January Already

Well, we got my parents all packed up this morning and drove them to the airport at 5am to send them back to the States. We were all a little stunned that our time together had already come to an end. It got off to a rather rocky start with weather re-routing them, then delaying them, and finally delivering them to Bologna without any of their bags. On Christmas Eve, three of their four bags arrived, but the one with the majority of the Christmas presents remained MIA. A week later it met us in Salzburg, Austria, where we spent a week just hanging out and enjoying being together.

Thankfully, my brother had arrived uneventfully. He had just returned from serving in Kazakhstan in the Peace Corps, so we hadn't seen him for two and a half years. He had never met Benjamin, so it was a sweet time with him.


We enjoyed beautiful snow in Bologna just before Christmas and had a great, if packed, Christmas Day. On the 27th, we headed north to Salzburg (about 5 hours from Bologna), to spend time just being together. We stayed in a flat that was part of a farm in the town of Anthering, only a 15 minute train ride from Salzburg. It was so quiet!! We didn't realize how accustomed to the constant hum of city life we were until we were out of the city. It was glorious! And the farm provided tons of space for the kids to play and run around on. That was a Christmas present in and of itself.

This is a picture of the Christmas Tree in downtown Bologna. This year, in an effort to promote energy conservation, they had bikes attached to the tree lights. To light up the tree, people had to bike to create the energy. Cody rolled his eyes several times at a Green Christmas, but before the season was over, he was out peddling too.

While we were in Salzburg, we celebrated Hannah's 8th Birthday. She is becoming such a beautiful little girl. We are stunned to begin thinking about the "tween" years, but we really delight in who God is making her to be. She had an absolutely incredible day. It was fun to celebrate her in such a special place.

The kids and I in Salzburg, with Hohensalzburg Fortress (the castle) in the background. We ate lunch at the castle for Hannah's birthday, which was an incredible treat for a little girl.

For Christmas (which didn't arrive until the 29th), Hannah got Mia, an American Girl, who loves to skate. At the farm we stayed on in Austria, there was a little frozen pond. Ever the one to play, Hannah decided she needed to take Mia "skating." Mia did great!

Our beautiful birthday girl! Wow, she's growing up!

It was such an encouragement to have family with us for Christmas. We are so thankful they were able to come. We commented today, however, that as thankful as we are for those times, when they are over, we feel like we've taken a step back. They cause us to count the costs all over again. It is hard to be so far away from our friends and family! So we are gearing up to dive back in. As hard as it was to say goodbye this morning to the comfort and familiarity of family, we know God has plans for us here. We are in the right place. Tomorrow it is back to all things Italy.