Just look at these faces...

My camera has been broken since we returned from the States.

It has felt like a very good friend has been missing from my life.

Yesterday, Brad finally took it to get fixed. :)

Now I can take pictures of some of my favorite faces again...

This probably doesn't look like someone who was diagnosed with Scarlet Fever a few days ago, but antibiotics and rest are doing her body good.

And while she wouldn't let me take anymore pictures of her...Milka would (cause she doesn't have a say in the matter)


Life is soooo hard for this pooch...


obviously...

so hard...



I just love my girls...

Abby's first horseback riding lesson...

Abby had her first "Reiten" lesson this afternoon. She did great and had a really fun time! Her teacher is very strict, but good and her friend Magdalena also goes, which makes it even better!

Levi is reading!

Check THIS out...

Look who is 1 already...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MILKA!

Friday Favorites- Festivals

I don't know if it is just Austria, or all of Europe, but they do "festivals" really well.

Good Food.
Good Music.
And LOTS of fun things for the kiddos.

Here are a few festivals that we have been to since living in Austria:

Stadt Fest


Pumpkin Festival


Mittelalter Fest

Happy Friday from Vienna!

Signs of Growth

This week has been one of those times that you reflect on how much your child has grown right before your eyes.

1. Luke asked yesterday if he could ride home on public transportation...3 different trams mind you. He even figured out to get off a stop early and walk home because the tram wasn't going to stop at our station for some reason.

2. Luke's coach asked him if he would like to play goalie for his school's soccer team, because he was one of the 2 best goalies in tryouts. And tonight he started playing football (yes American football), and in practice threw a touchdown pass.

3. On the way home, Luke told me (Dad) about 2 classmates, both of whom are his friends, who don't like each other because of their respective religions and the historical strife between their two countries of origin. Luke really wants to be a peacemaker here.

Pray for our Luke to grow to be a strong, humble, peacemaking leader.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEENA!

Wish we could be there to help you blow out your candles! Have a wonderful day!

Re-Connecting + Friday Favorite

When we returned from our vacation, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed about being back in Vienna. Many of you may know by now about Jeff and Jodie's decision to return to the States to work at World Harvest's sending center. We all were very sad to see them go, and I was weary thinking about what it would be like to be without teammates once again.

Lots of you have been praying for us and our transition back, and although we miss the McMullens, re-connecting with our Austrian friends has really been encouraging! We have had many play-dates at the park and invitations to our friends' homes. In fact, yesterday we saw EVERY family with children from our apartment building at the park. It was so fun to re-connect, and it really felt like we were "home" again.

Here is Levi and Abby with their friend Alice...



Last night we were invited to a dinner put on by Barnabas International. It was solely for the purpose of encouraging those serving in Vienna. It provided a fun evening of hanging out with old friends, and opportunities to meet lots of other people who are doing the same types of things as we are.



Then today, we spent the afternoon with a friend from Abby's old school. Her mom and I determined that we would still meet on a regular basis, (even though Abby is now at a new school) so the girls could play and stay close. We had a wonderful afternoon catching up and then we headed outside of the city to cut some flowers.

This is definitely "Friday Favorite" worthy.

There are fields right outside of Vienna, where you go and pick and then cut your own flowers. It is all on the honor system, and you just put your money in the box when you are finished! How fun is that! (I don't think we would see this sort of system in the States :)










Here is Magdalena, Abby and Hannah with their gladiolas...


And here is the box that you put your money in...


We had a great Friday and I hope that you did too!

First Day of School...

We survived the first day of school! All of the kiddos started in new schools, so we were a little nervous about how everyone would do...but they all did GREAT! Thanks for praying :)

Wanna see how much they've grown since last year?
since 2 years ago?

Who wins "most changed" award???

Summer comes to an end...

As we get ready to start school on Monday, we are saying goodbye to staying up late, not having a routine and just plain having nothing but fun! It is a daunting task to go through ALL of the pictures I took on our family vacation...but these are a few of the memories for each kiddo that I really want to remember from our Beech Mountain trip 2009...

For Levi age 5:


-walking hand and hand with Daddy


-his infectious laugh


-watching him snuggle on Neena's lap as she read some of his favorite books


-lovin on his "sister-cousin" :)

For Abby age 8:


-how she intently watched as Neena taught her how to make roses with frosting


-her smile when she found the biggest gem


-how she has no fear


-and her love of shoes

For Luke age 10:



-his bonding with the boys


-the willingness he had to help build the treehouse


-his continued love for fishing


-and his ability to not up-chuck as he rode on crazy rides, that made us nauseous just watching him


Goodbye summer...we will miss you

Friday Favorites...brought back to life

So while we were on vacation, our old pastor and friend sent us this

We were encouraged and decided to revive Friday Favorites.

On Fridays, we have decided to write about a few of the things that we love about living in the city of Vienna. This is not only to help you see the great things about Vienna, but it will also be a sweet reminder to us of all the great things at our disposal. So here goes...

The public transportation is awesome...



This city loves our Milka pooch, and all dogs really...



How many of you have ice cream scooped from a man who wears a hat like this...



Riesenschnecke...



How can one not have fun on a slide this big...


Happy Friday from Vienna!

"Is there sweet tea?"

This is what Levi asked me when they were serving drinks on our flight from Munich to Vienna. I hated to disappoint, but with a smile and a chuckle had to remind him that we were no longer in America.

We had a wonderful vacation with our family and made lots of new memories...that hopefully I will one day find the energy to share with you. For now, we have to catch up on e-mails, unpack, go school supply shopping, prune the "jungle" on our terrace and tackle all of the odds and ends that go undone while you are away on vacation.