Saturday, January 31, 2009

The End of the Year and the Start of Another

Joseph and Jeremiah out in the snow!

Dear Friends and Family,
We have seen the end of one year, and the beginning of another...and already, a whole month of the new year has passed us by; how fast time seems to go by these days!
Our family had a good Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year together, and we trust that those were special times for you and your families as well.
For Thanksgiving, we had a great family dinner together at the house we are currently staying in. December was a cold month, with snow falling about the middle of the month. It was not a lot of snow, but it was cold enough that it actually stuck around -- frozen -- until about the middle of January.
Joseph (our oldest) celebrated his sixth birthday on December 24th, and we had a special day just being together for him.
On December 21, we had a short Christmas play at the church, in which Ammi and Joseph played Mary and Joseph, Elijah and Geta were shepherds, and Andrew was a wise man (hmmm).
On Christmas Day, the believers from the church gathered together and had a wonderful Christmas dinner. There was a lot of fun, laughs, and good fellowship. Later that evening, we enjoyed our Christmas together as a family, and all had a great time.
New Year's Eve was spent with some friends of ours at their house, enjoying fellowship and food, and bringing in 2009 together. Some of us went into the city just before midnight, though it was bitterly cold, to get a good view of the fireworks. I've never been in a war zone, but perhaps it was similar -- fireworks explosions going off constantly all around, literally right above us, and many others lighting off roman candles and all manner of other fireworks that shoot sparks and fire.
Just after the new year, on January 4th, we celebrated Jeremiah's first birthday, again having a great time together.
Praise God, we have been able to keep warm this winter. Our original plan to use heaters was not as affordable as we had hoped -- there seems to be some issue with the electricity hook-up here at the house -- so we have been chopping and using firewood in the one fireplace in the house, and using a fan to circulate the heat into the next room, which seems to work pretty well.
We have included four pictures here for you which we hope you enjoy. God be with each of you as you start this new year together with Him.
Thank you for your continued prayers, support, and friendship; each is greatly appreciated.
Your friends in Christ,
Andrew & Geta and family
Elijah and Ammi out in the snow!




Joseph turns 6



Jeremiah turns 1