The hideouts of the Heritics

Greetings all! It is pretty amazing to have the time to be over here, in Europe, before Matt's school starts. Even though it was in large part because of a ticket deal we nabbed before knowing that he was admitted to Tyndale, I think God had it planned out that the girls could make a lot of their mental and emotional transition, prior to getting to to Holland. They are learning to travel and we are learning to travel with them. We are basically eating out of the grocery stores, which interestingly seem to be a fair bit cheaper than in the US! The food quality is great!! Our few restaurant experiences have been great too.

We are seeing and experiencing some pretty amazing things, like Medieval castles/towns, cool beaches and mountains. (See the link for the coolest one so far, we hiked up and into it.). The natural and historical beauty is amazing. It has been unseasonably cold and we hit up a very cool, incredibly huge flea market in Barcelona for near winter gear!!

Nora's foot is completely healed, praise God! It only "hurts" when we are walking somewhere she absolutely does not want to go. Very clever! I figure if it didn't hurt mountain climbing yesterday, then that excuse is worn out for good.

Being gone while our house was still under pretty massive work has been a big headache for Matt as he wishes he could have done all the work himself and one contractor really left us in a pickle. It is finally on the market, thanks to the kindness of several great friends and family!

The timing was pretty amazing as on the same day the old house went on the market, we found a place in Holland to stay when we get there, which is great... More news later!

Thanks for the prayers and friendships, even from afar! 

Menorca - Natural beauty and cutting the technology cord

After spending four days physically, and months mentally, trying to get to Minorca, Spain, we thoroughly enjoyed a week of almost total disconnectedness. Minorca is an island off the coast of Spain that we would have never visited except that it was the only timeshare that would trade with my mom's in Virginia, and what a treat. 

Apparently, thanks to a bit of a feud between Spain's former dictator, Franco, and the Minorcan King of that time, Minorca was not allowed to develop tourism for about four decades, so it's natural beauty shines through, EVERYWHERE!! It was designated a UNESCO biosphere site so although there are now plenty of nice places to stay, it is really tranquilo (my new favorite word).

It was the perfect place for us to relax, the girls to play on the many varied beaches, and deal with life without wi-fi. 

The history was amazing, as the Island had been inhabited for over three thousand years. Early Christians, in the 5th century, built caves in the rocky coves and shared their faith with locals who were worshiping rock structures called Talaiots. Sadly, a bit later, these same Christians, forcibly converted local Jews, and banished those that wouldn't. Sigh... 

Anyway, we are back on mainland Spain now and our country mice girls are getting accustomed to city life... sort of. It is just dawning on them that we will be living in a city for the next year and, well, the jury is out. Praying we can all adjust but loving it for the time being.

Crashed in Stockholm - not the plane, just our bodies!

In the last few days at home, I kept thinking, "less is more except when it comes to oxygen (deep breaths Joy, stay calm) and good friends." Thanks to ALL my good friends who made is possible for us to get out of our house and on to the plane. We were even able to leave the wheel chair behind and Nora is feeling good.

We are in Sweden now on a 23 hour layover!! The kids are happily sleeping our day away. Nora slept some on the plane.... Anya stayed up all night, not wanting to miss breakfast!  We sat in the hotel lobby for 2 hours then and crashed once we got in. We are looking forward to heading out on a mini-adventure to a 1000 year old town tonight and then on to Spain in the morning. 

Less than a week.... Getting ready to go!!

I'm not sure who all is praying for us but I can tell you one thing.... God is listening!!! 
We are SOOOOOOOOO thankful..... my wonderful mother in law, Joy Sears found us this wheelchair little gem at a thrift store for 10$. I can even check it on the plane for free even though it weighs have a ton!! Nora is psyched!!

Also, work around out house is blowing me away! Matt is working like a (work) horse. God had brought an amazing drywall duo and an a fabulous 75 year old master builder who I called at 9 pm on Tuesday night. He was here at 7 am in yesterday morning and worked all day yesterday and today.... Our house blemishes are disappearing!! (Of course it always looks worse before it looks better). 

Someday maybe we will actually fix up a house for us instead of always doing it for someone else.... sigh!! For now, I'm looking forward to not owning one!