christian

Sep 23

life without dad

By Marie Klein Burtt addysengrace, america, christian, family, mercyadoniyah, ministry, school, travel

Whelp. We are three weeks into this USA home education adventure and so far so good. It is weird not having kids go off every morning and come home every afternoon. There are some parts we really miss: the ease of uniforms, knowing that everyday we will be ready by 8am and friends! On the other hand, there are some parts that are really nice: less stressful mornings, getting carried away and doing geography or science all day long and it doesn’t matter! And of course we are making friends. It just takes time and energy especially when you miss your other friends. We started gymnastics (Addy goes 5x a week and is finally…calm. Ha!) Mercy has karate twice a week and loves it, plus her Sensei said she is a natural and has the perfect personality for karate.

Christian had his first week of solo traveling for Hope Takes Root (brand new site coming SOON!). He was able to attend a very interesting and helpful conference called BAM in Philidelphia. It was everything and more: inspirational, helpful, challenging, a networking opportunity, the list goes on! He is still travelling so I will have to wait until he gets home to get all the details. He was able to start the trip by visiting our friends, Mike and Shannon (and their boys) in Titusville. We spent a year in Moldova with them and they are some of our most awesome friends. The girls and I tried not to be too jealous! He is now spending the weekend in Harrisburg with other friends, originally from Thousand Oaks. He gets home early Tuesday morning.

It started well but included a little bug. Whoops.

Thank goodness it was short lived so while big sister had a middle school activity (what the goodness?), this little person and I went on a date.

Yesterday we tackled the shopping. We went to a USA mall which confused the girls (“where’s the grocery store, mama?”) to get my phone fixed. Then we did Sprouts and WalMart. My children think the Sprout’s cart is hysterical. Then we found Ursuletul Tedi which made their day but they wanted to know why tedi was spelt “so weird.” :-p

And let’s be honest. Everything is new or interesting. Why did Sprouts need to tell me my corn syrup came from corn? Does corn syrup every come from beets or wheat? And what in the world are boiled peanuts?

Jul 30

the goodbyes are the painful part

By Marie Klein Burtt addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, family, mercyadoniyah, romania

as our departure gets closer, the reality is setting in. we have been trying to simply enjoy each moment. here are few of my favourite photos. <3 bulgarian day trip fun!

our last community group, including gluten free chocolate cake and a beautiful wooden puzzle of romania with the names of everyone in our group. <3 park fun with good friends.

special dolls and special skirts.

our last sunday. <3

Apr 27

spring breaking it

By Marie Klein Burtt addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, family, holidays, mercyadoniyah, romania

freckles –

weird zucchini –

science –

crafts –

date with mama –

that time it snowed whilst on spring break so mama bought organic gluten/soy/corn free chocolate that costs an arm and a leg –

cute new dresses from grandma ducky –

that time we finished unpacking almost two months after moving (does not include putting things on the walls) –

hair cuts –

buns and more buns –

game nights –

lazy mornings –

painting a big and little version of the sun –

come on, it’s obvious (aka strumful cu ochilari = the smurf with glasses) –

the sun came back and the freak winter weather went away –

little girls that buy gifts for their big sisters –

so much lego construction going on –

and lots of dress up too –

exhaustion –

Apr 25

eggs and more

By Marie Klein Burtt addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, crafts, family, holidays, mercyadoniyah, romania

we did a lot of different things with a lot of eggs. what can i say, i like to get carried away, ha!

i had to include this picture. the brown egg is a normal oval egg, the coloured one is…well…different. christian’s opinion? he said he thinks it got stuck and the chicken had to squeeze really hard. the girls of course thought that was hysterical. 😀

Apr 24

how sherlock does date night

By Marie Klein Burtt bucuresti, christian

we get the kids to sleep so that we can have adult conversation…and we get this. 😂

Apr 23

oh you know…christmas?

By Marie Klein Burtt addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, family, holidays, mercyadoniyah, romania

so there was this one time…ok fine this happens often…that i find drafts of posts i meant to post but i didn’t and i don’t know why. i think i wanted to write something but i didn’t have time. so i am not going to write anything. this is just parts of our life this past december. enjoy. or don’t. 😉

Feb 14

the beginning of the one year

By Marie Klein Burtt addysengrace, america, christian, family, mercyadoniyah, noelantruth

dear son,

today is the day i didn’t want to come. i don’t know why but this one year mark feels so final, so complete, so deep, so real, so raw, so very much the end.

today is the anniversary of the day i decided to love you as my son.

sunday, february 14th, 2016.

i will never forget it. i will never forget how i felt when i knew in my heart the answer was yes. i will never forget the moment i loved you as my son.

i have flashed back to this day a million times this past year. i have wondered if i made the right choice. i have wondered if i should have protected addy and mercy better or protected my heart better.

many people have told me, “marie, you made the right choice. i truly believe you saved noelan’s life from someone threatening to hurt him if he wasn’t out of their home.”

but i realize something else, sweet boy of mine.

i realize that you saved my life.

you have taught me to love in a way i didn’t know possible. you have taught me to love addy and mercy and christian in a way i didn’t understand before i loved and lost you. you have shown me the heart of the Father in an intimate way i would never had understood without you. i have loved you and lost you and yet i still love you.

i will always love you sweet boy and i will always be your mama. but i miss you noelan truth. and i don’t think that i will ever stop missing you.

love, mama

Feb 13

he’s thirty six

By Marie Klein Burtt bucuresti, christian, family, holidays, romania

this handsome fellow turned thirty-six last month, calm and collect like always. we started his celebration with a date the night before (thanks craig and alie!) that included a movie and a meal, aka a ginormous hamburger. i absolutely love time with this guy. there is never a boring moment and before we know it, the evening is over.

we finished his celebration on his actual birthday with home cooked mexican food and cookie bars (instead of cake).

happy birthday christian! happy birthday daddy!

Jan 19

christmas and more

By Marie Klein Burtt addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, holidays, mercyadoniyah, ministry, romania

Christmas always rolls around with a sort of intensity we never expect. We suddenly need extra time, extra supplies, extra money, extra sleep. This year we were more than blessed by how much you guys supported us through one of our craziest times of the year!

After chatting with a friend about raising money for the holidays, she suggested “selling” something as a fund raiser. I had no idea what I was doing, but all things considered it went ok, with only a few minor glitches! I have TONS of ideas for next year! 🙂 This year, it was Christmas cards and ornaments. Next year, well that is a surprise of course.

Then there was the mess, errrrrr preparation. 🙂

Caroling and gifts…

Lots of parties. Lots of food.

New bibles with homemade/decorated bible covers thanks to a church sewing ministry and youth group!

Performances!

Santa! (And Addy, Mercy and Walker)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Anchor of Hope!

We don’t post “good” pictures online – – aka ones that clearly show kids’ faces. If you would like to see more photos of what we did for the holidays, please visit and like our Facebook page, Christian and Marie in Romania.

Jan 07

september

By Marie Klein Burtt addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, family, mercyadoniyah, romania

pictures i forgot to post from september. 😉

our anniversary, nine years!

targoviste. i attended our church’s ladies’ retreat, christian brought the girls so we could all be together at night.

observing ants and bugs.

not gonna lie, miss the too hot to sleep in pjs weather.

finally seeing the bfg!

checking out a new mall…

fun weekend with friends

end of summer fun.

Dec 09

a month of grammie

By Marie Klein Burtt addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, family, mercyadoniyah, ministry, romania

grammie managed to squeeze in a month away from her home…her home on the market! pops stayed home and held down the fort, so it was truly a joint effort (since this was the first year they wondered if they could come for a visit or not with everything happening). and of course, it was nice and refreshing. all things considered, i didn’t take a whole lot of pictures. this is almost {{all}} of them. but we had a lot of simple, quiet fun.

airport bound!

these two went on a date to see some movie i wasn’t interesting in seeing. 🙂

we also went on a date! come to find out, i took my mom to her first 3-d movie. kind of strange since romania is really into 3-d movies so we have a hard time finding 2-d versions (mercy’s preference).

so many read aloud books were read!

and so many puzzles were done. all of the ones we own actually!

mall excursions:

my mom’s signature. my {beautifully} made bed every single morning!

a grammie and her oldest granddaughter

after church fun

sometimes you go to ikea on your second to last day here. whoops. and sometimes you come home with “whichever lovey you want.” 😉

a last night of cards

last airport selfie. 🙁

Dec 04

toamna

By Marie Klein Burtt addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, family, holidays, mercyadoniyah, ministry, romania, school

***
disclaimer: way.too.many.photos. {sorry not sorry!}
***

this is where we live:

homework which we might actually enjoy around here, oh my:

alex started at mercy’s school!

chocolate eyes and a tear on her cheek…

goofball three:

and then we got new colleagues!

gaming at the mall:

daddy love:

that time we bought a bag of mixed veggies boasting broccoli and found one entire piece of broccoli, haha!

there is something magical about sleeping babies:

international day of world peace:

oh this child keeps me young:

blowing me a kiss:

oh.my.

best friends:

freshly washed and braided hair:

she makes me food…

summer comes to an end whether or not you want it to…

these two are so much fun:

birthday celebrations (part one):

grandma ducky came to visit:

and auntie deedee!

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About Me

I am the second oldest of six kids. I was shy and quiet as a kid with a vivid imagination. When I was five my parents gave up the fast paced city life for quieter Northern California. I was in heaven, spending my time outdoors, running around barefoot, climbing trees and raising any and every animal I could get my hands on. My parents homeschooled me in an eclectic mixture of un-schooling and world schooling, giving me a life long love for learning. I have a colorful imagination and a different way of thinking about things (something I have just recently discovered is called synesthesia). I am a dreamer and a complete optimist, an artist and lover of glitter, I am right brained through and through and I absolutely love science experiments and art projects. I have a deep passion to help those that have no one to advocate for them. My life’s goal is to be a little more like Mother Theresa, Gladys Alwood and Amy Carmichael every day. I have been married to my bestest best friend for over ten years and he is seriously the glue that holds my crazy together. I can’t imagine adventuring and wandering without him. We are currently raising two very capable and strong willed children that are both very creative and very smart. Being a mother was never something I imagined I would love the way I do and I can’t wait for the Lord to bring more kids into our lives!

About Me

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