Category

romania

Jan 19

christmas and more

By 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.
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Then there was the mess, errrrrr preparation. 🙂
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Caroling and gifts…
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Lots of parties. Lots of food.
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New bibles with homemade/decorated bible covers thanks to a church sewing ministry and youth group!
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Performances!
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Santa! (And Addy, Mercy and Walker)
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Anchor of Hope!
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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 addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, family, mercyadoniyah, romania

pictures i forgot to post from september. 😉

our anniversary, nine years!
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targoviste. i attended our church’s ladies’ retreat, christian brought the girls so we could all be together at night.
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observing ants and bugs.
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not gonna lie, miss the too hot to sleep in pjs weather.
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finally seeing the bfg!
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checking out a new mall…
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fun weekend with friends
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end of summer fun.
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Dec 09

a month of grammie

By 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.

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

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). Processed with MOLDIVProcessed with MOLDIVProcessed with MOLDIV

so many read aloud books were read! Processed with MOLDIV

and so many puzzles were done. all of the ones we own actually! Processed with MOLDIVProcessed with MOLDIV

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

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

a last night of cards Processed with MOLDIV

last airport selfie. 🙁 Processed with MOLDIV

Dec 06

mercy’s dorina

By bucuresti, mercyadoniyah, romania

we have been blessed by an amazing relationship – – last year when mercy started grupa mijlocie (aka k4), she had a teacher (educatoare) and two rotating class aids (ingrijitoare). she bonded from day one with “doamna dorina.” fast forward to this year (grupa mare or k5) and dorina (and her daughter denisa) are now family friends. we love these two! in september, mercy spent the entire day with dorina and denisa at their house. it was such a beautiful thing for christian and i – – it was proof that our little girl is healing and moving forward after losing her brother last may. i took the first four pictures and then dorina and denisa sent me all the other picutres!

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Dec 04

toamna

By addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, family, holidays, mercyadoniyah, ministry, romania, school

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disclaimer: way.too.many.photos. {sorry not sorry!}
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this is where we live: Processed with MOLDIV

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alex started at mercy’s school! Processed with MOLDIV

chocolate eyes and a tear on her cheek…Processed with MOLDIV

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and then we got new colleagues! Processed with MOLDIV

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

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international day of world peace: Processed with MOLDIV

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freshly washed and braided hair: Processed with MOLDIV

she makes me food…Processed with MOLDIV

summer comes to an end whether or not you want it to…Processed with MOLDIVProcessed with MOLDIV

these two are so much fun: Processed with MOLDIVProcessed with MOLDIV

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grandma ducky came to visit: Processed with MOLDIVProcessed with MOLDIVProcessed with MOLDIVProcessed with MOLDIV

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Dec 03

daily happenings

By bucuresti, ministry, romania

you probably will notice that these pictures are more or less missing faces – – these are photos of places we visit on a daily basis so we want these kids to remain anonymous. the one thing we don’t want to do is “market” our kids. and yet we know you enjoy seeing pictures of what we actually do. 😉 if you would enjoy seeing more personal pictures of ministry, connect with us here.

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Nov 30

the rest of summer

By addysengrace, bucuresti, christian, family, holidays, mercyadoniyah, romania

the last few pictures on my phone of summer…

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sticky and sweaty naps: Processed with MOLDIV

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meeting new babies: Processed with MOLDIV

you’ve played hard when you fall asleep this way: Processed with MOLDIV

he has his own bed(s) and his own toy(s) and yet he thinks he is one of the kids: Processed with MOLDIV

so blessed to have (re)connected with tim and wendy: Processed with MOLDIV Processed with MOLDIV

presents from tim and wendy: Processed with MOLDIV Processed with MOLDIV

“it’s a shoe-tomato!” Processed with MOLDIV

our new best friend, orla…can’t wait until we hang out again either in Romania or Ireland! Processed with MOLDIV Processed with MOLDIV

oh this kid and her humour: Processed with MOLDIV

just random metal things she wanted her picture with: Processed with MOLDIV

she thinks my bed is her bed…she’s basically right: Processed with MOLDIV Processed with MOLDIV

playplaces: Processed with MOLDIV

sinaia hikes: Processed with MOLDIV

lego science from emmy and katie: Processed with MOLDIV

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if the truth be told, i have probably talked to my sister (almost) every 24 hour period since moving overseas almost five years ago…minus travel days and maybe her honeymoon. Processed with MOLDIV

watching the olympics and cheering for way too many countries (my children are very loyal to every country, haha! Processed with MOLDIV

summer means impulsive…we love summer! Processed with MOLDIV

trying to convince my kids that summer movie nights don’t usually include their robes is impossible: Processed with MOLDIV

when did she start making dinner?! Processed with MOLDIV Processed with MOLDIV

coloring pages from aveline: Processed with MOLDIV

summer memory making: Processed with MOLDIV Processed with MOLDIV

if you put pink (bath approved) dye in the bathtub, your child will probably think that means it is okay to splatter blue (permanent) ink on the walls: Processed with MOLDIV Processed with MOLDIV

when ninja turtles fight my little ponies: Processed with MOLDIV

beautiful care package from my irish twinsie: img_3245 Processed with MOLDIV Processed with MOLDIV

when rough days come, give your kids five lei and take them to the store: Processed with MOLDIV Processed with MOLDIV

care packages from orla! Processed with MOLDIV Processed with MOLDIV

Sep 19

beautiful romania

By holidays, romania, travel

Disclaimer – this post has no pictures of people. These were all my pictures of scenery, things that caught my eye, buildings, whatever. Skip, skim or enjoy if you love travel pictures!

Săpânța
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Baia Mare
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Târgu Mureș
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Sighișoara
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Petroșani
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Hunedoara
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Brașov
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Sep 19

roadtrip{4}

By addysengrace, christian, family, holidays, mercyadoniyah, romania, travel

Day Thirteen
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Processed with MOLDIV Sure enough, after a really rough night, Marie woke up hurting all over and with a fever. We had been promising Mercy the entire trip that we would go to the dino park, so of course daddy did just that. They had a blast and Christian even remembered to take a few pictures! He actually remembers to take selfies better than Marie does. 😀

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Processed with MOLDIV When they got home, we decided to try walking to the park since Marie had slept the day away. It was only about an hour long excursion but she made it! It was nice to get some fresh air. Brasov is a lovely town with lots of friendly kids that speak English as well as our kids do (side note, our kids’ English needs some work, ha!).

Day Fourteen
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img_2962This was another day we had planned long ago – – to meet up with our community group for a really cool hike so it isn’t shocking that Marie was 100% disappointed to be feeling icky (sick enough to stay home – – ask her mom, Bonnie, that is RARE). Christian and Addy ended up going and Marie and Mercy ended up doing a lot of snuggling and sleeping but also some mama+Mercy time which ended up being a sweet time.

Day Fifteen
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*H*O*M*E*

Sep 16

roadtrip{3}

By addysengrace, christian, family, mercyadoniyah, romania, travel

Day Eight
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Processed with MOLDIV Day eight, we explored Sighișoara. We enjoyed our day there although we discovered it was more expensive than all the other places we visited and Addy was under the weather. We took it slow and easy and were a little worried about her by the end of the day.

Day Nine
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Processed with MOLDIV Day nine was NOT the day we planned. After a rough night realizing something was off with Addy, we made texted and called friends in Bucharest until we decided where to take Addy – – we ended up at the Children’s Hospital in Sibiu. Come to find out, Addy was at the end of a bacterial infection thanks to some (quite traumatic) bloodwork. She ended up getting IV fluids and meds and spending the afternoon in the hospital before we headed on to Petroșani. Always an adventure with these kids, haha!

Day Ten
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Processed with MOLDIV We made it to Petroșani. Way long ago (ok fine just 2005), I went with Petroșani to serve with Kelle (Gammie) Andrieș. Since since we have both lived in the USA at some point, both gotten married, had kids and returned to Romania to live/serve full-time. What a fun afternoon letting our kids meet and play. They hit it off beautifully!

Day Eleven
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Processed with MOLDIV This was our only repeat from last summer – – Hunadoara! We really enjoy the pension we have found here (Casa lui Craciun if you google it). We went to the Castle Corvin again (a must!) and ended with some swimming because he (pension owner) has his own little private swimming pool so even Mercy could go swimming!

Day Twelve
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Processed with MOLDIV Also a random day – – the day we woke up feeling great, drove a beautiful drive to Brasov and by the time we got there, Marie was feeling pretty yucky. But hey, the girls looked cute, ha!

…to be continued!