New use for the garage

This is an update on our Making Our All-Concrete Yard into Something Liveable project. Remember the garage the guys demolished a few weeks ago? Well, this is what the place looks like now. Not a huge improvement, but we are enjoying it. :)

As you can see, Oliver loves his little pool, which we bought today. Indeed, summer has arrived and instead of having the radiators on, we now have fans on full-blast (especially in the rooms where the pregnant lady is trying to survive the heat :)

We also have a few chairs and a table outside, so we have eaten there a few times and looking forward to inviting people over and having a cookout. The best thing is that this part of our yard is completely private! Not that we have anything to hide, but you don't want all the neighbors (and their many dogs) staring at your dinner! :)

Name the baby contest

We just wanted to update you on the baby's development. As my father-in-law likes to say, there is progress! :) (see photo). I am 7 months along, so we have around 10 weeks left before the baby comes. Thankfully except for being more uncomfortable, I have no major problems.

As for names, we are still working on them! We do have some we both like, but we are open to more ideas! Because we are not finding out the sex and the names have to work in both languages, our job is a little difficult. So if you are feeling creative, help us!!! Send us your baby name suggestions!!! If you are not familiar with names in both languages, that's no problem.

You can leave a comment here or send us an e-mail. If you suggest a name we end up picking, you will receive an amount of fine Hungarian chocolate (or baby carrots, if you're on a diet! :) equal to the baby's birth weight!!! (We stole this idea from our dear friends Tony and Debbie Lemmon - thanks guys!) Just to encourage you, Oliver weighed 3.98 kg (8lb 12oz) at birth! :)

Looking forward to your great ideas!

Matthew, Melinda, Oliver, and the Little Anonymous Baby :)

Pre-school Bible club

Today we had the priviledge to help out at the pre-school Bible club one of the ladies of our church leads. Gabi (she is the one wearing a red shirt) is an amazing person, full of energy and on fire for the Lord and shines brightly in the pre-school she teaches at. All the children come from atheistic backgrounds, so this Bible club is probably the only place they get the chance to hear about God.

We walked to a nice area by a lake, had a picnic lunch, sang a few Bible songs and did some games for the kids. At the end, all the kids received a colorful Childrens' Bible and of course some candy. :)

Oliver also had a great time and enjoyed the big kids' company. We hope to be able to participate in more events in the future and support

Cherry picking

Last weekend was a holiday in Hungary (Pentecost), so we went to visit Melinda's family in Budapest. My mom, Julia, is recuperating after foot surgery, and believe it or not, she loved having us all around (including the two active grandsons :). She can walk quite well (though the surgery was on both feet), but she gets a bad headache every time she sits up - possibly because of all the medication. So she spent most of the weekend on the couch, enjoying full-service dining and of course quality entertainment by the two little guys.

We had a good time together, including a game night, some good discussions, and a visit to the Museum of Transportation, which Milan and Oliver loved.

Even though the weather has been very cold in this part of the world (we turned the heating back on - in June!!!), the weekend had some nice hours. One of the things we did was attack my parents' big cherry tree that was loaded with fruit! Most everyone (well, except my mom) got on a ladder or on a branch and picked and picked...and ate a lot too! :) Here is a picture of all three of us in the tree.

Wheels #2

Well, we had to catch up with our Budapest relatives! Matthew has wanted to purchase a bycicle for a while, so that we would have a "second vehicle" in the family. After some extensive research, he bought one, along with a kid's seat and helmet (which Oliver calls "hubcat" - as in "hubcap" - for some reason :).

So now the boys can go for rides! The only thing missing is real spring and summer weather. It has been cool and rainy recently, so a couple of times Matthew and Oliver had to turn around and race back to the house so they wouldn't get soaked in the rain! :)

Baby news! :)

Many of you know Matthew's brother and his wife, Aaron and Jennifer. They are serving as humanitarian workers in Central Asia and they also were able to visit us this spring! :) They are more than family to us, we are very close and have shared wonderful times together in our Fort Wayne home, Bristol, Yosemite Valley, San Fransisco, and even in Chain-O-Lakes State Park (see picture).

Well, Aaron and Jen called the other day to announce that they are expecting their first baby in December!!! We were so excited for them and were just rejoicing by the computer (well, maybe not as much as another family member, who screamed so loud she got Skype disconnected! :)

They will be home for the birth from early November for about 6 months, so of course we are timing our visit to be able to spend time with them and our baby niece/nephew! :) We'll let you know about the details as we make decisions.

Please pray for Aaron and Jen, the Lord's protection over this pregnancy (modern clinics are not exactly on every street corner in their country) and their work in Asia.

Thanks!

The proud aunt, uncle, and cousin(s)

Wheels

Oliver loves to spend time with Melinda's parents, also known as Nagyi and Papa. In fact he is with them now for 2 days. Melinda is trying to finish up her work for a graduate degree in the summer, so her parents take Oliver sometimes so she can work.

Here we wanted to show you the new way of transportation Oliver uses. He just hops on and Papa takes him to the playground or to the tracks to look at trains. What a life! :)

Garage #1 - D-Day

Yesterday we invited Joska, Sandi, Kyle and Lynnette over for lunch. They also serve here in Hungary with OM. (Kyle and Lynnette's blog is worth visiting. Because of their fresh arrival to Hungary, they have a keen eye for cultural differences.)

Anyway, we told the boys to bring their hammers and nail pullers. We started the project of the renovating our yard - which currently is 80% covered with garages and concrete.

Garage #1 is now gone and I think that, at least for this summer, we have a terrace to hang out on.

So check out the photo album Garage #1 to see some photos. Thanks for looking.

~matthew

Easter Post Cards

We have known Arpi and Kata Miklos for quite a while - like 12 years now. But I would have never know, unless someone had told me, that Kata has quite an artistic gift. And you also would never have known - that's why I'm telling you know.

Check out her web site here.

We like her colors so much that we not only have a few on our wall, but we sent out a bunch of them in post card form to thank our support team and wish them a happy Easter. So if you received one, you'll be interested to check out the rest of her portfolio. And if you didn't get one, but would like to, just drop us a note and we'll send you one - while supplies last, of course.

Something about being understood

I just wanted to write this entry and help those of you in mono-lingual places understand something of the principle and somewhat complicated application of I Corinthians 14. The principle is this: everything should be understood by everyone present - as far as it is possible. This is a principle we cling to.

That's why at the Bible study in Ofalu last Tuesday, we were doing a lot of translating. There was a visiting group of Gypsies from Scandinavia passing through on a mission trip. They would normally be ministering in the Roma (Gypsy) language. But in Ofalu, few of the gypsies speak Roma. So it happened that when two of the men gave their testimonies - in Finnish! - it was translated to English, and finally to Hungarian - so that all present could understand.

That's also why I was translated three times last Wednesday at the Tatabanya Bible study. We had English speakers and two deaf ladies, along with all the Hungarians. The two deaf ladies had different needs, however: one used sign language, the other read lips. So, I taught in English, Melinda translated to Hungarian, and a signer signed. Melinda was not able to be close enough to the lip reader, so she also had her own personal "translator" who "lipped" silently the Bible study. Pretty wild, eh?

Incidentally, following the Bible study, Melinda and I were speaking with the deaf ladies. Melinda was curious and asked if I had an "accent." The one lady smiled and said, "yes." So, even though she could not hear what I was saying or how I spoke Hungarian, she could see from my lips that I was not a native Hungarian speaker! I never would've imagined!

So there it is - a principle in action. We wouldn't say this is "normal" for us, but it is not uncommon either.