Lots and lots of memories!

It seems like our days are so full of family fun, hindi learning and ministry opportunities. Maybe we're still in our "honeymoon phase" of culture shock but we feel so blessed by God to be living this life and our so thankful to him for all that he has provided and the way he has kept us so near to him each day. There are definitely those cultural things that tempt us to be upset, such as auto drivers trying to charge a super high price because we're foreigners, or the fact that beef is illegal in our state.. yep! haha, but God has poured and poured his grace upon us to truly be able to see these things as blessings wrapped up as trials because they grow our character and strengthen our reliance on him and that is what we MOST desire- more than fairness or food we long to walk deeply with God and be made like him for his glory. 

I was recently told by a wise mentor that these blogs will become a great treasure of memories and that is so true. I haven't been very consistent with them but her words have inspired me to really try to record our memories, trials and victories every week or two because in 20 years they will so so treasured! 

So.. our past couple of weeks have consisted of... 

Finding a very creative way to have a bath in India. Bath tubs are rare here but Luke worked with a toy store shop keeper to try to find a kiddie pool that was shaped like a bath tub and he did! 

We all took turns blowing it up... even Ezra! haha This was seriously the most comfortable bathtub I have ever sat in! Baths always have hard backs and awkward neck positions but this is like laying on pillows and after 3 months of no warm baths I was in heaven! :) We have a huge unused bath room in Ezra's room so just store it there .. such a silly but great blessing! 

I've been working on craft projects throughout the house. In our room I'm doing a design with the shape seen in the photo and after I'm done I'll paint the pencil marks light gray to match our comforter. I found the idea on pinterest (where I get all my great ideas) haha. People will often say I'm creative but really I'm not.. I'm recreative.. I can't come up with these things on my own but I have a steady hand to copy other's ideas. :) 

Ezra was "helping mommy" but soon ditched me to watch cricket with daddy. (Cricket is a beloved sport in India similar to baseball.)

Yesterday was Luke's 25th birthday!! 

He had such a great birthday!!! We went to our first movie at the theaters in India, then went to one of the best malls in Delhi with lots of our friends and ate a Chili's.. oh Chili's how I love thee!! 

My friend Kathy is in town so I have really enjoyed seeing her and her family this week. They came to the mall too and us girls got to get a pedi before we ate while the men played with the babes at a toy store. Such servant hearted husbands! :) 

Our new family favorite hang out is Dunkin Donuts. It has a very relaxing environment and Ezra is free to walk around, stare at the donut case and visit with the workers. Plus we can get two donuts, a bagel and a coke for the same price of a coffee at Starbucks. haha 

Last weekend Passion came to India!! It was such an amazing sight to see thousands of Indians worshiping the one true God and though it was only a tiny percentage of the 24 million people who live in this city it was so encouraging to see that God IS at work here. In my day I may not pass by a single Christian on the street but I have seen that he is at work and he is a mighty God who is capable of mighty things.. oh so exciting!! 

We have been blessed to have one bible believing church in our colony that is actually led in English! It's a completely Indian congregation but their heart languages aren't Hindi and there aren't enough other believers to have a church for each of the thousands of native languages in India so they make up one congregation of about 50-75 people. They have been so sweet and welcoming from the first day we met them. They love Ezra and are a wonderful group of people to fellowship with on Sunday. This is Ezra and one of our brothers playing on someone scooty.. hope they don't mind. :) 

There is a park right outside our apartment building where kids play cricket almost every day. But, one day Luke took out some clubs and taught them some golf basics. They have a lot of fun hitting foam golf balls in the park and will come to the door asking if Luke and Ezra can come play golf.. haha. 

There is a great import store that just opened up down the road and they occasionally have buffalo steaks!! Their pretty expensive both worth it for an occasional dinner. This week we had our first "America dinner night"- it was awesome! Totally unhealthy.. but so awesome. Oh you will also notice real mac and cheese from the box. We loved this stuff in America and I found some at the store that was only $2 instead of the normal $5.. so we bought them all. We now have 6 boxes of mac and cheese in the pantry.. haha. And I'm counting that up there with top blessings from the week! ha 

Ezra is getting so big but is still so sweet! He loves to sit in my lap and snuggle. I LOVE it too! He even is learning to give kisses. :) 

We passed by this really cool castle thing on the road the other day. Awesome old castle in the middle of modern busy India.. haha 

Last Saturday we went to the zoo with some friends. 

It was really fun! 

The boys checking out some animals.. probably deer.. there were tons of deer there..haha. 

Our friends and us striking a pose before we left. Yes that's an ice cream cone in Ezra's hands. haha They were about 20 cents! So I had 3 throughout the day.. haha. 

Right now is strawberry season so we have been stocking up and freezing them so we can make fruit smoothies this summer. Ezra is definitely a strawberry fan. As we were cleaning and cutting them he was "taste testing" them.. and had a mouth full! haha

I have always had a thing for cows and let me say.. India is a GREAT place to live when you like cows. We were walking home from class the other day and passed by a small herd. They are worshipped here so I usually don't touch them but no one was looking so I got to pet one and take a picture with "Bessie" haha 

My face is half excitement of touching the cow and fear of the cow with horns that was just 10 feet beside us. 

The kids are on a small school break so the boys in our neighborhood have played cricket each morning in the park across the street. Ezra LOVES to sit and watch them play! He is already learning to swing a cricket bat and I imagine him playing in the parks  with the other boys soon.. well in a few years. :) 

Whew.. that is a lot of GREAT memories in just a handful of days! 

We're further than we've ever been from everything we've ever known but walking closer with God than we ever have and that makes ALL the difference! It makes the bad things good and the good things great. I'm so thankful to serve a God who is so wonderful!! 

A typical friday

I've been meaning to write a blog on a typical day for us for a while but I'm not good at remembering to take the pictures all day long.. haha. I even forgot some important parts of today but for the most part I was able to capture what a typical Friday looks like for our family and I'm glad to share it with you! :) 

Every day starts with Luke making eggs for Ezra and I. Yes I am blessed with a husband who knows how to cook and is so willing to continually serve us. I have become SO much more appreciative of this quality now in India because men here do not cook, clean etc. ever. I've taken it for granted these last few years but whew.. I am blessed!! 

Cheese doesn't come in shredded form here so he even shreds cheese into our eggs.. so sweet! 

After breakfast we get ready for the day and our house helper/friend Anu comes to stay with Ezra while we go to language class. I meant to get a picture of she and Ezra but I forgot.  I also meant to get a picture of us with our language helpers.. but again.. I forgot. Whoops! Our language class takes place in the home of our teachers - a brother (for Luke) and sister (for me). They live in a colony about 5 minutes away. We have class from about 9am to 1pm. We are really seeing progress and are SO thankful!! 

After class we head back home. Fridays are "family fun friday" so we try to find something new and fun to do in the city. We heard of a place about 30 minutes North of us that was a mall/waterpark/ride park type area. We weren't sure what it would be but decided to check it out. 

We hail an auto.. tell the driver the area we want to go to and they almost always know where it is.. it's amazing how much of the city they know! This is an easy and inexpensive way to travel around longer distances. We love it! 

Ezra likes driving around in India because he never has to sit in a car seat or with a seat belt.. They don't exist here. haha Don't worry we hold on to him tightly! 

The "metro walk mall" turned out to be a neat place. It was an outdoor mall that had a several great shops and food places including pizza hut, mcdonalds, and baskin robbins. :) 

Behind the mall was a large pond/lake that had paddle boats and a miniature six flags type area called "adventure island." It looked fun but Ezra isn't quite old enough to enjoy it yet.. but soon! 

We walked around and found a mirror maze. It was crazy and Ezra was so confused.. haha. 

Ezra loves looking at lakes - especially if they have ducks in them! 

They even have a large squirt fountain that we will probably play in this summer when it is hot, hot, hot! 

No trip is complete without some ice cream.. especially Baskin Robbins ice cream. 

Ezra took a hard nap on the way home. Autos have that perfect bumpy soothing rhythm.. but everyone is honking the whole time so I don't know how he slept. haha He is growing up so much and has gotten fun but I'm thankful for these moments when I look over and still see my little baby. 

 When we're home we spend a lot of time on our big comfy carpet playing with Ezra. Ezra loves to play "clean out daddy's wallet."

We have a little pool of toys and balls in the living room and Ezra throws, rolls, catches the balls all day long. Luke is also really good at making time to get on the floor with Ezra to play.

After a while Ezra was ready for another nap, Luke went to work out and I started making dinner. We usually would try to study Hindi for the hour or two that Ezra naps but that just didn't make it in the schedule today. :) 

Beef is illegal here (Hindus worship cows) so we eat ALOT of chicken! Tonight we had italian baked chicken, green beans, potatoes and a fruit salad. The fruit is from a can-  one of the 5 cans available in the store. Oh the day of opening cans and boxes to make a meal.. what a dream! haha Actually making dinner hasn't taken up that much more time as before, our options are just more limited. But we've been able to make a 2 week schedule of great meals so no complaints here :) 

Ezra and Luke loved dinner... there are few things more satisfying for a mom/wife as making a GREAT dinner. I'm sure you other ladies understand :) 

After dinner Luke had plans to watch a cricket game with a friend so he left and I saw some of my friends in the neighborhood at the park across the street so Ezra and I went to play. There were 2 other little ones Ezra's same age and about 5 older boys that play so sweet with the babies. :) 

Once we came inside we played a little more, skyped with my parents for a bit, and then I put Ezra to bed. Indians eat dinner around 8-11 pm and go to sleep around 12-2am. We won't ever adopt the Indian way completely but we are trying to move our schedule more that direction. 

That's pretty much our Fridays here in India. They are very productive and very fun! 

We have been so blessed to have this season of concentrating on language so that we can really share truth in people's heart language and still have time to explore the community, make friends and enjoy lots of quality family time.