Monday morning…on the way to the University….

For the second year in a row, Joanna has made it possible for Laura and I to getaway for a long weekend (she kept the kids).  THANK YOU JOANNA!!!!!  You have REALLY blessed us.  It was a MUCH NEEDED getaway, and we had a great great time.  We truly feel refreshed and refocused.  It was amazing how much I slept on the first day.  I think I hit a wall or something…finally allowing my self to relax.

We can all relate to the constant “outward pull” of life, and it was great to have some extra time to focus on our inner lives together.  Henri Nouwen says, “to reach the inner sanctum where God’s voice and direction can be heard and boeyed is not easy if you are always called outward.”  It was good, not only to have some time to relax, but to have some extra time for “inner renewal” as Nouwen calls it.

We went to the second largest thermal lake in the world in Hévíz, an amazing place which we’ve heard our friend Magdi talk about for three years.  Here’s some quotes from the Hévíz brochure:

“Did you know that Lake Hévíz is the world’s only naturally occuring peat bed medicinal lake that is fit for swimming?”

“The lake of Hévíz is a geological rarity.  Unlike other hot-water lakes of the world located generally on volcanic ground, the spring lake of Hévíz lies in a turf basin.  It is filled with calcium- and magnesium-containing hydrogen-carbonate medicinal water.”

“Enjoy watching the snow-covered landscape through a soft steam curtain while relaxing in the water of a the lake that is as hot in winter as in the summer.  The constant steaming of the water clears the air at the lake all the time, providing opportunity to relax in a dustless and allergen-free milieu for bathers and provides complete recreation for body and mind to people who are simply weary.”

Wow.

We made a couple outings to the surrounding area (Badacsony and Keszthely).  On Saturday afternoon, we saw the farsang parade in Keszthely, which was a awesome cultural experience.  Here’s a few favorite pictures:

A view of the “soft steam curtain” rising from the “calcium- and magnesium-containing hydrogen-carbonate medicinal” waters of lake Hévíz.

A view of the volcanic hills and Lake Balaton from the 13th century Szigliget castle.

The church sitting below Szigliget castle at the south western end of Lake Balaton.

The beginning of the parade.

Hmmm.  I’ve seen these masks a lot over the last three years.  Can someone educate me?

The drum line was awesome!

The end of the parade.  :)

Tom, it’s been great to have you in town for a few days. Thanks for sharing last night on the topic of calling. It was so good!

Hooray for little Anna!

This morning we celebrated the birth of Jesus with a dusting of snow on the ground outside.  It was just enough to call it a “white Christmas” in our book.  Here is a family picture from last Christmas.  We wish you all a joyous and peaceful Christmas!

Here’s a couple pictures from our family outing in the city today. Can you find something strange or unusual in one of them?

Jacob & Nathan had their Christmas parties at ovoda yesterday.  I think Nathan ate the majority of the snacks in both his class and Jacob’s class.  And somehow he still ate a big dinner. Here’s Jacob giving one of his teachers a present and the traditional double-cheek kiss.

Laura found the charlie brown christmas movie at the grocery store the other day.  Wow.  Such a classic.  I still love the scene where all the kids start dancing on stage.  Remember that?

Seth had his first big show at school, and you can see his special part between 2:13-2:30. The video is about 4 minutes!

We had a great weekend in Miskolc, and four friends from North Carolina were able to join us.  It was a great time sharing stories, thinking about Donnie’s questions, hanging out at the orphanage, soaking in the cave baths, riding the train.  Thanks Reni, Réka, Eliza, János, Zsolt, Dávid, and Kristóf for organizing everything!

Here are some of Seth’s thoughts from his first two weeks in the first grade at Dr. Szent-Györgyi Albert Általános Iskola.

“Hi, this is Seth.  I am in first grade.  I have some letters and words that I am learning how to write and read in Hungarian.  For example, ‘kék’ means ‘blue,’ and ‘faházak’ means ‘tree houses.’  Some of the letters I am learning to write are V, Á, A, Z, í, K, F, É, E, H, and I.  Everyday I have házifeladat (homework).  I have a magic box with magic sticks and beans in it.  What I do with it is I use it to spell words (see the picture).  The magic box in Hungarian is called a ‘varázsdoboz.’

“In the morning, I go to the closet in the hallway, and I hang my hat up, and I get my inside shoes on, and I go sit at my desk in the classroom.  Then the teacher comes in, and all my friends arrive.  My teacher tells me what to do.  First I have Hungarian class and then math.  We also have torna (phys. ed.), an English class, and drawing.  We go to the play ground and come back to eat a snack.  Mom and Dad pick me up from school.

“My favorite parts of the day is when I have torna, drawing, swimming, and snack time.  I also like lunch, math  and Hungarian class.  When I go to Hungarian school, everybody speaks Hungarian.  I speak Hungarian to them too.  I have some friends who I talk to.  We talk in Hungarian about things like animals.  Some of my favorite animal names are kutya (dog), hal (fish), and technősbéka (turtle).  In class I understand everything, but some things I don’t.

“I have some friends in class.  There names are Kinga, Bendegusz, Jenő, Dani, Márk, Benedet, Patrik, and there are a couple others, but I can’t remember their names.”

-Seth Whitfield Newell