Abigail and the love of her life

This is my very brave mother. She is an inspiration to me and a blessing many times over. My mom and dad have been living and working here in Tirana for a year now. They've had a ROUGH year trying to eke out a living in a depression in a foreign country where English teachers just aren't as appreciated as they have been in other times and places. We've had a more restful summer of them house-sitting close by and we've been able to talk and spend time together and process the past year and we look forward to a new year that finds them more settled in and with (hopefully) more stable jobs. We know that God is in control and that He is always good and we thank him together for the easy as well as the hard times.

This is a funny name for a store don't you think?

Abby has been teething these past couple weeks (hence, the medicine bottle in her hand) and so not sleeping well, but otherwise pretty chilled out. I put these two pictures together because Abby is absolutely enamoured of her grandma Seefeldt. As soon as she hears our front door open she drops everything and starts toddling towards it gasping with glee and laughing just so excited that Grandma might be walking in. I'm so thankful for this bond I see developing. We'll miss seeing grandma so often because she'll be starting to teach next week, but I'm sure she'll be coming over as often as she can even so. These two are like very strong magnets to each other. :-)

Daniel loves the slide!

Far East

I have loved this little piece of East Asia in the heart of Tirana. It reminds me of some of the more serene getaways in the heart of Bangkok with the white painted rattan and the pools with carp and the bamboo and the tea! We love the pots of jasmine tea and on this occasion, a few months back, we decided to have a pot of tea just the three of us. In the morning this place is pretty empty (I think we may have been the only ones) which made it more comfortable for me balancing the needs of two little ones.