As I wrote in December's recap, it was a special treat to be with family for the holidays. We had about a week after New Year's to pack our belongings and say goodbyes... We also were happy to help my youngest sister celebrate her 40th birthday!
We celebrated with an Amtrak trip up to Chicago for the day. We started with a visit to the Art Institute!
In front of the painting titled "Two Sisters."
I wish I could remember why Reni's photo was taken with this painting... my fault for waiting so long to post!
The weather was lovely and perfect for a view of the skyline and Lake Michigan from the Ferris wheel on Navy Pier.
The day before we left we shared at Crosswalk church, enjoyed a special commissioning prayer, and had lunch with the Waggoner clan at Purdue's in Tremont!
Below: luggage all tagged and weighed. Little did we know it would take some days to finally reach us!
Ellie's favorite travel past time... Mad Libs.
Last flight -- Frankfurt to Tirana...
We arrived home to find the power had been turned off to our apartment for some time. It made for some unexpected work de-molding the fridge! And of course, the house was just so dusty from so many months away, so in the end, I was sort of grateful our luggage didn't arrive because we were able to clean the house without our suitcases and their contents underfoot!
The day after we returned, we launched the Alpha Program 2024 at Jeta!
It was lovely to see these young ladies stepping up to volunteer with making hot sandwiches for study hall and kids club!
(Below) It was a joy to reconnect with friends whom we missed while we were away!
Reni had a lot of fun showing off his new height to our colleagues! Note who is the tallest now!
One evening we had a movie night with our gym ladies who requested to watch Pilgrim's Progress when they learned we had a digital copy!
Our colleague Danny uses puppets to teach English at VT! Dad would be thrilled!
Below, our friends at Cazenovia Mennonite gifted us this rechargeable video projector with built-in speaker for us to use in Metalle where we don't have electricity!
It was a joy to host the Handwork family for three weeks! S (who has severe scoliosis and some mobility challenges) helped us raise funds in 2020 for the elevator in the Jeta Center. How special for him to see the fruit of his labors!
They were an amazing set of extra hands. Below, they make apple crisp for Alpha's dessert later that evening.
They spent a lot of days planning and facilitating crafts for the students at VT!
I loved that each and every member of their family enthusiastically came to serve. Below, E works with our neighbor L to practice math facts with flash cards during study hall.
We also took a day each week to share Albanian sites with them! This nearby 15th-century signal tower is visible from Vlashaj and offers incredible views of the area.
Ellie gets some puppy therapy :-) (No, we didn't keep her)
We have a lovely community with the women in the gym classes at Jeta. Below, we celebrate the birthday of a friend at a local pastry shop (yes, we all get the irony, lol)!
Nathan took all the boys for much-needed haircuts at the local barber.
The barber shop is conveniently located next to an ice cream shop!
And before we knew it, January was over! :-)
