A Christmas First

Carter during his program.

 This year we had a Christmas First... Carter participated in a school program for all the parents. We weren't exactly sure what to expect (since we are new to preschool, new to Hungary, and new to school programs) but we were pleasantly surprised! The entire class was dressed as characters from the Nativity story and Carter was an angel. The class sang songs and recited poems (in Hungarian, of course!) and Carter even shared a Christmas poem in English for everyone! Afterward, there were cookies and tea for all the parents and children.

One of the things that did surprise us, was the incorporation of the Christmas story in a public school - something that isn't seen these days in the United States. They lit an Advent Wreath and sang about Baby Jesus. It really is a testament to how disconnected people have become with religion here, that it is celebrated in the schools, but not in their hearts.

Carter was excited to give me (Corinne) a hand-decorated votive holder and cookies that they worked on in class. We had prepared some American favorites (chocolate chip cookies) to give to each of his teachers. We feel so blessed to have such caring and understanding teachers in Carter's class. They both are so patient with Carter's language limitations (and ours as well!). Carter wanted to have his picture taken with each of them before we left. It was his last day of class before he starts Christmas break.

Carter and Miss Anniko

Carter and Miss Kriszti

I'll Have a Blue Christmas (without you)...

The past few weeks of holidays and prep for Christmas has put me on a bit of an emotional roller coaster. I read this quote on a friends blog and it pretty much puts into words what I have so much trouble explaining to others.

"changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.” 

~Anatole France

Coming to Hungary was a longed for change, a passion we feel even today...but with it came the death of our lives before. The relationships we have with our friends and family back home are cherished and will never completely die, but are a loss to us none-the-less. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, especially, we long for those love ones who are many, many miles away.

Some of those holiday memories left behind...

November Winds

For some reason, unexplainable to me, the month of November has completely FLOWN by. I blame it on the cold November winds that seem to have swept through Hungary. We have had a very busy month and it wasn't until today when I was completing "Month End" treasurer work, that I realized our blog posts had skipped a few weeks. So....here are some of the happenings from November.

November 8th, I celebrated my birthday. The weekend before, I enjoyed chocolate peanut butter cheesecake! And on the day of my birthday, Jonathan got a sitter and we went to dinner at TGI Fridays (our little American getaway!).  Carter had a very difficult time understanding why mommy didn't get to have a party, a cake, and lots presents for him to help me open :) When we were out shooting some yearly pics of the boys, Jonathan managed to capture a few of me that I thought were nice.

Just a few short days later it was time to celebrate another Long birthday... this time for Grant! On the 11th we celebrated Grant's 2nd Birthday with a monkey themed family party. A local bakery provided the cutest monkey cupcakes ever! Grant really enjoyed the presents, the cake, and all the fun!

Not very long after we cleared the cake, it was time to start preparing for Thanksgiving. No, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Hungary...but we do! We planned to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for the Friday Night Bible study. We baked pies, cooked turkey, and added all the trimmings and were so pleased to have 20 young adults for our Thanksgiving celebration! Carter and Grant were a big help getting everything ready for the meal.

We rounded of the Thanksgiving festivities with an all-church pitch-in Sunday after service. We were pleased to have several visitors and another delicious meal. Sanyi preached a great sermon, and many people commented on what a nice day it was.

Now if we can catch our breath for just a moment, December starts tomorrow - and that means I only have 24 days left before Christmas!!

Busy little bee,
Corinne