An Afternoon in Downtown Lisbon

In the last few weeks, we have had several opportunities to explore our "home-for-a-year" of Lisbon. Here are some pictures of our first expedition.

It rained for a solid week when we first got to Lisbon, and then we began our language studies, so the first chance we had to really get out and explore was about two weeks after we arrived. We took advantage of the sunny weather one Saturday and headed downtown.

We went to the Jardim Estrela and let Alex burn some energy on the awesome playground!

Next time, we'll have to remember to bring bread to feed the ducks!

We rode the tram (it's free with our bus passes).

We walked down narrow cobblestone streets that looked like they hadn't changed a bit in about 3 centuries (minus the cars, that is).

We stopped for a bite to eat at an outdoor cafe -- tostas mistas (grilled ham and cheese sandwiches) and coffee.

And Stephen practiced walking.

The cafe had a great view of the rooftops of Lisbon...

... and the river (over on the other side, you can see the enormous Cristo Rei statue, a replica of which is in Lubango, Angola).

Welcome!

Here is a short video tour of our apartment in Lisbon, for those who might be curious about where we live and what our home looks like. Hope you enjoy!

NOTE: For those reading this post on Facebook, you have to click on "View original post" (at the bottom of the note) in order to view the video.

Portuguese Classes Begin

So, we have survived our first week of Portuguese classes. In fact, we are midway through our second week, trying to keep on top of our homework, to stay afloat on a vast sea of vocabulary, and to train our mouths to make sounds they aren't at all used to making. We are being challenged and stretched as we take on this task of learning another language.

And yet, at the same time, we are finding it easier than we thought. My French (I took two years in high school) is coming back to me and proving very helpful, and Rusty is finding the little Spanish he knows comes in handy. (French and Spanish are both Latin-derived Romantic languages, like Portuguese.) But beyond that, our experience with Japanese makes any other language seem easy by comparison. I already feel like I am in Portuguese where I was in Japanese after 6 months, mainly because I can already read and write Portuguese. I don't have to learn two separate alphabets and a bunch of Chinese characters just to figure out what things are at the store, or read a menu, or read the songs at church. Never, never underestimate the importance of literacy in our modern society or when learning other languages!

We are in class for two hours every day, Monday through Friday. And each day, we also have work to do at home. Some of the work is book work -- conjugating verbs, translating sentences, memorizing vocab, listening to and repeating mini-conversations. But there are other things that our teacher also considers "homework" -- like reading Portuguese children's books aloud (which will also help Alex with his language acquisition), using the Portuguese we are learning in class as we are going about our daily lives, even watching Portuguese television! She actually encouraged us to pick a Portuguese soap opera to watch every day (they are easy to follow because of the melodrama and overacting), and when Alex is watching kids' shows in Portuguese, even if we are doing other things and not giving our full attention to the television, we can count that as time spent in exposure to the language. The important thing now is to immerse ourselves as much as possible in the sounds and get our ears used to hearing it. I am already finding that I am able to pick out words and hear where sentences begin and end, where at first, it was all just a jumble of sounds. So, that is encouraging. And then there are other days when I can't even order a cup of coffee properly or remember the correct response to "How are you?" Ah, the ups and downs of learning a second language!

We really like our teacher, Eunice Carapeto. She expects us to work hard and treat language study seriously, but she is also understanding of the fact that we have a family and therefore aren't able to give as much time to our studies each day as a single person or a couple without children. On our first day, she told us to be sure to reserve a day every week for resting and relaxing (so we don't burn out), and not to change a lot about our family life just because of language learning. She also told us to keep a hobby because learning a language can be a frustrating and humiliating experience, so every once in awhile, it's nice to do something you are actually good at! I sure am glad I brought a few scrapbooking supplies and an album to work on. All in all, really sound advice for people living abroad and trying to learn another language.

Eunice has told us that around the 3-month mark is when we will notice that we are able to actually carry on a meaningful conversation. We so look forward to that day. For now, we stumble around, butchering the language and risking being laughed at, because there really is no other way to learn. We have to become like little children again and be willing to make lots of mistakes in order to make forward progress.

Life at Eleven Months

Having an eleven-month old means that we're just a few short weeks away from the big first birthday. As April 6th rapidly approaches, I can't help but reflect on where our family was this time last year... living with my parents in Michigan, unemployed, waiting on a sponsoring church, wondering if we would ever get to Portugal, let alone Angola. It's pretty amazing what God has done in just a few short months (although, I confess that it makes me tired just thinking about all the traveling and moving we have done in Stephen's first year of life)!

Of course, the major milestone in Stephen's eleventh month was his first international trip. Developmentally, he is pulling up and cruising along the furniture. He can stand alone, but he has yet to show any interest in taking steps, even with help. He would much rather crawl... it's faster! No new teeth yet, although I'm pretty sure the top ones are about to make their appearance any day now. He eats voraciously and drinks water from a straw cup. He loves balls, playing with Alex, riding in the Kelty, reading books, and opening drawers and cupboards all over the house. He is very curious about the bathroom, and we have to keep the door closed all the time, or he will go in there and pull up on the toilet (or, since we live in Europe now, the bidet). He has become quite the ham -- whenever he sees the camera come out, he breaks into the biggest grin. One nap a day is the norm now, and this makes it easier for Rusty and me to have focused time for Portuguese homework in the afternoons.

I love the picture below, even though it's a little unfocused. It captures Stephen's great smile with the two little teeth on the bottom, and he is wearing a Portland Trailblazers sweatsuit that used to belong to his cousins, Robbie and Johnny!

Our FOUR-Year Old!

It's hard for me to believe that Alex is 4 years old! True to form, we are celebrating yet another birthday in yet another city. As Rusty said, just before we left Nashville, "Alex has moved more times than he's had birthdays." For some reason, that made me sad, but I'm holding out hope for permanency for our family someday.

Alex turned 4 on February 28th, which also happened to be a Sunday, our first Sunday in Portugal. Since we knew it would be a busy day, and since we had his party before we left Nashville, we had told Alex not to expect much in the way of birthday celebrations. We promised him a family party with cake and presents later in the week. So, imagine our very great surprise when the church had a surprise cake for him after the service! I wish we had a picture of his face as the entire Lisbon Church of Christ sang a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" in Portuguese. Unfortunately, neither Rusty or I knew it was coming either, and we had left our camera at home.

After church, we had a late lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then made our way home. There are no evening services, so we enjoyed some family time, complete with chocolate crepes just before bed. (Don't be too impressed -- they were frozen. All I did was warm them in the microwave and put the strawberries on top.)

One INCREDIBLE four-year old!

Hello from Lisbon!

Or I guess I should say, “Olá de Lisboa!” We have been here exactly one week now. We left the United States last Wednesday evening and, after a layover in Frankfurt, arrived in Lisbon the following afternoon. It was a fairly uneventful journey, for which we are thankful. Both the boys were sick, Alex with an ear infection and Stephen with a bad cold, but they still travelled well. We were met at the airport by a veritable welcoming committee consisting of our teammates, Nathan and Jordan, our language teacher, Eunice, and the minister at the Lisbon Church of Christ, Ricardo, along with his family and the church van (to help with hauling our embarrassingly massive amounts of luggage from the airport to our new home).

Our apartment is in a suburb of Lisbon called Loures. (Actually, the name of our town is Santo Antonio dos Caveleiros, which in my opinion is a ridiculously long name for a town, but whatever.) It is a 3-bedroom, one bath furnished apartment on the second floor (which in Europe is considered the first floor), and I think we will be very comfortable here. We live right next to a very pretty park – we actually look down on it from our bedroom windows. Ana, the lady who will be babysitting for us while Rusty and I are in classes, lives in our building. She speaks English and has already been so helpful as we settle in here. We are about a 10-minute bus ride away from the school and a large mall/shopping center… and there is also an IKEA going in very close to us! I will put some pictures up soon, so you can have a “virtual tour” of our new home.

It took us a few days to adjust to the different time zone. We are 6 hours ahead of U.S. Central time here, so the boys, especially Stephen, were waking up at odd times during the night for awhile. After a week, we are all sleeping better at night. We are also adjusting to apartment living again -- I had forgotten how noisy it was! The other night, the neighbors upstairs were doing some remodeling in their bathroom – at 11:30 p.m.! And the neighbors below us yell at each other a lot. I’m sure after we’ve been here awhile, we won’t even notice the noise anymore, but it is going to take some getting used to. I’m adjusting to things like hang-drying all our laundry again, washing all my dishes by hand again, and grocery shopping and cooking in a foreign country with foreign ingredients (always completely overwhelming to me for the first few weeks).

We have been busy unpacking and putting things away in our new home and exploring our neighborhood and figuring out where things are – like the closest stores, bank, and post office (all within walking distance of our apartment). We’ve tried a few nearby restaurants, and we’re learning the bus lines, and which busses we can ride with our bus pass (and which ones we’ll be kicked off of). We will start language lessons on Monday. At Eunice’s suggestion, we decided to take a week to settle in before beginning our lessons. She says families with kids tend to have a better adjustment if they do this. And, since she has taught over 300 missionaries, I am going to trust that she knows what she is talking about!

On Sunday, we worshipped with the Lisbon Church of Christ for the first time. We were welcomed warmly and look forward to building relationships with the Christians there in the coming months. It takes us about 45 minutes to get from our apartment to the church. We take a bus into Lisbon and then ride the subway a few stops. Alex, of course, loves riding public transportation! I wonder how long it will take before it becomes old hat to him. He has already made several friends close to his age at church, and I am glad for that. Not only is the social interaction good for him, but I think having friends his own age will really help with his language acquisition.

Stephen, so far, has been an absolute delight to travel with. He is so mellow and laid back, and he smiles at everyone – and of course everyone smiles back! When we are out and about, Rusty usually carries Stephen in the Kelty, and he loves to just look all around, or nap if he’s tired.

So, there you have it – a glimpse into our first few days of life in another foreign country. I’ll try to get some pictures up soon – although, truth be told, we don’t have many yet since we haven’t been doing very much in the way of “touristy” things.

A BounceU Party!

(Several updates below. Scroll down.)

The Monday before we left Nashville, we had a birthday party for Alex at an inflatables place called BounceU. He will celebrate his fourth birthday in Portugal, but we wanted to give him an opportunity to have fun with some of the friends he's made at Hillsboro in the last few months before we left.

The kids enjoyed an hour in the bounce room, followed by 30 minutes in the party room. Snacks and drinks were served, followed by cake. Alex requested a firetruck cake, and it was pretty yummy! Although I enjoyed doing his party and his cake myself last year, it was nice this year, especially since we're in the middle of moving overseas, to have someone take care of all the details for me. We'll probably have a family party when we get to Portugal, and Alex has already asked if I can make him a Toby cake. (Toby is one of the Thomas trains.) We'll see, sweet boy. Let's get to Portugal first and see if I'm still sane!

Happy Fourth, Alex!

Life at Ten Months

Stephen was 10 months old on February 6th. He had his 9-month check-up on Feb. 4th, got caught up on all his shots, and weighed in at:

18 lb., 13.5 oz. (15%)
29" long (55%)

He is definitely a long and lean baby. (By comparison, Alex was quite chunky as a baby and weighed several pounds more at the same age.) Stephen is now wearing 12-month size clothes. He is pulling up and cruising, but has shown no interest in walking yet. Not that I'm complaining -- I'm perfectly happy for him to wait to do that for awhile. He still has just two teeth, and he still sucks his thumb.

Due to all the craziness of the last month, I don't have many pictures of Stephen by himself. (All right, truth be told, I don't have pictures of much.) But here is a picture of both the boys wearing their matching shirts that Nyanya gave them for Christmas.

Handsome boys!

Time with Teammates

Well, I promised updates, so, although we are leaving for the airport in about an hour, I'm trying to deliver!

During our last month in Nashville, we were blessed with visits from two of the families on our team, the Meyers and the Reeses. The Meyers came to visit in January, and the boys had a ball playing together. The weather was especially gorgeous one day, so the kids enjoyed playing outside. Another day, we went to the Monkey's Treehouse. We also tried out a local Ethiopian restaurant. Robert and Rusty played disc golf one morning, and we enjoyed several games of Settlers of Catan in the evenings after the kids were in bed.

The Reeses came to visit the first part of February. Due to the fact that several of us were sick, we didn't do very much in the way of fun and exciting things. But we enjoyed visiting and playing Settlers. Danny helped Rusty move a bunch of our stuff to storage. And of course, Alex and Eliana enjoyed playing together.

Enjoy the pictures.

Four boys in a tub = chaos

 Alex and Eliana

Updates on the Way

Yikes! Has it really been over two weeks since I posted to our blog? Sorry, loyal fans -- the last month has passed in a whirlwind of packing, cleaning, and moving out of our house, saying goodbye, and running countless errands. We left Nashville yesterday morning and made the drive to Detroit, where we are visitng my parents for a few days before we fly to Lisbon next week.

We have been without reliable Internet service for over a week, but now that we are at my parents', we can catch up on email, Facebook, and of course the blog! Pictures and updates coming soon...

I have a feeling...

...there is more of this in my future:

You won't catch me complaining, though -- I've about decided that X-box time for the boys = scrapping time for me!

Life at Nine Months

 

Yes, as you can see, the big skill Stephen learned in his ninth month was to pull up to a standing position. He pulls up on everything -- this ottoman is a favorite because he can stand there and rock back and forth with it. He also likes the train table and whoever's pant leg happens to be close by (usually mine).

Another discovery this month was the stairs -- he can go up very well, although he exerts a considerable amount of effort to do so. He is turning into a little bit of a mama's boy. I wouldn't say he's having true separation anxiety yet, but often when I walk out of the room, he cries. Lately, he has taken to crawling around the house after me like a little puppy dog and fussing if I don't pick him up.

This month, Stephen also transitioned out of his infant carseat. He was just getting too wide for it and would cry every time we would strap him into it because he was so uncomfortable. Basically, we moved Alex to a big kid booster seat (which he was super excited about) so Stephen could have Alex's old convertible-type carseat.

Stephen has two little teeth on the bottom, and more on the way (I think). He eats with gusto and is developing quite the "muffin-top" to prove it. Still nursing 4-5 times a day, plus at night. At this age, Alex was already starting to wean himself and I was gradually replacing nursing sessions with bottles of formula. I kind of thought Stephen would do the same thing... but, when I tried to give him formula, he turned his nose up at it. I did finally get him to take a little bit one time, and he gagged and then promptly threw up all over me! So, we'll be sticking with nursing for now. Maybe I'll actually make it to one year with this one. I'm not even going to think about weaning until we're settled in Portugal and life starts to feel normal again.

Top Ten: Christmas

I guess it's about time I posted some pictures of Christmas. Of course, there were so many great ones, but I forced myself to keep it to my "top ten" favorite pictures of the holiday season, 2009. Hope you enjoy!

Although we celebrated the holidays with my parents in Michigan, we decided to put up our own tree in Nashville. It provided a good opportunity to weed through some of our ornaments and other Christmas stuff in preparation for our move to Angola. It's weird to think that the next time we get this stuff out, we'll be celebrating our first Christmas in Angola (Lord willing).

The boys enjoyed watching the electric train go around the Christmas tree with Daddy.

After we got to Michigan, we spent a morning decorating sugar cookies with Uncle Matt and the lovely "Miss Janille," soon to be Aunt Janille!

We had our traditional lamb dinner with Hayward and Sandra Burton, a.k.a. "Grandma and Grandpa B". This sweet couple has meant so much to our family through the years!

On Christmas Eve, we went to the Henry Ford Museum to see the Lego display, which was totally cool. Alex agreed to sit on Santa's lap for a picture when he found out that Santa was giving away Lego sets to all the kids!

On Christmas morning, Santa surprised me with a Kindle! As you can see, I was thrilled!

And Stephen received a stocking handmade by Nyanya!

Alex enjoyed learning how to use Nyanya's new Wii Fit (with Daddy's help, as you can see).

The boys made music on the piano...

... but Matt and Janille's duets were definitely nicer to listen to!

It was such a special Christmas, full of lots of special moments that will live in our memories in the years to come. I'm thankful for all the years we've gotten to spend Christmas in Michigan because I know once we are living overseas again, our holiday seasons Stateside will be few and far between.

December 2009 Newsletter

Click here to download a copy of our latest newsletter. If you would like to receive our newsletters by email, please send a message to rustyandlaura AT gmail DOT com and we will add you to our mailing list.

Okay, okay...

... so I know we aren't exactly IN Lisbon yet, but we will be soon!

And, it's a New Year and a time for fresh beginnings.

And, I was getting incredibly bored with the blog's design.

And, I needed an excuse to put off a hundred other more important things that I should be doing, like packing.

All that to say, the blog got a face-lift tonight! Let me know what you think.

Nyanya's Quilts Are Special

One thing my mom has started doing for her grandkids is making each one of them a quilt. She uses the same pattern each time, but different fabrics, and she tries to have at least one of the fabric choices reflect where that child was born. One of the fabrics on Alex's quilt, for example, has fish on it, since Alex was born in Japan (where the carp is a symbol of children, especially boys). One of the fabrics on Stephen's quilt has cars, since he was born in Detroit, the capital of the American auto industry.

When the Marcums visited us in Nashville recently, Julie and I made the happy discovery that we had all five grandkids and all five quilts together under one roof! (Julie likes to travel with her girls' quilts because they are large, and at the same time light-weight; plus, it is something familiar from home to make going to sleep in a strange place easier.) Not sure when we would have a photo-op like this again, we lined all five kids up on our couch with their quilts for a picture.

I didn't share this picture before because I was waiting to surprise my mom with a framed copy of it for Christmas. Now that Christmas is over, I'll post it here for all to see!

Our Nyanya loves us!

Chime In: "Homemade" for the Holidays

This year, our family has done a variety of homemade holiday projects... everything from gifts to ornaments for the tree. I thought I would showcase some of our creations here and then invite readers to comment with some of their own ideas.

One thing our team does at Christmas-time is a handmade gift exchange. You can read all about (and see pictures of) our first one here on Teague's blog.

This year, Stephen made a Christmas tea towel for Jordan. Green handprints made the tree, and Alex followed with red thumbprints for the ornaments. I don't have a picture of the finished product, but these are pictures Rusty took while we were making it:

Thank goodness for non-toxic fabric paint!

Alex made (with help) some jar cookie mixes and jar hot chocolate mix for Nathan. He also made chocolate-dipped plastic spoons for stirring the hot chocolate -- yummy! There are lots of great websites with ideas for gifts in a jar. Here is one of my favorites.

Rusty made an adorable train puzzle for Biruk. He cut the pieces with a scroll saw, sanded them all, and painted them himself. The puzzle has the alphabet painted on one side, and numbers up to 25 on the other side. Super cute and educational too!


I made a visual journal using magazine scraps for Katie. Again, I don't have pictures of the one I made, but there are lots of ideas and inspiration here on one of my favorite blogs.

Other projects have included making little jars of "Snowman Soup," a.k.a. hot chocolate. Alex helped a lot with this, and had a great time! I saved all my baby food jars for several weeks because they are the perfect size for packaging individual servings of hot chocolate mix, but I've also seen people use zip-lock baggies. We gave these out to all the staff at Hillsboro, and some will probably find their way into stockings on Christmas morning, too. They would also make great teacher/mailman/garbage man/paper boy gifts!

The label reads:
"When the weather outside is frightful,
Snowman Soup can be delightful.
Add hot water and sip it slow.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

Finally, I have started a tradition with Alex of making one kind of handmade ornament for the tree every year. Last year, we made pinecone ornaments. This year, it was cinnamon-applesauce ornaments. Recipe and lots of great ideas here. I was really pleased with how these turned out. The "dough" was very easy to work with; they look cute hanging on the tree; and house smelled amazing while they were in the oven baking! I figure if we continue this tradition through the years, my kids will be able to leave home with a collection of "their ornaments" someday (if they are even interested in keeping them, being boys and all).

One of our new ornaments hanging on the tree.

Okay, readers... it's time for you to chime in. Share some of your favorite homemade holiday projects and traditions! I'm always looking for new ideas, so you might find me adopting some of them in years to come.

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!

Life at Eight Months

Just before his eight-month birthday, Stephen achieved two very important milestones: crawling on all fours, and his first tooth! Both happened while we were in Austin, Texas for a team meeting. In fact, we now have a theory on the Angola Team that our kids wait until we're all together to learn a new talent. Eliana Reese both crawled and took her first steps at team meetings, and now Stephen is apparently following her example. Must be all that extra support and love the kiddos feel from their aunts and uncles! (Or maybe Stephen was just trying to keep up with the four older kids!)

During his eighth month, Stephen also celebrated his first Thanksgiving. We went to Huntsville to celebrate with Rusty's cousin Linda and her family, and Stephen was loved on by many, many second cousins! He tried sweet potato casserole for the first time, decided it was his new favorite food, and then proceeded to eat more than I thought was possible for such a little person. I finally stopped feeding him, much to his very great disappointment, because I began to be afraid he might actually pop!

Look out world, here I come!

The Marcums Visit Nashville

Last month, we enjoyed a visit from my sister and her family, who are missionaries in Bolivia. Highlights included a morning at The Monkey's Treehouse, one of our recent Nashville finds, as well as a mini-reunion with our (Julie's and my) childhood friends, the "Reppart sisters," Rebekah and Rachel. We are all married now, and there are eight kids among the four of us! Everyone came over and spent a day at our house, where the kids enjoyed playing together, and we women tried to catch up on the past several years in between refereeing children and tending to their needs. That night, our wonderful husbands agreed to watch the kids so we could go out for some scrumptious Indian food and uninterrupted conversation.

Here are some pictures of our time with the Marcum family and the Reppart/Stephens girls' reunion (more pictures here, on Rebekah's blog):

Michaela and Alex in the bath

Story-time with Aunt Julie, Michaela, and Eliana

Aunt Julie, Jana, and Stephen

Julie, Rebekah, Rachel, and me with our eight beautiful children

Bathtime with Two

Now that Stephen is old enough to sit on his own, I am finding that bathing both boys together is more fun. It is also a lot of work for me, as I attempt to run interference between Alex and his brother. "We do not pour water on our brother's head," and "Please don't push Stephen over in the water," and "No big splashes, please," are the phrases I find myself repeating over and over again. However, the boys seem to really enjoy it, so on most nights, into the tub together they go. The picture below isn't the greatest since you can't really see Stephen in his bath chair. (Usually, I bathe him in the bath chair and then sit him up to play and splash.)



One of the things we love the most about the house we are living in right now is the deep, two-person jacuzzi bathtub in the master bedroom. It reminds us of the bathtub in our house in Japan! Some nights, when we have extra time, Rusty will take a bath with both boys in the big bathtub. Alex thinks this is great fun and wishes we could do it every night!

I Need Africa More than Africa Needs Me

My teammate Teague shared this video with me. In the midst of all my conflicting emotions about moving to Angola, it really touched my heart. I hope in watching it, you'll be able to see Africa from a different perspective than how it's generally portrayed by the news media.

Life at Seven Months

Stephen was seven months old on November 6th. He is now sitting up really well without any support. Since he can sit up, he has moved up to the next nursery, where they have an actual "Bible class" for the babies. Bathtime has also changed -- he can sit up in the water and play with toys, and he loves to splash!

Although Stephen is not really crawling yet, he is definitely mobile. He can "scoot" on his tummy by using his arms to pull himself across the floor (kind of like an army crawl). It is pretty impressive to watch. He does push himself up on all fours and just rocks back and forth, but when he wants to go somewhere, down on his tummy he goes.

He continues to try new foods, and eats whatever we put in his mouth, although he sometimes makes the funniest faces. I try to feed him when we are eating as much as possible, so he can join in the family meals. I have started giving him Cheerios and Gerber puffs on his tray, and he enjoys trying to pick those up and eat them. It is more of an amusement than anything right now, although he is getting better and better about actually getting some of them in his mouth.

The outfit Stephen is wearing in the pictures below (down to the shoes) was one of Rusty's when he was a baby. I had so much fun dressing Alex in some of Rusty's old clothes when he was a baby -- I'm glad I get to do the same with Stephen!

Halloween, 2009

I've been meaning to post these pictures of the kids on Halloween for awhile now, and just haven't gotten around to it. These were taken the Wednesday before Halloween, the night of Hillsboro's Trunk or Treat.

Stephen was an adorable pumpkin. (Thanks to Auntie Ronda for the outfit!)

Alex was Bob the Builder. "Yes, we can!" (Hey, it was Bob the Builder's phrase long before Barak Obama laid claim to it!)

And Rusty, at Alex's request, dressed up as Wendy (Bob the Builder's partner, for those of you not up on your preschool TV shows)! Now that's a real dad!

Partnership Tour in Pictures

Restoration

Rusty wrote this article for the Hillsboro church e-bulletin a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was very well-written, so I decided to share it here. (Read to the end for a picture of Alex in his new bed!)

For those of you who don't know, both of my parents have passed away. Dad died 14 years ago after a lifelong struggle with a heart condition. Mom died 3 years ago this month from a brain tumor. He was 52 and she was 64 when they died.

I don't share all of this with you for sympathetic reasons, but because I often wonder about what they passed on to me and what I will pass on to my own children. One thing my father passed on to me was the hobby of making, building, or restoring things out of wood. I've actually had little time for this hobby over the years and I still have a lot to learn. Two weeks ago I mentioned in our worship service about a set of bunk beds that he had made for my sister and me to use and enjoy. Now I'm in the process of refinishing them and making them 'new' again so that my children, Alex & Stephen, can use and enjoy them. I have really enjoyed restoring a perfectly fine set of beds that my dad took the time and energy to make. Had I not pulled them down out of the rafters of a really dusty old barn in Oregon, they would have gotten thrown in a pile of rubbish and destined for a bonfire. I was able to finish one of the beds the other day. We then went and purchased some mattresses for it. For the first time in a long time, Alex, our oldest, is sleeping well. It brings me a sense of pride and accomplishment knowing that my little boy, who was sleeping on a mat on the floor until last week, is now sleeping on a good solid bed – a bed that my deceased father made for his little boy.

As I was working on the bed, it got me thinking about why do we, as human beings, have such an innate desire to make or create things? We encourage our children to be creative in school. Our places of employment often praise or reward creativity and innovation. When employers are looking for a new hire, they often look for someone or something that can bring a sense of revitalization or refreshment to the program. We are often attracted or excited by the newness of things.

Again, I have to wonder why? Why did God instill within us an appreciation for newness? Of course we appreciate and value the old and its aestheticism. But there is certainly more of a draw towards the new. Even if it's old, like a classic car or a bed in the rafters of a dusty barn, it is appreciated more when it is restored and brought back to life.

I think God feels that way as well. You see, when we are separated from Him, He has no relationship with us. But when we return to Him, as a new creation, we become washed by the Lamb, white as snow, made in the likeness of His Son. God gets to see His own creation become alive and new again. Eph 2:10 calls us his "workmanship." In the Greek this word is 'Poema' and is where we get our word 'Poem.' When we are in relationship with Him, we represent His best, His workmanship, His poem. We were handcrafted to display His wonder, to be a testimony or witness for Him.

May we live our days knowing that we are masterfully created or recreated works of art.

Life at Six Months

Stephen was 6 months old on October 6th. We happened to be in Michigan for a visit at the time, so I made an appointment for him with our family doctor there for a check-up. He now weighs over 16 pounds and is 27 inches long! He has graduated to wearing 6-9 month size clothes. The outfit he is wearing in the picture was one of Rusty's when he was a baby.

The major milestone in Stephen's sixth month was the introduction of solid foods to his diet. I waited until we we done with all our traveling simply because I didn't want to mess with baby food while we were on the road. He was so ready for that first bite of food! He smacked his lips and said "mmmm" through the whole first meal. We started with banana, avocado, sweet potato, and rice cereal, and we have gradually added other fruits and veggies. One thing I am really enjoying doing right now is making my own baby food. I don't do homemade exclusively, but I cook and puree fruits and veggies when I can and freeze them in icecube trays. Once frozen, I have little cubes of food, the perfect single-serving size for a baby. I have quite the little stash growing in my freezer!

September 2009 Newsletter

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And Now We Breathe

So... it's been awhile since I updated. We're mostly settled in our house here in Nashville. And by that, I mean that we've unpacked most of what we need to live comfortably for the next 3 months. There are no pictures on the walls, and most of the windows have blankets tacked up as curtains. I'm not bothering to decorate. No sense in getting too comfortable here!

We had about a week in our house at the end of September before we were traveling again -- up to Pennsylvania to present to a church up there, and then over to Detroit to pack up the rest of our stuff from my parents' house. The boys and I have all been sick with some nasty cold that took forever to shake... theirs turned into pink eye and ear infections (times two) before all was said and done.

And as if the traveling, moving, unpacking, and sickness wasn't enough to deal with, last weekend, we played host to a gathering of our team and everyone's parents for the Family Workshop with MRN. It was about 30 people all together, and we decided to host the meeting in our home since it is plenty big enough. But that meant a lot of extra work with setting up, plus cooking all the food for everyone. I was so thankful to have my parents here to help out. With me being sick, I think my mom probably did more work than I did! Anyway, the weekend was a big success, but I am glad it's over and just trying to rest and recover this week.

I have lots to blog about -- Stephen's 6-month update, Alex's new bed, and a slide show of pictures from our Partnership Tour is in the works as well. Keep checking back for new posts over the next several days!

Partnership Tour: Helena to Nashville

We were in Helena, Montana until mid-September. We visited with several churches about our plans for Angola. I also attended the annual area-wide ladies retreat, and Rusty went to an area-wide minister's meeting. So, we made lots of new contacts, and we hope that at least some of those will lead to future partners in our ministry.

We left Helena on Tuesday, Sept. 15th. We stayed in Sheridan, Wyoming that night, then drove all the way to Sioux Falls, South Dakota the next day. We took a little side-trip through the Badlands National Park -- gorgeous! We have certainly seen some amazing country these last few weeks.

We were on a tight schedule since we were trying to make it back to Kentucky by Friday evening for Hillsboro's Family Retreat. However, when we got to our hotel in Sioux Falls very late on Wednesday night, we checked our email and found out the retreat had been cancelled. So we stayed an extra day in Sioux Falls. Our hotel had a very cool water park in the atrium (part of the reason we chose it), complete with a two-story water slide and a pirate ship. Alex had a ball, and we all enjoyed the down-time as a family.

The other bonus to the Family Retreat being cancelled was that we were able to arrange at the last minute to meet with the Memorial Road Church of Christ missions committee in Oklahoma City that coming Sunday! We have been on their radar for awhile now, but finding a time to meet with them has been challenging. So this was definitely a "God thing." From Sioux Falls, we headed south and stayed Friday night in Big Lake, Missouri at a state park that had a little motel. On Saturday afternoon, we arrived in Oklahoma City.

Sunday was very full with church at Memorial Road in the morning, the missions committee meeting that afternoon and then a get-together with old friends from Japan that night to celebrate Lj's birthday! So glad we got to be there for that! On Monday morning, the boys and I went to the zoo with Kari, Stone, Charity, Freedom, and Courage. Rusty spent some time on campus at OC. That afternoon, we drove to Tulsa (through a monsoon!) and stayed the night with Tom and Leslie Walden. We visited with them about our plans for Angola and heard about the missions program that he heads up at the Park Plaza Church of Christ -- very exciting!

Tuesday, we left early in the morning and drove to Memphis. We had found out about three days prior that Hillsboro had managed to secure a house for us to stay in during our next four months in Nashville (hallelujah!). So we made arrangements to go ahead and move our stuff (that has been in storage in Memphis for the last 10 months) to Nashville since we were already passing through. We picked up the U-haul truck that afternoon, and Rusty spent most of the evening packing and loading. We finished the next morning and drove to Nashville, arriving just in time for church that evening.

Since we got back, we have been busy getting unpacked and settled into our house, which is about 5 minutes away from the church. It is nice to have a place of our own again, even if it is just until January. The house is much bigger than the four of us need, but the extra space will certainly come in handy while we are sorting and packing things for the container over the next few months.

Thank you for your prayers while we were on the road these last few weeks. Amazingly, we had NO car trouble and NO sickness during the entire time we were gone!

Life at Five Months

Stephen celebrated his 5-month birthday while we were in Montana. As you can see from the photos below, he has gotten really good at pushing himself up when he is on his tummy. He is quite proud of this achievement and just loves it when we show our excitement and enthusiasm (as we were doing when Rusty snapped this pic). He is also rolling over a lot more. Our days of leaving him lying on a bed or a couch are numbered!

Interestingly, since Stephen has mastered the art of rolling over, he has decided that he prefers to sleep on his tummy. After several nights of putting him to sleep on his back and waking up the next morning to find him on his tummy, I gave up. I now put him to sleep on his tummy, and the neat thing is that now, if he's still awake when I lay him down in his crib, he will put himself to sleep sucking his thumb. I don't remember Alex putting himself to sleep at such a young age, but he was never a tummy sleeper, or a thumb sucker for that matter. Hmmmmmm.

Stephen is also starting to babble a lot more and will try to carry on a conversation with anyone who pays attention to him. He is getting closer and closer to being able to sit on his own. He has the strength to sit unsupported... now, it is just a matter of balance. With his increased upper body strength, I have been able to switch him to the hip-carry position in the sling. It is easier for me to get him in and out of it, and he seems to like it better, too, now that his feet dangle down.

He is the sweetest, most low-maintenance baby ever. I have a feeling, though, that the "low-maintenance" part may change with his increased mobility!

Happy baby

Sweet baby

Mischievous baby (Is this face a portent of things to come?)

Chime In: Traveling with Kids

We have done our fair share of traveling with little ones in tow since, well, pretty much since we became parents. It is not without its challenges; however, we are very blessed to have two very good travelers. They have their moments, but then again, we all do. After sitting in a car or a cramped airline seat for hours on end, even grown-ups can get cranky!

I confess that before our survey trip last summer, I purchased a bottle of Children's Benadryl with the intention of using it as a sedative (if necessary) on the long international flights. Luckily, I never had to use it as most of our flights were overnight, and Alex slept pretty much the whole way. But I have flown enough in my lifetime to know that there are few things more horrible than being stuck on a plane for hours on end with a screaming kid, whether you are the parent, or just a fellow passenger. So I had it in my arsenal, just in case.

Road trips are a little different, since you can set your own schedule and stop and get out of the car when you need to. A real lifesaver on our Partnership Tour has been a cheap portable DVD player we purchased on Craigslist before we left Michigan that allows Alex to watch videos in the car. And, although Rusty and I typically avoid MacDonald's like the plague, the PlayPlaces are a great way for Alex to burn some energy after we've been in the car for several hours. When we have a long day in the car, we will usually let Alex play while we eat our food, and then he eats his Happy Meal in the car after we leave. It maximizes the time we spend there and means we don't have to fight with him about eating when he would rather be playing.

With Stephen along, we have to stop every 3-4 hours so I can nurse him. Rusty will usually gas-up (even if we still have a fairly full tank) and take Alex to the potty (even if he says he doesn't have to go) just to minimize the amount of stopping we have to do. Sometimes, he will go on the hunt for a city park where Alex can play while I'm nursing Stephen. Or, he'll pull over at a rest area where he and Alex can throw frisbees for a few minutes.

So, fellow parents -- what are some of your tips and tricks for traveling with small children? What works and what doesn't when you're on the road or in the air?

Partnership Tour: Portland to Helena

We are winding down the Partnership Tour -- by this time next week, we should be on our way back to Nashville. Our time in Portland was a real whirlwind of activity. We blocked out a few days for family time with Ronda, Robbie, and Johnny. The rest of the time, we were spending time with friends and extended family (my grandmother and cousins as well as some of Rusty's cousins all live in the Portland area), taking care of some business related to Rusty's mom's estate, and visiting with churches and missions committees about our plans for Angola. Fundraising in the Northwest is especially difficult right now, due to the economic downturn as well as Cascade's recent closing. However, we are getting the word out; now we will wait and watch God work -- after all, he is bigger than all of the limitations we perceive.

Although we enjoyed our time in Portland immensely, it was a crazy busy time since both Rusty and I know so many people and have so many connections there. We were almost glad to get back on the road again! We left Portland a week ago Tuesday, stayed the night in Vancouver, WA with our friends the Onsomu's, and on Wednesday, headed west to Coeur d'Alene. We stayed Wednesday night with old college friends Ben and Christina Heater and their kids and were able to visit with some folks at the Dalton Gardens Church of Christ about Angola.

On Thursday, we drove to Helena, Montana. We have enjoyed the last few days here with Uncle Roy and Aunt Margaret Ramsey, former missionaries to Kisumu, Kenya and teammates of my parents. It has been fun reminiscing about the past with them -- the other night, we even watched some of their old family movies! There are not many people anymore that I can connect with when it comes to my childhood in Kisumu, so I have enjoyed that aspect of our time with them.

For Alex's part, he has enjoyed the experience of four-wheeling! The other day, we took their two ATV's up into the hills near their house. Rusty and I rode one, and Uncle Roy and Alex rode the other one. (Aunt Margaret stayed back at the house with Stephen.) We had such a great time and saw some gorgeous scenery. Alex keeps asking when we are going again!

This past Sunday, we presented about Angola to the church in Great Falls on Sunday morning and the church in Billings on Sunday night. Then, on Monday, we drove back to Helena, stopping to visit friends David and Alison Ellis in Bozeman (David and Rusty were at Harding Grad together). We will be here in Helena for another week, and then we'll begin the long journey back to Nashville. Please continue to pray for us as we travel and fundraise!

Note: I have been meaning to post some pictures of our team time in Colorado last month. Teague, however, beat me to it. Rather than post many of the same pictures on my own blog, I'm linking to her post here. For Facebook users, Katie uploaded a bunch of pictures there as well.

My Boys

This picture makes me smile every time I see it. I am such a blessed woman to have these three in my life!

Life at Four Months

It doesn't seem possible that Stephen is already 4 months old. We are on the road right now and haven't been to the doctor for the standard four-month well-baby checkup, so I have no idea how much he weighs. I am guessing about 15 or 16 pounds. We'll find out next month, I guess. He is, in the words of his Aunt Teague, "stout."

Major milestones during the fourth month included rolling from back to tummy and starting to laugh. He is spitting up less and drooling more. He will chew on anything he can get in his mouth -- toys, burp cloth, blanket, my finger, or his personal favorite, his own hands. He continues to be a content and easy-going baby; he hardly ever cries and is still sleeping well despite our crazy schedule. Everywhere we go, people comment on what a good baby he is. I am so thankful because I don't know how we would do what we are doing right now if we had a high-needs infant. I'm sure we would manage, but traveling would be so much more difficult.

Thank you, God, for our healthy, happy baby boy!

Partnership Tour: Colorado Springs to Portland

The Partnership Tour continues... a week ago Tuesday, we left Colorado Springs, headed for Rocky Mountain National Park. We camped there for two nights with our team, enjoying great food and conversation amidst the beauty of God's creation. We took a hike one day through the mountains up to Lake Haiyaha and enjoyed a picnic lunch on the boulders at the water's edge. I will put some pictures up soon.

On Thursday, we said our goodbyes and began the drive westward over the Rockies. We spent Thursday night in Glenwood Springs, CO with my former college roomie, Amy, and her family. It was so great to see them again, and Alex really enjoyed playing with their two girls.

On Friday, we drove as far as Salt Lake City, UT, where we stayed the night in a motel. Then, on Saturday, we drove to La Grande, OR. We stayed with a lovely older couple, who, we found out after we arrived at their house, were none other than the grandparents of our friend and former fellow AET, Shawn Phelps! It's such a small world, especially in the Church of Christ in the Northwest!

Rusty presented about Angola and also preached at the church in La Grande on Sunday. On Monday, we drove to Central Oregon and visited some of Rusty's friends and family there. And yesterday, we drove over the mountains and into Portland. We will be here in Portland for about two weeks, visiting friends and family and talking about Angola with various area churches. Please continue to pray for us. So far, we have all been healthy, but we are beginning to feel a little worn down. All the moving around and the long days in the car have been especially hard on Alex. It will be nice to be in one place for awhile.

Partnership Tour: Nashville to Colorado Springs

Although we left Detroit a few weeks ago, we will not really be settling in Nashville until mid-September. We were in Nashville for about ten days at the end of July, and then we launched into our Partnership Tour, which is taking us all the way out to Oregon and back over the next 6 weeks.

Our time in Nashville was full of lots of activities. The Hillsboro church formally introduced us to the congregation on our first Sunday there; we attended their VBS; and we spent several days having meals with and getting to know some of the elders, the missions committee, and church members. The church has been so wonderful and welcoming and has really taken great care of us. We are looking forward to spending more time there this fall getting to know people and building relationships with them.

A week ago Monday, we left Nashville and headed west. Our first stop was Memphis, where we discovered Park Avenue (our church when we lived in Memphis) was having their VBS. So we went by and were able to reconnect with some of our friends there. Alex got to see his BFF Mackenzie from Harding Grad, and he was very excited about that.

On Tuesday, we spent a couple of hours unearthing all our camping supplies from the depths of our storage unit. Then, we headed to Oklahoma City. We were able to meet up with old friends from our Japan days... the Lj's, Chan's, and Britton's. It was great to see them again, and it was especially touching to watch Alex, Stone, and Freedom playing together. (There are a couple of pics on Facebook... when I have more time, I will try to upload one here to the blog.)

On Wednesday, we drove to Burlington, OK, where Rusty spoke about Angola during the evening class-time at the church of Christ there. We spent the night in a member's home just over the state line in Kiowa, KS.

On Thursday, we had a long drive from south-central Kansas to Colorado Springs. It is beautiful here, and the weather is amazing! We have spent the last several days here, meeting with our team, and visiting our teammate Nathan's supporting church. We have had several productive "meeting" days, but we wanted to include some fun, recreational time, so tomorrow, we are headed to Rocky Mountain National park for a couple of days of camping. Then, across the mountains and westward we go!

We will be in the Northwest for a couple of weeks at the end of August, then in Montana for about a week, and we may spend a little more time in the Oklahoma City area before heading back to Nashville. We are calling this our "Partnership Tour" because we are trying to drum up the remainder of our support for our work in Angola. If we will be coming to your area, and you would like for us to visit your church, please contact us at rustyandlaura AT gmail DOT com (or just leave a comment). We would love to share about the amazing things God is already doing in Angola and how we hope to join in that work very soon!