Haley has now completely phased out of nap-time, but unfortunately I still have not. Karen Doheney gave us a few books on CD before they moved, so I have been letting Haley listen to them during "quiet time" in the afternoons. I didn't realize how much Haley had absorbed them until we got to Finland. Every day we would load the kids up in the double jogging stroller and go for a run. On distance days, Darcy would ask Haley if she could listen to Nemo, put on pretend headphones, press the Read More
Becoming a little child…(a continuing series)
Many months ago I wrote of some of our early language comedy as we began studying Icelandic. We have made quite a bit of progress, but I still have some stories to share from along the way. I cannot remember when this happened, but it happened all the same and was quite funny for us.During the early part of the summer we were walking through a park near our home when an exuberant young boy peddled up to us on his bicycle. He was beckoning us to follow him and spitting out a mixture of phrases. Read More
What is happening to me?!
I have had a really hard week. I feel like I've been welcomed back to Iceland with a slap in the face. I have had very little strength to face all the challenges of being back, trying to get settled in, and starting language class. This morning I found this article that made me feel very understood. This exhaustion is normal, and hopefully soon this too shall pass. Read More
It wasn’t smooth and it SURE wasn’t pretty…
…But we are back in Iceland with VISAs. Here’s a recap of what we had to go through in the last 3 days: 1. 1. Three hour train ride from Jyvaskyla to the capital: Helsinki, Finland. Colby’s backpack broke. Had to shop for another one in the Helsinki mall and transfer everything into it. 2. 2. Hellsinki Airport. Got into the slowest line at Czech Airlines. Finally it is our turn at the check-in counter. We find out we are only allowed to check 80 kilos and we are required to check our Read More
Meet the Pauls
We met the Pauls in April of 2008 at our interview conference. They were pure-bred Californians deciding whether to serve in Indonesia or Finland. Since our church was doing work in Indonesia, I tried to persuade them to go to there. They decided Finland. We went back to our separate coasts, packed up our lives, rented out our homes, and reunited in August in Richmond at our training center. For 9 weeks we shared meals together, sat together every day for our sessions, and bonded through Read More
13 months and 9 days…
The moment came at the perfect time. We were at the home of Irma, an amazing Finnish woman who glows with the presence of God and who owns a lovely piece of property in the outskirts of town. We had just sat down for afternoon coffee with her and our dear friends here, the Pauls, when Darcy busted in the front door from playing outside screaming, “I have to go POO-POO!” Colby got up to help her when I heard his phone ring. My stomach immediately dropped and the Finnish fancy cake I was chewing Read More
Adventures in Scandinavia, Part 1
In Iceland, people are serious about catching rays when the summer sun shines (since it's so rare). It’s almost as if people just collapse wherever they happen to be when the sun peeks out. One time, I looked out my window and saw a full-grown man lying prostrate on a piece of grass beside the bank parking lot. I love to see the Icelandic people enjoying the warmth of nature and not taking it for granted. Naturally, here in Finland I want to soak up every last bit of summer. Yesterday, I Read More
Gorgeous Girls
Psalm 139
(Cuddling in bed reading this psalm to my girls in pajamas):1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can I go from Read More
Ever After..
My husband wrote this on our anniversary: Today is our 8th Wedding Anniversary. It's always hard to believe we are getting older, but we are edging ever closer to ten years of marriage and that is unfathomable. These are the moments we say, "time flies" or "before you know it," hoping to capture in words our sense of the fleeting nature of life. I must say...I like marriage. Not so much because either of us are very good at it, but precisely because we are not. There is nothing more rigorous Read More
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