Annelise Sydney, you have given us 1 year of light and smiles and joy, and our hearts are overwhelmed with love and with gratefulness to God for you!

     May you, Annelise, grow in the coming year with strength and health straight from God.  May he give you a mind full of understanding and a mouth full  of words as you learn to talk. May He give you balance and strength as you continue to learn to walk and to run. May you continue to learn obedience to your parents and love for your sister, and may your joyful smiles light a thousand more among all who know you. May your beauty and sweetness continue to abound as you grow.

     Annelise Sydney, your name means that you are consecrated to God, by His grace. He has saved you and called you, not according to anything you will do in your life, but according to His purpose for you, and His grace toward you, which was given to you, in Jesus Christ, before time began*. May He continue to work in you to lead you toward that day when you will consecrate your life to Him through salvation in Jesus Christ.

Amen.

(2 Timothy 1:9)

  This guesthouse is the first time we've had solid internet access, so needless to say, I've not been blogging along this trip. It is a disappointment, too, because we've been having a truly amazing experience. We've seen the hand of God so clearly marked in His creation - both directly, in nature, and indirectly, through the works of men, in daily breathtaking views. We've laughed and played and watched the growth and learning of our girls with joy and awe. We've interacted with truly delightful people of other cultures in many enjoyable instances. And overall, I think we've all bonded much more deeply - most noteably between the girls with my parents, but also Cristian and I with my parents, and all four of us as a family. In every direction, every relationship has deepened and come closer, and that is always a good thing!

   Our first day was spent in Frankfurt - my memory of it is covered with that fog of having slept less than two hours of the past 36... or something like that. I didn't sleep too great on the plane and finally just crashed with Annelise in the hotel. It worked out well though - we napped for only an hour and a half while Cristian and Dad and Mom took Sherise out and saw the city, then they woke me up and we all went out. That rest was enough to survive the day, but still allowed me a good night's sleep that night. We all adjusted quite quickly and easily to the jetlag, Sherise and Annelise best of all!

   The second day we drove about 5 hours down to Lauterbrunned Switzerland, where we stayed in a cute little vacation apartment right in town. We stayed there for 5 glory-filled days! We visited the darling Murren, my most favorite place ever! Sherise loved the cable - car rides, though she kept calling them 'Table-cars', always very excitedly. We took one up to the Mountain- edge and then enjoyed a mild 2 mile walk through mist and rain to Murren. Another day we went up to Mannlichen and hiked in the shadow of Mt. Eiger. That was gorgeous!! My new favorite hike, I think! The final day we were off to my favorite of a few years ago - Shynigge Platte. All the hikes were fairly mild - nothing too steep (at least not for more than a short distance), and we took our time on them - letting the girls down to walk or wander for some distances, taking millions of pictures when we could thing too, and often just gaping in awe, knowing that a photo couldn't possibly come close to capturing the view which graced our eyes.

   When we managed to pull ourselves from the Interlaken region, it was to go to the other side of Switzerland and stay in that small curious country of Lichtenstein. We stayed up at the back edge of the country in Malbun, the skiing area. It was so sweet and quiet and every morning we woke up with our windows open and fresh mountain are bearing in the scent of wildflowers. Outside the terrace was a little swing, and bunnies for Sherise and Annelise to play with. They really enjoyed petting those creatures - oh dear, a new one to add to our menagerie at home?? We spend one day in Lichtenstien itself, driving the entire country South to North. Dad timed it and it took a full 33 minutes! (The country is about 7 miles by 21 miles, or so). We drove up next to the Duke's castle, and walked through the square in the center of the Capital. The weather was cool and rainy, so it kept us from too much outdoor activity, but it was oh so beautiful and refreshing! We spent another day over by Maienfeld at Heidi's village. The most fun there was Sherise and Annelise feeding Heidi's goats outside. They really got a kick out of that, especially when the goat snatched the little paper bag from Sherise's hands and gobbled it right down! Of course this prompted Sherise to wonder about our goats and she was only satisfied after I explained that Faith and Anne are taking good care our Samantha and Sandee.

   When we somehow seemed to have soaked up enough gorgeous Switzerland to fill our minds and souls with so much beauty straight from Gods Hand, and our hearts with such a glimpse of how great and how majestic He really must be, we somehow dragged ourselves away and made the 6 hour drive down and across Italy, to a small village called Dolo. Rick Steve's would be impressed with all of our 'back doors into Europe', and Dolo was no exception. A very small village just 20 minutes from Venice, it boasts classic Italian culture mixed with plenty of good food, a lovely church and fountain at its center, and quiet evenings by the river with few tourists. It was such a joy to meet Doru and Misu (Crisitan's lifelong friends from Bucharest) there!! The last time we'd all been together, I was pregnant with Sherise, so we were excited to spend all of two days together. They were such sweet kind and loving friends as always, and also really interacted well with the babies. They didn't mind being patient when we had to take extra time to care for the girls, or had a fussy one, they played and enteretained them endlessly, and Sherise especially took to Misu, with big hugs and sweet shy smiles, as they played and giggled together. Doru and Misu brought these darling rag dolls to the girls, and also really cute Romanian blouses from the national costume. Together we spent one entire day touring through Venice - ahh, city that I love!! We rediscovered it together, and I was thrilled to find it just as quaint, artistic, romantic and classic as I'd remebered. We wandered along the canals and little cobbled roads and over bridges and all through the Doges Palace and stood in awe in Piazzo San Marco and sat in other little squares and just soaked it all up. The other day there we took a water taxi to Murano and experienced much of the same!

   When we said goodbye to Doru and Misu and left Italy, it was to just cross the border into Slovenia where we actually stayed at Lipica, in an amazing hotel right next to the famous stud farm where the Lipizzaner horses are bred and raised in preparation for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. We toured the barns, watched a performance, and spent two hours watching their training. They are amazing horses and the program is fabulous. I could have watched non stop for a week. Sherise, my little horsie girl, was also entirely enthralled with the horses. And even Annelise was interested in watching them a lot, when she wasn't snuggled down sleeping on her Papa's chest. We spent a lovely afternoon down in the little penninsula village of Piran, sitting in the square of white marble with a huge white courthouse at one end and pale pink and blue and yellow houses surrounding the square on two sides, the Mediterranian Sea on the other side, and a castle and a church steeple up the hill behind the square. We walked around much of the peninsula to a rocky beach where we splashed and played in the edge of the Sea - the girls loved the water and only came out when they began to seem chilly. We spent on day mostly on the hotel grounds - playing on the playground with Sherise and Annelise, then swimming in the pool. After wearing themselves out on their two favorite activities, I laid down with them and all 3 of us took a long 2 1/2 hour nap! Then we drove back to Trieste, Italy, in the rain, and spent the evening discovering and ancient medieval church and castle on a hill.

   Today we drove through Italy and across Austria. The alps and the little villages scattered through them are breathtaking. We are settled in a small village near germany, the babies are snoozing softly, and we hope for an early start to more adventures tomorrow. We filled ourselves full of amazing food for dinner, the walked to a nearby soccer field to play. We taught Sherise 'ring around the rosy' and she loves it. Annelise too, though we had to keep catching her; she just wanted to run! Cristian and I raced across the field, he won of course but oh it felt sooo good to run! I miss it a lot! My days are delightfully filled with caring for the girls as we tour around, and managing our suitcases and repacking and organizing and preparing their clothes and what to wear, oh and trying not to buy to many souveneirs or take too many photos.

  Dad and Mom help out incredibly with the girls, far more than I ever thought or expected them too. What a blessing! They'll even feed them breakfast while we are showering, or just play with them while I'm packing. It is a joy to watch them take real delight in their granddaughters. They both are very involved in interacting with the girls, teaching them new little phrases or skills, or even helping them practice their good manners or not fussing. :) I really better get some sleep.... here's hoping for better internet and more blogs. Life is still full of an abundance of good things which are sooo well worth remembering!

   Annelise's first top tooth popped through today!

   We went to Focus this morning, a real thrill for my Mother! Then we had lunch and did some shopping at the mall, and Dad and Mom picked up a few things at WalMart while we waited in the car- Sherise and Annelise had a good, long carseat nap there.

   It was a cool foggy day, cozy and relaxing, perfect to be indoors. I get a real thrill out of seeing my parents enjoy the babies. They are impressed with their vocabulary, their affection for each other, their understanding of things, their cuteness, etc., etc., ... all the appropriate things to be impressed with. :) And they all seem to really interact a lot, and enjoy each other in special relationships. The girls have bonded rather quickly with their Grandpa and Nanna... I dared to run to the barn for chores (about 7 minutes) and when I came home I found, not fussy babies, looking for me, but Sherise sitting on the couch talking with Nanna, while Annelise and Grandpa 'wrestled' and chased and giggled.... so sweet. It was sure an easier trip to the mall and everywhere, too - both grandparents are pretty happy to push the stroller, buckle carseats, feed babies, or just entertain and play with them. It is a real blessing to me, and to all the girls and Grandpa and Nanna, too, I think. :)