Home Stretch

Saying goodbye to our daughter Kathy & family on Sunday night.

Enjoying a nice dinner at Longhorn.

Bike ride to Harpers Ferry

Visiting at our daughter Annie's house.

     Well, we're down to our last week together with Eduards and Helena.  We are very comfortable with each other, and had a lot of fun laughing and teasing, as well as praying and reading the Bible together.  Eduards and Helena have been and continue to be very helpful, and willing to do whatever we ask them to.  We've had a great bike ride with Karen Lazo and Nikita, along with our Latvian chaperone Lana, dentist appointment for fillings, big family birthday party for our one-year-old grandson Trevor, a Frederick Keys baseball game (courtesy of Albert & Joannie Chin!), a fun building project at Stephanie Rittler's house (catapult and airplane), a visit to Jimmie Cone in Damascus, and a second visit to the Frederick Earth Space and Science Center.  Of course the weather's been super hot, so swimming in the pool has been a part of each day.  Our daughter Kathy & family were with us all weekend and we had lots of fun with them.  Today is the long-awaited trip to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, with our daughter Annie and her family.  The break from the hot weather will definitely be enjoyed there!  Then tonight we plan to attend the Mt. Airy Carnival.  This coming weekend we're headed up to Swallow Falls State Park in western Maryland for camping, and a visit to my sister Gail & family in Swanton.  In the midst of all of the activity, there is always a lot of time at home too, and just experiencing family life, which is good because that is one of the main ideas of the hosting program!

Helena likes to hold whatever critters she can!

Note to self:  Never order a large cone at Jimmie Cone!

That's all for now.   Again THANK YOU for your interest, and support.  Most of all we thank you for your prayers because God is definitely steering us through this!

Full Days

Hello All -

Well we sure have been very busy this week.  One highlight was a visit to the Frederick Earth & Space Science Center, where we saw a movie in the planetarium called Sea Monsters, and then got to explore the center and hold some REAL live monsters!  I personally was only interested in holding the turtles, but Helena was much more brave than I was.  :-)  A bit of time at Baker Park, and then early supper at Cici's Pizza filled out our day.  

We also enjoyed a fun time at home with the Runkles family for lunch and pool play time on Wednesday.  On Friday we made a visit to Lens Crafters, where Eduards and Helena were pronounced to have excellent eyesight by a very sweet Dr. Smith who even learned Latvian so she could better communicate with NHFC children!  On Saturday we had a brunch with other NHFC host families at the home of Bridget & Sandro Young, in Washington, DC.  They & their neighbors graciously gave us some of their parking spots, and we walked from there to see the national museums, etc.  We were happy for Helena to get to spend more time with Janna & Inese who are hosted by the Mullieri family of Alexandria, VA.  Their family even surprised us and visited at MVCC yesterday, because Jon happens to be friends with Darren DeWald, who was speaking in Pastor Guy's absence yesterday.  

     Today we're looking forward to spending time with the Henderson family who are MVCC's supported missionaries in Mozambique, Africa.  Phil & Elin visited church yesterday with their two children, Callie & Elias, who are 13 and 10, so we planned to spend the afternoon and evening together  here today.  It will be great to get to know them better, and have the kids play together.

Fun @ Frederick Earth & Space Science Ctr.

Air & Space Museum was the favorite!

Brunch gathering of other host families at Bridget & Sandro Young's home in Washington DC before exploring the museums. 

A beautiful day to see the sights!

Museum of Natural History - Girl Moose!

Phil & Karen Lazo with Nikita

Jon & Amber Mullieri with their hosted Janna & Inese and their own three children.

 Thank you again to everyone, we know God is giving us the strength and grace for this endeavor in great part because of your faithfulness to pray for us!!

Discoveries

First time in the ocean

Hello All!  We are home again from our trip to Bethany Beach and everyone had a great time.  It was so cool to see Eduards and Helena experiencing the ocean for the first time.  :-)  They loved swimming in the waves, and stayed out there so long they were wrinkly when they finally got out of the water.  Our daughter Kathy and her family joined us for the long weekend, and now E & H have met each of our children and grandchildren.  We are getting to know each other better and better, and learning how to play tricks and make each other laugh.  Dutch Blitz is definitely a favorite game now, and almost every family favorite recipe has been a hit.  Today was full of a dentist appointment, swimming, doing laundry, cooking, sewing, and hiking.
We can't say it enough - THANK YOU for praying for us.  We want to continue to pray for E & H to seek God, and not push Him away.  We are praying together with them each night, and thanking God for everything, and trying to point out how He's answering our prayers.  Sharing the blessings He's given us with E & H is our goal, so we pray most of all that they will begin to see God's hand, and seek after Him with their hearts.

Waiting for our turn in the restaurant

Viens, divi, tres - JUMP!

We are doing great, learning words (as best we can), and having fun - LOTS of fun!  On Friday night our daughter Annie and her family came for dinner and swim, and it was so wonderful to be able to introduce them to E & H.  On Saturday our son Pat & his family came for dinner and swim, and E & H did great meeting them too!  On Sunday we hosted a welcome to America Party for the other local host families and had a blast in the pool and sling shooting water balloons! Eduards and Helena really had fun having other Latvians around to play with and talk to.  I even saw some pretty big smiles on Eduards' face!  Both of them pitched in and helped us tremendously getting ready for the party, and cleaning up too!  I lost count of how many families were here.  Right now I can think of at least seven, all of whom were so great and friendly. We did make plans with one particular family to have another get together later on.  As each day goes by here at home we all become more and more comfortable with each other, and learn how to make each other laugh!  Helena & Eduards are so good with their English skills, and are patiently trying to teach us some Latvian!  We've enjoyed walks in the woods, lots of swims in the pool, and doing jobs around the house!  Both of the kids are always asking how they can help, and have mowed the lawn, washed and dried dishes, taken out trash, and even scrubbed down the camper!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us!  Every night before bed we hold hands and pray together, and at first that seemed really uncomfortable for E & H, but now, it is much more relaxed, and the hug at the end of the day is really great!  We are finding more ways to show affection and love, and that is what we want!  Today we'll be busily getting ready for four days at the beach.  We'll tell you all about that when we return!  Looking forward to time with our daughter Kathy & her family there, and seeing Eduards' & Helena's first sight of the ocean!