Here's our four kiddos in our backyard this week...
(This was actually our Feb verse... but with moving and all, it kinda became our March/April verse... :)
~Crazy Crawfords~ Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Embracing Crazy...
Saturday, April 25, 2009
City of U Turns
Everywhere you go in Yerevan, you're looking for the next U Turn... To get to our neighborhood, we actually have to drive past it a little ways, make a U Turn an then come back to it. There isn't an opening to get across the road to turn directly onto our street. If you drive into town and want to turn left on to a street, a lot of times, you need to drive down the street a ways until the solid white line becomes dotted... that means it's okay to make a U Turn there. So cars will be lined up along the road, waiting to make U Turns to get back to the street they just passed! When Nick and Olivia give us directions, they tell us drive past the street that we want to turn left on until
we find a place to make a U Turn then come back to it and turn right...City of U Turns.
-Here we are going North (west) with our neighborhood on the left... and then again coming south (east), with our neighborhood on the right! Heh.
Monday, April 06, 2009
March Birthdays
Benjamin hit double digits on March 31st! So wild how fast the time goes! He's a fine young man, growing strong, and smart, and wise in the Lord. We're proud of him. We made a twinkie cake for him, had pizza, and watched Space Buddies. Sometime this month, Nick said he knew of an observatory that he could take him/us to. So he's looking forward to that. Happy Birthday to our Big Deluxe! :)
And little Ruthie turned six years old just the day after we got to Yerevan! We were so tired and "jet-laggin'" but we managed to hit a play place and have pizza, too. Olivia ordered a beautiful barbie dress cake. So she was very celebrated, even though we could barely keep our eyes open! :) Happy birthday to our firecracker!
catch up
Hey!
I just copied and pasted all the emails I'd send to our family and friends over the month of March... So now you're all caught up! :) We're here and settling in.
The picture is of the kids, just a few steps down the street from our front door! Mt Ararat at sunset! The one of Kev and me was taken at the Cascade, downtown Yerevan.
We went to a pretty walking park the other day with Olivia and Oliver and the kids... Ruth found a good place in the rocks and dirt to sit and play. This caused a little stir from the people around us... Olivia said it's culture shock for them. Little girls here don't sit down on the ground! Well, I think they'll see Ruthie on the ground more then once while we're here! Ha. Playing in the dirt is what she's meant to do! :)
We got some good numbers for our phones! Heh... we were told that numbers are important. Like 777 is good, or 1212... things like that. You'll notice "good" numbers on license plates around here... I guess people pay more to have good numbers!
There are a few tunnels throughout Yerevan. Ruth (and Oliver) is especially fond of going through the tunnels. There's one tunnel in Arkansas that we've been through twice and she's always remembered it and wanted to go through it again. Now we'll have opportunities every day to hit a tunnel, if we so desire! :)
Our tutor is coming five days a week now. We've learned the alphabet (all 39 letters!) and can write out words and make a few sentences. Nadale tells us that in English, we sing... in Armenian, we fight... Heh. They talk stronger and sharper here. We need to learn to "fight" when we talk! :) Fight, Jill!
One last quick two cents from me before I head to bed... I spoke at a women's conference in Hrazdan, a town North East of here. I gave my testamony and had another sweet friend translate for me. Afterwards I had the chance to pray for some women (again through an interperter) and when we were on our way to the pastor's home afterwards Kevin asked me what was on my cheek?? Lipstick. From all the women's kisses! Love it. :)
We're doing well and are getting into a groove. At the same time we think of all our friends and family at home, too! Love you guys!
March 16, 2009 email update from Armenia
March 16, 2009
Hey!
I've been trying to remember a few things to pass on to you guys... let's see here...
Ants
A week or two ago I was sweeping, which we have to do all day long, and I saw things moving in my dust pan! Ick. Tiny ants. They come in right by our door in the hallway! Ick. So we got some nasty ant poison that's bad for people, too... I don't know which is better or worse. But we were told that where there are ants, nasty spiders may show up, too! Uff da. So you can pray that we don't get any of those. I guess Nick and Olivia had a bunch in their basement last year and they're just down the block. But they were only in the basement and they didn't find any upstairs. So hopefully that's good news for us since we don't have a basement. They had people come and fumigate so we will, too! They're only out in the summer. Sigh.
Tourists
We spent a week, or at least a few day, just being tourists. Olivia and Oliver went to Holland where her parents are missionaries and she had a good ultrasound there – it's a healthy girl. But while they were away, we all packed into the SUV with Nick and saw the sights. The Cascade and and old monastery that I can't remember how to spell... Heh. If you're on facebook, you can check out a few pics... There's also lots of statues all around Yerevan. We also ate at Yum Yum Donuts, pizza places, and the Russian KFC... Heh. Pizza dough is soft and bready here and they like mayonnaise on it!! But we ask for it without mayo! :)
Churches
Last Sunday we went to an Armenian church in the morning and the international church in the evening. It got to be a long day. We heard that the Armenian pastor(s) goes longer, even! And there isn't much for children's programs during church. So two or three hours of Armenian speaking (and sitting for three hours...) gets kinda long for the kiddos. They liked that they spoke English at the other church, but they mostly just drew on paper with like 4 other kids there, too... We were hoping it'd be a big children's program for them. At least it was in English – they liked that! We liked both, I guess. It'll be nice to go to the Armenian one and understand. I really want to learn to sing the worship songs in Armenian! The preaching was actually by a Canadian missionary with a translator, so we did understand that part anyway! Preaching with a translator will be tricky... it was all choppy. Not a smooth sermon, you know.... anywho.
I have been asked to preach next Friday, with a translator! They're having a women's program at a smaller city about 45 minutes out of Yerevan! Only 15 minutes but that'll still be something, huh?! Last night I went with Nick and Olivia up there to be a part of some of the organizing.
Bathroom
After church, at the Armenian one, the assistant pastor Hiak and his wife Monny, went out to eat with us and Nick. They took us to the Russian KFC that was close by! It had a waterfall in the basement part with goldfish in the pond below. Fancy. While we were there, Ruth had to go to the bathroom... and she got herself locked in the stall!! And it was a little room, with no opening at the bottom of the door or whatever. Not the metal stalls we're used to. So I had to go get help because the door needed a KEY to open it. She was crying and the Armenians who worked there were busily trying to get her out! The manager had a million keys so it took a while. He found the key and got her out. She hung on tight to me and hid her face... Quite an adventure! All this while Kev was upstairs ordering. He didn't even know about it until afterwards... when the manager brought both Ruth and me ice cream cones! Ha. Leave it to our Ruthie... :)
Snow
This week we had some snow! The kids came running in to my room and opened the window! Snow, snow!! It was like Kansas City snow... melted later that day, I think. But it was still exciting. It's been around 50, I'm guessing, for the average temps here.
Homeschool
We're back to homeschooling. Trying to juggle that and language learning! Whew. The kids will already be schooling into June so we need to be off and running.
Meals and Mt Dew...
We're trying to figure out good meals with what they have here and with our oven that has no numbers on it for temps! Goofy. Looks like we'll be eating a lot of chicken. We did find hot dogs! Heh. And they have lavash, which is flat bread, and we like that rolled with cheese or peanut butter. The kids wanted to try it with sugar since it looks like lefsa! :)
Power
Twice, so far, our power has gone out. Once it went out about a half an hour before Nick and Kevin came home with tons of stuff from the grocery store! They said it'd be out for 7 hours but it came back on before that! I guess that doesn't happen too often!?
Teeth
Sharon, for you I thought I'd tell you about the teeth. Lots of people have golden teeth! The kids asked Tom, one of Nick's friends (and now ours too) why he had gold teeth... he said he didn't obey his mama and didn't brush well enough. One of the kids thought it was cool and wished they had gold teeth, too! :)
Smell
I'd wondered what it would smell like here because I'd heard that's something people really notice when they go overseas. It's not that different, I don't think. Some individual things smell different, but it'd not a huge difference overall... just fyi! Ha!
Marine
The kids have a babysitter when we tutor. Her name is Marine. She's great. They love her. She's babysat Oliver since he was 8 weeks old and is very involved in ministry stuff with the Puccinis so we trust here and are so thankful for that answered prayer! She has long black hair, which Hannie says is long purple hair! Heh. It has a tint of red or something so it looks purple to Hannie! She spent some time braiding it yesterday! :)
Nadala
Pronounced Na DAY la. Nadala (sp?) is our tutor. She is a believer, too! Yea. And we think she's good although we've never had a tutor before! :) She challenges us, which doesn't take much! Heh. But she's also encouraging. Nick said their first tutor called them lazy and stuff for not learning the whole alphabet in a day! Like 39 funky letters! Nadala says, “Shat Lav, shat lav” -Very good, very good. We're learning a few things anyway! She speaks in Armenian most of the time but uses English words to help us understand sometimes. She comes right to our home. Which is another blessing, too!
Jilljon
Two days ago, I asked Kevin when he thought we'd become Jilljon and Kevinjon. That's like dear or something like that that friends put at the end of names. The very next morning, Marine and Nadala came over (the come together in a taxi) and Marine said “Barev Jilljon!” And I hugged her! Ha. I'm Jilljon to a friend in Armenia! :) Whoo. Nadala said I was Jilljon to her, too! Heh. Sweet.
I love you
Tom, Nick's friend, has been helping him do yard work lately. So we've visited with him some. He's Armenian and speaks English well. We stopped and shared a few of our new Armenian words with him while we were going for a family walk around the block and when we were saying goodbye and walking away the kids were saying goodbye and see you soon and he said “I love you!” to them. They skipped down the street with a smile! :) He has a motorcycle with a side car. The other day when he was out by it, I said, “That smells like my dad and his garage!” :) He said it smells like Russian oil! Heh.
When I was out of town the other day getting ready for the women's conference, I got to eat with an Armenian pastor and his wife and 6 of their 7 grown children! The youngest is 16 and will be coming to Yerevan for college in the fall... They were a great family. Two of the girls work at the office translating the Fire Bible so I'd met one of them earlier. Tamar and Shushan. The pastor/dad's eyes reminded me of my dad, too... He was an older man with smile marks along the corners of his eyes. Must be thinking of you, Dad, huh?! :) While we were there, I was talking to the mom, with the help of Tamar who speaks English, and in the end she said, “Yes kez sirum!” (sp) “I love you.” :) I told her that I love her, too!
Internet!!
Hey!
I've been trying to remember a few things to pass on to you guys... let's see here...
Ants
A week or two ago I was sweeping, which we have to do all day long, and I saw things moving in my dust pan! Ick. Tiny ants. They come in right by our door in the hallway! Ick. So we got some nasty ant poison that's bad for people, too... I don't know which is better or worse. But we were told that where there are ants, nasty spiders may show up, too! Uff da. So you can pray that we don't get any of those. I guess Nick and Olivia had a bunch in their basement last year and they're just down the block. But they were only in the basement and they didn't find any upstairs. So hopefully that's good news for us since we don't have a basement. They had people come and fumigate so we will, too! They're only out in the summer. Sigh.
Tourists
We spent a week, or at least a few day, just being tourists. Olivia and Oliver went to Holland where her parents are missionaries and she had a good ultrasound there – it's a healthy girl. But while they were away, we all packed into the SUV with Nick and saw the sights. The Cascade and and old monastery that I can't remember how to spell... Heh. If you're on facebook, you can check out a few pics... There's also lots of statues all around Yerevan. We also ate at Yum Yum Donuts, pizza places, and the Russian KFC... Heh. Pizza dough is soft and bready here and they like mayonnaise on it!! But we ask for it without mayo! :)
Churches
Last Sunday we went to an Armenian church in the morning and the international church in the evening. It got to be a long day. We heard that the Armenian pastor(s) goes longer, even! And there isn't much for children's programs during church. So two or three hours of Armenian speaking (and sitting for three hours...) gets kinda long for the kiddos. They liked that they spoke English at the other church, but they mostly just drew on paper with like 4 other kids there, too... We were hoping it'd be a big children's program for them. At least it was in English – they liked that! We liked both, I guess. It'll be nice to go to the Armenian one and understand. I really want to learn to sing the worship songs in Armenian! The preaching was actually by a Canadian missionary with a translator, so we did understand that part anyway! Preaching with a translator will be tricky... it was all choppy. Not a smooth sermon, you know.... anywho.
I have been asked to preach next Friday, with a translator! They're having a women's program at a smaller city about 45 minutes out of Yerevan! Only 15 minutes but that'll still be something, huh?! Last night I went with Nick and Olivia up there to be a part of some of the organizing.
Bathroom
After church, at the Armenian one, the assistant pastor Hiak and his wife Monny, went out to eat with us and Nick. They took us to the Russian KFC that was close by! It had a waterfall in the basement part with goldfish in the pond below. Fancy. While we were there, Ruth had to go to the bathroom... and she got herself locked in the stall!! And it was a little room, with no opening at the bottom of the door or whatever. Not the metal stalls we're used to. So I had to go get help because the door needed a KEY to open it. She was crying and the Armenians who worked there were busily trying to get her out! The manager had a million keys so it took a while. He found the key and got her out. She hung on tight to me and hid her face... Quite an adventure! All this while Kev was upstairs ordering. He didn't even know about it until afterwards... when the manager brought both Ruth and me ice cream cones! Ha. Leave it to our Ruthie... :)
Snow
This week we had some snow! The kids came running in to my room and opened the window! Snow, snow!! It was like Kansas City snow... melted later that day, I think. But it was still exciting. It's been around 50, I'm guessing, for the average temps here.
Homeschool
We're back to homeschooling. Trying to juggle that and language learning! Whew. The kids will already be schooling into June so we need to be off and running.
Meals and Mt Dew...
We're trying to figure out good meals with what they have here and with our oven that has no numbers on it for temps! Goofy. Looks like we'll be eating a lot of chicken. We did find hot dogs! Heh. And they have lavash, which is flat bread, and we like that rolled with cheese or peanut butter. The kids wanted to try it with sugar since it looks like lefsa! :)
Power
Twice, so far, our power has gone out. Once it went out about a half an hour before Nick and Kevin came home with tons of stuff from the grocery store! They said it'd be out for 7 hours but it came back on before that! I guess that doesn't happen too often!?
Teeth
Sharon, for you I thought I'd tell you about the teeth. Lots of people have golden teeth! The kids asked Tom, one of Nick's friends (and now ours too) why he had gold teeth... he said he didn't obey his mama and didn't brush well enough. One of the kids thought it was cool and wished they had gold teeth, too! :)
Smell
I'd wondered what it would smell like here because I'd heard that's something people really notice when they go overseas. It's not that different, I don't think. Some individual things smell different, but it'd not a huge difference overall... just fyi! Ha!
Marine
The kids have a babysitter when we tutor. Her name is Marine. She's great. They love her. She's babysat Oliver since he was 8 weeks old and is very involved in ministry stuff with the Puccinis so we trust here and are so thankful for that answered prayer! She has long black hair, which Hannie says is long purple hair! Heh. It has a tint of red or something so it looks purple to Hannie! She spent some time braiding it yesterday! :)
Nadala
Pronounced Na DAY la. Nadala (sp?) is our tutor. She is a believer, too! Yea. And we think she's good although we've never had a tutor before! :) She challenges us, which doesn't take much! Heh. But she's also encouraging. Nick said their first tutor called them lazy and stuff for not learning the whole alphabet in a day! Like 39 funky letters! Nadala says, “Shat Lav, shat lav” -Very good, very good. We're learning a few things anyway! She speaks in Armenian most of the time but uses English words to help us understand sometimes. She comes right to our home. Which is another blessing, too!
Jilljon
Two days ago, I asked Kevin when he thought we'd become Jilljon and Kevinjon. That's like dear or something like that that friends put at the end of names. The very next morning, Marine and Nadala came over (the come together in a taxi) and Marine said “Barev Jilljon!” And I hugged her! Ha. I'm Jilljon to a friend in Armenia! :) Whoo. Nadala said I was Jilljon to her, too! Heh. Sweet.
I love you
Tom, Nick's friend, has been helping him do yard work lately. So we've visited with him some. He's Armenian and speaks English well. We stopped and shared a few of our new Armenian words with him while we were going for a family walk around the block and when we were saying goodbye and walking away the kids were saying goodbye and see you soon and he said “I love you!” to them. They skipped down the street with a smile! :) He has a motorcycle with a side car. The other day when he was out by it, I said, “That smells like my dad and his garage!” :) He said it smells like Russian oil! Heh.
When I was out of town the other day getting ready for the women's conference, I got to eat with an Armenian pastor and his wife and 6 of their 7 grown children! The youngest is 16 and will be coming to Yerevan for college in the fall... They were a great family. Two of the girls work at the office translating the Fire Bible so I'd met one of them earlier. Tamar and Shushan. The pastor/dad's eyes reminded me of my dad, too... He was an older man with smile marks along the corners of his eyes. Must be thinking of you, Dad, huh?! :) While we were there, I was talking to the mom, with the help of Tamar who speaks English, and in the end she said, “Yes kez sirum!” (sp) “I love you.” :) I told her that I love her, too!
Internet!!
March 11, 2009 email update from Armenia
March 11, 2009
The past couple days have been kinda slower, just getting things settled. Kevin and Nick got the cell phones! Yea. But my battery in my new pink phone was old... so they went back and got a newer one. We charged the phone all night and in a couple hours it was dead. This one has worked all day so far. Now we have a way to get a hold of someone if we need to! And to get a hold of each other.
We've gone into the city (since we live just a little ways north west) several times. It's a huge city and we're still not totally sure where we are. But I think we'll get a map here soon and that will help. If we were online we could look. Crazy all the things you do online! I think these next couple days we'll be tourists and see some of the sites up close. We've driven past lots of things already...
Speaking of all the things you do online that you notice when you can't be online... the same is true with water, we found out! Yesterday, our neighbor down the street drove by and asked if I'd saved water... it was supposed to be out for 36 hours. Hum. We had plenty of drinking water so I thought we'd be fine, but then I looked down to see both Ruth and Elijah playing in the dirt/mud! Hum. Then we had to go to the bathroom... hum. Shower, mop, dishes... hum. :) We ended up going out to eat with Nick and Olivia and Marina at a Mexican restaurant and the water ended up coming on earlier then expected.
Another thing to watch out for is the power surges. The lights will flicker and stuff. No biggie. But we were told that it can blow out your TV or light bulbs! So we plugged the TV into a box that will take the surge (instead of the TV taking it...).
Let me share some Armenian things that we've noticed. For one thing, it's so rocky. Olivia said it's the land of rocks. Volcanic rocks. The buildings are made out of it and all along the roads and out in the fields there's – rocks. It's also kinda dusty. One day was really windy and we noticed black dust all around the living room by our front door. We'll seal it up a little better... :) And all our floors are tile so they sweep easily. (Funny since our last place in Williston was all carpet!)
The roads here are all bumpy and some don't have clear markings of who should be where. There's some good potholes out there. People are crazy drivers and whip around each other to squeeze past. They have buses and taxies and marshookas. (Somewhere in between a bus and a taxi! Heh.) People who are walking walk out in front of the crazy drivers to get across the streets. And even run to the middle of the road to stand and wait to run the rest of the way across. So they're standing there in the middle of crazy traffic coming and going on both sides.
The businessmen are serious. Kevin has observed this more then me. They kinda try to get you. And don't smile too much in the process. Heh.
Most everyone loves kids. Especially our younger two get lots of rubs on the head and touches on the cheeks. Which make Elijah burst out, “Barev!” which is Hello! He looks for people walking past to say Barev to. He even rolled down the window last night and said Barev to the police officers next to us. They smiled and waved and rolled down their window. Then they turned on their lights to show us. Funny what a little guy can get someone to do!
The kids are all good at saying hello and thank you in Armenian. People love to hear them try to speak to them! :)
People want to see kids bundled up. Our kids think it's crazy warm here so they've been out without coats. When we went to church on Sunday, the building the service was in was colder then outside! So in there, the kids were cold. People around us gave them coats and scarves to help keep them warm. We learned that they look out for cold kids... and that we should always bring a coat or sweater along!
There's a lot of smokers here and the smell of cigarettes is usually in the air. It's not overwhelming but usually there.
A lot of people wear BLACK! Kevin likes that. Heh. They usually are dressed up more then us with nice shoes and the tall, high heel boots. There are other colors, too. But a lot of black. The kids usually have bright coats and clothing.
We feel pretty safe. We were told that there's not much theft. And Nick told Kevin the other day that there's even a security guy for our neighborhood who stays at the entrance of our road. He watches for suspicious cars and stuff. Kevin liked that, I think.
Yerevan has had earthquakes. Olivia said she's felt one. We're glad we're not living in the 20 story, old apartment buildings in the city! Heh. She told us the biggest threat is the Nuclear power plant outside the city! Yikes. They're trying to get it shut down but would like to have another energy supply in place first. Kevin did no like that so much. Heh. But Olivia said that the US Embassy is still here so it must be fairly safe?!
There's no big Walmart or store like that. But there's a lot of the same little stores scattered throughout the city. We were in a fairly “normal” sized grocery store today. But most stores, even restaurants, are littler.
We'll drive by crumbling houses and turn to see nicer big places right close by. Interesting. There's also half finish building scattered around the city. Some of them were soviet buildings that were just never finished, I guess. And some, the people were paid or bribed to build somewhere else in the middle of building.
There's lots of street dogs. We haven't ran int too many up close but a couple nipping at the car as we drive by. They think dogs are stinky. But some people keep outside dogs and more are accepting certain types of pure bred dogs in their homes.
So there you have it. Nick and Kevin are out today trying to pick up a few more things we need. We got lamps today for our rooms. (Which took like an hour, running to the warehouse to get the three little lamps we'd picked, etc...) We also need a little desk or two for homeschooling and maybe a bookshelf and coatrack. We'll see what they find. Nick said it might be cheaper to have someone make us that instead of just buying it at the store.
Oh! Our internet guy might come in the next week. They ordered some part or something that should be in in the next couple days!? That'll be sweet! :) We'll be in better touch once that all comes together!
Now, I better run. It's almost supper time and Elijah's on the toilet. I hope he gets potty trained SOON!! sigh. I think we'll start some schooling tomorrow. Kevin slept a little better last night but still is not completely settled. We love that you're praying for us! We love you. And we're praying for you, too!!
Oh... Kevin has been up to the office downtown where they're working on translating the Fire Bible. He's fixing their computers! Heh. And another missionary asked if he'd be interested in doing some computer stuff with him sometime. Olivia said I'd been asked to speak at a ladies thing at the end of the month, maybe. I'd have a translator. I think by this Friday we should know something about our tutoring. Nick and Olivia's babysiter/friend/assistant might be available to watch our kids for the two hours we spend tutoring. The kids are already comfortable with Marina so they think we should start tutoring already! Heh. It'll be good to get in to a routine, I think. Get involved some, too! We're thinking we'll check out the international church sometime. Get the kids involved in a couple things...
Okay! Gotta run. Superman needs me!
Love you guys!
--If you've replied to me, I still haven't had a chance to check email. Kevin has just copied and pasted what I've written to you and sent it off. He said some of you have replied. Just that makes me smile. I love you friends. Can't wait to lock myself in my room when the net is hooked up and read your love! :) Love you! I'll try to reply to everything you wrote, too!!
The past couple days have been kinda slower, just getting things settled. Kevin and Nick got the cell phones! Yea. But my battery in my new pink phone was old... so they went back and got a newer one. We charged the phone all night and in a couple hours it was dead. This one has worked all day so far. Now we have a way to get a hold of someone if we need to! And to get a hold of each other.
We've gone into the city (since we live just a little ways north west) several times. It's a huge city and we're still not totally sure where we are. But I think we'll get a map here soon and that will help. If we were online we could look. Crazy all the things you do online! I think these next couple days we'll be tourists and see some of the sites up close. We've driven past lots of things already...
Speaking of all the things you do online that you notice when you can't be online... the same is true with water, we found out! Yesterday, our neighbor down the street drove by and asked if I'd saved water... it was supposed to be out for 36 hours. Hum. We had plenty of drinking water so I thought we'd be fine, but then I looked down to see both Ruth and Elijah playing in the dirt/mud! Hum. Then we had to go to the bathroom... hum. Shower, mop, dishes... hum. :) We ended up going out to eat with Nick and Olivia and Marina at a Mexican restaurant and the water ended up coming on earlier then expected.
Another thing to watch out for is the power surges. The lights will flicker and stuff. No biggie. But we were told that it can blow out your TV or light bulbs! So we plugged the TV into a box that will take the surge (instead of the TV taking it...).
Let me share some Armenian things that we've noticed. For one thing, it's so rocky. Olivia said it's the land of rocks. Volcanic rocks. The buildings are made out of it and all along the roads and out in the fields there's – rocks. It's also kinda dusty. One day was really windy and we noticed black dust all around the living room by our front door. We'll seal it up a little better... :) And all our floors are tile so they sweep easily. (Funny since our last place in Williston was all carpet!)
The roads here are all bumpy and some don't have clear markings of who should be where. There's some good potholes out there. People are crazy drivers and whip around each other to squeeze past. They have buses and taxies and marshookas. (Somewhere in between a bus and a taxi! Heh.) People who are walking walk out in front of the crazy drivers to get across the streets. And even run to the middle of the road to stand and wait to run the rest of the way across. So they're standing there in the middle of crazy traffic coming and going on both sides.
The businessmen are serious. Kevin has observed this more then me. They kinda try to get you. And don't smile too much in the process. Heh.
Most everyone loves kids. Especially our younger two get lots of rubs on the head and touches on the cheeks. Which make Elijah burst out, “Barev!” which is Hello! He looks for people walking past to say Barev to. He even rolled down the window last night and said Barev to the police officers next to us. They smiled and waved and rolled down their window. Then they turned on their lights to show us. Funny what a little guy can get someone to do!
The kids are all good at saying hello and thank you in Armenian. People love to hear them try to speak to them! :)
People want to see kids bundled up. Our kids think it's crazy warm here so they've been out without coats. When we went to church on Sunday, the building the service was in was colder then outside! So in there, the kids were cold. People around us gave them coats and scarves to help keep them warm. We learned that they look out for cold kids... and that we should always bring a coat or sweater along!
There's a lot of smokers here and the smell of cigarettes is usually in the air. It's not overwhelming but usually there.
A lot of people wear BLACK! Kevin likes that. Heh. They usually are dressed up more then us with nice shoes and the tall, high heel boots. There are other colors, too. But a lot of black. The kids usually have bright coats and clothing.
We feel pretty safe. We were told that there's not much theft. And Nick told Kevin the other day that there's even a security guy for our neighborhood who stays at the entrance of our road. He watches for suspicious cars and stuff. Kevin liked that, I think.
Yerevan has had earthquakes. Olivia said she's felt one. We're glad we're not living in the 20 story, old apartment buildings in the city! Heh. She told us the biggest threat is the Nuclear power plant outside the city! Yikes. They're trying to get it shut down but would like to have another energy supply in place first. Kevin did no like that so much. Heh. But Olivia said that the US Embassy is still here so it must be fairly safe?!
There's no big Walmart or store like that. But there's a lot of the same little stores scattered throughout the city. We were in a fairly “normal” sized grocery store today. But most stores, even restaurants, are littler.
We'll drive by crumbling houses and turn to see nicer big places right close by. Interesting. There's also half finish building scattered around the city. Some of them were soviet buildings that were just never finished, I guess. And some, the people were paid or bribed to build somewhere else in the middle of building.
There's lots of street dogs. We haven't ran int too many up close but a couple nipping at the car as we drive by. They think dogs are stinky. But some people keep outside dogs and more are accepting certain types of pure bred dogs in their homes.
So there you have it. Nick and Kevin are out today trying to pick up a few more things we need. We got lamps today for our rooms. (Which took like an hour, running to the warehouse to get the three little lamps we'd picked, etc...) We also need a little desk or two for homeschooling and maybe a bookshelf and coatrack. We'll see what they find. Nick said it might be cheaper to have someone make us that instead of just buying it at the store.
Oh! Our internet guy might come in the next week. They ordered some part or something that should be in in the next couple days!? That'll be sweet! :) We'll be in better touch once that all comes together!
Now, I better run. It's almost supper time and Elijah's on the toilet. I hope he gets potty trained SOON!! sigh. I think we'll start some schooling tomorrow. Kevin slept a little better last night but still is not completely settled. We love that you're praying for us! We love you. And we're praying for you, too!!
Oh... Kevin has been up to the office downtown where they're working on translating the Fire Bible. He's fixing their computers! Heh. And another missionary asked if he'd be interested in doing some computer stuff with him sometime. Olivia said I'd been asked to speak at a ladies thing at the end of the month, maybe. I'd have a translator. I think by this Friday we should know something about our tutoring. Nick and Olivia's babysiter/friend/assistant might be available to watch our kids for the two hours we spend tutoring. The kids are already comfortable with Marina so they think we should start tutoring already! Heh. It'll be good to get in to a routine, I think. Get involved some, too! We're thinking we'll check out the international church sometime. Get the kids involved in a couple things...
Okay! Gotta run. Superman needs me!
Love you guys!
--If you've replied to me, I still haven't had a chance to check email. Kevin has just copied and pasted what I've written to you and sent it off. He said some of you have replied. Just that makes me smile. I love you friends. Can't wait to lock myself in my room when the net is hooked up and read your love! :) Love you! I'll try to reply to everything you wrote, too!!
March 8th, 2009 email update from Armenia
March 8, 2009
Today is Women's Day. Nick told us that they congratulate you on being a woman. Heh. Flowers are huge and it's expected of the men of the family to spend a lot of money to make their women feel special.
We got to go to a special needs orphanage this morning. There were four families that went so that was kind a crazy since there were about 10-15 kids there anyway. We probably doubled that with ours! But the kids were pretty sweet. There were a few with downs syndrome and some in wheel chairs. It was Mother Teresa Orphanage so there were several indian nuns running it. They were sweet, too, and gave me kisses on each cheek. The kids were probably newborn to age 6ish. We saw a few little ones upstairs who were blind and pretty sick. Downstairs was where we played the most. Those kids were full of hugs and smiles and were busy throwing around a beach ball and chasing balloons that we brought. It was kinda busy and crowded. Heh. But there were a couple little ones that wanted to play with us and read books with us. We got a couple pictures, too. And one little guy Ignas (sp?) took several pictures with my camera, too. He was 6 and in a wheel chair and spoke like three languages. Crazy. When we left he said “Come back?” I think Kevin, and Nick, too, were special treats for them! Men.
In a little bit, I think we're going with Nick and Olivia to a church planting outreach for Women's Day.
The kids have each had a couple issues feeling sad or nervous. But for the most part, we're doing well. The nights have been a little stressful for Kevy. But we are learning to go to the grocery store and things like that. They almost got the cell phone today but it hadn't come in yet. So they'll try some other place tomorrow if they havent' gotten them in yet.
Things go slower here. The internet guy is coming by sometime. To check out our place. And will come back some other time to do whatever he needs to do... slow going? :)
When things are running, we'll be in better touch!! We love you, even when we're not online!! :)
Today is Women's Day. Nick told us that they congratulate you on being a woman. Heh. Flowers are huge and it's expected of the men of the family to spend a lot of money to make their women feel special.
We got to go to a special needs orphanage this morning. There were four families that went so that was kind a crazy since there were about 10-15 kids there anyway. We probably doubled that with ours! But the kids were pretty sweet. There were a few with downs syndrome and some in wheel chairs. It was Mother Teresa Orphanage so there were several indian nuns running it. They were sweet, too, and gave me kisses on each cheek. The kids were probably newborn to age 6ish. We saw a few little ones upstairs who were blind and pretty sick. Downstairs was where we played the most. Those kids were full of hugs and smiles and were busy throwing around a beach ball and chasing balloons that we brought. It was kinda busy and crowded. Heh. But there were a couple little ones that wanted to play with us and read books with us. We got a couple pictures, too. And one little guy Ignas (sp?) took several pictures with my camera, too. He was 6 and in a wheel chair and spoke like three languages. Crazy. When we left he said “Come back?” I think Kevin, and Nick, too, were special treats for them! Men.
In a little bit, I think we're going with Nick and Olivia to a church planting outreach for Women's Day.
The kids have each had a couple issues feeling sad or nervous. But for the most part, we're doing well. The nights have been a little stressful for Kevy. But we are learning to go to the grocery store and things like that. They almost got the cell phone today but it hadn't come in yet. So they'll try some other place tomorrow if they havent' gotten them in yet.
Things go slower here. The internet guy is coming by sometime. To check out our place. And will come back some other time to do whatever he needs to do... slow going? :)
When things are running, we'll be in better touch!! We love you, even when we're not online!! :)
March 7th, 2009 update from Armenia
Myellow! :) March 7th
Just thought I'd add a little more of our update today. I'm typing in the email just on a text doc on our computer so that when we get internet or when we get over to borrow Nick and Olivia's, we can just copy and paste and send instead of sitting there for a long time in front of the computer instead of hanging out.
Anywho. Today Oliver had his fourth birthday party in a little community room in our neighborhood. So we got to go celebrate him and have a pirate party. Eye patches and earings! And we also got to meet a few more people. So that's cool. We met three other missionaries today. One family from Canada, another independent family whose wife is Armenian, and another family that's Baptist who have two kids that are 9. Benjamin and Hannie hooked up with Micah and Kyra right away so that was cool. They're adopted from Russia. Ruth hung out with the girls and Elijah made an Armenian girl friend, Deana, I think. He just said he liked her, I'm not sure what she thought! Ha. He also played with Oliver and a few other kids. He learned to say, “Come, come!” in Armenian. Heh. So, I guess I was excited to share that with you guys since I know you're praying with us that everyone would find good friends.
We also have met a couple Armenians that we're trying to learn to speak with! Heh. One guy, Vahram, came to help pick us up from the airport. He is married and has two little ones. He knows a little bit of English so we tried to visit some. He's a part of the ministries here and a really nice guy. He told me his wife was expensive... but meant to say precious! :) That will be our life! Heh. Picking the wrong word and laughing about it. And we hung out with Marina (Mar een a) again. She speaks English well. And we also met Christina who is an English translator. I don't thin her husband speaks English, though. So anyway... it was an interesting morning and we met a few more people. Yea.
Tomorrow we might go to a special needs orphanage with Olivia and her friend. They're bringing a couple gifts up there and invited us along. And we'll go to church in the evening. I'm not sure if that's always when they do church or what but maybe... We heard that they usually get a slower start here then we're used to. Get to work at 9 or 10. Stay up later at night...
Benjamin thinks Mt Ararat is the coolest. Hannie would like to stay in this house for 56 years. (But today her friend told her it was small, so maybe she'll change her mind!?) :) Lijah's just running around like usual. Ruth is making friends and loves Uncle Nick. She gets along well with grown ups. And she is her usual self. All or nothing!
We slept better last night. Jet lag is rough. The first morning I explained it to the kids and later Ruth said, “I'm jet laggin!!” The kids slept through the night, mostly. Hannie said she was awake but just rested anyway. Ruth was up once to go to the bathroom at 1AM but went back to bed. Kev and I were awake but stayed in bed around 4. We'll be glad when we get adjusted!
I suppose we should start homeschooling soon. We're behind! But we better get adjusted first. And I think we'll try to get another little desk or two. There is one in our room...
Olivia leaves for the Netherlands on Wed for a baby check up and a visit with her folks. But it sounds like Nick will be here.
There's hamburger on our gas stove and our laundry's going yesterday Hannie and I washed dishes by hand in the sink... Some normal in the middle of all the new! Kev and Vahram are going to go try to get us some cell phones again today. Nick thought the guy selling them the other day was trying to take advantage of the Amerikasi. :) So Vahram will go with this time! It'll be nice to have a phone and internet. Some conections.
Hope you guys are doing well! We think of you and pray for you. Pray for us especially at night! That's always a good time for worry to creep in!
Last night I read about Moses and the burning bush. God called him to go and he said, “What if...” and God said, “I am with you!”. Good encouragement for us. We heard about being steadfast and trusting yesterday, too. God is working on us here! :) His peace surrounds those who trust in Him!
Love you guys!!!!
Jill
Jill-jon or Hannie-jon, etc... is a way of saying something sweet. No exact translation but kinda like honey or sweetie... a way to call a friend something nice! Crystal-jon. :)
Just thought I'd add a little more of our update today. I'm typing in the email just on a text doc on our computer so that when we get internet or when we get over to borrow Nick and Olivia's, we can just copy and paste and send instead of sitting there for a long time in front of the computer instead of hanging out.
Anywho. Today Oliver had his fourth birthday party in a little community room in our neighborhood. So we got to go celebrate him and have a pirate party. Eye patches and earings! And we also got to meet a few more people. So that's cool. We met three other missionaries today. One family from Canada, another independent family whose wife is Armenian, and another family that's Baptist who have two kids that are 9. Benjamin and Hannie hooked up with Micah and Kyra right away so that was cool. They're adopted from Russia. Ruth hung out with the girls and Elijah made an Armenian girl friend, Deana, I think. He just said he liked her, I'm not sure what she thought! Ha. He also played with Oliver and a few other kids. He learned to say, “Come, come!” in Armenian. Heh. So, I guess I was excited to share that with you guys since I know you're praying with us that everyone would find good friends.
We also have met a couple Armenians that we're trying to learn to speak with! Heh. One guy, Vahram, came to help pick us up from the airport. He is married and has two little ones. He knows a little bit of English so we tried to visit some. He's a part of the ministries here and a really nice guy. He told me his wife was expensive... but meant to say precious! :) That will be our life! Heh. Picking the wrong word and laughing about it. And we hung out with Marina (Mar een a) again. She speaks English well. And we also met Christina who is an English translator. I don't thin her husband speaks English, though. So anyway... it was an interesting morning and we met a few more people. Yea.
Tomorrow we might go to a special needs orphanage with Olivia and her friend. They're bringing a couple gifts up there and invited us along. And we'll go to church in the evening. I'm not sure if that's always when they do church or what but maybe... We heard that they usually get a slower start here then we're used to. Get to work at 9 or 10. Stay up later at night...
Benjamin thinks Mt Ararat is the coolest. Hannie would like to stay in this house for 56 years. (But today her friend told her it was small, so maybe she'll change her mind!?) :) Lijah's just running around like usual. Ruth is making friends and loves Uncle Nick. She gets along well with grown ups. And she is her usual self. All or nothing!
We slept better last night. Jet lag is rough. The first morning I explained it to the kids and later Ruth said, “I'm jet laggin!!” The kids slept through the night, mostly. Hannie said she was awake but just rested anyway. Ruth was up once to go to the bathroom at 1AM but went back to bed. Kev and I were awake but stayed in bed around 4. We'll be glad when we get adjusted!
I suppose we should start homeschooling soon. We're behind! But we better get adjusted first. And I think we'll try to get another little desk or two. There is one in our room...
Olivia leaves for the Netherlands on Wed for a baby check up and a visit with her folks. But it sounds like Nick will be here.
There's hamburger on our gas stove and our laundry's going yesterday Hannie and I washed dishes by hand in the sink... Some normal in the middle of all the new! Kev and Vahram are going to go try to get us some cell phones again today. Nick thought the guy selling them the other day was trying to take advantage of the Amerikasi. :) So Vahram will go with this time! It'll be nice to have a phone and internet. Some conections.
Hope you guys are doing well! We think of you and pray for you. Pray for us especially at night! That's always a good time for worry to creep in!
Last night I read about Moses and the burning bush. God called him to go and he said, “What if...” and God said, “I am with you!”. Good encouragement for us. We heard about being steadfast and trusting yesterday, too. God is working on us here! :) His peace surrounds those who trust in Him!
Love you guys!!!!
Jill
Jill-jon or Hannie-jon, etc... is a way of saying something sweet. No exact translation but kinda like honey or sweetie... a way to call a friend something nice! Crystal-jon. :)
March 6th, 2009 email update from Armenia
Hey guys! March 6, 2009
Since our internet hasn't been hooked up yet, we have barely been online. But we've thought of you guys lots and taken pictures to share with you and have already missed you, too. Our place is very nice – three bedrooms and two bath, no tub and no dishwasher, washer and dryers but they're tiny and take quite a while to go. The kids really feel at home so that's great. The walls are even light yellow, which I like. :) We got here early in the morning on the 4nd so it was still dark outside. I think by the time we got here it was about 7ish... so when the sun cam up an hour or so later we were looking out the windows to see what we could see. The Mt Ararat ranges goes all around so we saw that and wondered if we'd see THE Mt... when we looked the other way – and there it was! Right out our window! Huge and beautiful! Covered with snow and tinted pink against the slight sunrise. So exciting. I'll send a pic when we can! We're also just down the street from the missionaries here so we can walk down there to see them and to play with their 4 year old. They're having fun with Oliver. And Nick and Olivia have been taking good care of us! They even ordered a beautiful cake for Ruth's 6th birthday birthday, March 5th. Again, pictures... :) It was a pink barbie dress type cake. And they've taken us out to eat Armenian food as well as to a Purper type play place on Ruth's birthday where we also had pizza! The kids love Uncle Nick and Auntie Olivia already...
So all that to say that we're doing well and the Lord has blessed us. Besides that, we've also felt quite out of place! Not speaking the language, especially, creates such a barrier. Kevin felt pretty overwhelmed our first night here. Culture shock, I suppose. Me, too, but as the man of the family, he really had a kind of fear grip him about taking care of everything here... and not being able to do that really well. So keep us in your prayers. We have moments where we're like – what are we doing? We already know that we basically know nothing. Crazy. But we have felt the Lord leading us here so we are still trusting. Fear can be so confusing. Sometimes we don't even know what we're fearing. Just a feeling of fear. So anyway... Pray we'd be strong and courageous. And that we'd really know God as our Shepherd and the Prince of peace. He is perfecting our faith.
When we got here the place was just nice and felt like someplace we could feel at home, but after I thought that, I thought – we should invite Blake and Crystal over. And we missed you. It will be great to have any and all of you come to visit us! :) Home is home when your loved ones come over!
Our plane rides were pretty good. Four different flights. Lots of different languages. Lots of hauling all our carseats and bags around. Lots of thumb sucking! Hard to sleep on a plane. Kev and I were wiped out! By the time we got to Vienna to our 13 hour layover and to the hotel, we were all pretty exhausted! We had to get two rooms with 6 of us so the boys took one and the girls, the other. And we all napped. Except Kevin, who had to spend time in the bathroom! Uff da! He did drink some tap water at the hotel and wondered if that was part of the problem. So on our last flight to Yerevan, he was really tired and a little nervous. Poor guy. He did fine and I'm so proud of him for getting us to all the places we need to get to and filling out everything that needed to be filled out. He's amazing. I mostly watched the kiddos! I, on the other hand, caught Ruth's and Elijah's cold in Mpls just before we did all our flying. So I had cold medicine as my friend! Ruth and Elijah seem to be over theirs for the most part. I'm still coughing. But it's not terrible. :)
Oh, our first landing was pretty bumpy... it was snowing in Chicago so I suppose that made the air different. Since I have a tendency to get carsick, I had to concentrate on relaxing! Heh... and while I was doing that, the little boy behind me – was sick. He cried and puked most of the way down. Nice. All our other landings were much smoother, although, one of them made Ruth queezy but she wasn't sick. And on that flight, Elijah was sitting by a Pediatrician! So he was kind to Ruth and told her to take deep breaths and stuff... On our long flight over the ocean, we sat in front of a nice couple from Albania (it borders on the adriatic). The man spoke English so well, we wouldn't have guessed it was his second language. They were also sweet with the kids and visited with Ruth and Benjamin a while (who were sitting closest to them...) On our last flight, the flight attendant gave each of the kids little books and toys so they thought they were pretty spoiled! Heh. People would rub the little one's heads and treat them all kindly. So all in all, flying went pretty well. All our flights were on time and we didn't have to run to hard to get to the next gate...
When we flew into Yerevan, it was night and we saw all the lights... Hannie said, “Am I dreaming?” We wondered that a little bit ourselves! Heh. But here we are!
Kev's off with Nick to get a cell phone and the kids are in their jammies crying over how much cereal they got and who got more... so it's typical life to some extent! :) I better go help Lijah get what he needs!
Pray that we get over the jet lag and get caught up on our sleep so that we can think clearly again! :) The kids were up at 3 AM the first night but only Ruth was last night and she went back to sleep around 4 something... They say it takes a week or two to get adjusted! Whew.
We also met Nick and Olivia's assistant/friend/babysitter... Mariana (sp?) She came to Ruth's party with us and got her a barbie type doll... We also met another of their Armenian friends at the airport, Vaharam (sp?). He used his truck to drive us home. Sunday we'll go to church somewhere with them and meet a couple more people, I'm sure. That'll be good to have some connections, especially since Nick and Olivia will be leaving in April or May... They say there's a family down the road who speak some English (lived in CA for a while) who have three younger daughters. So we'll have to try to meet them, too! Olivia didn't know if the kids spoke English anymore but I suppose the parents do some...
Okay! Better go here, still... the kids must have worked something out out there!!? It's quiet again. I better go see.
All our boxes made it over (we had to check some of our carry-ons when we switched from United to Austrian airlines because of weight limits...) but we got them all. Not all of our ties held so a couple boxes were open and a couple things must have fallen out. Not too much, though. Two books, Benjamin's fleece ball blanket... Oh, my Mystic Chai Tea! Boo-hoo... :) But the bad thing is that they must have taken out Elijah's nebulizer. I suppose it could have seemed suspicious? So we have medicine for that but not the machine to work it. He hasn't needed it in a year or so so maybe he won't. But we'll have to try to see if they have something like that here or if we can get one sometime... something? Maybe there's other things that we don't realize but I really think the ties just didn't hold and things fell out. We had to check one of our laptops for the Austrian flight and were worried that it'd be broken or stolen... but we got it! Benjamin's been busy playing Backyard Baseball on it already! :)
So here we are. Settling in and thinking of you guys! Thanks for praying for us! We really are encouraged to know you are! We'll keep in touch.
Love you all!
--Oh Crystal, the liquid thing was 3 ounces, and all your bottles in one, one gallon bag! Heh. I figured it out in Mpls! :) Thought I'd tell you! At first I had each bottle in one big bag each! Heh.
Since our internet hasn't been hooked up yet, we have barely been online. But we've thought of you guys lots and taken pictures to share with you and have already missed you, too. Our place is very nice – three bedrooms and two bath, no tub and no dishwasher, washer and dryers but they're tiny and take quite a while to go. The kids really feel at home so that's great. The walls are even light yellow, which I like. :) We got here early in the morning on the 4nd so it was still dark outside. I think by the time we got here it was about 7ish... so when the sun cam up an hour or so later we were looking out the windows to see what we could see. The Mt Ararat ranges goes all around so we saw that and wondered if we'd see THE Mt... when we looked the other way – and there it was! Right out our window! Huge and beautiful! Covered with snow and tinted pink against the slight sunrise. So exciting. I'll send a pic when we can! We're also just down the street from the missionaries here so we can walk down there to see them and to play with their 4 year old. They're having fun with Oliver. And Nick and Olivia have been taking good care of us! They even ordered a beautiful cake for Ruth's 6th birthday birthday, March 5th. Again, pictures... :) It was a pink barbie dress type cake. And they've taken us out to eat Armenian food as well as to a Purper type play place on Ruth's birthday where we also had pizza! The kids love Uncle Nick and Auntie Olivia already...
So all that to say that we're doing well and the Lord has blessed us. Besides that, we've also felt quite out of place! Not speaking the language, especially, creates such a barrier. Kevin felt pretty overwhelmed our first night here. Culture shock, I suppose. Me, too, but as the man of the family, he really had a kind of fear grip him about taking care of everything here... and not being able to do that really well. So keep us in your prayers. We have moments where we're like – what are we doing? We already know that we basically know nothing. Crazy. But we have felt the Lord leading us here so we are still trusting. Fear can be so confusing. Sometimes we don't even know what we're fearing. Just a feeling of fear. So anyway... Pray we'd be strong and courageous. And that we'd really know God as our Shepherd and the Prince of peace. He is perfecting our faith.
When we got here the place was just nice and felt like someplace we could feel at home, but after I thought that, I thought – we should invite Blake and Crystal over. And we missed you. It will be great to have any and all of you come to visit us! :) Home is home when your loved ones come over!
Our plane rides were pretty good. Four different flights. Lots of different languages. Lots of hauling all our carseats and bags around. Lots of thumb sucking! Hard to sleep on a plane. Kev and I were wiped out! By the time we got to Vienna to our 13 hour layover and to the hotel, we were all pretty exhausted! We had to get two rooms with 6 of us so the boys took one and the girls, the other. And we all napped. Except Kevin, who had to spend time in the bathroom! Uff da! He did drink some tap water at the hotel and wondered if that was part of the problem. So on our last flight to Yerevan, he was really tired and a little nervous. Poor guy. He did fine and I'm so proud of him for getting us to all the places we need to get to and filling out everything that needed to be filled out. He's amazing. I mostly watched the kiddos! I, on the other hand, caught Ruth's and Elijah's cold in Mpls just before we did all our flying. So I had cold medicine as my friend! Ruth and Elijah seem to be over theirs for the most part. I'm still coughing. But it's not terrible. :)
Oh, our first landing was pretty bumpy... it was snowing in Chicago so I suppose that made the air different. Since I have a tendency to get carsick, I had to concentrate on relaxing! Heh... and while I was doing that, the little boy behind me – was sick. He cried and puked most of the way down. Nice. All our other landings were much smoother, although, one of them made Ruth queezy but she wasn't sick. And on that flight, Elijah was sitting by a Pediatrician! So he was kind to Ruth and told her to take deep breaths and stuff... On our long flight over the ocean, we sat in front of a nice couple from Albania (it borders on the adriatic). The man spoke English so well, we wouldn't have guessed it was his second language. They were also sweet with the kids and visited with Ruth and Benjamin a while (who were sitting closest to them...) On our last flight, the flight attendant gave each of the kids little books and toys so they thought they were pretty spoiled! Heh. People would rub the little one's heads and treat them all kindly. So all in all, flying went pretty well. All our flights were on time and we didn't have to run to hard to get to the next gate...
When we flew into Yerevan, it was night and we saw all the lights... Hannie said, “Am I dreaming?” We wondered that a little bit ourselves! Heh. But here we are!
Kev's off with Nick to get a cell phone and the kids are in their jammies crying over how much cereal they got and who got more... so it's typical life to some extent! :) I better go help Lijah get what he needs!
Pray that we get over the jet lag and get caught up on our sleep so that we can think clearly again! :) The kids were up at 3 AM the first night but only Ruth was last night and she went back to sleep around 4 something... They say it takes a week or two to get adjusted! Whew.
We also met Nick and Olivia's assistant/friend/babysitter... Mariana (sp?) She came to Ruth's party with us and got her a barbie type doll... We also met another of their Armenian friends at the airport, Vaharam (sp?). He used his truck to drive us home. Sunday we'll go to church somewhere with them and meet a couple more people, I'm sure. That'll be good to have some connections, especially since Nick and Olivia will be leaving in April or May... They say there's a family down the road who speak some English (lived in CA for a while) who have three younger daughters. So we'll have to try to meet them, too! Olivia didn't know if the kids spoke English anymore but I suppose the parents do some...
Okay! Better go here, still... the kids must have worked something out out there!!? It's quiet again. I better go see.
All our boxes made it over (we had to check some of our carry-ons when we switched from United to Austrian airlines because of weight limits...) but we got them all. Not all of our ties held so a couple boxes were open and a couple things must have fallen out. Not too much, though. Two books, Benjamin's fleece ball blanket... Oh, my Mystic Chai Tea! Boo-hoo... :) But the bad thing is that they must have taken out Elijah's nebulizer. I suppose it could have seemed suspicious? So we have medicine for that but not the machine to work it. He hasn't needed it in a year or so so maybe he won't. But we'll have to try to see if they have something like that here or if we can get one sometime... something? Maybe there's other things that we don't realize but I really think the ties just didn't hold and things fell out. We had to check one of our laptops for the Austrian flight and were worried that it'd be broken or stolen... but we got it! Benjamin's been busy playing Backyard Baseball on it already! :)
So here we are. Settling in and thinking of you guys! Thanks for praying for us! We really are encouraged to know you are! We'll keep in touch.
Love you all!
--Oh Crystal, the liquid thing was 3 ounces, and all your bottles in one, one gallon bag! Heh. I figured it out in Mpls! :) Thought I'd tell you! At first I had each bottle in one big bag each! Heh.
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