Winter?

Since Friday we have been under a blanket of white! There is more melting on the roads today, but we were not really prepared. Gregg is getting the snow tires on today. The law is you can put them on November 15, but we had not gotten to it yet.

I'm having the first experience with a really sick child these days too. David started on Sunday with a fever and since that whenever the medicine wears off he spikes a fever that adds a headache and stomach discomfort. But when medicine is in his system he can be his usual silly self.

The boys have really developed imaginations for play. They are in the stage where we pretend to play store and we don't really have any items- just imagining moving the air around!

But they do like to do more creative things with real material too. A year ago they only wanted to knock things down, smash things, scribble and tear. It was a little hard on my pride of building a snow man each year to have had the only significant snow not turn into a snow man last year. (It was immediately destroyed, over and over) But it seems this year I will have ample opportunity.

We are having good success with students watching the boys for us as well. So other than David and Gregg fighting sickness, things feel amazingly normal here.

I have a week break from the online seminary class I've been taking this semester. That will give me a chance to catch up on some things at home that are waiting for me! Since I started teaching English 2 days a week, it is harder to keep up with everything. The English class has been fun for me and the students are very eager. They are women and two men. Their motive is to learn English well enough to go as a group for training in the UK to open a cancer center here in Klaipeda. Will be the first one in Lithuania. (medical care exists, but nothing really for support groups, hospice, spiritual care) So this is a really fine group of people and I am glad to be able to help them toward their goal.

We will have our usual strange Thanksgiving customs (none locally) when Americans from LCC go after work to Mc Donalds for chicken sandwiches - or whatever makes them feel festive. Then on Saturday the whole community comes together for Turkey dinner. I am to make one of the turkeys. So you may not hear from me till after that adventure is over!

Family Day

November 16 is the day we brought the boys home. So this weekend we are celebrating. We do not manage to get as many pictures now as we did earlier- the boys are not so interested in being in pictures as before.

Saturday we went to get balloons like we did last year when we brought them home. And we also got new toys with remote control- their first ones. Then in the evening we had Vaidas and Gina and their daughter Ema to visit. They were one of the couples who wrote recommendation letters for our adoption process. Today we had Modestas and Ramune and their children. They also have been great supporters of us this year in and they had written a letter as well.

Today at church we brought a cake and made tea and also showed pictures after the service. It was a nice reason for people to stay around a bit and talk as well.

Mommy you look very pretty

Where did he get that from?- Mommy you look very pretty... and he said it not just one time this morning. Gregg was not around. I've never heard him use the word pretty before! But of course that makes mommy feel good. We are on our way to Silute for church this morning.

David was back to Preschool Friday. When I took him back they asked for the excuse note from the doctor. I had not wanted to delay him getting back by taking him to the doctor. But, see here again, I did not understand. I need to go to the doctor's receptionist, tell her what days he was out and when he was returning. Then they right the slip saying he is healthy! Good one of my Lithuanian friends could help me make (some) sense of the system.

Erik is eager for preschool these days. THis is a noticable change over time. No more persuading him to go!

A year is almost here- and oh what a difference it has made for the boys and for our family life. We are still tired more often than before. But the overall picture looks pretty normal now. We had a babysitter on Friday night and when we got back at 10:30 the boys were in bed sleeping (that was a first).

Austria

Last Thursday we headed by car to Riga Latvia to catch a Baltic Air flight to Munich and then by rental car to our missionary retreat at Schloss Mittersil. The travel went well with only a few minor delays so we got there almost on time. By the next day the boys had met the other children. They were eager to be with a group of older children. (At least more eager than they are to be with there own age group at preschool) Several of the adults and a few children were not new to the boys and that helped for a quicker adjustment too.

It was truly a blessing to observe how they interacted with other children and how they responded to other families there. They had quite a lot of freedom to wander in the large castle as our group was the only one this time, and they felt comfortable being out of our sight. We are so very grateful for the other families and their children as well as the child care workers who related to our boys.

The child care workers had a large range of ages to work with but they let our boys play around the other kids when they were not into structure. One day Erik got one of them to read to him the entire time- 2 hours plus 1 1/2 hours later- I think that's a record. The children made tie die tshirts with a mittersill emblem the workers had designed ahead of time- you will see in the pictures.

Erik got to running with the other boys, and David soon followed. Though he also went his own way and we found him in the game room with big boys sometimes. Erik got started somewhere along the way giving hugs, so the last day or so was interesting as we observed the older children taking their turn asking Erik for a hug. What a difference a year makes!!

The travel back was more difficult. Both boys were struggling with colds and it was a significant amount of driving for a day. We spent a day at home and David spent another one at home today again. Hopefully he will be better for tomorrow. For a while there he sounded a few years older- mixture of laryngitis and a very low voice! Quite funny really.