those chunks in a bowl for Gracie with soup. If I gave her a bread bowl she would've played with it instead of eating it!). The boys thought I was giving them a roll with a spoon and just looked at me like I had lost my mind... then Nate took off the top and both boys thought the idea was so cool. Yup.... got my kids approval that day.

Q & A with my sons

2011-10-28T21:12:00.000+02:00

1. What grade are you in at school?

Nate: "I'm in the 2nd class (they don't say "grade" here)"

Micah: "I go to Kindergarten."

2. How old are you?

Nate: "I'm almost 7 1/2."

Micah: "I'm 4, I mean 5... "

3. Name some of your favorite teams in sports.

Nate: "Well, can I name lots of them? Styrian Bears (the football team for which Danny plays), Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, and the Mavs."

Micah: "I like the Styrian Bears and the Eagles, the Lions... ummm.... what are the names of all the other teams, Momma? Oh... and the Rangers."

**We are troubled by his mentioning of enemy teams of our favorite home team... the Dallas Cowboys. He likes to get us riled up and a couple of the guys on Danny's team like to brain wash our kids.

4. Who are some of your favorite players?

Nate: "Daddy, of course! Then Michael Young (can you tell we've been watching the World Series and our beloved Rangers?!?) and Romo.

Micah: "Daddy and Bruno (a guy Danny plays with and our boys think he's awesome) oh and that guy right there...." (pointing to the TV)

Me: "Napoli?"

Micah: "Yeah, him."

5. What are some of your favorite toys?

Micah: "Can I say first?!? Ninjago!!" (he just celebrated his 5th birthday in October, so his presents are still in the new stage)

Nate: "Playing on our Wii... the Lego Star Wars game"

6. Tell me the names of some of your best buddies at school/kindergarten.

Nate: "Valentin, Manuel, Tobias, David, Maxi"

Micah: "Markus, Sophia, and Miriam... and Nathan"

7. What is your favorite story in the Bible?

Nate & Micah: "Lazarus!" (just finished listening to it on a kids Bible CD they like for bedtime)

8. What is your favorite color?

Nate: "White"

Micah: "Orange"

9. What is your favorite thing to do outside?

Nate: "Climb trees.... go to the park.... roller blading."

Micah: "The last thing Nathan said."

Nate: "Micah, stop copying me all the time."

Micah: "No I'm not... I can roller too."

10. What are your Hobbies?

Micah: "What are hobbies?

Nate: "I know! It's stuff you like to do. I like playing the drums and karate on Saturdays... and Tennis."

Micah: "Run, play soccer with Buster (our daushund is freakishly good at playing soccer), ride my bike."

11. What is one of your favorite vacations you can remember?

Nate: "I like the water park in Slovenia we went to a long time ago."

Micah: "When we went to Africa."

**I feel that I should mention none of us have ever visited Africa.

Me: "Are you sure? I don't remember our family ever going there."

Micah: "Yeah, it was the time we went with Fabian and Felix and their family."

**I am confused and then it dawns on me....

Me: "You mean, the ZOO we went to that is about 20 minutes away from our house here in Austria?" (we went last Spring)

Micah: "Yeah. That one."

**Yeah, that kid keeps me on my toes.

Fall has arrived and so has the busy schedule

2011-10-17T23:49:00.000+02:00

Here is another one of those "I'm too lazy to write out lengthy details about the last month" blogs. So here are random bits of what my favorite people have been saying.... In no particular order or importance.... well, I guess I did order them by age/birth rank.

Nate:

-is doing some major growing up before our very eyes. I can't hardly put into words how proud Danny & I feel for the way he is handling school and learning everything in German. He's just entering his 2nd month of school as a 2nd grader and he's writing everything in cursive (which they dabbled in a bit at the end of the 1st grade). He's doing multiplication and reads so very well. Danny & I were trying to remember, but didn't we learn multiplication in the 4th grade?!?

-"don't hold on to your anger or your anger will hold on to you." This is something he told me he was learning. We really love the Jesus Storybook Bible and the CD's that came with it. The kids go to bed listening to it and we've seen what they are learning and hearing as they fall asleep as very beneficial.

-"it's so hard to do what is right sometimes!!" (said thru tears and much frustration with himself and learning to use wisdom with choices in life)

-lost another tooth @ the mall (#8) while walking into a store! It just fell out of his mouth!

Micah:

-"God is everywhere and he's bigger than me."

-While watching Little League World Series.... (a kid is running to 1st base) and Micah says, "Why isn't he running as fast as I can?"

-"What was that story in the Bible with a sleeping boat?" (Moses in the basket)

Gracie:

-calls our dog, Buster... "Buppy" or "Bubby"

-will not say "Micah" or anything similar. She calls both boys "Nate" (sounds like "Nay"). It's quite funny since Micah is the one that plays with her and interacts the most with her. We've decided that's her word for "brother" ;) That's our story and we're..... stickin' to it.

-is a bossy 3rd child....and she's only 20 months! I was kinda hoping she'd be laid back and easy going like my little brother, Zach. He is a 3rd child. Nope, Gracie is more like her, ahem..... first born, only girl, bossy... Momma. Oh dear....

Sometime in the near blogging future, I'll post some pics of our newest nephew, Titus! Well, not sure how "new" since he's coming up on 4 months old. I really need to get to that before another nephew and 'yet to be sonogramed' baby join us next year!

-krista-

Prosperity Gospel

2011-09-01T20:36:00.000+02:00

by John Piper

Collages

2011-08-31T21:52:00.006+02:00

So here are some events for which I've not posted photos (mainly because until just a couple of months ago I didn't have enough room on my laptop to download anymore photos... I'm at approximately 18,000 photos in my iphoto library!) Thanks to my wonderful g'parents for hooking me up with a fabulous external hard drive that has a TON of memory!

May 2011- Nathan's Birthday

Spring/Summer 2011-Church plants (north & south of Graz)

Micah's Kindergarten class visited our local Fire Department. All the kids had a great time (Micah was in 4 yr. old Heaven)! Nathan's class went to play Tennis, I had to pick which class to help and I had not gone on too many trips with Micah's school. Nate enjoyed learning and wants to take lessons now.

The end of school activities had us quite busy between the Volkschule (Elementary) and the Kindergarten programs/class parties. Danny is on the Elternverrein (PTA equivalent) and they host the end of school year party for the whole Volkschule. It really is so much fun being involved in the community and school.

18 months

2011-08-26T22:48:00.003+02:00

Gracie is 18 months old.

She is passionate about what ever she does. She is opinionated. She is independent. She is very stubborn. She is vocal and quite chatty. She is our girl :)

She loves her brothers. Recently she has taken to running at Nathan and wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing him (where he pretends he doesn't care). Micah is her buddy, her playmate, her protector, her sometimes over protector.

She likes playing with N & M's cars and legos. She makes the sounds for the cars and likes to pick out legos and hand them to the boys as they build (and yes as sweet as that is...don't think she hasn't broken their creations or dumped every. single. lego. out of the box....). Recently we were at a friends house and their daughter had a baby doll stroller and Gracie really liked playing with it.... she doesn't have a lot of "girl" toys. Partly because we are now on our 3rd child and realize that they will play with whatever you place in front of them. She likes the boys toys, my pots and pans, the dog and his toys, all phones, rocks, pillows, books, etc. She does have a doll that Grammy & Grampa gave her for her 1st birthday and she sleeps with it every night.

She is an order person. When changing her diaper she likes you to throw it away immediately, if not she will get to it asap and dispose of it herself (yes!!).

She sleeps approximately 12 hrs. every night. No matter when she went to bed. However, our routine is that bedtime is around 7-8pm. She naps once a day now. She stopped her 2 naps a day when she was 17 months old. I'm okay with that because I was so surprised that she lasted that long. But that 1 nap is about 2 1/2 hrs. Those of you that are wanting to throw stones because of my kids great sleeping habits.... I'm sorry. I really am! I have no magic power... they have all slept so great since they were just a few weeks old. But then again... with the exception of Nathan, we're all pretty grumpy when low on sleep.... so I'm glad we sleep :)

She likes to feed herself. It's a messy world, but she's happier when she is left to her independence. When she is done eating she will hand you her plate, fork/spoon, and cup. You can't just leave it pushed away from her... she is done, please remove it completely.

She loves yogurt. Grace & Micah eat it faster than I can keep the fridge stocked. They both like having müsli/granola poured into it. I'm so proud of their healthy food choices :) She also loves all fruits (so far), steamed veges, cream cheese on bread (she licks it off), tuna, chicken, rice, popsicles, & chicken nuggets (also, if there is any dipping sauces she will expect her own and really likes sweet and sour).

She really enjoys taking baths and for that matter.... enjoys a swimming pool.

She has a thing for shoes and likes people to wear them. But takes hers off all the time. If it's time to go somewhere she grabs everyone's shoes that she can find and starts handing them out.

She is such a Daddy's girl. If she falls, trips or gets a boo-boo (even the small insignificant ones) tears and crying will begin if her Daddy is in sight. If he is not around I can usually get her to look past it all and carry on with life.... till he shows up and she acts like it just happened!

She does like to go places with Mommy. She is a good shopper and ~~talks~~ um, well, jibbers to me the most (well, maybe the boys, but I'd like to think more to me).

She likes music and will move her little body to any beat. It's. adorable.

She hates bows in her hair. My sil made me a bunch of them when we visited last summer and so I try to revist the idea of putting them in her {cringe} mullet every once in awhile. She doesn't mind the little snap clips (partly because she forgets they are there).

So I leave you with my latest attempt to help her look just a tad bit girly-er than usual....

The 'C' word

2011-08-25T15:57:00.004+02:00

A couple of months ago my Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It was in the early stages and we are very thankful. It was 'stumbled' upon... he was actually having a physical because he wasn't feeling well and that is when they discovered his gall bladder wasn't acting right. Because his Dad, my Papa, has had the same cancer they thought they should do a bit more of a thorough exam and sure enough... the biopsy showed that there were cancerous cells. He had the gall bladder surgery first and then needed time to recoup and then with the arrival of a new grandson (my brother & sis in law had their first baby! Titus Matthew Wiese. Another post with photos regarding his adorable-ness will be forth coming!) he didn't want to be dealing with another surgery during that joyful time.

So this past Monday he had surgery and in terms of the cancer all went well. But he apparently takes very well to anesthesia and had a bit of trouble breathing on his own after they took all the tubes out. So he was re-tubed many times. It is a little scary when the Dr.'s are telling my mom & brother that they don't know why this is happening... but after many tests to rule out "everything else" they tried one more time to remove the tube late Monday night and thankfully he continued to breathe on his own.

As of right now though we are praying that he can go home soon (nobody likes spending time in a hospital). He was scheduled to do so yesterday, but some of his levels weren't quite right and he had a fever. Pray for his continued health/recovery, mom's strength as she cares for him, Matt & Sherina (& Titus.... can't leave that guy out!) as they fill the gap at church (if you didn't know M & S live in NY and work with mom & dad). Pray for Zach, Jill, & their girls.... and our family as we all wish we could be there to help out in anyway possible. They have a great church family and I know that they will be taken care of just fine.

-krista-

Summer 2011

2011-08-10T23:27:00.000+02:00

Every summer for the last few years, we've spend a few days with friends at the beach in Italy. It's always a wonderful time away.... away from the phones, the t.v., the internet, facebook, office work, house work, laundry... and it's just about a 4 hr. drive for us. It's just us and time with friends.

We've been told there are much nicer places to go, but it's a further drive and in this stage with our family the shorter the trip, the better. We also like going with friends. Once the kids are tucked into bed (they sleep fast after being worn out by the sun/swimming), we all take our baby monitors and sit outside (there's a tiny cafe downstairs) and just sit and chat. There are a lot of heart-related issues discussed, a lot of jokes, and just learning more about each other.

All 3 of my kids have experienced the sea (Adriatic) for the first time in their lives at this beach in Italy. I find that very special.... I grew up in Asia and to be able to say most of my life experiences were in another country is awesome.

The place we stay at is a family owned, small hotel (3 floors about 30 rooms, I think). It's a 5 minute or less walk to the ocean. It's also one of the only places that has air-conditioning and that is a HUGE plus in my book! In case you are wondering.... Air-conditioning is not common- whatsoever- in Europe. Our summers are not scorching hot like Texas, but when you don't have a place to cool down and inside/outside is the same temperature.... you really miss the A/C (and add that you are at the beach where is it SUPPOSED to be hot!)

I digress.

Anyway, we get 3 meals a day (This is nice! There is no deciding/arguing what to eat each meal or having to shop for food every day), a room for our family of 5 (nothing special, but it serves it's purpose), a saved spot on the beach, and a place for our car to park for a reasonable price. Our friends have been going here since Andreas (the hubby/dad) was a little boy. They are the friends that make us feel like family. We celebrate all birthdays and holidays together.... why not vacation together as well?

God's hand has always been on this friendship and we are thankful.

I will post this now, but will be changing the date later to put it "in order"... I'm still trying to catch up on blogging!!

August 6th

2011-08-06T22:56:00.006+02:00

I know people say it a lot, but I really can't believe the last 12 years have just flown by.... there have been a couple of years here & there that seemed full of discouragement and just dragged on, but here we are.... 12 years of fun, laughter, smiles, joys, accomplishments, and 'dancing in the minefields' (a song by Andrew Peterson) and we are no longer the 20 & 21 year old kids getting married in Ft. Worth, Texas. We are older and hopefully, wiser in many areas ;)

Every anniversary that we celebrate and reflect on the last year we realize more and more what people who have much more experience in marriage mean when they say "we are more in love with each other today than the day we married". It's true.... our commitment, our love, our vows, our children, the joys, the sorrows, the good days and bad days..... the richer or poorer part is not a feeling... it's a choice and a promise to love each other the way Christ loves each of us. The good and the bad.

Danny & I are blessed to have families that make a point to love us and pray for us. To have the support of family and friends is wonderful and a great reminder of the witnesses we had on that day in August 1999. Just today we received phone calls/ichats from some of our siblings and a skype chat with sweet college friends that will soon celebrate 12 years as well!

August 6, 1999

Happy Anniversary to us!

Blessings

2011-08-05T22:15:00.000+02:00

by Laura's Song

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

Isaiah 55:8-10

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,"

21 years

2011-07-24T22:13:00.004+02:00

It has been 21 years since Monday, July 16, 1990... specifically 4:26pm. I was 11 years old.

First some background.

My family had moved to Baguio City (also known as the Summer Capital of the Philippines) just a couple of weeks earlier. We had just finished a 12 month furlough in Texas and before that had been living in Palawan, Philippines for 9 years (or 8?). There was a church in need of a pastor and my Dad had accepted the call... or... the challenge of helping a hurting church (side note... my parents seem to be called/used a lot for this sort of ministry and I think they are awesome).

Anyway, we rented a cottage on the John Hay Air Base Station. It was primarily used as a R&R camp for those in the service and the DOD and their families. But if space was available than non-military Americans could rent a cottage. *It was a fun place to go for vacation because the weather was so much cooler than the rest of the country. They had putt-putt golf, a golf course, restaurants that made American food, a baseball field, an ice cream shop, bowling alley, and some fun hiking trails.

*I digress.

So my parents finally find a house to rent that would fit our family's needs. That night, July 16th, they were going to sign the contract. But before that Dad was on a short day trip down the mountain to take care of some business (another crazy story... but that will probably stay with our family. Seriously.... amazed we didn't call it quits in those days. But my parents showed us daily Who we knew was in control). Sorry... I get off topic so easy.

So I was playing with my brothers outside the cottage down a steep hill. I was tired of playing and wanted to go in and a get a snack. Mom told the boys to play on the cottage steps where she could see/hear them. I had just sat down to watch tv and I felt a vibration. Not too weird since these cottages were built on (I think) "pier and beam" (you could feel just about anyone's foot steps). Well, the vibration got stronger and Mom yells for us to get out that it's an earthquake. I remember seeing the tiny fridge door fling open and stuff was falling out. Mom ran to grab the boys and into the grass area between our cottage and the next. I was running behind her toward the door when the tv fell and I had to jump over it.

It is etched in my head forever. My mom has her arms around my two younger brothers bodies and my youngest brother (he was only 6 or 7 yrs. old--Nate's age right now) was upset and asked, "Why was God shaking the earth?" The ground actually rolled like ocean waves. Cracks started appearing in roads. Trees falling. Windows breaking. People screaming and crying. When it stopped we got up and ran across the street to the baseball field with everyone else that was coming out of their cottages. What a scene.

This earthquake was registered as a 7.7 on the richter scale (some say it was 7.8 and even 8.0). It lasted 45 seconds.

As the hours went by the US military started setting up tents, water and food stations were in place, and medical care was being given. This was before the whole convenience of cell phones, so we had no way to tell my Dad that we were ok or to find out if HE was ok! Sometime during the night or early the next morning (my memory is a little foggy on some of the time frame from here on out) the Hayes family (they had lived and ministered in Baguio for years) found us. Their daughter and a few people from their church were going to drive thru the city looking for families from their church and offer assistance. I remember my mom letting me go (she was helping care for Mrs. Hayes's mother and keeping a lookout for Dad or checking in with the base information for news). People were walking around dazed, crying, confused, hurt, scared, and then there were the looters....

There were tremors all night long.

I googled some photos (disclaimer: not my pics at all!). My Dad has a lot too... the most chilling ones are the photos he has of windows with sheets tied together so people could escape.

Some people were even found ALIVE after nearly 2 weeks. My memory seems to think one of the people was from our church.

For my 11 year old eyes.... this was incredible. The destruction and devastation was almost unbelievable.

I honestly don't remember how many days it was.... but I do remember that when my Dad did finally make it up the mountain (he walked most of it along with the men he traveled with) it was like those movie scenes (one of the few things we as a family can laugh about) where the woman and man run to each other thru the field of flowers and into each others arms.... except that the field of flowers was a baseball field with tents, cots, bonfires, and people. There were tears and words spoken.

Everything seemed to immediately get better because our family was all together again.

Eventually those that didn't have a home to go back to (assuming it wasn't gone or condemned) or weren't residents of Baguio were forced to evacuate. Our family boarded a huge helicopter and with the back open.... we took off from Baguio and were flown to another base. I remember my brother getting really sick and needing to throw up. Many people did... it was freaky flying in a chopper and the back of it just open! I've never been in a helicopter since and don't care to ever be in one again. Then there was a long bus ride to Manila. Family friends and fellow missionaries took our family of 5 in for.... well, at the time we didn't know how long (ended up being 3 weeks).

My parents made numerous trips to Baguio to house hunt (you really had to be cautious what you looked at for renting because there was so much damage.... was the realtor/landlord being honest or just trying to rent out a house for money?). There was also a church that my Dad was now pastoring and members to check on. A church building that was damaged... beyond repair.

The house we were supposed to sign on was no longer available because the landlord and his family needed it to live in (the new house they were building for themselves was condemned). But we did find a nice house and eventually moved in and called it home. Our church took a very, very long time to piece back together.

We had aftershocks that were registering 5.3 at times... some more/less. The tremors carried on for years. I remember sitting at the dinner table and feeling one. I took my cue from my parents who stopped mid-chew as we all held our breaths... and then noticed my youngest brother was already outside..... ketchup bottle in hand. We joined him and tried to make light of it all.... but our stomachs were in knots too. Eventually, it all seemed to just fade and life as we knew it was in full force.

I love Baguio City and loved growing up there. I miss it very much. So that is how another chapter of our life began there.... 21 years ago.

-Krista-

Some facts:

This happened on a Monday. The Philippine school year had already started (Summer break was end of March to beginning of June), but we were going to another missionary's "church/school" and their school staff also worked on Sundays in the church. So Monday was a day off. We went to school Tuesday-Friday from 8am-4pm. Thankful this was on a Monday... no school.

Baguio sits on approximately 7 fault lines.

Thousands were killed and more than that wounded.

Less than a year later the region went thru another difficulty-- Mt. Pinatubo erupted. Baguio still received lots of ash and I remember seeing a constant fog and "dust" on everything... plants, cars, etc.

Articles for more info:

You can also read some articles here, here, here, and here.

The Arrow & The Song

2011-07-07T21:14:00.003+02:00

Read this recently and liked it.

I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow-

7 years

2011-06-07T20:41:00.005+02:00

Our 7 year anniversary since arriving in Austria is coming up next month. In that time we've only been out of Austria for about 8 months! The first couple of years it seemed we went back every summer to be a part of weddings in our families and then to report to our supporting churches while we were there. But they were just short trips.

So that got me to thinking. Danny & I met in college (I was there 3 yrs.) and after we married and finished college we moved back to Texas. We were there 4 yrs. then we moved to Austria. Did you count all that?? From the time I graduated high school and moved to Austria was---- 7 years! I guess those seemed longer because of all the moving around (Missouri, dorms, Texas, married, back to Texas for interning, and deputation) we did.

It doesn't really feel like we've been in Austria that long, but then I look at the 3 little people running around the house (we came with a 9 week old baby) and of the ones gone on to Heaven and yep, 7 years sounds right :) It's amazing to look back and see where God has brought us... challenged us... grown us... broken us.... strengthened us.

God is gracious.

-krista-

This and that

2011-05-16T09:35:00.004+02:00

-We have a blow-up kiddie pool and so the water is never that deep. We also just put it up this past week and there's just a few inches in it because it's well water and it's COLD! So when I say the kids "jump in"... well, it's more of a run toward the pool, stop in front of it, slowly lift leg over side and then jump/fall into the water. So Micah does this very thing on Saturday. But he slips in the 5 inches of water and gets water on his face. He springs up as fast as he can and exclaims, "I just dwowned! But just a little bit, I'm ok."

-Uncle Joey & Aunt Bekah gave the boys a slip 'n slide last year and we just opened it up and the kids were intrigued! Nathan was much more cautious, Micah did pretty good and Gracie won, but she didn't know she was playing along. Daddy took her by surprise and flung her down and she was shocked and then a girlie cry came out and when she looked at us cheering for her, saw she was ok... Gracie started to laugh and splash in the water. A lot of kids reactions are based upon what they see in their parents reactions.

-Gracie leans in to all photo frames I have at her level (bookshelves, end tables, hope chest) and starts jabbering to them. It dawned on me that she thinks she is doing an ichat (video chat for all you non-Mac owners) with all the pictures she sees. It is hilarious and so very sweet. How times have changed since I was a kid living in the Philippines! In the very early years we would go to the phone company and stand in line to place the call to talk to our grandparents who were 14 hrs. behind us. Then there was the time we waited 7 yrs. for a phone in our house in Palawan. How about the fact I remember being in high school when we got internet/email?!? My kids have no clue what Beta tapes/VCR/VHS means. I think of my grandparents who are in their 80's. The changes they've seen are innumerable.... but they roll with it :)

-Nate's birthday is coming up this week (20th). This year I had to give him a limit on how many kids he could invite... last year we had 17 kids here (not to mention the families that stayed or came afterward to visit before leaving with their kids). Nate is my social one.... just like his Momma. But most of our friends are in the same situation as our family-- we have more than one child! Danny & I use birthday parties and any other gatherings we host as a chance to get to know families in our community and share Christ. But as the kids get older (all the kids) I'm seeing that I'm focusing on making sure all our guests are happy, fed, or hydrated, etc. and I'm not enjoying celebrating my own child's birthday! It's his/her day and I'm putting them last. So this year I gave Nate a limit and I think he'll enjoy it much more.... I'm sure I will too. We'll use other gatherings like grillin' out, school's out/summer time, Christmas parties, game nights, etc. to get to know people deeper and let the birthday parties be a more intimate occasion (still getting to know families, just a few at a time instead of everyone we know). He did take cupcakes today for his whole class and he was excited to share with them.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T22:22:00.002+02:00

The boys weren't interested in being photographed very much this year... so it looks like I'm favoring Gracie, but she's the only one that moved slow enough to capture :) haha.

A new favorite

2011-04-23T22:16:00.003+02:00

Family visit in pictures

2011-04-19T22:08:00.003+02:00

We visited Maribor, Slovenia. It's one of our cities we always take guests... it's only 45 minutes away, has some interesting sights (like the balcony from which Hitler spoke in his only visit to Slovenia, as we were told. See the 2nd picture down on left), and it's another country our guests can say they were able to visit :)

Then there is the always fun and exciting Vienna! It's our capital and of course, a tourist hot spot. We saw St. Stephens Cathedral... I stayed with the babies while everyone else took the tour of the catacombs. Danny & I went back in 2002 and it was very interesting and a bit creepy. We ate at a nice restaurant with typical Austrian cuisine. Took pictures and then found ourselves in the middle of a HUGE protest about Libya. The crowd was not happy. A treat for me was to stop at Starbucks for my favorite mocha frappuccino! O deliciousness.

So there is a little insight into our time together. I'm sure I'll have some more random pics, but for memory sake I think I covered the highlights.... well, the ones I'm willing to share with the world wide web ;) Some family jokes and laughs stay with family.... especially since I'm the writer here and many jokes were made at my expense. haha.

February Excitement

2011-04-18T22:30:00.004+02:00

The hardest part about living in Austria is being away from family. We love living here, the friends we have made are wonderful, the kids only know this place as home and though ministry is very slow it has many moments of encouragement. But our families are dearly missed.

Here is the first of a few collages I'll post of our family time in February:

A year later on...

2011-04-10T15:40:00.001+02:00

...February 15th, 2011, we celebrated Grace's 1st birthday!

Grace Annmarie

2011-04-09T08:57:00.000+02:00

Gracie & "Molly" in the 12th month photo. I still sit in wonder at all the changes that go on in the first year of life!

Here she is at 1 day old.

Processing life

2011-04-08T22:17:00.004+02:00

Last time I wrote, Gracie was nearing her first birthday and we were preparing for family to visit.... and a few other things were in the works that took up my time, thoughts, emotions, and well, life happened. There will be a post of photos coming soon.... right now, just words.

In February & March:

Danny celebrated his 33rd Birthday (on the 7th)! He is perfect--for me. I try to make sure he knows how much I appreciate him, love him, and respect him. I fall short many times.

Gracie celebrated her 1st Birthday (on the 15th)!!! God's timing is always perfect and though I could sit here and try to analyze the why's and what if's of losing 2 babies in years past.... It is not in my power to change anything. There were/are days that seem easier than others to accept His will, but I really can say.... I trust Him and am thankful for what He does entrust to me.

Ok, that was a bit deeper than I planned... so, we celebrated as a family on the 15th. Then on the 19th (with family here) we had a little party and made memories. Gracie is such a joy, she has a sense of humor, has been sleeping thru the night since she was about a month old, takes 2 naps a day after sleeping 12 hrs. thru the night (I know those of you whose children don't sleep well hated reading that and I'm sorry. I don't have a secret--my kids just like to sleep I guess), adores her brothers, is sadly turning into a bit of a drama queen, thinks her Daddy is the only one that can make it all better (seriously, she's tripped/fallen and cried and allowed me to soothe her, then if Daddy walks past or into the room the tears and wailing begin as if it just happened till he reaches out for her and she will melt into his arms and stop.), likes to chatter non-stop (no clue where that comes from!), and has a gorgeous mullet hair style. I've decided to just be thankful she has hair.... and try to ignore the way it reminds me of Danny's high school photos. She had absolutely NO desire to walk till about 4 days after her birthday and even then it was only if coaxed and if she was also in the mood. We thank Aunt Bekah for the encouragement and time spent with a bowl on her head sitting on the kitchen floor just to get Gracie interested :) Not till about 2 weeks ago ( 13 1/2 months old) did she start walking from room to room on her own accord. She would still take a few steps, but when that got tiring, boring, or she lost her balance the crawling option worked for her. This has been weird for me because the boys both walked early. Nate at 9 1/2 months and Micah at about 10 months (but then we flew to the US and family met him for the first time and so he was held a lot.... slowed him down, then took off a few weeks into our visit).

Otherwise, I thank our Heavenly Father for 3 wonderful, healthy kiddos!

Two days after Gracie's birthday, we welcomed family for a nearly 2 week visit! Danny's brother, David, his wife, Britney and their son, Trace (who just happens to be 4 days younger than Gracie) and Danny's sister, Bekah and her hubby, Joey came to see us!

We had a wonderful time together! It was David & Britney's 2nd visit and the first time for Bekah & Joey. Oh my goodness we laughed till we cried, took pictures, kids got to know Uncles & Aunts and a cousin better, drove to Slovenia, Italy, and other parts of Austria, and introduced them to friends that have become like family to us here in Graz, and they were able to attend a church service with us. I can't begin to fully write out all that it meant to us to have them visit. To take time out of their busy schedules and use their vacation time for us (not to mention the months of saving $$). We love you all.

Five days after they left, I flew to the US for a short visit with my best friend, Melanie. I wrote about Bryan in November. Melanie gave birth to their son, Grayson Bryan on February 28th. He is truly a gift from God. Abbi & Ella are wonderful sisters too! Hugs, tears--sorrow and joyful, laughter, reminiscing, girl time, late night feedings with a newborn, board games with the girls, and giggling at the silliest stuff, prayer for comfort, the comfortable silence.... all added up to what Danny & I felt a strong desire to do for a dear friend. A desire to be an encouragement and for ourselves... a time to mourn. Being in our "bubble" over here is hard enough... but especially when our family or sweet friends are hurting. Mel, Abbs, Ella-bella, & Grayson.... we love you and consistently pray for God's guidance, comfort and wisdom for your family.

Danny went above and beyond as a huge supporter of my going on this trip--sans kids. It all started as his idea. He wanted me to be a help.... not a burden with a one year old (it also gave him somebody to care for while boys were in school and Grace kept him busy! haha). I love you, Danny.

On my journey to get back home.... I was able to spend a night with my 80 & 81 yr. old grandparents. They are awesome and it was great to see them again. Thanks to my mother-in-law and 2 sis-in-laws, and a niece for driving me to see them (always good to spend time with you girls and to do a little shopping on the way--love you guys!). Thanks to Terry & Stacy for the ride to the airport too! Part of my frequent flyer miles trip allowed me to stop and spend 2 nights with my parents in New York too. It was fun to see where they are living and the church in which God is using them. I love you, Dad & Mom!

When I got back from my quick, yet long trip, there was jet lag (!), kids to love on, suitcases with little surprises to be given away, laundry, Dr. appointments, school activities, Danny's office work waiting for him to return, church stuff to do, friends waiting to catch up, and oh yes... we all got sick for a week or two. I'm still trying to get rid of mine. It was hard to be away from my peeps , but I am thankful for the opportunity to hopefully encourage a friend... and like I expected... I was encouraged as well by Melanie and at the hand of God on the life of my friend.

There is so much more on my heart... but that's all for now. It's late and I barely got the "umph" to write this tonight. When I get so far behind I get that "ohhhh, where do I begin?!?!" feeling and it's hard to want to write.

Please continue to pray for us. Lots going on-- family & ministry. Some of it is stretching us and some is just exciting at the potential for growth in our Bible study and in personal lives.

-krista-

11 months

2011-01-29T14:19:00.002+01:00

Oh dear.... where has the time gone?

Week at home with....

2011-01-28T22:01:00.000+01:00

...sick kids! Micah had a fever for a few days last week. So we kept him home from Kindergarten. Then sometime Friday night or Saturday morning we noticed a very slight rash. It almost resembled a bit of heat rash. We figured it was from the sweat of his fever breaking in the night (he slept in flannel jammies) or every winter he gets really bad dry skin and we have to get a prescription ointment. He wasn't complaining so we didn't worry, till we noticed it was getting worse. Monday morning we took him in immediately and the Dr. said it was scarlet fever. Now most of the time when we hear scarlet fever we think of what our parents or grandparents have told us about it being super dangerous. So Danny researched online and found out it's basically a form of strep throat, but takes on the rash form (of course anything untreated can be dangerous, but in this day and age there's not much reason to let things go that far). Micah was already so much better by Tuesday morning with 1 day of antibiotics and ointment.

While I was picking up Nate from a playdate (Monday afternoon) he said he didn't feel good. I felt him and sure enough he had a fever. We didn't know of Micah's diagnosis till Nate was already at his friends house. I apologized to the mom and she said that it was no big deal since kids pass stuff around all the time and that her son has probably already been exposed by someone else at school (there are signs at the schools saying Scarlet fever and Chickenpox are going around).

First thing Tuesday morning, Nate went to the Dr. and yes.... he caught it. His case was not near as bad because we took action within a few hours of his symptoms.

Both boys are on antibiotics and are doing sooooo much better. They will return to their schools on Monday. Nathan has been doing homework and o.my.word. he has so much to do!! There's the work they would've done in class and also the work they would normally bring home (which I personally believe is a bit much anyway). Thankfully, he's very quick with his math and reads pretty good considering it's not his mother-tongue. He takes awhile to write because he is easily distracted. Distracted by a shadow, a memory he had from last summer, the fish in the fish tank, a piece of flint....

Poor kid, he got that from me. I struggle to concentrate too.

We are praying that Gracie stays healthy. There were a couple of days between Micah's first fever and Nathan's.... so let's pray that Gracie isn't on the verge of showing symptoms. I might loose my mind if there is one more sick kid. Danny & I started January with horrible colds and are really just now shaking them.

Gracie stands alone a lot.... but no walking yet.

C'mon girl!

She does like books and though she is known to chew on them, she is much more gentle than her brothers ever were with books.

Nathan & Buster during the sick week

Gracie & Micah. He had that rash all over his face, neck and chest.

Winter

2011-01-24T20:46:00.000+01:00

Ahhh, Winter! I didn't get to enjoy it during my childhood. I remember wishing I lived in a place that I could do all the things my mom and her siblings did in the snow when they were kids in Michigan. Then I moved to Missouri for college and I was giddy every time it snowed. My friends from the more "wintery" states thought I was crazy.

Well, here I am. We still don't get as much snow as most places in Austria because our city is in a valley. But it's actually just enough for us-- I get to see pretty white stuff frequently and Danny doesn't get completely wiped out from shoveling.

However, this past week it had warmed up a tad bit and I had a window open to just freshen up the air quality in the house and I got a whiff of something. It smelled like fresh cut grass. I don't know what it really was since our yard and the neighbors still have patches of white from our first snow the end of November. I am about to admit something I really never thought I'd say/write. Ever.

I'm looking forward to the summer.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

I must be losing my mind. Really.... what am I thinking?!? I hate sweating. I don't like the heat. Our house does not have air conditioning (neither do most stores), but our oscillating fans work well. Funny how that scent of what I thought was fresh cut grass could do to my state of mind.

Here are some reasons why I believe the Spring/Summer months are looking better to me:

I have 3 kids to bundle up to go anywhere (shopping, school, church, playdates). Searching for scarves, gloves, hats is not as fun as it may sound. Especially when one of my boys say, "I remember I had it on the playground at school." Oh good.... that'll be sitting at your desk tomorrow, I'm sure.

Sometimes the lack of snow and it's just cold--- I'm not a fan. If it's going to be cold then I want it to be pretty too.

No snow days.... ever. At least, that I know about. We have snow tires and everyone just knows how to deal with it (now speaking about that... I do think it's funny now that I live here how the "talk" of snow in the part of Texas we lived in was/is cause for alarm--I know it's because none of us knew how to drive in it there and here nobody blinks... snow is expected and life goes on).

Our car gets messy from mud, melting snow, the damp smell, etc.

Trying to balance moisture in the house (we have radiators, no circulating heat from vents). The windows start to sweat and then I have to fight the mold that grows practically overnight. Too much moisture and someone might get sick... too little and my throat hurts from getting dried out during the night.

Probably like most kids, mine seem to get sick during the winter months.

I get sick during the winter months.

The process of getting kids bundled to go outside and play, then 10 min. later "we are coming in... it's too cold." This frustrates me mainly because they were outside for the length of time it took me to find that stinkin' glove that had gone missing and now they want in?!?!

But no matter what.... I DO love Winter. Here are a few things about winter:

The snow.... it's beautiful... breathtakingly.

Our house, yard, the city, things in general take on a new perspective when covered in white.

The kids want to play more board games or cuddle when it's cold.

Many germs & allergy stuff is killed when it freezes.

The kids look cute in their snowsuits, hats, and rosy cheeks.

The boys like to play hockey and it's fun to watch them skate at an outside rink while drinking hot chocolate or coffee.

Danny & I cook really good chili, stews, and soups. Yummy winter foods!

Ok.... this was quite the random post. Then again, if you know me.... this was actually like having a normal conversation with me. It was long, chatty, full of (to you) useless information etc. haha. But you only have yourself to blame. You're still reading this ;)

I guess I am just realizing that instead of disliking half the seasons and loving the others.... I like them all. Just like the weather, we all have seasons of life we go thru. My friend, Jessi & I had a phone conversation about that not to long ago.... single, college, careers, married without kids, married with one kid, married with many kids, married and kids grown, single parents, grandparents, etc. We were discussing how friendships go thru seasons too. But our God-- no matter what season we are in... He never changes. Our Rock.

Daniel 2:21 "He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding."

Growing up...

2011-01-12T21:30:00.000+01:00

Part of me mourns the fact that my kids are growing up. But another part of me is always thrilled to watch in awe as they learn to sit, crawl, clap, pull up, turn jibberish into real words, walk, etc. Then of course the pride I feel as I listen to my first born read to me in German and maybe even more so as he feels the need to translate what he read to me in English (oh such a sweet boy). It's a good thing to see your kids thrive and succeed in life. It means I'm doing my job... the job God gave me to care for my kids and help them learn. My Dad used to say that it is a compliment to work yourself out of a job. I'm not quite ready to work myself out of the job of motherhood, but I do pray that every year that passes my kids learn more and more about life and God. There is one job I wouldn't mind losing at the moment... shoe tying!

Tonight I was so proud of my boys as they listened to Danny read from the Bible for family devos and answer questions and even give insight to certain things they had heard. To listen to Micah pray.... well, he's come a long way from "Jesus, that we have a good day and good sleep thanks for good food. amen" (word for word... that's how he started it too). Tonight I watched him (yes, I had an eye open! ssshhh....) and his eyes were squeezed shut and he was so intent and deep in thought as he asked God to "not let us eat from the tree in the middle of the garden and that all the animals would not die (don't know about that one??)....." (can you tell that we are studying Creation? He mentioned many other things as well.) Next, Nathan prayed a short & simple prayer. He had one request and said "Amen." All this heart-warming stuff quickly ended when Danny was about to pray and Micah whispers "mine was longer than yours Nate." Ohhhh dear..... we've got a ways to go, don't we?!? I had to bow my head as I hid my smile.... only a 4 year old brother would think about the competition with his brother. Of course, we cleared things up with Micah that God doesn't care about the length of the prayer as he does the condition of your heart and the sincerity of what you're speaking to Him about.

So though I am sad the boys don't have that "baby" sound to their voice anymore or don't say words in a cute way and that they both go off to school everyday.... I'm proud of the young men they are growing into!

I still have my baby girl! But by this weekend she will be a month away from her 1st birthday! Wow... I thought my pregnancy would never end and now look---little Ms. Grace is about to celebrate her first birthday.

Here are Gracie's 8-10 months photos with Molly, the pound puppy. You can find her 1-3 months here, 4th month here and 5-7 months here. (click on word "here")

Things the kids say or do

2011-01-10T21:22:00.002+01:00

Nate: Can Buster join us for Bible study, Dad?

As we're getting settled for family devotions in the living room, Micah says to Nate, "I'm sitting by the Pastor."

Danny asks the boys, "What is the Gospel?"

Micah quickly answers, but in a questioning sort of voice, "A tunnel?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Micah hears a football game on tv and comes in asking Danny, "Who's playing? Is it the Eagles and the Beagles?"

Nathan gets up after being in bed for awhile and says in a fake sleepy voice, "I think I'm sick... I felt a hot burp."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gracie is chatting up a storm everyday. Just wish we knew what she was trying to tell us :) Her favorite words/sounds are: Dididididi Daddee Dadadada Mam Mam Hey! She also razzes a lot.

She is standing on her own and is quite proud of herself, but has no interest in taking steps. Trying to climb out of her high chair, clapping, waving, and giving kisses are her current talents.

Micah is not known for freely giving hugs and kisses. But lately he's taken it upon himself to, very randomly come running to us and hugging us while saying, "I love you!" He is usually in the middle of playing or should be in bed (that one might be just a reason to get up and knows it's hard to be mad when he's saying such sweet things) or eating at the table. Tonight he hollered at Grace "I love you, Gwace!" until she looked at him and smiled.

-krista-

Happy 2011

2011-01-09T07:15:00.000+01:00

... ok, so we're a week into the New Year and I've spent the whole week sick :( Ugh. The upside to this whole thing is that I should be good to go the rest of the year. I may have a sniffle here and there, but hopefully this was my once a year "knock me off my feet" illness. Danny had it a few weeks ago too. We are praying that God would allow our kids to stay healthy. I ~~think~~ know we take for granted when they are healthy.

The kids have enjoyed the Christmas break. We've been able to relax a bit as a family--though I still think another week is needed :) But isn't that the way it is... always wanting more of what we cannot have?!?

Bible study attendance was very low the last couple of weeks, but that was to be expected with people going out of town for the holidays. We've got a new year ahead of us with ideas, activities and hopefully some growth will result from our efforts.

Danny really enjoys the New Year celebration here (I do too. But having grown up in the Philippines the whole concept of fireworks on New Years Eve is not new to me. It's expected and fun!). The fireworks here are awesome! As soon as the sun sets you start hearing loud popping and the whistling of some flying into the sky. The closer it gets to midnight the louder and more frequent the fireworks become. You don't really even need a clock because there is a radical change from 11:58 to 12:01. It sounds like a war zone (or I would guess it does having never actually been in one). The sky lights up and it's an awesome show from our own backyard. Here are a few pics of our family helping the neighborhood out in welcoming in the New Year! Gracie slept thru it all--thankfully! But the boys stayed up and absolutely loved the whole process. We played games, snacked, watched a movie and then bundled up and lit up the sky in our snow covered backyard in 18 degree Fahrenheit weather. Brrrr... it was cold! So maybe how I got sick is not a complete mystery.... haha.

Blessings to you all in this New Year!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T00:15:00.000+01:00

.... from our house to yours!

2010 Elves

2010-12-14T20:15:00.002+01:00

Back by popular demand-- our yearly Elf Yourself fun! Ok... maybe it wasn't actually demanded.... but it's popular in our house :)

Random conversations

2010-12-13T18:45:00.001+01:00

Me: Micah, finish your cereal.

Micah: I can't.... it's fluffy.

Me: What?

Micah: Look... they're all fluffy.

Me: Oh, well we call cereal that looks like that.... soggy.

(Boys are playing "Bolt" the video game with Danny)

Nate: Dad... those bad guys are kicking your tail.

Micah: Grace, I love you.... fa-eva. (forever) Now while you're all "awwing" he also said that to Buster our dog.

Nate: Micah, I'm so proud of you. (while Micah was trying to figure something out)

This past week I was helping Nate with his reading homework (he's not overly enjoying reading. He understands everything said to him in German, so to have him read aloud and then understand it, encourages him to read since he does speak German quite well). He was tired and a bit grumpy and wanted to be done so he could go play with Micah.

Me: Sound it out... t--a--

Nate: Mom, I know what that says.

Me: Ok, then let's hear it.

Nate: T-a-s-t-e-n (german word)

Me: Good. What does it mean?

Nate: I don't know... I just read the words.

Having boys in the house always makes for interesting bathroom visits. So it's not uncommon for me to holler "flush the toilet!" or "did you wash your hands?" Now with that in mind... here is a conversation I had with Nathan last week.

Me: Nate, flush the toilet when you're done!!

Nate (in a snickery voice): I was saving it to show Micah!

I don't even want to know why he felt the need or if they had some kind of running prank between each other... maybe it is better to not know.

Born in Bethlehem

2010-12-10T22:44:00.003+01:00

I could listen to Mac's voice all day long....

Beautiful faces

2010-12-06T03:27:00.001+01:00

Birthday brunch

2010-12-05T21:05:00.005+01:00

What better way to celebrate my 32nd birthday than with 2 wonderful friends! We went to brunch in the city and just thoroughly enjoyed sitting, talking, drinking coffee, eating, laughing, sitting back and relaxing... with no children! I adore my kids... but man-o-man it sure is nice to have a grown up day every once in a while and believe me.... it's been a while. We talked about life, work, family, vacation ideas, and even controversial topics. Oh it was nice to not have to use the 'mommy tone' or remind little boys how a gentleman should act in public or to be cutting food up into teeny-tiny-bite-size pieces, picking up a thrown toy, bottle, or food, or to have to take a bathroom trip for the umpteenth time.... I hope you get what I'm saying. If you don't, well, send me an email and I will gladly enlighten you as to what goes on around here. haha.

So after we finished we headed out into the cold, snow covered city. I love the city. Especially during the holidays. We got hot, made-to-order waffles. Ohhhh.... so yummy. Drizzled with chocolate sauce and no one around to share....yes, Happy Birthday to me :)

We found an adorable out of the way Christmas shop with cute little trinkets and ornaments. I don't drink hot cider, but the smell of it in the air mingled with the scent of Maroni's (chestnuts) roasting gives me such a cozy feeling. The Christmas lights and everyone shopping or standing around in their coats, hats, scarves.... and well, just enjoying being surrounded with buildings that are used daily--and older than my homeland! Such a wonderful part of living in Europe.

Thank you, Karen & Angela (and more importantly our hubbies who watched the kiddos). I had a great day!

**on my actual birthday (December 1st), Danny took me to breakfast with Gracie while the boys were in school. Then a couple of days later the whole family took me to lunch at a Mongolian restaurant that we all really like and then home to a cake made from scratch by the guys and presents. Our week was so incredibly busy that we had to celebrate it over a couple of hours on different days. haha. It was a good week.

BUSTER!

2010-11-30T04:49:00.000+01:00

We finally broke down and got a puppy. Danny & I both grew up with dogs and so we knew one day we'd want one for our family. But we wanted to hold off till our kids could help care for the dog or hold off till we didn't have small kids! Yes... I realize our kids are not exactly old enough to care for a dog and that we DO have small kids!! I lost track where we went wrong with our timeline and plans.... but what's done is done ;)

Well, after our trip to the States this summer, the boys were really talking about having a puppy. So Danny started researching online what dogs are best for our area, our family type, dog breeds and the different health issues that come with the breed, etc. I grew up with German Shepherds and loved them. My grandparents had a cute dauschund while I was in college (and another one years ago). Danny had different ones through out his childhood, but his favorite was a Blue Heeler that was sadly stolen. So since we couldn't agree (obviously we wanted our childhood memories) we asked the boys. Nathan wanted a Beagle and Micah wanted "that" dog (whichever one was on the computer screen at the time... btw, "that" changed daily).

We had finally decided on getting 2 outsides dogs. But the more we started thinking about it... this was going to cost us more than we really wanted to spend. The money to actually BUY the dogs, then shots, food, yard maintenance to get ready for dogs, dog houses, etc. So that got Danny searching even more and he found a lady giving away dauschund puppies (a dauschund was one of our choices if we got an inside dog)! He emailed her and she had 2 left. The momma dog had 5 puppies and the lady didn't have room for them. In fact, when she bought her dog from a breeder, neither knew the dog was pregnant! So she really wasn't ready to have puppies and it was more important to her that the dog go to a good family than trying to make money on selling the puppies. She was a nice lady--cried as we drove away.

So yes... we have a puppy. We got him in September (a lot happened that month- getting settled back into the house after being gone for 2 months, school started, fall activities, and a dog--that's why I didn't blog much!!). He is a dauschund (possibly a miniature one). He's an inside dog and really cute! We named him Buster (wasn't the dauschund in Toy Story named Buster?!?) Danny & I are very particular about the cleanliness of a household with pets. We do NOT want people to walk into our house and know we have a dog before they ever see him. Just a pet peeve :) We do have a small cage/house for Buster that will protect HIM from some of our smaller guests who are overly excited to be around him ;) He's done extremely well with house training. There have been "accidents" of course, but he's a fast learner!

Meet the newest member of our household: Buster.

**photos are from his first couple of weeks with us... he's grown a lot since these were taken. I'll get some more soon.

Catching up on...

2010-11-29T07:54:00.002+01:00

School Year 2010

(began September 13th):

Nate

Began 1st grade.

Out of 11 kids that moved up from his Kindergarten class, 9 are in his 1st grade class. He was happy to have friends with him.

Frau Pozar is his teacher. She has 22 yrs. of experience.

School begins at 7:45am till 11:35am. He goes 30 minutes early on Thursday & Friday (it was offered for the whole class and we felt it best for him to go for some help with German).

He has homework every day.

Learning to read and write.

Concentrating and making good use of time is a struggle for him (sadly, got that from me).

He is very good at Math.

His German is coming along very well.

Micah

Pre-school/Kindergarten.

Missed his brother at first....

Enjoying being Micah instead of "Nate's little brother".

Is like his brother in the fact that he has a lot of friends.

Speaks German.

Can be really defiant when being disciplined (aren't we all works in progress?!?).

Really likes his teacher and will miss her when she leaves to have her baby in the Spring.

Gets into trouble with another little boy who is actually really sweet, but my goodness he's mischievous!

Is picky about what he wears to Kindergarten.

Is good at drawing and puzzles.

Knows his numbers, but would rather put them in his own "order".

Lessons

2010-11-26T07:41:00.001+01:00

So at the age of 31 I've decided to learn to play an instrument. I tried about 3 times through-out my childhood to play the piano. Needless to say I can barely play chopsticks ;) It was my fault. I am not an overly disciplined person and so I didn't take the time to practice. My idea of playing the piano was getting all the learning during my lesson time and somehow it would stick (as well as improve) till the next lesson. I was much too social to remove myself from friends to sit alone at a piano!

Soooo (drum roll please) the instrument I've decided to learn is...

Yes, a guitar. It's been a challenge. I'm still not overly disciplined and throw in everyday life, kids, ministry, teaching English.... well, I don't practice as often as I should, but I do see improvement every week. I am enjoying it!

This is the view from the part of town I go to for my lessons (I love the city). I have a wonderful teacher. She is Hungarian and doesn't speak one word of English. It's hard enough learning to play the guitar, now throw in German as our only means of communication. But it's coming along quite well. I do find it hard to sing and play at the same time. My teacher keeps telling me (because I get so frustrated with myself) not to worry too much. It'll come in time.

I just hope the boys see Danny & I always trying things, learning things, and challenging ourselves. Most importantly learning and seeking after God.

-krista-

Homesick

2010-11-20T17:12:00.001+01:00

Bryan

2010-11-18T22:21:00.003+01:00

We BELIEVE God wants only what is good for us... and at this time what HE deems as good for us is to have you, dear Bryan, in Heaven. But oh how our hearts ache... and yet rejoice that you are no longer in pain... and that is comforting to us.

You were an excellent husband to my dearest friend, Melanie. You were a fantastic father to Abbi & Ella. Oh how I struggle to wrap my thoughts around the timing of this precious, yet to be born SON of yours.

You are so special to Danny & I.... the memories that have flooded our minds in the last 24 hrs. are so innumerable and we are soooo grateful for them. Being in Austria right now feels like the worst thing.... but HE knew. HE does know. Oh how we want to be there to honor your memory and to show your family how much we love and miss you. Oh how this hurts.

The friendship, the support we've given each other, the laughs, prayers for each other, tears, jokes, singing, road trips, sarcasm (yeah... we both know we dished it out), the weekend long hangouts as couples (sweet Abbi in her toddler innocence laughing at us all), game nights, the holidays, the traditions, our children's births and the babies gone before us....

You & Melanie are the definition of the old saying "A good friend knows all about you and likes you anyway." We promise to pray, love, and care for your family as we would our own.

"God is too wise to be mistaken. God is to good to be unkind. So when we don't understand. When we can't trace His hand. Trust His heart."

-krista-

My Kids

2010-11-16T09:16:00.000+01:00

The Sweetie Pie

My handsome, energetic, loving SONS!

Chicken Stew

2010-11-16T08:31:00.000+01:00

September always reminds me of the Fall Festival in our home town

So I made Chicken Stew. Yummy!

Gracie & Molly

2010-11-14T19:20:00.002+01:00

I completely forgot to put Gracie's monthly growing photos on here! You'll find her 1st-3rd months in May 2010 and her 4th month in June. So now here she is with 'Molly' for her 5th-7th months.

Gracie's 6th month dress is special because it was borrowed from a dear friend, Jessi. Her little girl, Austin wore it and it was a gift by another dear friend, Melanie. I miss those beautiful ladies. I thank God for their friendship.

In my prayers for my kids and their future spouses.... I also pray for the friends in their lives. The friends that they play with now and the friends they've not even met yet.

"Iron sharpens iron,and one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

Oatmeal on Sundays

2010-11-14T07:51:00.004+01:00

I can't believe that I just made oatmeal on a Sunday for my kids!

Ok, allow me to explain the irony... just plain hilariousness of it all (well to me... and probably my brothers). My mom, 99% of the time made oatmeal for breakfast on Sundays because it was filling and an easy meal to make on a morning that was usually quite busy and rushed (which I now understand since I'm a mom). As kids we hated it. My goodness we would complain! Then when we were told it was oatmeal or nothing till lunch (and when your Dad is the pastor, lunch isn't always at the "normal" lunch hour and it may be awhile) well, you find a way to choke it down or starve ;)

I'm not real sure why we disliked it so much because honestly, my mom ~~was~~ IS a great cook. Thankfully, she would allow us to "doctor-it-up". The amount of milk and sugar that was added was pitiful on our part. I was never a fan of oatmeal.

After Danny & I were married a few years I bought some flavored oatmeal (the packet kind) for Danny and discovered that I actually liked flavored oatmeal. I was flabbergasted! Yes, of course! Add cinnamon or brown sugar! That's brilliant!

Which brings me to today.... it's a cool morning and the cereal box is low, so I thought a nice warm bowl of homemade oatmeal would be yummy. I had a nice laugh to myself when I realized I was making oatmeal on a Sunday! My kids have learned to like oatmeal because of the flavor element. Sorry, Mom... if only the oatmeal had been flavored..... oh the possibilities :) hee hee! So maybe this post is pointless to many of you, but I wanted to write it for memory sake and let my family have a little chuckle.

-krista-

Reconnecting

2010-11-13T09:05:00.000+01:00

A highlight of any trip back to the States is spending time with dear friends.... whether it be for a lunch/dinner or a quick cup of coffee. Any way we can reconnect even if for a short time makes it that much sweeter.

Caldwell Time

2010-11-12T22:29:00.006+01:00

This past summer with all the traveling we had to do for our ministry, we also made sure to have time with each of our families. Oh what fun we had with all of them! We are truly blessed to have parents and siblings that love us, pray for us and support our ministry in Austria. It makes it easier living here knowing they are not resentful that we are so far away and yet it also makes it harder because we'd love to live life right along side each other and watch our kids grow up with their cousins. But as my Grama told me a long time ago when I asked her how she & my Papa could deal with their only son and family moving to the other side of the world, "I'd rather have you all living on the other side of the world and in God's will then across the street and out of it."

A few of the Caldwell clan spent

a week in San Antonio, Tx.

Micah, Zaylee, Nate

Cousins-- born 4 days apart on different continents

Aunts and Cousins

Danny's sis & her hubby

Sweet or Mischievous?

No Matter What

2010-11-09T13:00:00.003+01:00

Just heard this song via a few friends and has come at a very good time. We have some very close friends (here and there) and even family going thru different struggles and heartache. The lyrics are so well put. No matter what, I pray that I don't ever stop realizing my need for Christ.

Lately I've been thinking and analyzing a few things and I'm not quite sure how to put this into words, but I'll give it a try. I do not want to make it sound like "I've made it" or that I don't struggle with worry any more... it's just that I can see God working on me and He's not finished yet :-)

There was a time when I took a problem (be it mine, a family members, or a close friends) and just let it consume me. Oh how I would worry about the person, the illness, or the situation, how it was being dealt with, what people thought of this or that, or even thought of me. I'd make myself sick with worry and even lose sleep some nights. All the while knowing I was sinning with my worry and trying to "fix" things myself. My worrying was not getting me anywhere and it was not giving God any glory... my actions were telling anyone watching me that I didn't really trust God and His ways. I cringe at some of the memories of how poorly I've reacted to some of the refining God has put us thru.

I'm not overly sure when it happened. But I started noticing around the time of our last miscarriage that God is really all I need. Maybe it became more obvious to me that people were watching how Danny & I dealt with that heartache... and I really wanted them to see why we were making it thru this struggle. Maybe I was tired of using my own strength to "fix" things. Maybe I was seeing how much I mess things up when I take control over a situation. Maybe it was realizing that Danny & I had gone thru so many changes, adventures, struggles, joys, heartache, stresses and all we had was God. We didn't have our families here in Austria with us when things went wrong. We didn't have a church family to worship with on those hard days. So many maybe's and what if's.... I don't know how or when it happened, but I'm grateful to a God who gives me chance after chance and still loves me, shows me mercy, and gives grace on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. He really has been all we need. Sadly, it took some time to really, truly put all we have in His hands and let it stay there. I'm not saying I never have or never will have a lapse in trust, but let's just say that I've seen enough of God's handiwork that I know He's waaaay better at His job than I am :)

When we were wondering how the money for our visas was going to work out I really had no issues with worry (it was a shocking realization for me) because there was no way I had that amount sitting in a bank account :) If God wanted us here, I knew He would have a plan to keep us here.

When my kids have been sick and have had hospital stays... I certainly couldn't just snap my fingers and make them well again. So as stressful as it was and my tears of exhaustion and some temper tantrums to God... I had to take my grip off my kids and leave them in the only Hands that could heal them.

I could go on and on about how God has sustained us, but I think you get the idea. Danny has a plaque and I love what it says (not sure of author):

O God, I'm not where I want to be; I'm not even where I think I should be. But thank you Lord, I'm not where I used to be.

-krista-

Siblings

2010-10-21T07:36:00.000+02:00

I can't help but wonder... hope... pray.... that my kids are as

loving, giving, kind, protective

and concerned for each other when they grow up as...

my brothers and I.

College friends

2010-10-17T14:13:00.002+02:00

The first weekend that we drove to Missouri was spent reconnecting with some dear friends. The Harrod & Ross families are friends from our college days. The guys were a year ahead of the girls and were on the same floor in the dorm (Justin & Danny were roomies). The girls... different dorms, but had classes together and then of course started dating these crazy guys and well.... the rest is history :) We've had some incredible times (working in the cafe, dates, weddings, new year's parties, just everyday life....) with these 2 families and love them dearly. It's a rare and wonderful thing to have friends that though you rarely get to see and spend time with them... the phone calls and emails keep you close and connected.

The Harrod's have 4 awesome kids! Chris & Kim are wonderful parents.... just have a conversation with J..... or watch A and her sweet spirit... or C and his mischievous face.... or D who is a fireball of energy. So proud to know this family. Also, pray for their youngest... he's had some health issues that have given us all a scare. Miss and love you guys!

The Ross's have 4 crazy, awesome BOYS! Justin & Trish are just as crazy as their boys, btw. R is a miracle... I is Nate's age and both are full of trouble... C is Micah's age and both are little fireballs of energy... then C is a cutie and looks like his momma! Miss and love you guys!

We also put the word out that our families were going to hang out at a park near the college we went to and have dinner and let our kids run till they dropped (staying in a hotel was crampin' our style-haha). What fun we had reconnecting with even more friends! We were totally outnumbered by the kids :)

Doling Park

We dominated the hotel pool area.

(yes, Nate has a trash bag and duct tape over his cast)

Micah's 4th Birthday

2010-10-13T08:47:00.000+02:00

A pause in the summer updates.

My sweet boy, Micah celebrated his 4th birthday yesterday. For some reason this number seemed to "grow" the boys up faster. Now he really seems like a big kid to me (don't tell him it "just now seems"-hee hee). We had our traditional waking up the birthday person with a Birthday song. It's become a highlight of the morning.... gets everyone up and going, smiling and dancing :) Next it's off to school where he celebrated with his class and had cupcakes. We picked them up and headed to the lunch of their choice (Micah was no surprise--McDonalds). Grampa & Grammy sent money so he bought a remote control fire truck at Toys R Us and went home to have our family dinner/cake/presents time. He will have a little party with friends in a couple of weeks. Our schedule is just jam packed right now.

Here are a few pictures of how my baby boy has grown into this big kid!

Micah home from the hospital

(love how he suddenly put his finger in the air)

Micah @ 12 months

Micah @ 2 yrs. old

Micah @ 3 yrs. old

Micah @ 4 yrs. old with Daddy

What a gift this child is to our family!! Micah thinks his Papi (since he started Kindergarten last year, he has been using German for many things instead of English. Oh, that means 'Daddy'.) is the greatest! When Micah was 3 yrs. old and would see an NFL or college game on t.v. he would get excited and point and yell, "Daddy play!" He loves to go watch Danny play football for the Styrian Bears. He loves his Mama and still likes to be held and cuddled at times. He adores his big brother, Nathan. They are best friends.... ahem, I was corrected once... it's "best brothers". He can't hug and kiss Gracie enough. He is so protective of her and I love how that gives me a glimpse into the future. Thru the years I've affectionately called him our "firecracker". He is a burst of energy, hilarious, affectionate, goofy, opinionated, will fight me over what he wants to wear to school and has big brown eyes that melt any frustration I have with him. He's emotional, likes and NEEDS his afternoon nap (remember reading "emotional"?!?), will eat just about all vegetables, specifically broccoli (baby trees) and loves fruit too. He likes spiderman, batman, and well... all superheroes. He likes fire trucks and is in full agreement when Nathan tells him (notice I didn't say my first born asks him) that they are both going to be firemen at the fire station in our neighborhood when they get older. He likes music and playing "air" instruments.

He is our gift from God and we are grateful that we've been entrusted with such a gift.

Happy Birthday!!

Funny faces

2010-10-13T08:11:00.000+02:00

Nathan & Micah are in a phase of only making funny faces when a camera is in their face. So the helpful grandparents that they are... joined in the fun one evening ;) haha.

On the road again...

2010-10-11T08:06:00.002+02:00

After a week in Texas, we drove to Missouri to visit my brothers and their families (and report to supporters). They had not seen the boys since Nate was 3 yrs. old and Micah was 1 yr. old. Now my boys were 6 and 3 yrs. old, not to mention meeting Gracie!! Also, my youngest brother, Zach and sis in law, Jill have 2 girls that we've never met either. What a great time we all had!

It was nice to have all 3 kids asleep at once!

Uncle Zach with Anna meeting Gracie and the boys.

Uncle Matt & my boys

My Sis-in-laws!

Jill, me, and our baby girls!

(we're holding each others baby--yes, that's Gracie crying)

Friends...

2010-10-10T21:37:00.003+02:00

...are a blessing. Just a few of the faces we love and miss.

Highlights

2010-10-06T08:43:00.002+02:00

Random highlights of our trip to the States (in no particular order):

*Time with family (meals, chats, shopping trips, quality time, laughing, crying, hugging, playing games, vacation, photo ops)

*Chick fil-a (honey mustard and chicken strips)

*Gas prices

*Target (pretty much the whole store)

*TVLand (all the oldies, but goodies)

*TaMolly's (or technically Don Pablo in SS)

*Kohl's (always great sales)

*Cereal choices (almost made my head hurt though)

*Sonic (shakes and popcorn chicken)

*Dr.'s offices being open all day during the week

*Walmart (I know those that live there are sick of it... but you appreciate it when you don't have it)

*Taco Cabana (this is Danny's contribution)

*Being able to put ALL my trash in one trash can (though recycling is great.... we break ours up in 11 different ways, I think... it's been awhile since I actually counted)

*Seeing dear friends

*Stores open when you need them

*TexMex food

*Starbucks

*Yankee Candles

*Long talks with brothers/sisters

*Flavored creamers/coffee

*Air-conditioned homes

*cheaper clothes

*Watching cousins meet each other for the first time

*Seeing siblings be parents

*Steak 'n Shake (shakes and a Frisco melt!)

*Cowboys Stadium

*Chili's queso

Things we missed in Austria while in the States:

*Slower pace of life

*Healthier foods (less if no preservatives at all in foods here)

*Lack of fast food/restaurants everywhere

*Great friends

*Our home

*Summer vacation with friends to beach in Italy

*Sidewalk cafe's

*Family time (just the 5 of us)

*Tolerable heat in the summer time

*Strong coffee (coffee in the US now taste like tea to us)

*Play dates (seems like I meet up with other moms and their kids 3-4 a week for play dates and coffee)

*Our church

*Lack of Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Old Navy... easier on the budget ;)

*The lady that cuts my hair

*Controlling our eating habits are easier here

*Routine

*Grocery stores in the mall :)

*Looking for imported stuff and getting giddy over it!

These lists aren't exhaustive... but gets the point across. We believe we are blessed to have 2 places that we miss and love. People in both places that we miss and love. God is good.

4th of July weekend

2010-10-01T13:03:00.001+02:00

A Reunion

2010-09-27T13:20:00.001+02:00

A couple of months/weeks before we headed to the States I started thinking about how short our visit would be (7 weeks) and all the people I wanted to see in that time. I don't usually know what I'm going to do next week... I kinda like having flexibility in my schedule. But when you only have a certain amount of time, you plan. Plan like crazy!

So one evening in Austria, I was chatting with a friend on the phone and I realized that quite a few of us friends were going to be in the same city during the same weekend! The Whitleys were flying in from New York to see family. The Scotts driving in from Ohio. Brenda & her crew from Wisconsin were visiting her brother and our family from Austria. There were of course those that lived in the area- Jon W. and the Grahams (though Tommy had to work and didn't get to see him, but Jen is the fave-heehee!). Because it was the 4th of July weekend a lot of friends already had plans and so sadly couldn't join us. I sent out the email with the idea.... Bekah brain-stormed where and when... Brenda called restaurants and viola! we had a reunion set.

We've all been friends either from birth/high-school/or somewhere in between (with the exception that some spouses met the gang in college, but feel like a part of the group now). A lot of our parents were even friends from their own childhoods! Some of us have dated each other (haha), we've been in each others weddings (I know I sang in a couple of them), laughed, cried, prayed for each other, watched our kids become friends, and just grown up into adults together. It's a good thing.

I sat looking around the table just soaking it all in... the laugher was contagious, the stories hilarious, and the cameras flashing everywhere. We're older (ugh.), wiser (hopeful smile), happier (spouses/kids), but the same ol' silly kids we always were.

Guys/Gals-- thanks for taking time out of your short, busy weekend with family to make time for a meal with friends. I know it was worth it for Danny & I. We pray for you all often and are grateful for your friendship all these years. Can't wait till the next time... hope even more of our friends can make it!

-krista-

Great Grandparents

2010-09-26T07:51:00.000+02:00

Just 2 days after arriving we went to visit my Grandparents. In the same workshop that my Dad and brothers have received haircuts, my boys have also been Papa's customers as well :) My Papa was a barber at one time and it's so cool to watch him work so quick, calm, and accurate. I love that he's given all my guys haircuts every time we visit. Sweet memories.

My grandparents are both beginning their 80's and would you believe they offered/insisted we leave all 3 kids with them while we went out with some old friends (blogging on that next)?! They're just awesome like that. Part of me wanted to bring our kids & introduce them to everyone (some friends did bring their kids and that was nice to see who looked like who (whom?), but the other part screamed, "Run! A chance to talk & eat with adults!" Gracie was sleeping & the boys were watching it rain while playing with Tonka trucks (that my brothers played with at their age) on the back porch.

Papa & Grama (or GG=Great Grama), thank you!! We had such a good time! It was our first night out with no kids in MONTHS. We love you & the kids adore you too!

-krista-

New faces

2010-09-25T08:32:00.003+02:00

We arrived safely in Texas on June 30th. It was so great to be met at the airport by family, but especially by our niece and 2 nephews. Zaylee is 2 yrs. old and Maddox just turned one a couple of days before our arrival. Trace is 4 days younger than Gracie (they are so cute together!). My parents and a couple of friends were waiting @ Danny's parents house to see us... after being gone for nearly 3 years it was so good to hug everyone. Watching the kids play together as cousins was fun and entertaining too.

Everyone slept pretty well that first night.... the next morning after an hour or so of being awake and having some breakfast, Micah crashed on the couch watching cartoons. Jet lag always shows up at the oddest times. haha.

Good-bye Kindergarten

2010-09-25T08:02:00.000+02:00

The last day of school for our boys was June 29th. The day before we flew to the States. The rest of the Kindergarten got out a week and a half later! We are going to miss one of the teachers... Ruth. She has been a sub for another teacher on maternity leave (for the last 3 years-- yes, that's the way they roll here in Austria). This was a good year for the boys. Micah was able to warm up to the whole idea of going to Kindergarten everyday with his brother by his side. Nathan is Mr. Friendly and really doesn't have a shy side. Micah is shy and only Mr. Friendly when he really knows the person. I'm thankful they were able to be in the same class and that we were blessed to have some great teachers. I can't believe Nathan begins the 1st grade this Fall!! Where has the time gone!?!?

Yet again...

2010-09-24T07:40:00.000+02:00

...I have neglected this blog. So again... let's play catch-up :) Pictures and info are coming soon!

Krista

'Round here...

2010-06-28T07:53:00.004+02:00

Some phrases/conversations/actions heard 'round here :)

-The boys pronounce the movie "Beethoven" = Baytogen (sounds like).

-In desperation & running thru the house, Micah hollers, "Where's the paaccci?!? Baby Gacie is cying!" (misspelled words on purpose)

-Nate is depressed because Micah went home with friends while he was in the ambulance. So talking to Danny he says, "This is a bad day. Do you know why, Daddy?" Danny: "Why, buddy?" Nate: "Because I broke my arm & now I can't go play with my friends."

-Nate gagging. Me asking what is wrong. He answers, "Gracie is frowing up!" I run into the living room curious as to why he'd say that & see a baby girl drooling with a tad of milk mixed in. (Nate is easily grossed out!)

-I get up to help Danny finish getting the boys dressed for Kindergarten (I sleep in a little since I feed Gracie late at night). I'm half asleep (and not a morning person--at all.) and putting Micah's shoes on and he says, "Mommy, what that smell?" I have no clue so I sorta mumble "I dunno." He leans in.... "it's your breaf (breath) Mom." Gee... thanks son, Good Morning to you too.

-Micah, walking in the door from Kindergarten on Nate's 3rd day back since he broke his arm and he's a bit whiney, "Mommmm.... I have an ouwer!" (this is "owie" with a German spin on the word. Also, I have to say that both boys usually don't care that they have a scratch on themselves or anything.... they're quite tough, so I can tell it's been a rough couple of days with all the attention Nathan is getting). I drop what I'm doing and follow him to the bathroom. He sits on the edge of the tub and I get the cleaning stuff and band-aids out. I ask him to show me the "ouwer". He turns his left hand upward and I search and search... finally I see the little scratch. Me: "Oh wow... you got a scratch. How did that happen?" Micah: "I don't know." Me: Well, it's all clean now and here's the band-aid. I hope it feels better. I love you." Micah: "Tanks, I gonna show Nate."

-Again, Micah coming in one day from Kindergarten. He has some dried dirt/mud on his neck and shirt. So I tell him to follow me to the bathroom to get cleaned up before sitting down at the table for lunch. Me: "Micah, how did you get dirt all over you?" Micah: " (Boys name) did it." Me: "Well, that wasn't very nice. Why do you think he did that to you?" Micah: "Because I put dirt on him....." I'm about to start a discussion about being nice to others/doing unto others, etc. when he finishes his thought. "... because I don't like him." If you remember Danny blogged about Micah and this little boys awhile back (click on 'Conversations with Dad-part one'). Apparently, Micah can not bring himself to like this little boy. I'm really curious as to why because Micah, though shy at times, seems to like everybody.

-Nathan walking towards the downstairs door with a can of hairspray. When asked what he was doing he replied, "going to kill an animal." I thought I should check what kind of "animal" he was going to take out with hairspray AND why it was in my house! But it was an already dead beetle. I guess he wanted to be sure ;)

Reading books

2010-06-25T10:01:00.000+02:00

I have always loved reading. My first love in reading were Nancy Drew books. My earliest memories were when we lived in Palawan and my Dad would be flying to Manila for something and I'd have a list of books that I already had so that he could pick me up some new ones at a book store. If my parents wanted to get my attention all they had to do was threaten to take away a Nancy Drew book! I'd read by flashlight under my comforter hours after I was supposedly sound asleep. I could never end a chapter and just go to sleep... I'd tell myself, "just one paragraph of the next chapter to know everything is ok..." Then before I knew it I was at the end of the next chapter! Thru the years, I have even found some old, old copies at used book stores. Great finds!

My mom would also read to us at night. What fun! She was actually reading to my brothers, the Bobbsey Twins or sometimes the Hardy Boys (though I think by the time they graduated to the HB they read those themselves) and I'd sit in too. Such good memories... we would hurry to get our baths and go to my parents room where there was usually air-conditioning for the "settling" down part of the night. For those who don't understand.... we lived in the Philippines and it was HOT! My parents room was bigger and had a corner with a couch and a tv so that was the family room too. We couldn't air condition the whole house! Those were good times.

Slowly, reading for school and being tested over what I read was taking all my free time. Then college hit and even more boring books were given to me. After that (the first few years of marriage sans kiddos) I found time to read again for fun. Then kids came and well, it's been awhile. haha :)

Anyway, one of my all time favorite authors is Francine Rivers. She is an amazing writer. I have read nearly all of her books.... I pick up a new one when we visit the States. Years ago I was introduced to her by friends and I was hooked! I am currently reading the 4th out of 5 books in her Sons of Encouragement series. The Lineage of Grace was good too! And the Shofar Blew is phenomenal! But my all time favorite is Redeeming Love. It is based on the book, Hosea, in the Bible. Excellent book. Read it! You won't be able to put it down.

Danny & I started reading thru the Bible with the boys a little over a year ago. They were really enjoying it and absorbing the stories and their meanings. They were into the Old Testament and the stories of all the battles that went on during that time. Seeing them develop a love for God's Word is the most important, but also a growing love for reading and books in general warms my heart. Just a few months ago Danny started adding to the reading time, The Indian in the Cupboard. I had never heard of it, but Danny said he grew up reading it and loving it the way I did Nancy Drew. Bedtime is a bit easier now because all we have to do is say, "Daddy's going to read to you guys if you get your teeth brushed and in bed right now!" and off they go!

What are some of your favorite books-- childhood or now?

4 months

2010-06-24T22:16:00.000+02:00

My sweet baby girl, Grace is 4 months. She sleeps thru the night... smiles... laughs... talks jibberish... watches her brothers come and go... has been desperately trying to sit up since she was 3 1/2 months old... eats baby cereal... draws attention with the bows on her head... and is a source of joy to our family.

Doing better!

2010-06-23T20:54:00.000+02:00

He was back to himself by Saturday.

One of his roomates... funny kid.

Day 2

2010-06-23T20:30:00.000+02:00

Nathan had to spend 2 nights in the hospital. He came home Sunday afternoon. They wanted to keep an eye on him since he was under anesthesia and also to check his heart/lung area for bruising/swelling.

He went to Kindergarten on Monday and had a great day. He's really not complained about pain. He does take some children's tylenol before going to school and before bedtime.

Thru all this Danny & I have just had to sorta laugh. We leave in a week and a half for the States!!! What in the world?!? I was just telling my friend, Jessi on the phone the week before how I was hoping Danny wouldn't get hurt or break a bone this last week at his football game (which he missed to be with Nathan at the hospital). Many of our summer plans with family involve water--swimming, water parks, etc. But it seems like Danny & I are the only ones concerned :) We don't 'baby' him... Nate tries everything himself and then if he can't do something we help him. It's rare to hear him ask for help. Nathan is a trooper!

God is not surprised by all this and though it's an inconvenience to us, I believe that God wants what is best for us and if this is what He sees as best for us in this moment... then I'm okay with it.

Always smiling....

Nate's broken arm

2010-06-23T20:20:00.001+02:00

Ok, I've been needing to blog about this, but wanted to get my timeline of things I wanted to post in order. So here we are last Friday, June 18th. I was at a breakfast with friends (some of the moms of the Kindergarten meet sometimes after we drop our kids off at school). Gracie was being ohhh'd and ahhh'd over and I needed to make a small grocery run before picking the boys up. So I was saying my good-bye's and loading Gracie into her car seat when my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number so I let it go to voicemail and would call back from the car. As I was leaving the kitchen, my friends phone rang and she said it was for me. Nathan's teacher, Nicole said he had fallen and broken his arm and I needed to come ASAP! Thankfully, I was only 2 minutes away. That was enough time for me to feel horrible for not answering my phone!

I arrived at the school and Nathan was in a chair in the office. I was expecting to see tears... but he was calmly sitting there. My thoughts then were "must not be that bad." Then I noticed Kiersten, (teacher from across the hall) holding Nate's wrist. I smiled at him and looked down, "ohhhhh... wow... ohhhhh... hey there, buddy... you ok?!?" (I kept my brave face on because kids react to their parents reaction) He told me he fell off the monkey bars and his chest broke his fall. It happened so fast that he doesn't remember using his hands to break his fall.

Micah came inside and told me that Nate was hurt (he was really worried about his brother). So now I have all 3 kids and need to get Nate to the hospital. I knew that it would be hard to get him there without possibly doing some damage to his arm. So I asked Nicole to call the ambulance. Danny was at home working in his office (in the basement) and doesn't get cell phone reception and our land line was upstairs. There was no way I could go home to get him (I was worried Nate would break down if he saw me leave). I turned to another mom friend and asked if she knew where I lived. She left to get Danny (front door was open and she yelled for him) and they got back as the ambulance pulled up.

Another mom friend offered to take Micah home for the afternoon and he didn't want to at first. He was really worried and intrigued by the ambulance. Poor Micah, he wanted to ride in there so bad. As I was buckling him into the car, Rosi was walking towards us and asking Micah again. Her 2 boys took Micah by the hand and asked him to come with them. I think he felt important and said, "bye Mommy". I was so thankful he was going to be cared for that day.

Gracie & I ran home to get her a bottle and the traffic to the hospital was horrible! We pulled up and he had just had his first x-ray and was getting the rest of his body checked-out. I was holding his hand and he said his chest started hurting suddenly. I told the Dr. who was filling out some paper work and as soon as I said that, 3 Dr.'s were looking him over. I was impressed. They decided to wheel him off and take another x-ray of his chest to make sure he was okay. The care he received was so good. He was not happy about the IV port in his other arm. He kept having us scratch his nose or rub his forehead. It bothered him to bend his arm (I fully understand--I hate being poked). He was so quiet and still had the look of shock/trauma on his face. We prayed many times and the only time we saw him get nervous and on the verge of tears was when they said they were taking him to the operating room. He reached out for Danny and begged him not to leave him. Rip my heart out! After he was out of sight I let a couple of tears fall. Danny & I just sat in the hall with a sick feeling in our stomachs. We were told they were going to need to put a pin in his arm. So he was going to be put out. We have a Dr. friend here and he called to let us know one of his buddies was working and was there for Nate. That brought a little peace knowing a connection had been made.

See how his arm (below) dips?!? This picture sends shivers down my spine.

My incredibly brave boy!
We found out Saturday that he did NOT have surgery. They thought he was going to, but they were able to set it. He was put under in case they needed to, so it took him some time to come out of the "fog". He has a cast from his finger tips to his shoulder.

After he came out of the recovery room and to a regular room (that he shared with 3 other boys), I went home to get clothes, toiletries, his stuffed dog, Sparky (he really lit up when I brought him and that is where he rests his arm most of the time now) and grabbed the PSP so he could watch some cartoons and just rest. The older boys in the room controlled the tv :)

-krista-

A touch of summer...

2010-06-23T07:19:00.000+02:00

So we had a loooong winter. A very chilly Spring and then one week the sun came out and we thought summer was arriving! I even got our fans out and cleaned them up. We got a little pool for the boys to enjoy the remaining weeks we had here and had plans to have friends over, but then the rain came and the temperature dropped drastically. I'm all for cooler days (I am not a big fan of sweating), but it's been hard for the boys to be stuck in the house. I know we will more than get a summer in Texas so I'm thoroughly enjoying the weather right now.

Here are some pics of the week we had sunshine :)

Grillin', Friends, & a Baby!

2010-06-22T21:29:00.005+02:00

This Spring we had quite a few friends over to our house to grill out. Many were part of our church 'family' and some were friends we had made thru the Kindergarten. It's always so much fun watching our kids interact with their friends. We've been blessed with some really great families here!

One particular family has 2 boys-Fabian is about a month a half younger than Nathan. Felix is about 9 mo. younger than Micah. Well, halfway thru my pregnancy with Grace, this family found out they were expecting too!!!! Immediately their boys and ours were wishing for a girl. We knew Gracie was coming, but our friends wanted to be surprised (I was going crazy the last 4 months! haha).

We were asked to be on call for our friends if they needed someone to pick up the boys. Well, the due date was last week and I was getting nervous the baby wouldn't arrive before we left for the States. I talked with R Sunday night and all was well. So today I'm driving home from my guitar lessons and I get a text with a photo.... they had a baby GIRL this morning!!!! She is soooo beautiful! The boys were already at school for the day I guess and their Grandma was available. Our boys are ecstatic for them too!

A walk around here...

2010-06-22T19:26:00.002+02:00

A few weeks ago our family took a walk around our area. The boys rode their bikes and we introduced Gracie to the carrier. We needed to know how she would handle it because this is her "ride" for our trip next week. The stroller is just to big of a hassle and this way if she starts crying it's easier to comfort her then have to keep one hand in the stroller on her paci or stroke her face.

The pics of the boys came off my phone because they wanted to be statues. haha. Micah found a big rock and struck a pose.

Be all there

2010-06-14T15:32:00.002+02:00

I came across this article today and though I'm sure we all know it and believe this to be true... it's good to be reminded.

Click here: Be all there

Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God. – Jim Elliot

An afternoon at home

2010-06-09T13:13:00.003+02:00

Just a short video of one warm afternoon recently. Gracie was a lot more chatty and really laughing every time I tickled her before I turned on the video and then nothing! Always happens when you want to actually capture the moment :) The boys were being so good and playing together. But then Micah had an idea and I felt the need to stop making a video and remove the temptation :) haha! Never dull around here.

Weekends

2010-06-07T07:56:00.001+02:00

For the last 2 weekends we have been b-u-s-y! May is full of national holidays and sometimes it blends into June as well. So the boys were out of school on a couple of Thursdays and Fridays and we grilled out with many different families. The weather is finally cooperating and beginning to feel like summer is on it's way. Church friends, school friends and friends from along the way have been our guests. What a great time it's been connecting more with them and deepening the friendships.

We are flying to Texas in a few weeks for a short summer furlough. It's been nearly 3 years and we're aching to see our families and all the new nieces/nephews that have been born in that time frame. Also, we need to report to many of our supporters. Each time we have flown back to the U.S. we've been able to report and thank those that have supported us. Doing this in increments has been a bit more difficult and makes our trips feel quick and jam-packed, but we don't want to be away from Austria and the home we've made and the church we're leading any longer than we have to be. It's crazy to experience these emotions at times.

Next month we'll have been in Austria for 6 years! I truly have to count it out because it doesn't feel like it's been that long. But Nathan is our walking calendar :) He was 9 weeks old when we moved here. Our first few years in Austria we flew back to the States often to be a part of our siblings weddings. But in all those trips, we calculated that we've been gone just under 6 months. Wow. We really have been living here. The roots we've put down here get deeper and deeper. Our family has friends here that we can't imagine not knowing. The Kindergarten our boys attend is fantastic. I've been praying for their teachers before I knew they would be attending that school. Now I'm praying for the teachers Nate will have beginning this Fall in elementary school (I still pinch myself that he's old enough to be going to school and just... well, growing up.). Micah speaks so much German that it inspires me how kids absorb everything they can. Gracie is almost 4 months.... really!?!?

Danny & I will celebrate 11 years of marriage in August. What on earth were we doing getting married at 20/21 years of age?!? haha. Our parents must've had quite the peace about 2 kids getting married so young :)

So it wouldn't be a fun post without photos so here are a few I like. This first one is a chalk heart on the drive way Nathan & Micah drew for me while I was gone one day.

Out and about getting an early Father's day gift for Danny. They were real excited. Can you tell?!?
He understands me and cooperates when I put a camera in his face :)

Full of energy!

2010-06-05T20:09:00.000+02:00

Weekend fun

2010-06-04T19:57:00.001+02:00

Just a little fun with the boys :)

A story to share

2010-06-01T00:08:00.002+02:00

Zac Smith. Grew up like I did... our families started churches in other countries. He passed away May 16, 2010. I have been very touched by his story. His parents work at our "missions" headquarters. What a testimony! Take 5 minutes out of your day to watch this.

Rainbow cupcakes

2010-05-30T19:42:00.000+02:00

The parents of the birthday kid is supposed to bring a cake or cupcakes for the class... well, having been a Kindergarten teacher myself--cupcakes are the way to go. One piece per kid, no cutting required, no complaints "his piece is bigger than mine!" haha. But Nathan didn't want just any ol' cupcake. He wanted rainbow cupcakes! I had a long day and was putting them to bed, Danny was going to football practice, and Gracie had been very fussy all day. I was already going to have to make them from scratch because I didn't have a cake mix. So when he said, "I want rainbow cupcakes like the ones you made for Micah's birthday (except his was the whole cake and that was easier... these were 30 individual rainbow works of art-haha), they were yummy!" Well, as you can see, I'm a sucker for compliments....

Happy Birthday, Nate!

2010-05-28T07:19:00.000+02:00

May 20th: Nathan celebrated his 6th birthday. He had been asking for a BIG party for months and wanted it at home so he could invite a few more friends (it's much cheaper than going to a play place that a lot of kids do for their bdays).

Well, first of all we had a great time, but I don't know what I was thinking ;) haha. There were 17 kids at our house! haha. Not all of them were Nate's age. The way their Kindergarten works is that the class is full of kids ages 3-6 yrs. So Micah & Nate share a lot of the same friends. This is Nate's last year in Kindergarten and so probably the last year that he & Micah will "share" friends for awhile. It turns out that this year many of Nathan's friends have siblings Micah's age and they all started this last fall. So we (and by 'we' means also Nathan) not only invited the kids that are Nathan's age, but also their sibling that would be Micah's age (he wanted those other kids too. I didn't talk him into it or even ask...he said they were his friends and Micah would enjoy having them here too. He is a kind-hearted boy.). Micah plays with both siblings as well and I figured that was probably true for the other kids. I know what it's like to have one kid be invited to a friends house and not the other. I also know it will happen many more times in life and we'll deal with that later, partly because the boys will be older and explaining it will be easier. But Micah is 3 yrs. old.... in his eyes "so-n-so" is also his friend and he is hurt/confused why he isn't invited over to that kids house when they play together at school just fine. So I didn't want to put another parent in that situation.

The 'before being a mommy' part of me would have just thought, "the kid will get over it..... I am not babysitting a bunch of kids just so someone doesn't cry." But it's more than that... it's putting myself aside and showing my kids I think they are important.

The party theme was requested: Soccer (or Football or Fußball, depending on your country). I get nervous the older the boys get because their creative minds are superior to my simple brain. Thankfully, I found a soccer ball pan at the last minute--of all places--Toys r' Us!

Here are the pics of the day:

Nathan, Daddy & I love you. We are so proud of the young man God is developing you into.

Just like I tell you every night...

"you're my favorite Nathan in the whole world!"

3 months already?!?

2010-05-27T08:45:00.000+02:00

Grace is 3 months old! What a wonderful blessing she has been to our family. I know I say it a lot, but the boys adore her. It thrills my heart to see my kids love on each other. The boys frequently say that they are best friends. They make up scenarios where they have to fight 'bad guys' and protect Gracie. It's too funny! I know the time is flying by so I'm enjoying this as long as I can, but I also look forward to when she can get up and run after them. She tries to follow them with her eyes when they come into a room and at 6 & 3 1/2 yrs. old they enter a room with quite the BOOM! I am so undeserving of God's gifts, but Danny & I try are best and just ask God for the wisdom it takes--daily, to raise these gifts.

I got an idea from a friend a long time ago to take a monthly picture of my babies their first year of life. She used a pillow/section of her couch. But we were going to be moving around a lot and didn't know about what kind of furniture we'd have. So we use a stuffed animal that Danny or I personally pick out for them. I love watching them grow and it helped our family see the growth next to something that didn't change.

Nathan has "Charlie" @ 1 month:

Nathan & "Charlie" @ 12 months:

Micah & "Roger" @ 1 month:

Micah & "Roger" @ 12 months:

So here is Gracie's first 3 months with "Molly":

Fun isn't it?!? You know they grow... but when you're with them day in and day out, you don't see it happening till you look at a photo and think, "wow! she's really growing fast."

-krista-

Hipstamatic

2010-05-26T23:38:00.000+02:00

I love the way these pics turned out!

Parks

2010-05-26T07:30:00.001+02:00

We like going to parks. We sometimes ride our bikes there (but this year will have to be by car or walking since Gracie isn't ready to ride in our bike seats behind me or Danny. The boys have so much fun running all over the place and climbing on everything! We have a little plastic slide that the boys have pretty much outgrown at our house and we'd love to build them a "big kid" swingset/fort type of playground. But till we can do that we make use of the parks around our area.

The boys have become accustomed to me following them around with a camera and saying, "wait just a sec... look at mommy before you slide down." or "stand by your brother... you guys look so cute!" For the most part they comply ;) haha. One day they will be very appreciative of all the pics and memories of their childhood. I know I go thru boxes of photos at my parents and grandparents house just about every time we go back to the States.

-krista-

Families with boys...

2010-05-25T09:55:00.000+02:00

We have been blessed with some great friends here in Austria. This particular family has 2 boys the same age as Nathan & Micah. They are also expecting a 3rd baby in a few weeks! They wanted to wait till he/she is born to find out the gender of the baby. Our 2 oldest sons think it will be a girl because they say Gracie will need a friend :)

When we get together our boys play so well with each other. There is rarely any time that we have to settle any fights or remind them to share. It helps that both of our families have the same mindset when it comes to raising boys and how they get energy out :)

Nathan prays that they will come to church. He wants his friend to learn about God with him.

Playtime

2010-05-24T21:12:00.000+02:00

A couple of weeks ago we had a day of 80 degree weather and the boys begged me to get out the little kiddie pool. Well, we have well water and it's freeeeezing cold even in the middle of summer, so with spring barely here it was chilly! It's wonderful for drinking, but really hard to want to jump in and get wet. So they jumped in and out and let their legs get wet. Then they changed their minds and wanted the sprinkler out so they wouldn't be as cold. It was a beautiful afternoon.

Gracie opted for some time in her swing. She loves that swing! The boys were never crazy about it and so I'm glad to be getting good use out of it with her :)

Gracie

2010-05-24T09:06:00.000+02:00

Seriously.... she melts your heart.

Just for fun...

2010-05-24T08:42:00.001+02:00

If you haven't learned by now.... I enjoy photography. In our home there are so many picture frames filled with the faces of people we love and miss. These are supposed to be "off color" and a bit rough around the edges. Very cool in my eyes.

above pic: Danny #73

above: my beautiful daughter

above: Micah in Vienna having ice cream

above: Nathan in Vienna

above: just me in the car

Zach's family

2010-05-23T14:12:00.001+02:00

My brother, Zach & his wife, Jill have a new daughter! Erynn Linsey was born April 27th. She is beautiful just like her Momma! Anna is so beautiful and will be turning 2 this summer and a great big sister. She could not look more like Zach! We are looking forward to being able to meet both of these nieces this summer!