14!

I love this boy too!  Happy 14th Anniversary my love :)

I. LOVE. THIS. BOY.

And he is LOVING everything about Malta!  The swimming, the sun, snorkeling and fireworks.
Here he is just enjoying the view...it is one of my favorite photos from the past few days :)

Malta- Days 4 & 5

Our latest adventures on the island of Malta, have been to Popeye's Village and the Blue Lagoon.

The kiddos enjoyed hanging out with Popeye and Olive Oyl, and they even made a movie with them :)
They also spent hours snorkeling and playing on the over-sized inflatables that were there.

We are staying in MqAbba, and currently there is a festival celebrating Mary.  The town is adorned with flags, banners, lights and statues.  Each night we have been here, there have been fireworks...yes EVERY night!  Here are a few photos of the town square...

and here are some views at night...

Everyone we have met has been very friendly and helpful.  Most speak English, but we do hear a lot of Maltese being spoken.  It seems to be a mixture of Italian, Arabic and English.  A few of us also tried rabbit last night, as it is a popular dish here. We are having so much fun exploring~ but are also finding plenty of time to relax.  Now it's time for another fireworks show...

Malta-Day 3

Today we spent the day at the Blue Grotto.  The views are spectacular and the water is gorgeous.  Here are a few shots from our boat ride, and then the kiddos spent the rest of the afternoon snorkeling...

Malta-Day 2

For a few years now, Abby's favorite animal has been the dolphin and whenever we have gone back to Florida to visit, she has wanted to swim with them at Miami Seaquarium.  Unfortunately, it has just never worked out.  So when Brad was researching "things to do in Malta", and he discovered that you could swim with the dolphins, we knew it was an opportunity for Abby that we couldn't pass up!

We arrived at the park bright and early...

Memoo and Abby are all suited up and ready to go swim with the dolphins!

Here they go.......

Meet Sol, "Abby and Memoo's" dolphin

Here Sol is posing with the ladies for a picture :)

They got to pet him, kiss him and command him do tricks

It really was a fantastic experience for Abby and Memoo to share!

We ended our day eating dinner on the water while the sun set...

Malta- Day 1

We arrived safely last night in Malta, after a brief 2 hour flight directly from Vienna.    We are renting a house that is over 500 hundred years old... crazy right?  It is really cool!  Today we had a slow morning, explored the island a bit and then hit one of the many beaches here.  The island is browner than I had expected, but still lovely.  It sort of reminds me of a cross between Greece and the Dominican Republic.  The water is beautiful and we can't wait to explore some more tomorrow.  (Blogger wouldn't let me upload any photos,  so you'll have to check out my Flickr acct)

HERE are some photos from the place we are renting and our adventures from today

Saying Goodbye...

We have really enjoyed having these lovely ladies here with us this summer!  They have worked hard and loved on our team, family and church well:)  We are sad to say goodbye~ but look forward to seeing what the next season of their lives looks like!

In recent days...

It is always hard to catch up when I fall this far behind with the blog, but here are some of the things we have been up to in recent days...

:: we took our family, team and interns to Schladming for a Sonship retreat

:: Jeff led the lessons, and Ewan got to pal around with Levi

:: Lindsay and the interns

:: on the retreat, we also made time to check out the beauty around us

:: and ride down a mountain on go-carts!  So fun!!!

then we came home, un-packed, did some laundry, had a game night at NCW  (I forgot to bring my handy dandy camera) and Abby and I packed up again to head off to horse camp...

:: She had a good few days with her friends and the horses, but then she was ready to come home :)

so we came home again, did more unpacking and some more laundry, and then last night we had a dessert night that the interns hosted...

here are a few pictures from the "making Apfel Strudel demonstration"

:: the finished Strudel with vanilla sauce! Delish!

and even now, the laundry continues as we prepare for our family vacation to Malta with Memoo on Tuesday :)  It has certainly been a few fun and busy weeks~ but we are ready to have some down time.

Sweet...(Part 2)

:: Remember this sweet photo of my dear friend, Jeriann...

    well, Evangeline arrived on Wednesday!  Here are her sweet fingers...

 her sweet baby toes...

and everything in between~ is nothing but sweetness!  She is going to be well loved by her big brother and big sister :)
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:: a sweet reunion

Ewan and Jeff arrived today from the States, and Levi couldn't be more excited to have his buddy here!
Next week, Jeff will be leading a Sonship retreat for our team and our interns.  We are looking forward to the retreat and getting out of the city for a few days :)
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:: a sweet recipe

I made this "Classic Lemon Cream Tart" a few nights ago, for our Family Night with our interns.  It was yummy!

Here is the recipe:

1 3/4 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
6 egg yolks
1 large egg
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Garnish: sliced lemons

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, combine crumbs, 1/3 cup melted butter and brown sugar.  Press firmly into a tart pan.  Bake for 10 minutes, then let cool

In a medium saucepan, melt 1 cup butter over medium heat. Whisk in sugar, lemon juice, egg yolks and egg.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 10 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and cool completely.

In a medium bowl, beat cream with mixer until soft peaks form.  Fold whipped cream into cooled lemon mixture.  Spoon into prepared tart shell.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Garnish with lemon slices, if desired.

(taken from the "Cooking with Paula Deen 5th Anniversary Keepsake Issue" magazine)

Hope you have another sweet weekend! :)

Gänsehäufel

We have lived in Vienna for 4 years now, and yesterday was the first time we checked out this massive island to swim on...what took us so long?  Who knows. But I am glad we know how to get there now...because it is awesome!

Here we are trying to figure out where to go...so many options and we only paid 9 Euros to get in...yep-for all of us total!

we passed folks playing chess

folks playing volleyball

folks playing mini-golf

but we finally settled here, so the kids could do this...

 

and when they had enough of jumping off of the dock, we headed here

 

and unlike in the States, there was no one at the top regulating when a person could go~

so the kiddos took full advantage of holding each other's feet and crashing into one another :)

 

and we ended our time there with a few minutes on the trampoline!