This post is really from June 24th

Ha, I meant to come back and finish this, but got side tracked and never did... so, here it is. 

oh my...already an entire month has gone by!  This blogging thing is harder than it looks.  Things are going good here.  We have gotten to travel out of the city twice this month, and that has been GREAT!  I love the ammenities the big city has to offer, but could easily give them up for the country life here.  We went to a meeting for all of our coworkers in the Balkan region and had a wonderful time of worship.  The kids got to attend VBS and we can't say thank you enough to the team from Alaska that worked with them.  At first, Jonathan was very confused.  When I told him he was going to VBS he asked, "But where will we go?  There isn't a church at the hotel."  It was a great way for him to see that we can worship our God anywhere!
Language is coming along swimmingly!  I feel so much more confident about speaking with people that I often get into conversations way over my head and end up just smiling and nodding.  Steven says this is because of my "Jones" tendancy to act like I know what I'm doing well enough, that people really do think I know what I'm doing.  It is a blessing and a curse :)  With language comes a freedom that I really enjoy though, so I'm not afraid to make mistakes and sound ignorant.  Most of the time when I tell people I have been studying Bulgarian for only four months they are very impressed.

What to say?????

So, I have erased this same page twice already trying write what I am thinking.  However, my thoughts are so jumbled right now that I am just going to put some of my favorite quotes from the kids since we have been here.

Walking home tonight: 
Audrey: What if we lived in Alaska?  Then we could have a dog.
Jonathan: ...and i could have a pet puffin!

Jonathan: Mommy, Bulgaria feels like home now.

Eli: edno, dve, tree, chetree, pet, shest, sedom, ocem, devet, decet!  (counting to ten in bulgarian)

Audrey:  Daddy, its shestniesit.  (correcting Steven's counting)

Jonathan: Mommy, why doesn't everyone here just speak american?

Not to mention their simple, sweet prayers:

Audrey: God, please help us as we tell Bulgarians about your son Jesus.
Jonathan: God, thank you for my great day and help us to have a good time in Bulgaria.
Eli: "Tank you family, tank you baby Jesus, tank you for our food."

My life is fully blessed because of my savior Jesus Christ!!

My thoughts on kids.....watch out!

I don't know about you, but my children never cease to amaze me.  Jonathan is so goofy, but so many times will shock us with a great understanding of life. Audrey catches onto everything and really understands what we are talking about, even when we are speaking in code.  Then there is Eli, just when you think he is moving to fast to hear anyhting you say, he pipes in with his two cents on the subject.  All of this reminds me that my children are not only important to me, but to God also.  It is these little moments with kids that I adore and even made me want to be an educator.  I was going to be the person that would not only teach these little blessings, but I also want to continue to be a voice for them.  Not just for my own kids, but for all children.  It is my personal opinion that there are to many churches that either do not realize the importance of children, or are just choosing to cast them aside until they are really "useful" in the church body.  Up until then, we put them in classes (sometimes just babysitting) and allow them to participate in really fun activities, but never really give them chances to serve in the church.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that childrens activities are bad. They are great, and just what children need to learn about Christ and His love for them.  I'm just saying that when we rob children of the opporunity to serve, we deny them one of the greatest joys: serving Christ.  I don't think God looks at our ages, but at our hearts. A child at the age of 2 singing Jesus Loves Me is just as beautiful to the Father than Carrie Underwoods "How Great Thou Art".  This all came from me thinking today about how great my kids are.  They are not just along for this crazy ride with Steven and I, but God has a purpose for them as well.  Not a futuristic purpose, but one right now.   My children are not simply here with us while we serve, but they are serving the Lord with us.

This is home

We had just rounded the corner of our street and headed up the steps to the front door of our apartment building when Jonathan said, " Mommy, I call Bulgaria home now."  We have lived here for exactly 3 months today, and while there are still some things we miss from the states, I can say we feel at home here.  We speak enough Bulgarian now to make it through light converstaions, getting around the city is no problem, and our little neighberhood has become familiar.   The kids have friends here, and enjoy going to school.  Apartment life is still difficult.  I mean really, inside voice is a relative term to us.  Overall though, we are very happy and feel so blessed to be here.  Thank you Lord for our new home!
Here are a few pictures of some of the fun we have here!

 Audrey on the bungee trampoline in Levski park.

 Eli in the dinosaur bouncy house at Levski Park.

 Jonathan on the bouncy slide.  He really was having fun, he just didn't want his picture taken.

One great day!

Audrey's day off

Well, Audrey didn't have school today, and neither Steven or I had language class, so we decided to explore some of Sofia's museums.  After taking a quick detour to see Levski church we headed for the Museum of Natural History.  While the museum was pretty neat, it had tons of birds, it was what I can imagine a museum in the sates looked like about 20 years ago.  There were no interactive exhibits, and most of the animal displays were stuffed.  This made it interesting....for example, the zebra and panther were missing some fur and looked as if they had mange.  I can also now say I have seen a stuffed dolphin, that looked totally fake because of all the paint they used to make the skin look dark.  I also had an educational moment with Audrey when I had to explain that the flaming was white because it was no longer eating pink food.  Oh...and don't even get me started on the snake room.  All I'll say is lots of snakes and even more formaldehyde.  They looked really nasty, but you had to walk past them to get to the fish, so Audrey and I sucked it up and made it through.  I also found it ironic that the insect room, filled with all sorts of insects, smelled like moth balls.  It was fun to see what you would find around the next corner.  Audrey found a seal that she thought was smiling at her, and a European bison that made our North American bison look like cattle.  Overall, Audrey thought it was neat, and I did too.    
Now I am sitting here in the study with the wiondows of the apartment open, a slight breeze blowing through, and listening to thunder in the distance.  Audrey is playing with clay at the table, Eli is playing a memory game with Jonathan and Steven is taking a much needed nap.  This is what I call a GREAT day!