More Sand, Sun and Sweet Friends

Janelle and I have dear friends, the Krupneks. Jessica was the wedding coordinator for Janelle & Jon's wedding (she did a fabulous job, by the way). While Jon and Janelle were here, they HAD to spend some time with Matt and Jess and their kids. Marshall and Shaylen tagged along and got to enjoy the beach as well. I absolutely love the last picture of Jon and Janelle. Don't you just love that little baby pooch she's got going? The baby is due in November! Hooray!

A Trip to the Park

Janelle now lives far away in Michigan (*sniff, sniff*) so when she gets out here, she needs to make the most of it and try and see as many friends as possible. On Tuesday, they wanted to get together with Joni and the kids for some time to catch up. They met at a park. Again, it was unbearably hot. Coincidentally, the park's sprinkler system kicked on as they were there. My guess is, Joni and Janelle probably glanced at each other and said, "Why not?" and let the kids run to their hearts' content and cool off. It made for some really cute pictures!

Roasty Toasty

While we were enjoying beautiful weather in Austria, the weather in NH turned roasty! Not only did temperatures reach 100+, it was also humid. A terrible combination! Janelle's parents were in town and they decided to go and do a round of mini-golf. After golf, the Stokes decided to spoil the twins with some ice cream...before lunch. What a treat!

Rainy Days and Cardboard

On one day (I'm thinking the first Monday we were gone), the weather was dreary and rainy. This was not particularly good news to Marshall and Shaylen. However, when you have Jon and Janelle around...that does not mean boredom. Jon took a box and cut it up and let the kids decorate them as shields. Jon even gimmy-rigged them so that there were handles on the back too! Looks like Marshall broke out his Legos to play with too.

Sunday in Maine

On the first Sunday we were gone, Jon & Janelle wanted to go up to see friends up in Maine. They got the kids ready and took them up to Cornerstone. For lunch, they camped out at our dear friends, the Bowmans. Looks like they had a ton of fun. The first picture was sent to us while we were in Austria. Janelle wanted to prove to us that she could get the kids dressed and combed. Too funny! We knew she could...and they looked sharp!

Beach Day!

The kids were able to go to the beach with Uncle Jon, Auntie Janelle and the Pileggis one time.

The Cats Are Away, The Mice Will Play

Jon & Janelle arrived on a Wednesday night and we were able to spend some time with them before heading off to bed. The next day allowed for sleeping in, last minute directions and some fun time. There were no tears (from the kids anyway) when we took off. Probably because the kids were really looking forward to spending time with two of their favorite people. Janelle has been gracious in emailing me the pictures of the twins from when we were gone. Looks like the first day included a game of Hangman.

A Warm Welcome Back

I have no idea how long we slept in today, but it sure felt good to get some sleep in our own bed. We had only unpacked the essentials, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. so we had three suitcases and two carry-ons to unpack today. The top item on our agenda though, was spending time with Marshall and Shaylen. While we had a lot to tell them, we knew they had a lot to tell us. They had done some really exciting things while we were gone. Hopefully in the coming days I'll be able to post some pictures from their activities as well.

While we unpacked, the kids played with their new Playmobil things that the Sheltons had sent home with us. Like I said in my previous post, our suitcases had been completely destroyed by the journeys to and from Austria. There were big and tiny black pieces of the inner shell all over our living room, in our clothes and in the suitcases. It was a mess! I noticed a huge gash in the side of my suitcase and some of my things had gotten wet somehow. Other than these things, all of the items we brought back were unscathed. I was so thankful. Some of the breakable things we had carried on the plane, but we had still packed some.

Marshall and Shaylen had obviously had craft time with the Coopers and had made me a pink carry bag and Taigen a hand-painted tie. Taigen told the kids that he would wear it to church tonight. I promised to carry my Bible and notebook in mine.

Marshall and Shaylen loved looking at the little things we brought home for them and got really excited at the chocolate! European chocolate is a totally different flavor and very creamy, but it is delicious. Grace hoped that we would bring her chocolate chips from the states because she cannot get them over there. We had also taken her Kraft macaroni and cheese (the boxed kind that she LOVES), pepperoni, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and York Peppermint Patties. We brought home Bounty, Milka, Toblerone and Kinder! The Husdons had purchased Kinder chocolate eggs for the twins and Marshall and Shaylen were eager to see the prize that the inside held.

It was a wonderful day. I loved being able to hold my kiddos again, show them pictures and get settled back into our wonderful life here in New Hampshire. AND, as promised, when we went to church tonight, Taigen made sure to wear his special tie and I took my special hot pink Bible bag.

Austria Trip - The Last Leg Home

I woke up at 4:20. It's an awful feeling when you look at the clock and realize that you could go back to sleep, but can't. My adrenaline must've kicked in because as hard as I tried, I could not go back to sleep. I think there was fear in my head too. Fear that I would sleep through my alarm and we would miss that all-important flight to Paris and then home. I needed to get on that plane because I needed to see my two favorite little people!

Since we hadn't brought any of our luggage with us, it was easy to pack up and check out of the hotel by 5:30. We waited outside the hotel for the shuttle. There was a wooded lot across the street and we could see the fog lifting. It was so quiet and serene. I apologize, but this is the only picture I took in Finland.

Caught the shuttle to the airport and went through security. It was so simple and we were through the gate very quickly. While we waited, I had coffee and Taigen had juice.

The flight was not full so we actually asked and were granted the exit row seats. For two people six feet and taller, this is nothing short of heavenly. A whole flight with gobs of legroom! Priceless. I was so comfortable that I dozed. Finnair once again provided us with a lovely meal and once I ate that, I dozed again. I think I slept through most of the flight and it felt so good. With this wonderful, roomy flight to Paris, I was almost dreading the long, crowded flight across the pond. It will be eight hours. Eight long hours. It doesn't matter. What is at the end of those eight long hours are two little kiddos that I can gobble up and smother with kisses!

We saw fields upon fields as we dropped into Paris. I even saw a small palace and cathedral on the countryside. We had a smooth landing into Charles DeGaulle airport. I saw a Concorde airplane on display and made a mental note to tell Marshall about it when we got home.

We had a little bit of time before our next flight. This gave us time to check email, stretch our legs, walk a bit,  and purchase some itty bitty Eiffel towers for Marshall and Shaylen.

Security was tighter here. As we drank water and people-watched near our gate, it was very interesting to note the difference in security here than in Finland. To punctuate this point even more, Taigen and I were singled out,  pulled aside, and grilled about our trip, our luggage, our gifts, everything before we were allowed to board. It was interesting. We answered everything they asked and then they thanked us and let us board with the top priority passengers. We shook our heads, puzzled (I mean...does Taigen look like a terrorist?!?!), but didn't ask questions.

It was a long flight to Boston. I think I slept some, but I think I stayed awake, blurry-eyed most of the time. I had a really cute little six year old girl sitting next to me who was asleep within 10 minutes of the flight. I envied her, curled up on the airplane seat, oblivious to her surroundings, but knew I would be in my own bed soon.

Finally we arrived in the good ol' U.S. of A! Went through customs without a glitch and got our battered, torn, broken, and hole-y luggage. They took such a beating on this whole trip that we have had to throw it all away. It was damaged beyond use. The entire inner black "shell" was crumbled. We told each other that if we're going to continue doing these trips to visit missionaries, we need to buy some of that hard-case luggage.

We didn't have to wait long for the bus to take us back to Dover. There's free wi-fi on the bus so we were able to immediately let folks know that we had landed and were on our way home. We couldn't get there fast enough! When we walked in the door, we saw that Marshall, Shaylen, Mike & Debbie Cooper had decorated with streamers and signs. The kids jumped up and gave the biggest, longest, squeezingest hugs! Oh! How I missed them! Debbie had prepared dinner so we sat down around the table and talked as Taigen and I ate. I don't even remember what time it was when we got home, but I know I was definitely in a fog. Mike & Debbie must've thought so too because they didn't stay long. We talked and talked with the kids some more and then we put them to bed, took our showers, and jumped in bed ourselves. After two weeks, hundreds of pictures, thousands of miles, millions of memories, it was so good to be home.

We praise the Lord for an incredible, unforgettable trip. Thank you Heritage Baptist Church for the opportunity to see our dear missionary friends. The experience of being there, seeing their ministries, talking with folks face to face, making memories, and deepening connections is all priceless. I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I pray that we will be a better encouragement to the Hudsons and Sheltons now that we have been there. I appreciate the heart for missions that our church has. They are dear folks. I am glad to be back home with them too.

Austria Trip - The Final Hours

Today is the day that we begin the long journey back home. I am so excited to see the kids! This has been the longest that we have ever been apart and I must admit that I have probably missed them more than they have missed me. We've tried to email them every day and we had the opportunity to Skype them once, but I'm eager to snuggle and be with my little buddies once more.

We got up and ate some cereal with Stan, Grace and Kirsten before leaving. I was able to prop the camera up on the piano and get one last picture with our dear friends. Today was drizzly and cool. We quickly loaded up the van and took off for the Vienna airport.

Stan drove us. He said again and again how much he appreciated our coming. He said to be sure to give our greetings to all of our church folks back home.

Our flight took off for Helsinki without a glitch. This is a short flight and as I was not tired, I was able to see some landscape as we came into Finland. The Gulf of Finland looks gorgeous from the plane. We de-boarded and navigated our way through the airport to the exit. Our flight for Paris wasn't going to leave until the next morning. We had booked a hotel somewhere near the airport, but we had no idea how long it would take us to get there. I had hoped to be able to go and see the Sibelius memorial. Jean Sibelius composed a beautiful piece entitled Finlandia. You might know it better as the tune to the old hymn "Be Still My Soul." He's somewhat of a national hero in Finland. My thought was, "My chances of getting to Finland again are pretty slim. I might as well make the most of it and see what I can." Unfortunately, we were short on Euros. The tour to go see the memorial was outlandishly priced. We didn't want to have to withdraw any more so we decided to explore Helsinki on foot instead.

We took the free shuttle to our hotel. On our way there we quickly realized that our hotel would not be near downtown or anything scenic. It was located basically in an industrial park. A little disappointing, but it didn't matter to us. We were happy to be in Finland and made ourselves comfy in our hotel room before taking off for the local shops. Our room was terribly hot. I remember dozing and then waking up all hot and sweaty. I checked the thermostat in the room and had it turned down all the way, but that didn't seem to make a difference. We asked the lady at the front desk about it. Were we doing something wrong? She informed us that they had been having air conditioning problems in that wing and if our room was still hot when we came back from our walk, they would move us to another room.

The shops were a nice little 20 minute walk away. Taigen and I enjoyed talking about our trip as we walked there. So many good memories!

What we found was a huge mall. We meandered around, looking for a momento of Finland that we could bring home. We ended up going into a store that was similar to a Macy's and I asked the sales clerk what I could purchase that would be uniquely Finnish. She pointed me in the direction of a few items, but eventually I fell in love with these little cappuccino cups and saucers made by a Finnish company called Iitalia. I asked the sales clerk about the significance of the owls that were printed on every cup. She didn't know, but thought it was due to the fact that there were a lot of owls in Finland. I have since made a contact with a lady in Finland (who happened to like my cards on Etsy), and she told me that the cups probably have the artwork of an artist named Klaus Haapaniemi. I looked him up, and sure enough, she was right! She also told me that the print is called "Taika" which means "the magic." Isn't that a neat factoid?!? The design isn't particularly my style or what I would consider beautiful, but it is from Finland and uniquely Finnish and I was thrilled to have my little owl for my kitchen shelf.

While I was waiting for the salesclerk to wrap up my cup and saucer, she explained how excited she was to have a United States citizen in her shop. She said it is very rare and she was happy to practice her American English. What most Europeans learn is British English and so they are eager to practice American English when they can. She chatted and chatted with me and was very personable. We had a great time in her store.

When we were done making the purchase we went in search of food. Unfortunately at the mall, there wasn't anything authentic to Finland. There was Italian, burgers, Mexican, etc. Isn't that funny? We ended up finding a small woodfired pizza place. We ordered a chicken barbeque pizza that had bacon, barbeque sauce, pineapple and chicken. It was outstanding! After pizza, we walked around some more and then finished off the night with ice cream. We ate as we walked home.

Our room was still hot, so we were transferred to another room. We got hooked up to the hotel's wifi and were able to contact folks back home and let them know that the first leg of our journey was complete. Tomorrow was Paris and then home.

Austria Trip - Sunday with Stan & Grace

Stan introducing us

Today was Sunday! We were excited to see Stan and Grace's church and meet their church family. We got up, got breakfast and then got ready. We left for church shortly after 9 o'clock. The church was located on the second floor of an old building. It was built in the 1800's, so it is not handicap accessible.  Considering it's age, it is in wonderful condition.  Maybe "late 1800's" isn't considered "old" in a place like Vienna.

The church is basically a nice, open apartment. You enter the church and walk through a nice foyer with a small bathroom. There is a coat rack and then another door that leads to the main part of the apartment. The main room would probably function as a "great room" in a normal apartment (living room, dining room, kitchen). Here it functions as the lobby during non-service times and children's church room during service times. The "master bedroom" (to the left of the "lobby") functions as the auditorium. Chairs are set up in a semi-circle throughout the room and can fit a good amount of people (more on that later). Off to the right of the "lobby" is a small room that would be a second bedroom. This is functioning as storage at present, but Grace told me that there are intentions of making this into the children's church room. The whole apartment has extremely high ceilings and large beautiful windows to let in natural light. I loved it! There is a huge bathroom off of the main room. This apartment would be perfect for their little church if it weren't on the second floor of this old building!

Taigen giving his testimony

Taigen and I "warmed up" our voices and then got to meet the folks as they trickled in for services. We were able to sing "Rock of Ages" and "His Robes for Mine" in the service and Taigen then had the opportunity to preach as Stan interpreted. It was a wonderful thing to experience. At the end of the service, Stan asked if I would play the piano as they sang "Trust and Obey" in German. Grace was with the children in children's church. Thankfully, music is a universal language and I didn't have to translate the notes. This was something I could do and enjoyed doing!

After the service we had kaffe and snacks. One of the sweet gentleman served me coffee and was busy playing host while Stan was talking with the people. He served and cleaned, served and cleaned. What a sweet man! Folks stayed and talked for quite a while. This was something we enjoyed immensely.

View from the Auditorium

Once everyone was gone, we decided to go and get some lunch before our sacred concert. We didn't have time to go home so we trekked over to a local mall and got some KFC. Elisabeth and her son joined us and we loved talking with her over our chicken sandwiches and wraps. Elisabeth told us that she preferred hearing us sing in English because German is such a harsh language. She said she loves hearing about God in English because in German, God seems so harsh. Isn't that interesting?

We had a great turnout for the concert. Todd & Sarah brought many of their folks. We packed everyone into the tiny master bedroom auditorium. There were probably about 40 people there! Everything went very well. My mouth was dry and I was extremely nervous about my German pronunciation (should've paid closer attention during my voice lessons with Mrs. Dunbar and in my Diction for Singers class with Dr. Parker, eh?). We did all of our pieces and Stan had projected the words on the wall behind us, just to be sure the message of the songs came through. We interjected the reading of some verses, or shared our testimonies of salvation (with Stan interpreting). The concert lasted over an hour and I was hot, sweaty and tired when all was said and done, but I have to say that it was such an HONOR to do that little concert.

"Rock of Ages" in German

It was good to see folks from the Hudsons church again and say goodbye. Meg brought me a parting gift: a hand-painted Polish bowl! It is beautiful, and as I type, it is sitting on our china hutch with M&M's in it. I love it. I couldn't believe that she gave it to me. It will be such a treasure for me. We thoroughly enjoyed mingling with the crowd. One older lady from the Hudsons church told me that she used to sing in the opera. Gulp! She was also one who told me that she was glad we were able to do some selections in English because it is a much rounder, more pleasant language to listen to. I was thankful for her positive feedback on our concert.

We gave the Hudsons their parting gift (from our HBC church family) of new bath towels. They loved it! I'm so glad that we were able to do that for them and meet a need. As much as we hated doing it, we had to say goodbye to them. I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to get to know the family, make some memories and also get to know Tammy better and meet Meg & their church family. This was a priceless trip.

After folks left, we finished cleaning up the apartment and went home. It was good to get out of my "Sunday-duds." After a while, I was able to make the kids a little something substantial for dinner. Grace made her famous homemade pizza, put them in the oven, and then went to go put the kids to bed. When Stan and Grace came back downstairs, we were surprised to see the Shelton kids all in tow with gifts for us to take back home to Marshall and Shaylen. They had purchased a Playmobil jet for Marshall and a Playmobil horse, stable and rider for Shaylen. That was so thoughtful of them! Marshall and Shaylen play with these toys so often! We gave the Shelton kids hugs and said our goodbyes to them. We would be leaving too early in the morning to catch our flight in order to say goodbye to them. They are sweet, wonderful and energetic children. I'm thankful to have a deeper connection to them as well.

We sat down with Stan and Grace and enjoyed her yummy pizza. I throughly enjoyed listening to them. We are thankful for their conservative stand on things, even though it hasn't always made things easy for them. It's wonderful to have missionaries like this...but also friends. I'm thankful we can call Stan and Grace both.

Mingling in the "Lobby"

It got to be late and we had to go and pack up our lives from the past two weeks! Taigen and I came downstairs and did some laundry and also died laughing as we crafted a thank you letter to Stan and Grace in Germglish (that's German and English). We wanted to be able to leave them with a parting gift and the note explained our gift to them from our church family. I wish you could have seen us trying to come up with something clever.

We were to be up early in order to catch our flight to Helsinki. We had to pack appropriately, because we wanted to just have our carry-ons for our overnight layover there. Why cart all of our luggage around Finland if we didn't have to, right? We checked email one last time, and then went to bed...with a good kind of exhaustion.

Austria Trip - All American Grill Out

Today, Taigen and I got up early and took off for the Stephansplatz for one, quick, last attempt to find souvenirs to bring home. Grace had given us directions and we did our best to navigate the transportation into the heart of Vienna from the opposite direction. It's funny to be doing Christmas shopping in July, but I had seen so many things while there on my own a couple of days ago, that the more I thought about it, the more I figured the gifts would be more meaningful if coming from Vienna. So with a mental list of what I wanted to get, we set off.

Once there, I took Taigen to go and see where Mozart lived. We didn't take the tour, but I wanted to show it to him just the same. Again, I was struck with the view from Mozart's house. The view would have been relatively unchanged. The buildings, cobblestone streets, arches and large doorways are mostly unchanged since the late 1700's. It is so beautiful.

By the time we were done in Mozart's neighborhood, we knew a certain porcelain shop would be open. Very few things are actually made in Austria, and this certain type of porcelain is. Sarah Hudson and Grace Shelton had pointed it out to me the other day after lunch and I had seen some ornaments hanging in the shop. I thought they would make nice thank-you gifts for Janelle & Jon and the Coopers for watching Marshall and Shaylen while we were gone. They were priced reasonably and they would be something uniquely Austrian. We made our purchases and quickly navigated the transportation system back to the Shelton's house. We were back before 11am.

Once back, I started in with dishes and making brownies. Tonight was the All American Grill Out. Grace had asked that I make a cake and while we were getting out the ingredients, we realized we didn't have any sour rahm. (That's sour cream.) So, I walked to the store (by myself) and grabbed it and quickly came back. I made the cake and put it in the oven. It looked really good.

I cleaned up my mess in the kitchen and then went to rehearse some more for our sacred concert tomorrow. Guests were to start arriving at 3. It's good to go over the German again and again and make little notes in the music so we could pronounce thing accurately.

I grabbed a rag and dusted the main living area of the house and then spruced up the bathroom. Taigen was able to help Stan outside. There were bushes to trim and weeds to pull and patio furniture to clean off. To some, the help we provided while with Stan and Grace was pretty insignificant, but it allowed them to focus on other things.

Elizabeth, Margit, Sabina, Grace, Kirsten and Me

Sabina was the first guest to arrive. She is a lady that lives just down the road a ways. Grace got to know her just from walking to school or to the store. Sabina built a beautiful terrace off of her front walk and Grace would comment on it as she passed by each day. Soon, they got to know each other and a friendship has been formed. I liked Sabina right away. She is very personable! Margit arrived shortly after. She knows the Sheltons through school. She apparently serves on the PTA board with Stan. Lastly, Elizabeth arrived with her son Jaan. She brought creme schnitte which was amazing. She used filo dough, pudding and whipping cream and some sort of lemon glaze. It was delicious. The Sheltons also know Elizabeth from the PTA at school and she has started coming to their church every Sunday. Unfortunately, all of the husbands had other obligations, so Stan and Taigen took up the chore of "serving" us ladies. It was hilarious. They donned aprons and waited on us hand and foot.

Our "waiters"

We had a wonderful time just sitting. I listened a lot because the majority of the conversation was in German. I watched facial expressions. Grace would lean over every once in a while to tell me what they were talking about. The guys served kaffe and kuchen before dinner (coffee and coffee cake). While we were munching and talking about that, the guys got the grill going. We had burgers, brats, salad, French fries, Kraft macaroni and cheese (from the box...Grace LOVES this and you cannot buy it there. We had brought her some from the US). We also had something called almdudler. It's basically Viennese ginger ale and is delicious.

After a while, Elizabeth's husband, Stephen, joined us. He had worked late, but had wanted to join us as soon as he could. At the end of our evening, Stan and Grace mentioned that we sing. Elizabeth asked if we could sing something in English as well as in German. She loves to listen to music in English because she said it is much more pleasant to the ear. She said German is a harsh language. We found this very interesting.

After song time, folks started leaving. Do you know what I did? I tackled the insurmountable task of...you guessed it...dishes! I really enjoyed doing this menial task for Grace so that she wouldn't have to face a filthy kitchen when she came down the stairs from getting the kids in bed. It also gave me time to pray for these folks and for Stan and Grace as they serve here in Vienna.

I had an opportunity to look over my songs for tomorrow and then eventually took my shower and fell into bed. It was an exhausting but wonderful day.

Sunday awaits!

Austria Missions Trip - Castle Ruins and Raclette

Exterior of the Castle

It was another beautiful morning here in Austria. I got up and showered, got ready, and headed upstairs to breakfast. We had poached eggs, coffee cake, and pastries that were leftover from yesterday. After breakfast, I helped by cleaning the kitchen dishes. I can imagine that Grace spends a good deal of time over at the sink, doing dishes. With a family of seven, how can you not? They have a lovely picture window to the right of the sink, right above the drain basket. From here, Grace can see into their courtyard/parking area and out into the street where she might see those that she has constant communication with. What a great reminder to pray!

In a main living area of the castle

After breakfast and clean-up, we practiced our German and English songs with Grace. Today was Friday and we only had today and tomorrow to prepare for our sacred concert. We eventually narrowed down what we were actually going to sing. Our German repertoire would include "Rock of Ages," "His Robes for Mine," "Only Trust Him," and "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." We would also sing "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," "Sing Praise to God," "Depth of Mercy," "Savior, Like a Shepherd, Lead Us," "May the Mind of Christ My Savior," (duets) and each of us would do a solo. I was going to do the old hymn "O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" and Taigen was going to sing "My God I Love Thee." I think that makes a total of eleven songs altogether. We hadn't been able to work on German before arriving in Vienna, so we were quickly refreshing what we had learned in college. Even Kaleb sat down to help us with our pronunciations. What a great kid. Our rehearsal went well over an hour.

DaVinci Grill

After a quick lunch, we blitzed to a place called Kreuzenstein. This was an amazing tour and we barely made it in time to make the last one of the day! It's a castle that's been pieced together with pieces from all over the world, on the site of existing castle ruins. When you typically go to visit castle ruins, you basically only see the walls. With this place, the man who built the castle made sure to purchase artifacts that would have existed from the day. It was fascinating.

I snapped up photos left and right (remember this fact). In the kitchen there was a gadget on the table that was a spaghetti maker and even a wind-powered grill that was actually designed by Leonardo DaVinci. The tour was being given in German so I really didn't understand a word he was saying. Stan translated what he could and we also had a bare-bones rough English translation (a paragraph or two) that gave us the tour in synopsis form.

At the end of the tour we thanked our tour guide. He started talking to Stan and as we left, Stan told us what he had said. He told Stan, "It is a good thing you had me giving the tour. They normally don't allow you to take photos, but since I am not a family member of the owners, I do not care." I felt terrible, but I think the tour guide knew I wasn't going to be turning around and making lots of money from my photos.

On the way back home we stopped at a store called Multikauf. It is like Sam's, Target and Toys R Us all combined. The Shelton kids were especially happy to go because it meant they could go and look at their huge Playmobil selection. I was able to find a few souvenir items to bring home, but also enjoyed looking around. By now, we were all a little weary and started for home. There was a great dinner planned for tonight. It's called Raclette. We boiled some potatoes, diced up various and sundry items to accompany the potatoes and Grace cut up some raclette cheese. If you click on the "raclette" link and scroll down on the article, you'll see a raclette "grill". This was fun. You place the meat on the top to grill and the cheese, ham, tomatoes, etc. in these triangular dishes and put them under the grill in order to melt. Once the cheese has melted, you pour it over your potato and eat it with your grilled sausage. It was delicious and so much fun!

After dinner, we walked over near where the kids go to school and stopped to get ice cream. It was a beautiful night and the walk after a good dinner felt so good. The kids were very eager to get in my pictures and were hamming it up! I love them!

When we got home it was getting close to bedtime, so Stan and Grace took them upstairs to get them ready while Taigen and I cleaned up the dining room and kitchen. When Stan and Grace came back down, we were all able to sit and chat for a while. Kaleb wasn't feeling well (he has something called Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis ) so he came down to get some hot tea. It was neat to hear about Vienna and his school from his perspective, but he eventually had to go to bed. It was getting late! The four of us chatted a little longer, but were slowly hitting our wall, so we had a time of prayer and went to bed ourselves. It had been a wonderful day.

Weapons in the Armory

In the Courtyard

Taigen and Me in the Armory

Raclette Dinner...Delicious!!!

Austria Trip - First Day Flurry of Activity!

Baby Kirsten

I got up this morning and took another shower. After going to bed with a wet head, I had quite the bed-head look going. I definitely needed to rectify that! Taigen and Stan had gone across the street to a local bakery (Strock) and had brought home pastries. These are dangerous!

After breakfast, I finished getting ready and then went shopping with Grace for groceries. We needed to go to two different stores in order to acquire all we needed. It seems similar to how I shop here at home: Market Basket for food items, Walmart for cleaning products. We needed to drive to get to one store, then came home to unload those groceries, and then walked to the one just around the corner from the Sheltons'. This proved to be so very convenient!

Austrians don't have large refrigerators. It makes it invaluable to have a store nearby because of the frequency of the trips you have to make. Another item to note: their milk does not come in gallons (I know, I know...obviously...they are on the metric system...), but in containers that would probably be a little less than a half gallon. That means, if I lived in Vienna, I would go through 12 of these a week! I had better have a store just around the corner! Grace also told me that she basically has to rearrange her refrigerator every time she puts something in. It's hilarious. She's really good at making it all fit. It's like a puzzle each time. Let me tell you, that fridge, and the other one they have in the basement, is chalk-o-block full!

Tonight, the Sheltons were to have their neighbors over for dinner. On Saturday, they were going to have neighbors and friend from the school's PTA (they work with Stan who is the president of the PTA) over for an All American Grill Out. Grace needed to make sure we had all of the big items for these two functions. Hamburger, bratwurst, buns, corn on the cob, etc. After the grocery run in the morning, we blitzed home and got the house ready for company. That meant putting all of the furniture back in place, sweeping, moping, putting the kitchen back to rights.

Somehow the Sheltons heard that we had never been to IKEA. They have one not too far from their house and they told us that we should go! It's quite the experience. We took off and had lunch there (hot dogs) and then slowly wound our way around the ginormous store. We wanted to see if we could be observant and hear of any needs the Sheltons might have that our church could take care of for them. It would be a gift from our church family. We had asked Tammy and Meg about some needs the Hudsons had and so we were also going to look for some nice towels to replace their well-loved (i.e. threadbare) ones. Grace found some inexpensive curtains that could replace her old ones and bring together the new wall color and the couches.

We came home and Grace went to lay down. She had had a rough night apparently. I came downstairs to the cool basement to read my Bible and then catch up on my journal. When I finished, I went upstairs to see what I could do to help. With a family of seven plus two guests, there is no end of dishes! I loaded what I could in the dishwasher and washed and dried the rest. I know it's not glorious to wash dishes, but every dish I wash is one less that Grace has to do!

Grace came down the stairs and started in with dinner. She was making turkey, peas, carrots, rice with white sauce. The neighbors arrived for dinner at 7:30. They live just behind the Sheltons. The husband is away on business, but the wife and her three sons were able to come. They are very polite and the conversation around the table flowed nicely. She asked questions about why we were there and then several questions about Christianity in general. Taigen and Stan tag teamed the answers. It was really wonderful to see the two guys work together.

After dinner, Stan and Grace mentioned that Taigen and I sing. They asked if they could hear us, so we sang a few pieces. Their English is very good (they are originally from India), so we were able to sing our song that were in English without fear of them not understanding. They were very appreciative of the mini-concert.

After they left it was a flurry of activity. Grace and Stan put the kids to bed and Taigen and I cleaned up the kitchen (sweeping, washing dishes and drying). We sat and chatted with Stan and Grace for a while and then the guys headed to bed. Grace and I enjoyed a few more moments of quiet conversation. I wanted to have an opportunity just like this in order to gain a better perspective of her heart and how she is doing. How could I be a better encouragement to her? How can we as a church support them better? Before we realized it, it was midnight. We needed to get to bed! I'm so thankful for the friendship of Stan and Grace and their faithfulness here in Vienna.

Austria Trip - On to the Shelton's

Taigen (typical hilarious pose) & Stan

Grace and I went home via tram, train, and bus. They live about an hour from the Hudsons, across the Danube, on the other side of Vienna. It was so wonderful to catch up with her. When we arrived home, sure enough the guys were already hard at work painting the living room.

We had volunteered to be of help to both the Hudsons and the Sheltons. Stan and Grace had this project that they had been wanting to accomplish for quite some time and they asked us well before we even flew over there if Taigen enjoyed painting. Taigen loves painting! He says it's because it gives him instant results. It's also something completely different than sitting at a desk all day. Already the living room was done (I think Stan had already done one wall before we got there). The living room, dining room and kitchen were all part of the same room so they were just about to the kitchen area. I needed to help Grace with prepping the kitchen.

After a brief tour of their cute home, we whisked away mixers, containers, and began wiping down the tops of the cupboards. The guys worked quickly and soon we just needed to let it dry. The whole house was in upheaval, but we were excited to see the transformation. It's a means to an end. We didn't mind the chaos one bit. We've been there...done that...MANY times.

Wiping Down the Cupboards

Grace prepared a wonderful dinner of apple/lemon chicken, rice and corn. It was delicious! After dinner we worked some more. I was able to wipe down the cupboards (fronts, tops, bottoms) and shelves in the kitchen and give them a good scrubbing. The guys finished up with the painting project and everything looked so very good. I loved the conversation with Stan and Taigen as we finished up.

It was after midnight when we finally got into our shower to wash off all of the sweat and grime from the day. We were able to get hooked up to the Shelton's wifi and sent off a few quick emails to the kids before quickly heading off to dreamland.

Austria Trip - See Through Bathrooms

When I walked into the house after my wonderful morning out, the house was all a-buzz with activity. There were the six Hudsons, seven Sheltons, Meg, Tammy, Taigen, and Kaylea the dog. It was hilarious. I was not in the house long. We took some pictures and said brief goodbyes (because we knew we would see them all on Sunday when Taigen and I were going to do our sacred concert). I did take this photo of the Hudsons. It turned out so good! What a great time we had with them!

Sarah, Grace (and baby Kirsten) and I were going to go out to lunch. Unbeknownst to me, we were going to head right back in to the Stephansplatz. So, we got on the bus, got on the tram, and ended up right where I had just left. Sarah said to me, "I should have just met you here!" I told her that this would have eliminated half of my wonderful challenge from the morning. 

Sarah had a restaurant in mind to take us. Please make note of this. This is something to tuck away as you read the rest of my story.

It was a bustling little restaurant located near St. Stephen's Cathedral. It took quite the effort to get the stroller in. Folks had to move their chairs and tables in order for us to get to our booth. We ordered our lunch and enjoyed some conversation. Lunch took quite a while to arrive, but once it did we enjoyed it immensely. Before we were to leave, Sarah, in a motherly fashion said, "We should hit the bathrooms before we head home. Crystal you go first." Now, I didn't particularly have to use the restroom, but I wasn't about to contradict such a direct statement from Sarah, so I obediently got up and headed in. Grace followed me. 

The first thing I noticed were the stalls. A lady was opening the stall door and I observed that they were SEE-THROUGH. I noticed it and told Grace, "I think I can wait" and started to turn to leave. Grace grabbed my arm and said, "No. Wait! See? When you go in, shut the door and lock it, the doors fog up and a Do Not Enter symbol is projected on it." I waited (because I was skeptical). A lady went in a stall.  I was able to see her close the door, but when her hand turned the lock, the stall doors fogged up and a Do Not Enter light was projected on the stall door. It was one of the weirdest thing I have ever seen. Of course, I used the bathroom (in order to still obey Sarah) and when I came out of the restroom, Sarah was howling! Grace took one look at her and knew that the whole thing had been one huge joke...on ME! She said she had thought it unusual that Sarah already had a restaurant in mind for this day because when they've gone out before, she's always been one of indecision. I laughed so hard! I, too, had thought it strange that she should tell me to go to the bathroom, but I had chalked it up to the fact that she knew what we would be doing and her motherly instincts kicked in. Now I know! My only regret is that I didn't get a picture, but who takes pictures in bathrooms?

We left the restaurant still laughing and made our way around the Stephansplatz. We went to an ice cream shop that Grace said was one of the best and I ordered the most delicious coconut ice cream that I have ever had. Maybe I should be thankful that I can only get this amazingly wonderful ice cream in Vienna! I'd want to eat it every day. It was really neat to walk and talk around the Stephansplatz and hear about a few things from them. They offered tidbits and historical stories that I would otherwise not have known about. After a while, we had to split. This was transition time. Taigen had already left with Stan and the boys and was at their house busily painting. I said my good-bye to Sarah and finished up the excursion with Grace. I was soon to head home with her for the second half of our trip. What a fun, hilarious and memorable afternoon it had been!