« May 2007 | Main | July 2007 »
I’m happy to say that class today consisted of a bit more than gramatica. My professor Felix brought his guitar again to serenade us. Our homework for the weekend is to read between the lines of the song he sang and answer a list of questions about the song. Thankfully, he gave us the words of the song to look at; otherwise I’d be in a bit of trouble. Here is a bit of class I captured on video:
-Wendy
Evan at 2 1/2 years old
Evan at 3 1/2 years old
Evan at 4 1/2 years old
Evan today!
Since Mom & Dad both had school today, we plan to celebrate Evan's birthday more this Saturday. Evan did enjoy a few fun things today, like swimming in the pool of our new friend/ neighbor, talking to different family members on Skype and of course opening gifts!
This past weekend we took the bus 2 ½ hours south to Nerja, a smaller town on the coast. Josie, a lady from my language class, had invited us to come along with her. We were able to have some good discussions with her over the weekend, and really enjoyed a couple of days out of Granada. Evan & Ellie LOVED the beach! The water was freezing cold, but it made no difference to Ellie… she almost dragged me into the waves, and cried when we left.
Josie & Evan in Nerja
We have been really sensing the spiritual darkness here lately. It is very heavy, and not just in Spain, but in most of Europe. This has been evident by the variety of European countries represented in our language classes. For so many people, God is not part of their language. To them, he does not exist. What we believe in seems like a crazy, narrow-minded way of thinking. We are realizing that it will only be the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that will be able to break into that way of thinking and bring change, because to us, it seems impossible. We are praying…
-Wendy
It’s hard to believe that we have been married TEN years! We enjoyed our first night out alone (since we arrived in Spain) with no kids, and had a wonderful evening! We went to a restaurant in the older section of town that had a great view of the Alhambra, and we ate outside while we reminisced about our wedding day and how we have spent the years in between now and then. It was an incredibly awesome evening, and we found ourselves more in love today than ever before. Our conclusion was that while we haven’t had any time alone since arriving in Granada, the trials and stress we have gone through since we arrived have not only drawn us closer to God, but to each other as well. We are excited to spend eternity together.
Kevin surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers
Our view from our table at the restaurant at 9:30
The same view around 11:00
Our wonderful babysitter, Sofura, a girl from Holland who is in Kevin’s class. Evan and Ellie loved her and did very well.
A few pictures from life in general…
Ellie hanging out in the laundry basket
Our two princesses- Ellie & Evan have both been enjoying Ellie’s princess clothes she received for her birthday. We’ll see how Evan feels about that when he is 16!
-Wendy
We enjoyed a restful and peaceful weekend. On Friday night we went on a “hike” through the Albacin (the old section of town) with Josie, a friend from my language class. She brought Jose Antontio along, who is the padre (father) of the family she is living with while she is here. Jose has been learning English, and was eager to practice on us, so we spent about 75% of the time talking in English, and 25% in Spanish. He ended giving us an interesting tour of parts of the Albacin, and took us to one of his favorite lookout spots. It was great seeing that part of the city through a local’s eyes.
The kids and I with Jose Antonio and Josie
Us
What a cutie
On the way home from our “tour”, we decided to make a night of it, so we did something we’ve never done, and probably will never do in Ohio. We stopped at a restaurant for tapas (kind of like appetizers) at 11:30 at night with a 3 & 5 year old. The city is very much alive at that time of the night, and much later. The restaurant we really wanted to go to was completely packed with people waiting, so we tried another. The plaza we were eating in also has a playground. Ellie patiently waited until we were all done eating and as we left the restaurant she wouldn’t stop saying “swings and slides, swings and slides”… So around midnight on Friday night you would have found us playing with the kids on the playground. Another first!
-Wendy
Today is Ellie’s 3rd birthday. Yesterday we had no school since it was a holiday, so we made it “Ellie day”. We celebrated by taking her to some of her favorite places…the playground and etc. She enjoyed watching a huge parade, and of course we had to have cake & ice cream and all the decorations!
Ellie at One week old
Ellie at One year old
Ellie at Two years old
Ellie is now Three years old!
Corpus Christi parade- the gigantes (giants)
The cabezudos (big heads)- notice the little ball things in their hands. They used these to bop people on the heads. Evan got hit 5 times. He was a little scared at first, but by the end was enjoying it.
This cabezudo grabbed Evan into the street for a picture
Enjoying the parade from a balcony
Ellie having a blast at the playground
Ellie is loving all the presents! Thanks SO much to all who contributed to her pile of gifts! We are spreading them out so she can enjoy them even more!
-Wendy
Last night our language school had a “dress-up” party for all the students, and we all brought foods typical of our home countries. It started at 9:00 (which really meant 9:30, which is a bit on the early side for eating dinner here) and Evan & Ellie were thrilled for the chance to stay up late. We enjoyed tasting lots of different foods, and Evan & Ellie enjoyed playing with a little boy that came who was close to Evan’s age. They also ate up the attention from the other students.
E & Ellie
With our favorite teacher, Juan
Evan & Tian
Today Evan & Ellie built a “fort” in our living room
Ellie loves to "try on" our shoes
-Wendy