Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Thank You! (Probably going to be boring if you're not a FAMILY MEMBER)


Thank you to ALL our wonderful family and friends for sending Christmas cards, gifts and your love. We surely know that the Post Office and UPS have made a killing off of us living in Finland!! Sometimes I don't mention people by name but we are so thankful for your love and kindness.

Thanks MOM for the awesome Panera Bread bagels you mailed us, totally made our day!! Thank you for the gifts and the volunteer project you did, YOU ROCK!

Thank you Alan and Sharon for shipping Delaney's Dora the Explorer couch, so kind of you, we really appreciate that!! Thank you for the gifts you mailed and the shopping spree you took us on before we left.
Thank you Dad, Sheila and Jenny for the wonderful gifts. Delaney loves to snuggle with her new princess blanket and likes to drive us crazy with the slide whistle. Thank you for Christmas money.

Thank you Karen and Phil for the wonderful gifts, Delaney loves her new jackets and princess doll. Thank you for the Christmas money! Also to Bob and Ruth, thank you for the Christmas money.
Thank you Jessica, Josh and Jordan for the movies and season 2 of The Office (we're addicted).
Thank you for all the other great stuff too!

Aunt Paula, Uncle John, Kendra, Adam - thank you for the ICE CUBE TRAYS!! Delaney loves her puzzles and drawing stuff. Kendra, thanks for donating to Lottie Moon!!

Aunt Linda, Uncle Jerry, Amanda - thank you for the items from home and the wonderful stuff for Delaney. She loves her outfits and puzzle and all the other great stuff!

Thank you grandma and grandpa for the gifts. Delaney loves her tiara and her princess sweatshirt.
I hope you know how much we appreciate each and everyone of our family members. We are so thankful for you making our first Christmas in Finland special for us. There are very MANY of you and sometimes you might get overlooked (it's not on purpose). I'm trying to be better in that area of my life. We pray you have a wonderful NEW YEAR!

Vampires, Mummies and Christmas Eve







As I'm sure for most of you the holiday season has FLOWN by. We had a wonderful first Christmas in Finland. We attend church here with an American family from Utah (no they actually aren't Mormon), they invited us over for Christmas Eve dinner. We ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. I do love most of Finland's food but a girl has to have her pumpkin pie!! It was nice to have the tastes of home. On Christmas Eve most families in Finland will go to the cemetery and place candles on the grave of a loved one who has passed away. We went out after dinner to the cemetery and it was absolutely beautiful (spooky, but beautiful), there were candles everywhere. At one point I did feel like I was in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Anyways.....

The past two weeks I've been having a hard time figuring out what my place is here. I feel like I'm not doing enough or giving enough or not being used enough. God totally answered my question. I was able to have a girl over for lunch and got to pray with her and encourage her. Please continue to pray that we might have more opportunities like these.

Tonight is New Year's Eve and there is quite a show going on outside our window. It's like the Fourth of July here. People are able to buy serious fireworks so we're in for a LOUD night. Delaney thinks she's at Disneyland!!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Date Night and more...

The Lord has blessed us with WONDERFUL team mates here in Finland!! The Sivonen family graciously offered to keep Delaney overnight so Jason and I could go out. This was our first date since being in Finland. About time, huh?

Jason and I took the train to Helsinki and went to this cute little cafe called Cafe Ekberg, their bakery is known for creating the Napoleon (it's a pastry type dessert). The food was great and we had a wonderful time just enjoying each other's company. We did some Christmas shopping and we actually got to stay out past 8:00!! Ha!


Earlier this week I went to the swim hall with a friend and FINALLY did the SAUNA thing. Before I came here I used to be the most modest person but I have found I have to throw the modest thing out the door. The sauna is one of the most relaxing rituals, I've become a fan!

Yesterday we received three boxes from the U.S. We received so much great stuff, enchilada sauce, sweetened condensed milk, CHOCOLATE CHIPS and so much more. I was able to make some fudge (a Christmas staple in my home). We are so grateful to our Sunday School class back in California, thank you for the wonderful things. Also, thank you mom, Jessica, Jordan, Aunt Linda, Uncle Jerry, Amanda, Grandma and Grandpa for all the gifts, Delaney can't wait to open them. We love you guys.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Ice Ice Baby!

One thing that I am missing from the U.S. is ice. They don't have ice makers and I haven't found any ice cube trays. One thing I loved in the states was getting a BIG FAT DIET COKE with lots of ICE! If you've traveled throughout Europe I'm sure you know about the "ice" and "refill" thing. No ice at most of the restaurants and no refills. It always confuses me because they have the soda machines out like you should be able to get a refill. We've found a couple places were it's all you can drink and we definitely load up on the Coke Light. I have found these plastic bags that make little ice cubes (I've enclosed a picture). It's very "different" but it gets the job done. I still don't understand how the water doesn't spill out of the bag. I am missing my beloved Diet Coke, but I'm starting to get used to Coke Light (a little different but it also gets the job done).

Friday, December 5, 2008

Losing Tan, Learning Language

Wisking whipped cream at Thanksgiving (Laney obviously thinks I'm strange)

Helsinki at Christmas

Shaun, Jason and Mikko carving the Thanksgiving turkey

Window display at Stockmann's (major department store)

The Luthern Church in Helsinki

It's been another fun filled week in Finland. We have officially been in Finland four weeks tomorrow. I've noticed my tan beginning to fade, I'm looking a little pale in pictures. The sun peaked out today for about five minutes and Delaney shouted in excitement, "The sun, the sun!! Look!" The sun comes out about 9:30 am and sets about 3:30 pm. It's a wild adjustment.

We had language class back to back this week. Totally HARSH. I was doing my homework for the class and thought I had stuff down. I was thinking yeah, I've got it!! I show my work to the tutor and OF COURSE it's all wrong. Today our tutor has us write some dialogue then wanted us to speak it. I write it out and then he says flip your paper over and tell me what you wrote. FIRST OF ALL...I couldn't even remember what I had written in English. I start to panic, I feel tears coming to me. I am looking at this man, saying to myself, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO SAY!! Needless to say, I did not have a good day at class.
Last night we attended a small group bible study. They are going through a study on missions and they invited us to tell about our journey into missions. It was great fellowship with other believers.
PRAISE: I went to get my hair cut and got to share with the stylist what we were doing in Finland and why we were here. I plan to go to her again, pray that I might build a relationship with her and get to tell her more about our Savior.
PRAISE: The last two days have been like a miracle from the Lord. Delaney has been a different child, behaving better. Continue to pray for her adjustment period.