Familie-unterwegs

"I am nice"

2010-06-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

This boy tells us he is nice. And he is right.

"Mom. Would you snuggle me up?"

"Let's play nice fish."

"Let's play I am a nice bear and I do talk."

"Yes, I am nice."

His daddy asked if he wanted to play camper and bear one day. This is a game that has been played with other boys in this house. I suppose you can guess what a bear would do with a camper.

Why don't you think about that for a moment?

Silas wanted to be the bear.

This bear snuggled up and slept with the camper. Yes, he is nice.

All five of them again

2010-05-15T22:02:00.001-07:00

They all just happened to be sitting there on the couch. Miriam was in a very happy mood. Jake was ready to smile nicely. Eli would have, if only Sammy would stop letting that balloon go off in Eli's face. Si would look great, if only he hadn't rubbed a sooty hand across his eyes when helping me make a fire that morning. And if Sammy could manage to look at the camera and stop messing with that balloon...

...it's life around here. How do you like the rip in Eli's shorts? The dirt on Jake's jeans? Sammy's socks? Can we say "play clothes"? It's a novelty I didn't grow up with. Steve did. My play clothes were my leotards for gymnastics. Steve spent his play time in clothes such as you see here (minus the pink booties).

May

2010-05-08T22:35:00.001-07:00

Whenever Si gets hurt, he has a few things which help him.

1) A kiss.

2) Shaking the hurt body part. "No, it okay. I just shake it."

3) A sock.

An unfortunate treadmill accident prompted the need for a sock during breakfast. It made him feel much better!

Jake turned 11 last month. Here's the only picture we ended up taking. I'm so bad at birthday pictures. Every year I lament that I never took a picture of the party guests. Poor Jake ... not the greatest shot. But it does highlight his choice of play clothes and the damage done to the back of the cake by Silas prior to the frosting. It was unable to be repaired.

Jake took a couple friends to a local indoor skate park for his birthday. Steve skateboarded, too, and they had a great time.

Speaking of Daddy ... oh boy ... this makes my heart hurt from happiness:

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T06:43:00.000-07:00

Well, this picture fills me with pride. After all, this is 9am on Easter morning while Steve was on shift. Everyone had their egg hunt, their special Easter breakfast, is completely clean, the breakfast casserole to take to church was cooked, the house was clean and they are all smiling! It was a minor miracle.

And, Sammy is smiling a natural smile instead of the silly faces he normally makes.
And here is a bald little butterball on her very first Easter. I haven't ever put anyone in pink eyelet and a bow on Easter morning. Or tights. Or bloomers. It's fun.

If she can find this!

2010-03-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

If Miriam can only find this on a regular basis, I think life will be pretty happy around here. Forgive me for being excited about a possible thumbsucker. We haven't ever had one of those ... so unhygienic, so cute.

Mim

2010-03-11T10:04:00.001-08:00

How do you like these ruffles? Can you see the bow on her head? Yep, we have a girl. :)

Life at our house

2010-03-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

On Valentine's Day, Sammy announced that Miriam was his valentine.

He later told me that Miriam had a smelly diaper.

I promptly went to change her, only to discover his little trick. She wasn't smelly, but here is a picture of what I found zipped in her jammies (with Eli's name substituted since he pulled a copycat later in the day and that's when I took a picture). I wonder how crinkly and uncomfortable it was? She didn't seem to mind a bit.

She already has admirers. I'm so glad they are her brothers and daddy.

We received a special delivery recently. Right to our doorstep. It was a Silas. The little boys took turns being taped inside the box and then having me summoned to the door to open my package.

Three months

2010-02-26T07:45:00.000-08:00

Miriam is three months old. Smiley and sweet and social. She learned to giggle, but things are only funny once to her. So don't count on a repeat laugh, as often as you try. She seems to be settling into a pattern and rhythm. She is so loved, it's unbelievable. She snuggles. She sleeps okay (but is growing, so that sleep is a bit compromised recently). Her naps are improving. She weighs 13 pounds to the ounce. Her eyes won't decide on their color, although blue seems the most predominant. She found her hands. I think it is so funny when she just stares at her fist. She is grabbing things and is as uncoordinated about it as most babies are at this age. I love the "misses" when she tries for something and her hands snap together with nothing between them.

Someone didn't want to be left out of the "I'm three months old" pictures.

And wanted his own. I guess we'll call this, "I'm three and a half years old." Because he is. He turned 3 1/2 on Sammy's birthday. Their birthdays are six months apart to the day.

Six!

2010-02-25T12:04:00.000-08:00

Sammy turned six this month. Last year, when being 5 years old was pretty shiny, I made him promise to turn five again this year. I thought I could have this five year old unchanged for two years - you know, pickle him for awhile.

I love watching our children grow up. Children are delightful (and other things, of course). Every year, I still love them dearly, and the new year brings new treasured times with them. But there is something about looking at your child and knowing the way they say those words, their mannerisms, even the cells in their body are being gradually replaced. Sure, it is the same soul in the changing body. But I know I'll never see that particular child again other than in digital form.

I have a dear older friend and mentor who says she misses those days when all her children were under one roof and she could provide what they needed and know that they were safe. I know I'll miss these years, too. I already do, really.

And this little guy who requested a candy cake and had his candles blown out before the song was over (before they had even been lit long enough to show their "magic" and relight) - he holds a special place in my heart. Happy Birthday, Samuel!

As a side note: here's a great way to be able to entertain your baby sister when your mom won't let you hold her.

She likes it.

Look!

2010-02-17T06:50:00.000-08:00

It's a girl! I'm not used to talking about "my daughter", and the newness hasn't worn off a bit. She is three months old now, and we adore her. Silas calls her "Mim". So the boys have taken to that little nickname as well, in spite of the fact that Silas insists that he is saying "Miriam".

We are so thankful for her.

A little school

2010-02-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

We have a homeschool co-op of four families which meets twice a month to do science experiments and geography. We really enjoy each family. We moms take turns handling each section, making for a nice break.

For geography, we are moving continent by continent. At the end of every unit, each child must present a report on something of their choice from the continent studied. It's been a really good experience for them to be in front of a small crowd.

Sammy's first report was a laugh. Literally. That's all he did. He giggled and barely said anything about the Indonesian houses he had studied. As a mom, it was all I could do to keep myself in my seat and not go "help" him. I silently suffered, pretending he was in a classroom and had to fend for himself a bit. I wanted to avoid what I think is a disadvantage of homeschooling; Mommy always being there to assist you. I try to be quite unhelpful now and then.

Sammy chose the Alps for his second report when we covered Europe. He loved painting his prop. And he did a fine job actually giving the report. We were proud of him for working so hard on what he was going to say. It was a big improvement. Of course, he didn't have far to go to improve from his previous laughfest!

Eli's European report was on Spain. His favorite things to tell about were their enormous annual tomato fight and the Running of the Bulls. He must be a boy. Like Sammy, he did much better the second time around.

Jake chose Austria. Being in fifth grade, he had a little more work to do and complained nearly every step of the way. From the research and notetaking to the rough and final draft writing and finally the practicing of giving the actual report, he realized just how much work goes into a full report. He almost bailed at the last second and then fully enjoyed it. I don't have a picture because his report was a size that could be saved. That's my way of getting rid of salt dough maps and other unwieldy projects: take a picture.

Miriam's job is to be an appreciate audience. But I just deleted her picture by accident. I'll pop it in next time.

Do you see what I see?

2010-02-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

I guess it was only a matter of time. And not that much time, apparently. Would someone please tell me where young boys find beetles in the dead of winter? This picture was taken at the beginning of January. I wanted to be horrified. But what can you do? At least they didn't feed it to her.

What color will those eyes be?

2010-01-20T22:07:00.000-08:00

After three brown and one hazel ... a momma with blue and a daddy with brown ... what will Miriam have? When each baby was born, Grandma Jan would announce that THIS baby would have blue eyes. She's been wrong every time. Until possibly now.

A hard year and a great wedding gift

2010-01-16T12:34:00.000-08:00

On our wedding day twelve years ago, my Uncle Bruce and Aunt Jen wrapped us a box of Christmas ornaments as our gift. It was a delightful gift to open and use. That little box was actually where we acquired our oft-repaired Christmas pickle which has brought lots of fun for four boys. And for a newly-married couple, having something to put on our Christmas tree was wonderful. We hung those, added a few of our own and tied bows made from Christmas fabric on all the empty branches.

There is one ornament in particular from that box that has seen a little hardship over the twelve years. The lovely couple has lost their heads.

I still have those missing heads wrapped in paper in one of our Christmas storage containers. And I still hang our headless ice skaters every year, wondering why I feel compelled to hang a broken ornament.

When I was packing the headless couple away this year, I showed them to Steve. He took one look and said, "It's been a hard year."I giggled, but he was right. It has been. Insomnia for Steve - the complete exhaustion of this pregnancy for me - the extra work of adding on to our home - the boys having a lot of trouble with all our transitions - multiple extra stressors for Steve ... I could go on, but it was just really hard and stressful.

I was thinking this year about my reason for loving that ornament so much. I really think that, to me, it represents our marriage. We made a point in our wedding ceremony of saying the old vows that we didn't think should be considered old-fashioned. "Til death do us part." And we meant them. We know the other person is broken, but we don't turn on them when life is hard. Instead we still go on actively loving them. I'm not going to trade one broken person for another. I'm going to go through life as a team with the one I promised to be a partner to.

Almost midnight

2010-01-02T23:31:00.000-08:00

A new mommy of five not sleepy? I really don't know why. We had an active night with our children and three little visitors darting around along with one crying Miriam. But I'm wide awake (and really thankful that Miriam does seem to be improving with me beginning to cut out dairy products).

Speaking of her, here is a sweet sight of Miriam with her pink calico pig which Grandma Mary made it for her. I love it. I can't wait until Miriam can fully enjoy it. Grandma Mary is so special to each of her grandchildren. And she probably doesn't even know just how special she is to her daughter-in-law. I think it's especially fitting that she made Miri a pig. The boys have been calling their sister "Little Snort", because she does just that.

And a not-so-pretty sight -

It's fake. But it's funny. To me anyway. You'll have to ask our nephew just how funny it is to him. We left the four boys with him and his sister (our niece, of course) while we attended a Christmas party. From what I hear, they were having a great time, and when a spill occurred, they took these funny pictures of the boys pretending to vomit.

Not long after ...

... they started vomiting for real. What kind of a babysitter actually cleans your children's vomit for you? The poor guy caught the stomach virus along with the rest of us within a little over 48 hours. And then he moved out of our house.

Amos

2009-12-31T09:50:00.000-08:00

Here we find Amos, happily playing in the snow that he loves. I just wish this dog didn't shed. He's pretty cute. Until he requires more cleaning around the house than five children do. The boys know he's on thin ice. They've been offering to pay for all his care. Little do they know, it's not the money.

Mine

2009-12-30T08:57:00.000-08:00

If you have ever been able to visit, you know that Steve and I like to let our guests hold our baby. But it is a challenge, because Sammy does not like to let you hold our baby. Before you get a chance to have us offer a hold, he'll already be in my ear asking for her. If you get close to her with intentions of taking a baby, he'll ask you if he can hold her first. If you think you're pretty hot stuff and actually take your chance to hold her, he will hover around you, kissing her, touching her and saying, "Can I hold her? Because she is MINE." You will feel highly uncomfortable with saying 'no' and not quite know what to do. We will call him over and ask him to stop ... but he is a slippery little thing and will find some other way to pester you.

Until he gets what he wants.

A little something

2009-11-23T16:31:00.000-08:00

I've had this little draft sitting in my posts for a long time. So I'll use it. Here are some pictures of Miriam when she was one or two weeks old. I'd have to look in my files to see and since she came down with her first cold this morning, I'm not taking time to do it.

Miriam has been a perfect joy to all of us. She is loved by everyone and snuggled and overly smothered with kisses and hugs and holds by the two youngers. They are all quite patient with her if she cries. Sammy asks anyone who is holding her, "Can I hold her? Because she is MINE." And Silas repeats over and over again, "Tan I hol' him? Tan I hol' him?"

A little sleep smile that was the precursor of all the real smiles we are getting these days. Miriam is a very social little girl. She seems to have smiled and cooed earlier than any of the other babies. She prefers to be held nearly 24 hours out of each day. Plenty of us here are happy to comply.

Steve took three weeks off work when Miri was born. It was just right to keep me from getting as sick as I have with our first three babies. We also had a lovely Christmas as a family. The addition has reached a relaxing point now that our carpet was placed two days before Christmas. The boys are moved into their rooms. The things that remain aren't on a time deadline other than me wanting to park the van in the garage again.

We're spending this week playing with our family Christmas gift ... ping pong ... and doing cleaning and organizing. It would also be nice to have a few days where chores and breakfast are all completed by 8:30 before next week arrives and school begins again.

Our little arrival

2009-11-13T08:12:00.000-08:00

We are so pleased to welcome our precious little girl. The whip cream (not the cherry, because I don't like those) on the ice cream sundae that is four boys.

Miriam Aleda Grace Vossler was born Wednesday afternoon on Veteran's Day (we think she chose that in honor of her uncle, USAF Captain Joel Gietzen) at 4:42pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 10oz.

I get discharged this morning to one proud papa and four excited boys. These boys have only seen their sister through Skype. That was a lot of fun. Silas and Sammy just wanted to see the baby and bring her home right then (hours old). Eli bounced around the room hollering, "We have a baby! This is so exciting! I think I'm going to faint! This is the best day of her LIFE!" And Jake got a sweet smile and said, "I love her already."

This year's flu craziness limited me to all but two visitors total and no children. Steve thanked me for choosing him to be one of my visitors. :)

Before they come, I'll tell you that Miri is our Grandma Girl, named after her wonderful and God-loving grandmothers. Her name goes like this ~

Steve's mother is Mary ~ Miriam
My great grandmother's and my mother's middle names are Aleda ~ Aleda
My mother's name means "grace" ~ Grace

Welcome, sweet Miriam! You are so loved. We never expected a little girl to round out our family. Your brothers are so excited to finally see you and hold you. They are arguing over who gets to hold you first. Eli suggested that they all hold you at once like people lining up to hold a crocodile, but you're not THAT long. They are also discussing who gets to sit by you in the van that is now full to the brim. I have a feeling their devotion will never end.

Little bits

2009-10-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

Sammy got his first taste of an organized sport this fall. He was on a kindergarten soccer team with his best friend and really, really loved it. Today was his last game. But he has already located an ad in our paper for indoor soccer lessons and is begging for those.

When he grows up, Sammy wants to be a firefighter like Daddy. As far as we can ascertain, this is because the fire stations have a stash of red licorice. But having the building going on all summer around here has added a lot more to his career aspirations. He calls his new career "Worker". This includes all the aspects of building - from concrete to electrical to grout. He gets all dressed up, goes outside and knocks on our front door. He has arrived for work. Silas usually joins in.

When not working, these two are usually dismantling my couches. It never fails that they spread the cushions everywhere at the same time that I need to sweep. That means I not only need to sweep, but I need to vacuum the couches ... again.

And, we can't forget the first day of school ---------------- for our nephew. I can't believe I didn't actually take first day of school pictures of my four boys! They were dressed in their most ragged clothes and so I meant to make them change and get photographed later in the day. I should have caught them while dirty. That's real.

Silas calls these his "babies" or his "boys" (just like I refer to them all as "my boys"). He has quite an array. The baby doll, courtesy of some dear friends, is his favorite. He takes pretty good care of them all. They are always covered up at night. And he only peed on the baby doll once. Little sister better watch out. Speaking of her, only four weeks to go!

New additions

2009-09-27T16:10:00.001-07:00

A little update to catch myself up on what we've been doing around here.

In August, we had the new addition of a three year old. Silas had a birthday. Four big cousins and one wonderful grandpa happened to be here on the occasion. Si was delighted with his party, but refused to claim big boy status until the following month when he condescended to wear underwear. That has been wildly successful and we aren't allowed to call him "little" anymore. His mom is just fine with the new addition of "unnerwear" as she knows that more diapers will be newly added soon.

Turning three means you get to go to a class at church, instead of the nursery. He is thrilled to be joining his very own "tass". His Sunday School teacher commented to me that he seems to be quite a compliant child. Funny she should mention it. After all, she had Sammy before she had Si. Oh, wait ....

We have another new addition here. No, not the baby. No, not the house. It's the boys' new big brother. Well, that's what we call him. He's the nephew in the back/middle of Si's bday picture. Ariel http://www.arielsaleh.blogspot.com/ moved in with us a little over a week ago and we are privileged to have him here! (whisper) he. does. dishes.

Missing in the picture is Jake, who was able to travel to England with my parents at that time.

Here's a shot of another of our new additions. This one IS the house. It's taken a lot of time and energy, but we are thankful every day that Steve decided not to contract it himself. The end is beginning to be in sight. Please tell our contractor that it better be before another new addition's due date; you know the baby sister!

Our annual trip (and much needed rest) at the Bend Fire cabin on Elk Lake wasn't nearly as full of frogs this year as it was full of these:

Steve took the boys on their yearly backpack trip. They had a great time together and came back home full of memories and plans to one day hike the Pacific Crest Trail. The big boys are hoping Sammy becomes more diligent in the hiking department. He was sooooooooooooooo slow.

Pokey and his puppy.

Any new additions at your house?

I Will Not Be Afraid

2009-08-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

There they are ... hollering "Fear Not!" They were a great bunch of children and we had a really fun week with them. I might have looked like a complete goofball as a pregnant songleader, but I survived the hit to my pride. And for the first time ever I think I actually did this without a little one who needed mommy. Even Super Tired Silas (falling asleep on his leader) didn't beg for me when I was up on stage.

Our church day camp includes getting regularly soaked, making actual art for crafts (instead of the suggested ones) and ending with a killer carnival.

In addition to the kind of fun which we can find at the fair or the park, I'm pretty picky about what you can't find just anywhere; accuracy to the Bible in the songs and content. This year, the curriculum we chose needed a few revisions, but in all honesty it wasn't too bad. The core message was lack of fear. I was thinking about that and realized that children really do live in fearful times. Studies show that children are quite afraid of terrorists, melting glaciers, being kidnapped, tsunamis and lost polar bears.

Even our freshly turned 3 year old has his little bitty fears. He is scared of Zartog on Space Chimps, drowning in our pool, being thrown in the air (and avoids all people he knows will do it), ....

But I was reading this morning and saw this loved verse, "... free those who through fear of death ..." There's more to it, way more. But it's that part that caught my eye. Freed from the results of fearing death. Pretty much all our fears have to do with some form of death or pain. They can trap us. Maybe we won't fly in airplanes, visit dangerous places or live in the "wrong" part of town. We might not even let our child walk on a waist high railing or climb trees.

If we go up the page a couple lines from that verse we see that Jesus died to take away the power of death from the real live devil. The power that death has over us is GONE. Believing that Jesus actually died to take away death - it makes us know-know-know that we need not fear. We should be fearless. Smart, but fearless.

Does that mean I don't wonder if Steve will get trapped in a fire? I do. Do I have to remind myself that we are guided by God and nothing will happen apart from his plan? I have to do that, too.

But, the next time you see Eli up a tree ...

I thought Violet

2009-07-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

I thought Violet was supposed to be a bad example! Do you remember Violet from the old "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"? The one who endlessly chewed gum and stored it behind her ear?

Eli thought that was a marvelous idea. In spite of my protests, I see him walking past me now and then with a wad of pink or green flashing out from behind an ear. Even though it's been going on for some time, I still do a double-take at each sighting.

I discovered yesterday that it seems he always uses the same ear. Due to all the dirt from our addition excavation (the boys play in it as endlessly as Violet chewed gum), Eli's gum location has collected dirt. At some point in time, gum obviously stayed stuck. Now there is a small, disgusting spot of caked on gum and dirt behind his ear lobe.

How in the world do you remove that? I'll take any ideas I can. Because it looks really gross.

In other news, we are doing our best to kick what appears to be a resistant strep from our family with our church day camp looming on Monday (and two parents in charge of various parts of that camp). And the last thing I want is to have Jake end up with strep. After all, he leaves shortly for a two week trip to England to visit my brother and family with my parents. That would be a much bigger bummer than Eli's gummed ear.

First the dirt

2009-07-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

In order to re-side the back of our house, we had to rip up our deck. We didn't want to replace it because of the upkeep, thus we decided upon the "easy" task of building a new patio. Well, Steve was the builder. I made lemonade.

After getting everything built/propped/fixed - along came the dirt. Doesn't Jake look as if he is sizing up the job they're doing? He probably is.

The truck.

The dirt.

The child who was allowed to help pack the dirt down.

My child was NOT barefoot while helping operate that large, powerful machine.

And next will come the "tontrete" (as Sammy calls it).

Beeto

2009-07-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

It's possible Silas gets more than his fair share of blog exposure, but when you're two years old (three in a few short weeks!) - it's fair.

These are from earlier this spring when Silas joined me in my bed with a little treat. I decided to remain and enjoy the show. His little treasure entertained him for more than an hour.

I present to you, "Beeto".

Beeto had a happy life. Beeto lived in a little, yellow, Lego boat with Lego men. It was also a busy life. Everything out, everything in; over and over again. I most enjoyed watching Silas as he carefully fitted the Lego men into the boat and then had to search around for where Beeto had gotten himself in the ensuing time. Beeto never escaped while in his slippery home. Here's a slightly blurry picture of Home Sweet Beeto Home.

Beeto seems to make his appearance almost daily. (Don't tell Silas they aren't all the same Beeto) In fact, Beeto has been a joy for all of our little boys. One of our favorite poems stars Beeto, called "Forgiven" http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/songs/mmilne-forgiven.htm .

Chatting with Silas is a joy for us. Ever since he decided English was his primary language and began speaking it (thus stopping his screaming), his little voice left behind its raspy sound and I still melt whenever I hear it.

43 seconds for your enjoyment, if you so wish:

Puppy love

2009-07-11T12:14:00.000-07:00

Silas absolutely loves our dog, Amos. I love seeing him stand next to Amos, arm draped across his back, staring off together into the distance. They move every time I try to get that shot, but this one suits me just fine ... we can even see some of the torn up deck that got turned into a new patio this week. It's so great to have that job done. Of course, now our fence is partly taken down to make room for the addition we are putting on the house. And that "adorable" dog? He thinks it's a free ticket to play the neighborhood. At least he isn't shedding on my floor while he's roaming.

Ten!

2009-06-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

Steve took Jake canoe camping last week as a special trip to mark Jake's tenth birthday. They canoed from Wickiup Reservoir down the Deschutes River, camping one night along the way.

Jake was slightly pleased to have caught himself a fish on Day 1.

Okay, more than slightly. It was a 20-inch brown trout. Not bad. Not bad. Eli made sure to rub it in by double-checking multiple times with Steve about his OWN fishing luck over the two days. Feel free to ask Steve's opinion of fishing. (insert your own mental paragraph break since blogger won't do it for me)

Jake was also delighted to discover that the fish didn't fit in the pan. He said they ate so much that he felt sick. In spite of a few downpours, they had a great time. Our other boys are definitely looking forward to their own special trip when they turn 10.

Maybe in the summer

2009-05-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

Jake is our survivor ... he wants to live in the woods all alone, fishing and scavenging plants for food - and has often begged for the chance to do so. This spring, Steve finally decided to let him have a go. Being that he is at least a tiny bit responsible, Steve decided to go with him as an emergency buffer (and so we wouldn't get reported to the authorities by any curious onlookers who might see a grown man dropping a ten year old off in the national forest).

The deal was made that he wouldn't offer any help to Jake at all unless there was an emergency (for instance, cougars or drowning or hypothermia or...). Jake finally agreed to such stringent regulations after it was pointed out to him that Steve wouldn't even TALK to him. It still allowed him to be on his own with his own tent, own supplies, own survival skills.

He does know quite a bit about such things and has poured over his book of wilderness survival (we have definitely decided to sign him up for Scouts!) - but he didn't quite count on our May weather. Here they are, ready to embark in our fancy '92 Subaru.

The day was slushing ... not raining or snowing ... it was slushing. The snow was still deep at that elevation. If it had only been cold, they would have fared better. However, it was definitely in that terrible, miserable, sopping wet, hypothermia-inducing, feet sinking kind of slush.

Before they had even finished backpacking into a good site, Jake was soaked. Having expected nice, springlike conditions (with plenty of bugs to eat!) ... Jake wisely realized that this was not a good set up and teamed up with Steve.

Even our outdoor hero, Steve, couldn't start a fire. At that point, the prospect of spending the night and more didn't seem so great. They decided on a good plan.

They headed back down to Bend and a visit to Izzy's for the hungry survivors. Jake returned home after a trip to (close your ears, union supporters) WalMart to buy the b-b gun that we had decided he would be allowed to buy. Not what he had been hoping, but at least a good ending!

A new baby

2009-05-03T20:46:00.002-07:00

You read that right ... the announcement is at the end of the post.

Dry, central Oregon winters may generate great ski powder, but they often don't provide good snowman snow. We finally had a decent dump of wet stuff not long ago, and Sammy was more than ready for a real snowman. It turned out he needed some mommy help. Together, we managed to scrape together enough snow to create a satisfactory snowperson ... albeit one with pine needles sticking out every few inches. We were working against the clock as this snow was not very deep and was melting quickly. Sammy does occasionally smile nicely for pictures. Maybe one of those ones will show up someday.
Then came Easter. While we've had snow cover on Easter before, this one merely dawned as cold. I love shots of little, candy-eating egg hunters.

A smattering of good weather brings out the mudmaker in any self-respecting boy. It's all extremely fun until mom won't let you in the house that dirty. By then you're cold and your only option for cleanliness is the wet water from the hose. The wet water you spent all afternoon playing in ... is now your enemy. Until this child, our boys thought it was hilarious to get chased down and cleaned off in cold water.

A recent indoor activity here has been card house building. Sammy wanted proof of his extraordinary abilities ... with a card house destroyer lurking right outside the guest room door. And, yes, that is a scab on someone's knee in the bottom left-hand corner. But it wasn't my child. And mine never argue either. (you did catch that I was joking, right? not everyone catches such things)

Sammy wanted credit for Jake's house, so he snuck into the picture while Jake decided to give his card house a pair of bunny ears.

Everything looks so fun and happy (as long as you skipped the crying-mud picture). It's not. I don't make snowmen every time someone wants one. Instead, I sometimes get frustrated with all the wet snow things that have no place to go in our small entry area. I don't always create a perfect Easter. (In fact, I even call it by that pagan name "Easter"!) I sometimes say "no" to playing in the mud. My boys argue and make messes and don't always do their chores correctly.

And right now, I'm not doing my chores correctly either. That's because I'm so exhausted with this fifth pregnancy. We have this fifth baby on the way! That means I'm too tired to prove our imperfect lives by taking a picture of the disaster that often currently qualifies as our home. At least that means I can blog. If I'm too tired to get up and clean, I guess I can perform seated activities. Not a terrible trade-off, until I look around and see the mess!

Playing catchup

2009-04-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Two year olds bring a lot of joy and mess. Silas has been such a delight. Being number four, we've known how quickly time flies with these little ones. (Jake just turned 10 and we've passed the halfway mark of our time with him in the house!) Here is Silas making a mess while cleaning up.

Silas has been a super late talker. Having been evaluated for speech, it was determined that the German in the home is enough to delay him. When we ask if he wants to read some books, he is just as likely to fetch us an English book as a German one. But this advancement hasn't yet translated to other areas such as potty training ... here, he just doesn't seem to know what to do with that potty seat.

But he is quite skilled with the butter knife when mom isn't looking.

Si's big brother, Sammy, turned 5 this winter and learned how to wink.

Silas moved into a big boy bed with Sam. Steve built a "rustic" bunk for them. We put all four boys in one room for some nutty reason. It's actually working quite well for the time being.

Enjoy those little ones of yours!

Almost two months

2009-01-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

We've been back in Oregon for nearly two thirds of the time we were gone. It is kind of a sad thought ... as if a time that was so consequential to us could feel meaningless by passing so quickly. The morning we left for home, Jake told me, "I don't know if I should feel happy or sad." I assured him that it was perfectly normal to feel both at the same time. We all were.

We have so enjoyed returning. And we have so missed Austria. We bravely called our Iranian neighbors a few days ago. We were nervous about all our forgotten German and the ability to speak without the oh-so-necessary hand gestures that aid those who are not fluent. It wasn't easy, but it was beautiful to hear their voices. They moved into our apartment and had news for us: shortly after we left they went without heat for 20 days during a cold snap.

I remember how crossing cultures can affect a person. But this was the longest trip I've ever taken. We wondered how it would affect us. I didn't expect too much struggle in coming back. It seemed to me one would have more trouble returning from a third world country. But I had forgotten that the people to whom we were giving aid came from nothing. From destroyed Chechnya, land-mined Afghanistan, beatings, hidden night escapes, traveling by foot with children, .... We're not known for extravagant Christmasing, but it wasn't nearly as easy to buy those presents this year. It just didn't sit quite right.

Above, you see Si on his airplane bed. The boys all got great behavioral reviews from anyone in earshot over the Atlantic. But Silas' grades dropped dramatically over the United States. He finally slept on the fold-out trays. We almost didn't make that flight. Lucky for the people sitting in front of us, we made it with 12 minutes to spare. They got to enjoy Silas (evil laugh).

And below ... home sweet home, full of food and some new things. We were very blessed by our dear friends who took care to make sure we had an easy homecoming. Since sickness hit us right away, this was a bigger blessing than they probably thought it might be. A huge thank you to Rachel ... who lived for two years in Mexico with all her boys and knows exactly what a returning family needs. And to our dear church home, what a blessing you all are!

St. Niklaus found us three days later on the sixth of December with euro chocolates. How DID he know where we would be? The tooth fairy is up on her stats, too. Having delivered money to Eli for one lost tooth in Guntramsdorf, she turned around and found another tooth in Bend. Smart girl, she is.

The hastily-obtained Christmas tree that looked every bit of it's hastily-chosen self.

And, Silas ... who is FINALLY learning how to talk, tucked away in his crib with a mattress that doesn't sink a few inches on one side. Yes ... he had quite the bed in Austria. Now that's something I should have gotten a picture of, but didn't!

Considering more blogging,

brooke

More notes

2008-11-22T12:12:00.000-08:00

It snowed today for the first time since we've been here. We had decided not to bring snow clothes (crossing summer/fall/winter created difficult packing decisions). This means that many pairs of socks were used for mittens today. Many.

My very sweet new friend, Sharon, took me around Vienna yesterday. We really enjoyed stopping in at Cafe Demel ... chocolatier to the emperor. My piece of cake is on the right. Do you see the purple candy on top? I resisted buying a box of those candies ... I'm not known for buying depreciating assets like purple candies for 16 euros. But it was a delicious piece of purple, and they are known to have been a favorite of Empress Sisi.

Here we are, after traipsing around Vienna in the rain, looking for those hard-to-find European good deals. Have we ever mentioned it is NOT a good deal to shop here?

Well, Steve complained that my piece of cake got a blog entry and his trip to Innsbruck received nothing. In spite of my jealousy, it's not my fault. I don't blog someone else's trip. In closing, did you know we have a secret passageway?

Notes

2008-11-19T06:43:00.000-08:00

Eating a lango in Vienna. The boys shared one ... they are like a garlicky elephant ear.

- I've been told that if you don't have a scarf on your neck, your cold will get worse. You will possibly even catch cold.

- If you don't go for that line of thinking, they sure look great. I bought some. And a sweet new friend (Hi, JoAnn) taught me how to use them.

- I was in the changing room this week taking Sammy and Si to "tournen" (gymnastics). In the midst of moms and dads ... five women changed their pants into something more comfortable for Mommy & Me class.

- I love getting the kissy-kissy-cheek-press from my new Austrian friends. I'll miss them.

- People will stop you on the street to "scold" you for not dressing your little child warm enough. Silas is really good at getting his socks and shoes off. Did you add those two together?

- I'm worried about Silas' Afghani friend who played with him the entirety of every Thursday night. He was supposedly transferred over the weekend. He seemed so kind and lonely.

- Iranian tea is possibly the best tea ever made.

- Rice can be quite complicated to make - if you want to do it "right" according to my neighbor from Iran. Who knew? Now I do. Come on over for dinner.

- Silas learned how to say "octopus". This is a major accomplishment for our quiet little boy.

Castle ruin

2008-11-12T09:51:00.001-08:00

We hiked for what felt like an hour (and could have been) up a tree-filled hillside. The trail wound through on its way to the ruin we had spied some time ago from a swimming pool in Baden. It is called Ruin Rauheneck. It is also supposed to be from the 12th century and even has a ghost story - but we read it in German, and I don't think we're good enough to translate it. I found a little history on the castle here and there. I don't know how much of it is true. But suffice it to say, it was really an eerie-beautiful place that we fully enjoyed.

Above you see the little chapel altar in the castle. There was a stone cross above the door into the room. It was fun to imagine what it looked like.

Trees growing inside of the ruins that makes it seem so very ancient and special. Steve loved taking more pictures than you'll ever want to see when we return. It makes history come alive to imagine real people living real lives so many years ago.

Well, I just accidentily deleted an exciting picture for the boys ... the spot from where the archers could shoot arrows. They liked climbing out and looking down to the ground. It was fun to walk out for adults, too. Too bad I don't feel like uploading it again. :)

The tower at this castle is a triangular one. It was really dark and musty. The day was foggy and the fog began to descend into the valley while we were there. It made it very beautiful as we looked out and then began our hike back into town and to the train for our way home. We had a really nice day and everyone voted these castles as the top thing to take y'all to if you come visit us in the next three weeks!

You would think

2008-11-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

You would think we had hit some castles by now. It's been on our list for a long time, and we didn't even actually try to go to any castles yesterday. We tried to visit a medieval abbey that is still in use, but the buses didn't cooperate with us. So, after much deliberation (which included unnecessary train rides in the wrong direction), we decided to brave the iffy weather and hike to some castle ruins. We had a great, mostly non-rainy day ... probably our favorite sight-seeing day so far. We hiked out of Baden up to beautiful Ruin Rauhenstein first. Here you see the cliffside view.

We could find almost no history on this castle ruin, except that a former owner took the roof off to pay some tax in time past. We loved the peacefulness, the fall colors, the trees growing in the middle of it, the hiking and the price - free. It is set directly outside the lovely valley of Helental, which is supposed to be beautiful, romantic and famous for it's hiking. People love to hike here ... they call it wandering. And each little, carefully-marked trail is called a "wanderweg". (literal translation - wandering way)

We climbed the tower and could see the town of Baden surrounding us. It was easy to imagine times gone by. Looking to the hill straight across, we could see the next ruin we wanted to visit. I loved the view of the castle without its roof. Steve loved that it was a ruin. The boys loved the toilet that was merely a hole leading directly to the outside of the castle.

All in all, it could have been very romantic. Here is a peaceful picture taken by our fun neighbor, Adam, who joined us on our outing.

Of course, romantic hikes through castle ruins from the 12th century are always a bit interrupted by the "girls have cooties" crowd.

We hiked on to our next ruin ... saved for the next post.

"Normal"

2008-11-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

For most of our two months, we have lived normal life. Coming with our four children has meant that we still get to clean the same amount, cook the same amount, supervise the same arguments, school the same children, wash the clothes and make the boys pick up their room. We may be in Europe, but we're still grocery shopping. (Actually, Steve is grocery shopping - it turns out our schedule pretty much only allows HIM to do that honor.) That's not a lot to write home about, except that those same things can be and are all different and harder. They take longer, too. So here are some things that are normal .............. but not.

Going to the bathroom: While it may not be the squatty potties I encountered in India, it does have it's own special flair. We have performed unscientific experiments and discovered that smell travels faster in air than in water. Note the special "shelf" in the toilet making all our experiments possible. We like the U.S. ones better. :)

Shopping is a normal activity. But it's not Safeway or Albertsons. It's called Billa or Zielpunkt. Without a van, we walk and carry all our own food (six people eat a lot). With a baby-sized refrigerator, we shop often. The food must have fewer preservatives here, because it all goes bad much more quickly. We pay for our shopping bags, so we re-use them. At most stores, you must put a coin in the cart to use it. Don't forget to weigh your food and mark the price ... the cashiers do not do it for you. And be quick about it at the check out. Really quick. Our Bend Fred Meyer grocery store cashiers wouldn't last five minutes here.

Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. Or die. Or be arrested or fined or something. We all recycle. But Austrians RECYCLE. Paper bin. Plastic bin. Colored glass bin. White glass bin. Milk carton bin. Old food bin. Metal bin. Regular trash. That's not all, actually. Here's the sweet set up in our neighbor's apartment. Much cooler than ours. I admit: I like recycling.

Cooking is three times a day here, too. We have fewer ingredients, because we didn't want to buy a new pantry for three months' worth. The pans in our kitchen are awful! I'm not used to cooking with gas ... so I burn a lot of dinners. I think my sweet Iranian neighbor thinks I actually can't cook. We eat the exact same thing for breakfast every day. Muesli. Muesli. Muesli. The biggest difference? The size of the items. I present to you the largest bag of flour we have found so far.

Television. Actually, we don't have it. But we watched it on vacation. Did you know that Strawberry Shortcake is called Emily Erdbeer (Emily Strawberry)? And Curious George is called Coco. As expected, it's in German.

Have a great day! Steve is at The Oasis right now. It has been our all time favorite thing to be there. The people are absolutely wonderful. It's what I would want to post about every day.

Prater

2008-10-23T15:04:00.000-07:00

While I (Brooke) was away a couple weekends ago, Steve took the boys for a day to Prater. They had a nice time ... but were bummed to discover that they were too short for most of the rides. The bumper cars were fun, though.

Jake was tall enough for this ride. And here's what he thought of it:

"Wiener Riesenrad" means Vienna Giant Wheel. Vienna's real name is Wien (pronounce the "w" like a /v/, please. And don't say "vine" ... say "veen"). Anyway, enough language lessons for today. It's the big, famous ferris wheel you see behind them in this picture. They didn't go on it. No one was interested. It's really slow. And, I think you all know, slow isn't the speed at which Vossler boys operate.

While they had fun in Vienna, I went on a church retreat for women. Yes, it was in German. But I asked for translation this time, because I didn't want to miss the stories the ladies were telling as they introduced themselves. It was really special to get to know the ladies better. They were all very friendly and welcoming. I also had the fun of riding and rooming with an American ... so we blurted out all the English we could in our short hours together.

We've had such a nice time here. October has had beautiful weather, and now it's all beginning to change and get colder. We saw a building in Vienna putting up Christmas lights today. We'll get only the beginning of the magical Christmases here before we return home. I'm really looking forward to visiting a Christmas market, and there's a part of me that has grown attached to this place. I honestly don't know why ... 640 square feet with six people, a bathroom that floods when the boys take a shower, hand washing dishes in a little sink, half a refrigerator, a big city, ... but something about it is homey. It really is a wonderful country, with wonderful people. We'll be home in one short month.

Friends

2008-10-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

Our boys, with our visitor Alan, in a tree on the grounds of Schoenbrunn Palace on the day I decided to take everyone to the children's museum there. I had help and we were set for a great day. But it was closed. So the poor children had to endure the actual palace tour. They had their own audio guides, which helped immensely.

Jake and Alan with their paper boats ready for floating.

Our boys were pretty sad about leaving our home in Bend for so long. So some of our dear friends in Oregon prayed specifically that our boys would have special friends here in Austria. Little did they know, a little girl across the world was also praying for friends. God answered all those prayers.

A wonderful family with Youth With A Mission is living here in the same guesthouse. Actually, they have their own house and office on the same property (which means they sweetly share their extra freezer space with us poor dears who only have half a refrigerator).

From Day 1, our children were all out playing together. With their permission (by special request of a wonderful Grandma in California), here are some photos. We must apologize to the grandma of these children, though, because we are missing Caleb in these photos. Somehow, he wasn't in any of them!

Of their three very fun children, you'll see the youngest and only girl, Katia, where you will nearly always find her - in a tree - which is why our boys like her so much. Here she is with Eli. The huge benefit to all this is not only are they having fun ... but they are VERY motivated in their schoolwork so they can play with these children every day.

Matthias is a great friend to everyone. The boys all really enjoy him. Silas grabs his hand and drags him everywhere (and Matthias is so nice about it). The boys all go to gymnastics together. We were given a great deal for Jake and Eli to attend twice a week, while Sammy and Si go once to a Mommy/Daddy & Me class. Here is our friend, Matthias, with the activity he instigated: making paper boats and floating them down the nearby creek.

Kiev

2008-10-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

This last week I took a four day trip to the Urkraine with a couple of Denton Bible Church missions staff members. The purpose of the trip was to see how the Bible Training Center for Pastors (BTCP) classes are going in the Ukraine and to see how we can be of encouragement and assistance to the believers in the Ukraine and surrounding countries. We stayed at a seminary just outside of Kiev and were quite impressed with the training that is going on there (picture to the left). For me it was a particularly special trip, as it took me closer to my father's birthplace than I have ever been before.

My father was born just north of the Black Sea in a German speaking community in what was then known as Bessarabia. Now it is a part of the Ukraine and is just south of the border with Moldova. Much of what I saw outside of Kiev matched the pictures in my mind from the stories of my father's childhood. I even saw a few Ukrainian women wearing scarves over their heads, which reminded me of my Oma. The food was good. I had fried chicken and mashed potatoes for breakfast for the first time in my life. I also had the opportunity to share a few thoughts from the Bible during a chapel service and greatly enjoyed hearing the students sing worship songs, even though I couldn't understand a word.

Where do we begin?

2008-10-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

Oh, for the time to tell you of ice caves, neighbors and visitors, pumpkin cream soup, Kiev, washing dishes in a one-sided sink, palaces and more. We had lots of fun with our seven year old friend, Alan, who came to visit from Texas while Steve went with Alan's daddy and another staff member from Denton Bible Church to the Ukraine (a post from Steve about his trip will follow). The picture below shows what the boys did when it rained for an entire day and we were stuck in 640 square feet.

While everyone was here, we all headed into Vienna. We lost Alan's daddy on the U-Bahn, were turned away from an Austrian restaurant, repeated a visit to Stefansdom and walked the grounds of Schoenbrunn Palace (where the picture below was taken ... with Vienna in the background).

That night, the guys decided to give Steve and I a surprise date. They returned home with five boys, and Steve and I stayed in Vienna. Our date was a lot like our honeymoon. [Honeymoon Flashback: rain, broken camera, everything closed, speeding ticket in Montana and ran out of gas]

As we walked through Vienna, we came upon a very special discovery of which you should NEVER take advantage should you make it to Vienna. It is called, in English, "Long Night of the Museums". In theory, it's amazing. For 13 euros, you can visit any museum in Austria until 1 in the morning. We excitedly found a quiet, out-of-the-way museum in which to purchase tickets and began our journey. Later news reports would tell us that 400,000 people turned out for the event. And that is exactly what it felt like. After declining to stand in line at museum after museum, we squished our way into the Albertina to see the art exhibits. We made it through part of Van Gogh before we decided to cut our losses and go get dinner. We have never been in anything so crowded. It wouldn't have been legal in the U.S.

But dinner was much better. Steve accidentally talked me into a long skinny hot dog. Yummmmmmmmmm. The photo below was taken that night. It was a beautiful night and we really did have a nice time together. We should have just walked around Vienna, because we found some beautiful spots.

Below are our friends, Chris and Alan, from Denton, Texas. Thank you, Antonia, for sending your wonderful boy and equally great husband to spend time with us. We enjoyed them so much!

Next, you see our unpaid German tutor, Adam. He just joined us from Denton Bible Church in Texas. The boys hang all over him and he is especially gifted at locating playgrounds.

Austrian viruses

2008-10-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

Having nothing to do with this post ... but we thought you'd enjoy a shot of the boys passed out one night during our trip.

Well, if you're following our life, here goes:

We have had three separate men arrive from Texas on three separate days here at the guesthouse. They are from the church with which we are connected for this time we are spending here in Austria. We had this great plan. Our friend, Chris, arrived just last night and brought one of his children who will be staying with me while all the guys travel. The plan was to leave me in a foreign country with five little boys (don't let Jake hear me say "little").

Earlier this week, all four of mine came down with colds. I thought it was perfect, since only Jake was very sick. The rest of them had it so mildly (and me, too) that I thought for certain we had escaped dire illness while our little seven year old friend, Alan, came to visit.

And then ... last night ... just as I as going to bed, Sammy began crying. And crying. His stomach hurt. And then I spent the entire night in the bathroom with him (insert your favorite word for vomitting). So, after me being up all night with Sammy, the guys all left on the train for Brno ... and I remain behind with these five boys. Everything is going fine, and the guys will be home tonight. But they also leave again on Sunday for four days to Kiev. And so ... you can fill in the blanks on all the fun possibilities.

brooke
...drinking much needed coffee ... flavored with delicious French Vanilla Coffeemate sent by Antonia (Alan's mommy and my dear dear friend who is going to find out when she wakes up in a few hours that her son is spending the day with an Austrian virus)

Day 5

2008-10-01T05:19:00.000-07:00

Before a few more trip highlights ... here is a bit more about our week:

On Monday I had the privilege of helping with the clothing distribution at The Oasis. I keep wanting to include pictures, but I need permission first. This was kids' day. The place was full of mothers and their children milling about. Besides hanging clothes and observing, my primary job was to spend time with those who were waiting for their number to be called. I filled my time with coloring, learning new names, blowing bubbles, and holding babies. It was valuable to see the system they have in place for trying to give everyone a chance at getting what they need. I dislike shopping in a lot of ways, so that task takes me forever. I cannot imagine having my four children, walking into a little room and having only a few minutes to find what I am looking for with a four item limit per child. The system is well done as a way to service that many people and give everyone the basics of what they need. The volunteers have also tried to learn what they can in other languages so they can help the best they can.

As a side note, I found it very amusing to see a particularly grandmotherly looking lady claiming four children as her own, when the volunteers were quite sure those children had already been claimed that day by their real mother. It's the age old way of getting more out of a shopping trip - bring grandma.

On to our trip. We spent our fifth day in Bad Aussee. The drive there was gorgeous and we passed into a new Austrian "Bundesland" on that winding road. Our goal was to hit the Lebkuchen factory ... gingerbread. We had heard there was a tour, but in reality, it was a taste test and a 6 minute video. Oh well.

We then hit another awesome Austrian playground and headed out for some lake viewing and hiking. We had a really nice time letting the boys just run a bit wild. I'll include pictures of all that later ... but for now I'm terrible about planning the order of the pictures I upload. You're left with a picture of Sammy's new favorite game, Old Maid.

How to do Hallstatt with a two year old

2008-09-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

Silas was too little to go in the salt mine. So I present you with a guideline on traveling with a two year old ... a fussy one at that. My goals for the day were to see the parts of Hallstatt I had missed two days before, to have no tears or screaming from Si and to do a little shopping.

- Begin by praying that those threatening clouds will not rain.
- Allow your two year to do nearly anything he wants (of course, when the postcard shop owners tsk tsk you for allowing him to hold the stuffed animals for sale ... you have to put the stuffed animals away, no matter what that two year old says).
- If he wants to walk, he walks. If he wants to push the stroller, let him push. Dawdling anyone? Yes.
- Allow two year old to climb every stair of the nearly 100 which go to the Catholic church you want to visit. Up. And down. While it will take forever, just think, you're only carrying two backpacks and a stroller while you make sure he doesn't fall. Things could be worse. He could be screaming.

Bring two other children along. Flatties. That's what we call them. Did you know we brought our friends to Austria with us (a la Flat Stanley, all you teachers)? The Reimer family's 5 children are traveling along in squished form. Their three eldest went to the salt mine with Steve (are you impressed that he took six children?). That left me with the younger two.
- Allow two year old to hold the flat children during the entire 3 hours that you must kill, regardless of your fears that Baby Naomi will end her tour of Austria in Lake Hallstatt.
- Fearfully enter any shops. Be tempted to blame the Christmas ornament you dropped and broke on the two year old, but fess up and plan to buy it. Besides, you are already embarrassed that you brought a two year old into the store.

- Decide the next shop shouldn't have a two year old in it. Leave him parked right outside the shop, where you can see him perfectly and a lady happens to be playing peekaboo from the bank.

- Freak out when you realize you forgot that cars actually go down this narrow little road and rush out to be a responsible parent.

- Make certain to discover for a VERY long time what people do with their bread that hardens so quickly here.

-Visit every bit of water in sight. If your view is of Lake Hallstatt and the surrounding mountains from a high point, make sure to notice the ducks way down on the shoreline and NOT the view. If you are headed to an ancient Roman ruin ... who cares ... it's the creek that matters.

- Go ahead and visit the Beinhaus (repository of who-knows-how-many skulls and femurs) because your toddler will have no idea that it should seem a bit gruesome. Don't plan to stay long, as he'll think it's interesting and want to touch them. Leave. Now.

Days 3 & 4

2008-09-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

We loved listening to the cow bells all day and even all night long.

Our family on a windy upper road in Hallstatt

Sunday morning found us deciding which of the two churches in town to visit. As the church bells clanged, we headed into the Lutheran church and slid into the 200 row. I hope we didn't take anyone's regular spot, however, we're not sure why anyone would fight for these pews. With that level of "comfort", there is no sleeping in church occurring either. I didn't sit in them for very long, thanks to Silas (with whom I took a walk in the cemetery) ... but take my word for it.

For the Vosslers who remained in church, the highlight was when the pastor ascended his high and holy place for the German sermon. We have never seen a high and holy place. And I, for one, am bummed that Si needed to make his noisy escape from that echoing building ... I never got to see it.

We swam in the afternoon at the local pool. It was advertised as being warm, but we sure wish they had put some of the energy they used in heating the floor tiles towards that pool water.

Day 4. Back to Hallstatt. We had missed multiple things when there the first day, so we came back to this sweet little village.

Steve and the three biggest boys headed on a cableway to the salt mine. Inside, they wore cool miners' clothes, rode a little train, slid down a slide, learned about a squished salt man ... all the things they were supposed to do. And, since they are Vosslers ... they added a few more attractions. They licked the walls. You know, since it's a SALT mine. And yes, the walls were salty. They collected and, of course, licked rocks. Did you expect any less? They would have brought home the fire salamander Eli was about the catch, too, if someone hadn't quickly stopped them. Apparently that is not safe. I haven't looked it up yet ... but something tells me fire salamanders aren't the Western Fence Lizard we're always catching in Bend.

I'm not sure who is raising these boys.

On the train in the salt mine

Days 1 & 2

2008-09-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

Spying out friendly birds on the Traunsee ("See" means lake, usually)

The Gosaukamm

Just above Italy sits little Austria, three quarters of it bulging with mountains. We had the opportunity to visit the center, right on the edge of the Alps last week. The picture above was the view from our balcony (when the clouds permitted). We stayed in a hidden away little town called Gosau. If you could see directly behind that mountain, you would have a glimpse of the stunning Dachstein Glacier, which we only rarely saw ourselves. Thankfully, the almost constant clouds allowed us plenty of time to play without too much rain.

Heading out, the boys were duly impressed by the speedometer registering 130 km/h in our rental van (did you know that minivans are considered luxury rentals in Austria? Ouch). The parents were impressed by the Danube Valley and the fact that they could find their way with four boys. When we entered the Salzkammergut area, we wandered through "a little town on a gorgeous lake with a mountain by it" (just repeat those words continually throughout this entire trip report and you'll have summed up most of it ... for those who are interested, it was Gmunden on the Traunsee with the imposing Traunstein flanking it). The boys aren't jaded tourists just yet ... they loved it. And the ice cream. They also spent a great deal of time trying to catch birds. Silas spent a great deal of time convincing his parents that travelling with a 2 year old is just plain stupid.

Day 2 was spent in truly picturesque Hallstatt, the oldest town in Austria. It was first settled by the Romans and Celts. We even walked on Roman flagstones. A local shop had renovated and discovered the Roman ruins beneath their building. We enjoyed (between bouts of Silas's crying) visiting that. We end up deciding to come back to Hallstatt on another day later in the week.

While the scenery was fantastic, we also have to give a great big thumbs up to Austria's playgrounds. This one in Hallstatt also had a zip line, a boat IN the water, an island and what we call The Octopus.

Austrian 911

2008-09-18T07:01:00.001-07:00

The boys and I (Brooke) took our first trip on the train alone last night. You wonder why this is an accomplishment? I'll tell you, but first take note of that red button.

I'm a small town girl. Trains are new to me anyway. These train doors open and close very quickly, the trains leave very quickly, and these smaller trains do not have easy stroller access, so a mom alone with her children has to make certain none of them are left at the station while she carries the stroller up the steps onto the train that is ready to leave the instant the last person enters or before. We did it!

Do you remember the red button? The one within reach of any average four year old?

We were at the station last week waiting for our train. I was caring for Silas, and Steve was striking up a conversation with a man in German. It occurred to me that I was hearing a German voice asking, "Was ist dein Name?" coming from a direction in which there was only Sammy. And then I heard my son happily holler, "Samuel!!!!" As I looked up, I realized Sammy was hopping up and down speaking to that post. That German voice became quite intense, so I rushed over and immediately saw that red button.

The red button says, "SOS". Sammy had called Austrian 911 and I was quite unable to explain that there was no imminent danger. We almost had a visit from the Polizei. But, thankfully, the man Steve was speaking with came running over and explained that a child had pushed the button.

Phew. Were you surprised it was Sammy?

A trip

2008-09-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

Now that Silas seems to have adapted to our little apartment, tomorrow we leave for one week to the Salzkammergut area just to mess him up. We will have less internet service availability, but we hope to update while we're gone. If not, when we return we'll give a report. We have been silent for a week, so we have lots to say anyway ... watch out for a bomb of posting.

Have a great weekend everyone!

New Things Part 2

2008-09-12T15:38:00.001-07:00

Thursday night gave us an experience we have never had before. Most of you know that a big part of the reason we decided to live in Austria for three months is to aid the refugees here in practical and spiritual ways. Austria's largest refugee camp is in a little town near us. Right outside the camp, there is a place where the refugees come for various kinds of assistance. On Thursday nights, they offer a free coffee and tea bar. Men, women and children come to hang out and play games in the cafe. We had great fun joining in.

Steve found that, in Russia, they play by completely different checkers rules. Watch out when he gets back ... he now has new powers. [After proofreading this with Steve, he says he still doesn't quite know what those rules are]

Somehow, I taught two seven year old boys (Eli and a new friend from Kosovo) how to play chess .................. in German. I never thought I would be relieved to know that someone spoke German, but even the little German I speak gets me a lot further than my non-existent Chechen.

We could hear different languages everywhere as people interacted. We met people from Mongolia, Iran, Israel, Russia and primarily Chechnya. We have been told that there is very little to do inside the camp. That would explain why that was the first time I had ever seen a table surrounded by teenage boys putting together a Winnie the Pooh puzzle. The tea was wonderful and we enjoyed ourselves immensely (well, that is, until a Russian and an Israeli cornered Steve and tried to talk politics ... boy, they picked the wrong guy).

We have been very impressed. This ministry loves and respects these people and their cultures and children and languages. They are not on a crusade. They aren't playing a numbers game with Christian converts or seeking to Westernize or alter cultures. They seek to love people with the love of Jesus in the short time the refugees are here - and if the opportunity is there, to share with them something most have never actually had the chance to hear.

We have no pictures of this time we spent. It wasn't exactly a tourist activity. Perhaps, as time goes on, we will have some - but just know that we sure wish we could show you what we were able to join in on!

New Things Part 1

2008-09-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

It's legal here (you understand that if you live in Bend)... almost expected ... that you would hang your clothing to dry. I did it to be romantic. The other loads have gone into the dryer for the 2 more Euros it costs where we live. Not that I'm doing a lot of laundry - you don't change clothes every day here. (The boys wear their play clothes for quite some time). My neighbor here told me that they can spot Americans by the fact that they have new pants on every day. So, because I don't always love household chores, I've joined them. And I have much less laundry. If you see us in the same clothes all the time when we return, you can know that we are oh-so-European now. And if I get a clothesline, watch out homeowners. Oh wait, we live in the Deschutes River Woods ... hee hee ... Well, if I get a clothesline, I'll just hang it between all the old cars in my backyard. (sigh) It's so hard to keep up with the neighbors out there. [Dear Neighbors ... I don't mean your place.]

The boys' room: I love the yellow comforters. Our bedroom has two of these beds for our very own Fred & Wilma set-up. Speaking of us ... Steve & I celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary tomorrow.

Guess what we get to do in the mornings? Steve and I trade off taking our morning run through the vineyards. Isn't it phenomenal? The smell of grapes is delicious and it is completely peaceful. I miss my running partner (Hi Joy) ... but you can't beat this!

Did you know that Eli temporarily has glasses? We only just obtained them before we left. He apparently has a focusing problem that can be fixed, and it begins with three months of these. This should help his reading and his headaches. And maybe, just maybe, he'll even be able to play his Gameboy for longer periods of time. (smirk)

A beautiful Sunday

2008-09-08T13:48:00.000-07:00

Another train picture. I love this one. Here, we are headed to our first Sunday service in Vienna. We will normally attend another church, but we were visiting with our new friends, Russ and Roswitha and their daughters.

It was a wonderful experience. We even sang a German song we were familiar with. Everyone was very friendly. Again, they are so kind to the children. I went along with the boys to children's church - I thought I might learn German better listening to children's teachers (as opposed to that man whom I married who actually understood the sermon).

It was really fun watching the boys try to sing the German songs and play the games. Sammy loved his teacher and her puppet. I took him to the bathroom during his class and he whispered/squealed to me, "It's fuuuuuuuun!" And, yes, it was a good decision for me to go to the children's classes. I even learned my German body parts. They also sang a really cute song about what a good job God did when he made us. It begins with joyfully singing the German equivalent of "Bulls-eye!" We left church and I heard Jake holler to the boy he was playing with, "Tschuss, Jan!"

After church, we went to a Chinese restaurant with our friends. By the way, even Chinese food is different here (but good). I always wondered if we were actually eating Chinese food in the U.S. Now I wonder even more. And this is pretty much how Si behaved.

We weren't finished. Since we were already near the city center, we decided to take in some ice cream. And after our friends went on home, we chose an impromptu (meaning, completely unprepared) visit to Stephansdom. St. Stephan's Cathedral is stunning. Built in the 12th century (okay, okay, all my facts were found on the computer this morning while we homeschooled ... remember, this was an impromptu visit?), anyway, built in the 12th century means the steps are really, really old. There is something about walking where so many people of time past have also placed their feet. Sunday was the feast of Mary's birth, so there were worshippers and candles and, yeah, tourists. The boys were duly impressed with the height and beauty. This was their first Gothic cathedral, so they were actually quite interested. Jake shouted (no joke), "Whoa! That looks medieval!" I quietly informed him that it was.

We took in the south tower. 343 steps. Si had to be carried part of the way. But the three oldest had lots of fun pretending they were about to die. Here is an obligatory from-the-top-of-the-tower shot. See the Necco wafer roof? Viennese citizens donated those tiles when that section was rebuilt. I'm so making St. Stephan's for this year's gingerbread house.

If you come visit, we'll try the north tower and see the bell and the pulpit and all the things we missed because we were so, ahm ... impromptu. Oh, and Steve made me find our way back. I had to locate a German speaking citizen and ask them for directions (in German) to our train. Did you know that if you ask 10 people in Stefansplatz for directions ... only three of them will speak German? hee hee ... we even had three people tell us, "I no speak English." What? We were asking in German!

Naschmarkt or Smashmarkt?

2008-09-08T13:11:00.000-07:00

Train ride into Vienna

Steve took this picture of Naschmarkt. It doesn't look crowded here ... but I won't lie to you.

Vienna is having unseasonably warm temperatures. This means - if you're from Bend, Oregon - you are sticky, dripping hot and - if you're Steve Vossler - borderline grumpy. (insert smiley face)

This would not be a day for a man who doesn't like crowds or heat to head to the center of Vienna for Naschmarkt. I knew this, but I didn't mention it. I wanted to be a supportive wife. He told me I shouldn't have been so biblical.

Naschmarkt was crowded, hot, crowded, busy and crowded. But we were thrilled we negotiated our first ever foray into Vienna. We still have our children. We also had delicious hummus and flatbread from a Turkish vendor. And we are finding that Austrians seem to love children - they were always offering tastes of yummy somethings to our boys (and counting them). There seemed to be more delicious food, but we escaped Smashmarkt and we'll try again another day.

Additionally, the boys love riding the train. They don't have to buckle up. If Si hasn't fallen asleep, he arrives on the train and says, "Bu?" That is "Si" for, "Would you please unbuckle me so I can move from seat to seat and look out the window and yell when I see an airplane?" The big boys wish we would let them try to balance without holding onto anything. They call it surfing.

4 Kerngasse

2008-09-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we settled into our new home for the next three months. We are quite pleased with our little abode. It is has two bedrooms, one bath, and a small kitchen. It has been newly remodeled, meaning - when we arrived, a work crew was just finishing up setting the tiles in the kitchen.

Within no time, our kids had made friends. They were climbing the tree outside our apartment, having sword fights with ski poles and, Jake came away from his fall with only a few small flesh wounds. There is a family here from California who has been in Austria for the past 14 years and we've met an Iranian family who have just moved here in August.

Our apartment is ideally located for us as it is walking distance from the local train station (Lokalbahn), which we will take to get to the refugee ministry center, and is close to several small "Supermarkt"s. The following days have been filled with settling in, finding out the ins and outs of grocery shopping (including feeding a large family with micro-sized European quantities), getting monthly train tickets, exchanging money, along with recovering from a heavy dose of jetlag (or, as the boys keep saying --- jet leg).

"Ende gut, alles gut"

"All's well that ends well"

With that I will end my night,

Steve

We're in the air

2008-09-05T03:57:00.000-07:00

Our flights went virtually flawlessly apart from the usual issues of traveling with children. As to be expected, there came a point where the novelty of flying and the reality of being stuck for hours on end in a small space came head-to-head. During a period of exhaustion Sammy was heard to whine, "Mooooooooom, you said I couldn't cry, you didn't say I couldn't whiiiiiiiine."

You should have seen Steve's face as he tried to juggle sitting with Silas and Sammy during dinner on Austrian Airlines. Each tray came with approximately twenty items which Silas was in constant danger of knocking over, while Brooke peacefully ate her dinner with Jake & Eli and watched a movie. The tables were turned when Brooke packed three boys and herself for the NIGHT into three seats while Steve stretched out with Si.

Apart from tired children, tight spaces, orange juice spilling on Jake's clothes, Silas stuffing brownies into his shirt, shuffling through the Vienna airport with a couple long trains of luggage, a taxi cab driver who just came short of jumping on our luggage to get it into the trunk of his car, everything went great! For this we give thanks to God our precious Father who prepared our way perfectly.

On the way

2008-09-05T03:53:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday morning we woke up four sleeping boys at 3:30 am and loaded them up to drive to the Portland airport. My mom and dad dropped us off and helped with the luggage shuffle. With four boys, eight checked bags of luggage, and an asundry of other carry on items, it was quite a sight to see us proceed through the Portland airport. Our initial flight was to Dulles airport in Washington DC and then directly on to Vienna.

Blue River

2008-08-21T15:42:00.000-07:00

Swimming across the river

Bridge jumping

Must-get-in-the-water-heat

Cousins, cousins, cousins ... 25 to be exact

The annual Vossler campout; not to be missed, even if it does occur so close to departure day. Those nieces and nephews that I inherited from Steve's family are always up for fun. They find great places to launch off into the water and create fun wherever they go. We tried seaweed and lychees, had camp church, experienced Uncle Peter's tricks and candy games, .... and it rests every mommy's heart to know her children are swimming with trained lifeguards. It was great to see everyone and to rest up before our last push. We are now packing and tying up loose ends. 10 days before we drive out of here!

Here is Jake at a great jumping off spot in a 3 second video.

The Boys Go Backpacking

2008-08-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

If you are a Vossler boy, turning four years old holds a very special privilege, going on the annual backpack trip. Sammy turned four years old this year and was included in this year's trip. He loved it!!!

Sammy felt pretty important carrying his own backpack which included a sleeping bag and a few clothes. Each boy came equipped with their own whistle and the older boys carried their own matches and fire starters (pretty exciting, huh?!).

Even Amos carried his own weight! We hiked a mile and a half into Blow Lake, which would have been better named Mosquito Lake. The boys kept themselves busy keeping wood on the campfire (ie. playing with the fire), swimming and throwing rocks down the large rock slide that we were camped below. Only one backpack was knocked over by a stray careening rock and yes, only a few minor flesh wounds were obtained!

Home sweet home!!! This was a great trip of bonding for us all. I was truely blessed as my boys said repeatedly throughout the trip "dad...I love you". It is a reminder that you can take "home" with you wherever you go.

Happy Birthday, Si

2008-08-04T22:37:00.000-07:00

To our dear little Silas on your second birthday.

We love watching your little ways.

Stuffing straws in the dishwasher vents (dishwashers have vents!)
Packing all your toys under your crib after stuffing all your toys with toys
Filling the bench full of household items
Your smile all crooked and cute
Trotting behind your big brothers
Finding any chance to get dirty
Proudly saying, "Tschuss!" just the way Daddy taught you
Hiding your sippy cups in places your brothers never did

On this day two years ago, you surprised us so much. Your brothers were all late arrivals, and we didn't expect you two weeks early. Every last baby item was in the attic. The clothes, the cradle, the carseat, ... really ... everything. You should have seen your momma wandering the house, aimlessly, wondering what to do first before heading to the hospital.

All our little fellas were born after lunch. You didn't break that mold, but you blessed me by being different from those brothers. You were little. I will always thank you for that. May you always cause such little trouble.

For late night snuggles, reading well-loved board books, playing chase,

Happy Birthday, Si.

Love Mommy

Oh God, Our Help In Ages Past

2008-07-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Psalm 90:1-2

There comes a time each day when we must pause from the noise and clutter of the day's stresses and trials and remember who sovereignly sits on the throne of the universe. Lord, you have been the rock that has held countless men and women of ages past through the thickest trials and storms. So too, You will be faithful to those whose hearts are fully Yours. With this we find perfect rest in You alone.

What was she thinking?

2008-07-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it's my (Brooke's) last big commitment before we leave for Austria ---VBS. I am the songleader-who-cannot-sing, recruited more for my ability to handle large groups of children hyped on sugar than that of sounding beautiful.

We didn't count on my mom not consulting us for a reasonable week to let her appendix rupture, go septic, lose her kidney function, hit the ICU and hook up to dialysis.

The mom who fed me missionary books with my lunch and never missed a gymnastics meet.

The grandma who will talk for hours on the phone and always has snacks.

We are so thankful that her kidneys are now working and we hope to see her released from the hospital in the next couple of days. After all, when you go septic during VBS, you end up with a hundred children praying for you and when children pray ...

Thank you, VBS'ers! And thank you to all who have prayed and those who will continue to pray for her complete healing and all the financial issues that come with the package.

Elk Lake

2008-07-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Elk Lake has become a yearly tradition. This past week we spent time at the fire department lake cabin visiting with friends and family while enjoying a time of much-needed relaxation.

The boys have come to love this place! Their days were spent swimming, catching tadpoles & snakes, exploring the creek and playing with friends who came up for the day. With a big snowfall this year, the water was higher than normal and a little on the frigid side. Here you can see that Sammy wasn't quite convinced that he wanted to get into the cold water.

Surprise Day

2008-07-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

(Steve and the boys at Wildflower Park)

The day after Father's Day, we headed out to cash in on Steve's "Good for One Surprise Day" coupons from the boys. We blindfolded him and drove him all over town doing boy-picked activities. We hit the park for lunch and baseball, the pool, the passport office, pizza and milkshakes. The boys enjoyed it so much themselves, that they were asking to have the same thing happen to them on their birthdays.

As always, the boys were inspired to make far more coupons than Steve could ever cash in. He has been "couponed" for bike rides, wrestling, water fights, ... you name it. I think he's still trying to whittle down the coupon pile from last year.

A mommy tip ...

2008-07-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

... a tip that you already knew --- When you have eight children for the day, you don't put spaghetti sauce on the pasta that the one and two year olds will be eating ...

(butter-covered Silas and our little butter-covered friend, "Dandylion", at dinnertime)

Sammy's first bike ride

2008-07-08T16:01:00.001-07:00

Grandpa and Grandma Vossler visited for the holiday weekend and we had a wonderful time. We spent Saturday in the backyard, relaxing. Grandpa and Daddy pushed Sammy around on Eli's big bike, with the end result of little Sam learning to ride a two-wheeler. Here you see his maiden voyage on asphalt.

Final Preparations

2008-07-07T18:01:00.000-07:00

It's hard to imagine that in under two months we will be loading luggage and four boys in an airplane pointed towards Vienna, Austria. With plane tickets purchased and passports in hand we are now on the home stretch. I can only imagine that, with a myriad of little details to remember, this time will only but accelerate. Our flight leaves from Portland, Oregon on September 3rd and we will be making Guntramsdorf, a small village just south of Vienna, our home for the following three months. During this time we will seek to integrate into a local Austrian church, work in a nearby refugee camp, practice on our German, and enjoy our surroundings. We are grateful for the opportunity to join, for these three months, what God is doing in Austria!