New House

We were not looking to move when our friend approached us and asked if we'd be interested in looking at a house. He has a local friend that had this house that he had been trying to rent for a while. We were content in our apartment. The landlord was great, we were fine in a two bedroom, and it was in a great location, but we said we'd take a look at the house. We came and looked and it was only a little bit more than our apartment, so we said that we would move! We moved this past Saturday. Two guys came with a truck and moved all of our stuff from our apartment to our new house. The housing here is different in that almost all apartments and houses come fully furnished. We had a few pieces of furniture that we had bought that needed to be moved (piano, desk, coffee table, dresser). It went very well and fast. We had all of our stuff moved over here in a little over an hour. We now have a courtyard where the kids can go play. Our yard also has fruit trees that will produce in season (cherry, pomegranate, pear, persimmon). We are thankful for the space and the opportunity to use it for the Father's glory. (Not very many pictures, but I figured you wouldn't want to see the bathroom.)

Our kitchen

Our kitchen

Our living room 

New Pets

Anna and Kate got money from their grandparents for Christmas, so they were able to buy some new pets. Anna got a hamster and Kate got two guinea pigs. Initially, she got one, but everything we watched and read said they do better with more than one. The kids love them and do a good job of giving them lots of attention. 

Peanut and Chestnut (I voted for Buckeye--being from Ohio--but that got voted down.)

John getting a chance to snuggle.

Yoshi

John's 6th Birthday

John turned 6 the day after we got back into town, but he was too sick to celebrate with friends that day. We had a low key day at home and then went to a friend's house for dinner. The following Monday, we took a cake to school and celebrated with John's class. John is a sweet boy who hugs everyone he sees, stranger or not. He is not particularly fond of school, but loves all his friends there. He is reading, writing, and counting. We are so glad to have John in our family! 

Happy New Year

The day after Christmas, we took an overnight train ride to a neighboring country for a few days of vacation. Our sweet friend, Kanani, gifted us with the train tickets as our Christmas gift! The kids thought it was a great adventure! Bunk sleeping on a train was a first for them! It was okay for the adults, but sleeping was tough. The train was loud and we were stopped twice for border patrol to come on the train and check everyone's documents. Each stop took an hour. Not much sleeping happened. We stayed the first night at a hotel (using points) and the rest of the time was at an Air B&B. They celebrate Christmas on January 7th, so there was a Christmas market we could go to! Lots of fun stuff to see. The last two days were hard because I, Rachel, got sick with fever, chills, and body aches. John also had been coughing the whole week and it had gotten worse. I'm not sure what I had, but I stayed put in the apartment the last two days. Phil took the kids on some adventures so they could get out of the house. We were all glad to be back home after several days away. Being in a new country where we didn't know the language, the transportation, and our phones did work outside of wifi, gave us an appreciation for how far we've come in our new home.