ten years

gracious.



Today you turned ten years old.  A little over ten years ago, we weren't together.  But your void was in my heart.  Your daddy and I knew we wanted a baby, and we had our own ideas of how that would happen.  Meanwhile, you were forming in another mother's womb, growing strong and preparing for all that you would endure in those first few years.



As you made your entrance into the world, our days of infertility were becoming more difficult.  We were hitting walls that seemed too much for our hearts to handle.  So as you grew in that first year, we began filling out papers instead of buying maternity clothes and attending birthing classes.



And after that first year of life, your world turned upside down.  Our troubles were nothing compared to the struggles you must have felt as you entered that orphanage for the first day.  All things were new, and everything that once comforted you in your first year of life were now gone.  Oh, how I wish I could have held you and rocked you that first night.



But it would be one INCREDIBLY LONG year before we'd see you for the first time.  In that time we prayed for you.  We didn't know if you'd be a boy or a girl, a baby, a toddler, or school-aged.  All we knew was that we were trusting God more than we had ever trusted Him before.



And then in November of 2005, as you were completing your first year in a Ukrainian orphanage, we looked into your big brown eyes for the first time.  And suddenly, that void was full- no, not full- overflowing!



And now almost 8 years later, even when I think I can't love you more, I find myself falling in love with you over and over again.  You complete our family in so many ways.  Your sweet, humble spirit is to be admired, and I pray your innocence stays around for many years to come.  The simple things in life always make you smile, and your thankfulness is second to none.  Max is so fortunate to be your little brother, and one day, he'll be able to tell you just how great you are!  How many brothers would let the little one be first as often as you do?  Your passion for good food, seeing the world, and experiencing new things melts our hearts, and we are honored that we were chosen to walk along side you as you discover this world!



Happy Birthday, sweet boy!  Thank you for adding so much joy to our lives.  We pray that your next year is the best yet!

Venice, Italy- no.2 (The sights and the goodbyes!)

Venice is made up of six districts.  Since motor vehicles are banned from the city center, you can awake early to find larger boats delivering a variety of goods to local businesses.



We witnessed a variety of items being delivered from paper products to fresh flowers.  But luckily we found more to see in Venice than just delivery boats!



We loved walking down all the little alleyways and wondering what was around the next corner.



Our first big find was the square at St. Mark's Basilica.



It was such a fun place for people watching and just hanging out.  The church is beautiful.







While Jason and I admired the architecture, the boys quickly noticed the pigeons and set out to catch them... although, to no avail!





We soon realized you needed bait to actually get within any distance of them.  Luckily, we came back later and a sweet lady shared some breadsticks with them!



Jack LOVED it!  He would have let them sit on him all day.



But Max... he was a bit of different story.  It wasn't nearly as fun as it looked.





We also happened to be in Venice on a night of a high tide and got to see the square begin to flood.  We didn't stay to see the entire thing fill up, but even a small puddle excites little boys!





We also got to see the Bridge of Sighs.  Its name derives from two possible sources.  One- it is said that prisoners crossed over on the their way to prison or execution, and they would sigh as they took one last look at freedom. Or two- it is said that if a couple kisses under the bridge on a gondola ride, they will enjoy eternal love.  Therefore, the sighs come from lovers who have been overwhelmed by the romantic feel of Venice.  If #2 is correct, my marriage is sure to last through eternity!

And that leads me to my last favorite sight... a gondola ride.  Before we ever left India, we agreed to enjoy our trip, but to spend wisely and not to make rash purchases and waste large sums of money.  That included already agreeing that we probably wouldn't do a gondola ride.  BUT THEN WE I SAW THEM!



It's just such a quintessential part of Venice.  I couldn't imagine leaving there and not having taken at least one gondola ride.  And I don't regret spending that money one bit!  As an added bonus, the gondola behind us had paid big bucks to have a band and singer ride with them, so we were serenaded for free on our entire trip!





Here's a quick video of a gondola we watched from a bridge.  I do have video of our actual ride, but Jason and the guide are having some in-depth conversation in the background!



Venice- gondola from Sarah Marlin on Vimeo.


I was afraid our boys were too young to appreciate it, but Jack really took in our entire trip and loved it.



Others might still be a few years shy of being able to fully appreciate such experiences!



Don't let him fool you though... he's quite observant.  My favorite moment from his entire trip was the day he told me he "was just gonna wash his hands in this little sink!"  Never a dull moment with that kid!

While he relaxed on the gondola ride, the rest of us took in the beautiful architecture and the stories our guide had to share.



I couldn't take enough pictures of all the beautiful doorways.






Venice is definitely a city of love, and these padlocks could be found on bridges all throughout the city.  Evidently the origin is from a novel that talks of lovers writing their names on padlocks and throwing the keys into the canal as a testimony of their love.  From what I read, it's not something that they city officials are really thrilled about, but I found it to be romantic.  However, I don't have any locks in Venice with my name on them!




As you'll see from my future posts, Jack and Max successfully found dogs at each stop we made that were willing to endure some bottled-up puppy love!



We saw so many places on our trip through the Mediterranean, but Venice... it holds the largest part of my heart.  I already made Jason promise he'd bring me back there someday without our kids.  We will see if he makes good on his promise.  But for now, we say "so long" to Venice, and "we'll see you again soon!"

Venice, Italy- no.1 (The trip and the food!)

When we moved to this side of the world, we were giddy at the thought of all these possible places we might see.  And then we saw what it cost to see all those wonderful places and took a large step back.  So we decided that as long as we were here, we were going to make the most of it and plan at least one BIG trip during each term we serve.  We dug deep in the savings account, and this crew embarked on a Mediterranean cruise on May 21st.

Our flight left in the middle of the night, India time.  In lieu of sleeping a few hours in the airport, we stayed in the airport hotel (which was surprisingly extremely nice).  Problem is we have four people in our family and the beds are a double-size.  That means these people slept horizontally across the bed.  Despite the cramped quarters, our few hours of sleep were worth it!

Our first flight landed in Moscow around 9 AM, and we may or may not have stopped at Burger King for cheeseburgers before boarding our next flight.  No judgement please!  We are all suffering from a beef deficiency!

Disclaimer:  Those socks Max has on were a free gift from the airline.  We don't typically dress him in vibrant blue socks that touch his knees!  Despite my opinion, he thought they were "fansome."  That's his own special word that I've come to think means 'fancy and handsome!')

Our cruise left port in Venice, Italy.  I was a little disappointed at first, because I knew we'd miss Venice.  Luckily, Jason did some checking and found a pretty reasonable hotel room so that we could go one day early.  And boy, am I glad we did.  I have to say... Venice might remain one of my favorite places for a LONG time!  

After arriving at the airport, we grabbed a little map so we could get our bearings.



Along with the help of our tour guide (also known as Max) we took a water taxi to our hotel.  The waterways are complete with lanes to make traveling safe and efficient.  The trip in the taxi was beautiful.  There were too many beautiful things to look at!

Once we arrived, we found our hotel, dropped off our bags, and headed out to look around.  Most likely our first few hours were spent in a state of shock.  The beauty, organization, and cleanliness of it all was just breathtaking for  some folks who've spent the last two years in the complete opposite!







With all that sightseeing, it wasn't long until we found ourselves hungry, and what better way to fill a stomach in Italy than with GELATO!  This is the real stuff... not that pretend gelato they try to sell around the world!

We spent as much time looking at food as we did architectural things.  These sandwiches could be found everywhere.  I lost count of how many prosciutto and provolone paninis we ate on our trip!

The only cheese we get in India is processed sliced cheese and frozen mozzarella cheese.  So the sight of this was almost too much for us to bear.



Jason found his love language spoken loud and clear in windows like this all throughout Venice.



On our second day there, we found ourselves just stopping and ordering slices of prosciutto and parmesan just for the heck of it!  We called it a snack, but I think we were just trying to take in as much of the goodness as our stomachs would hold!

We also found the local fruit/vegetable market.  As people who live in India, we are not strangers to a vegetable market packed with incredible quantities of fresh fruits and veggies.  But these were the most beautiful fruits and vegetables I've ever seen.  You don't even have to edit these pictures for color.  They are so vivid and bright all on their own!



The boys begged for pears, strawberries, and lots of other fruit treats all throughout our trip!  We were happy to oblige.



We also stumbled upon the fish market.  If you overlook the obvious smell of a fish market, Jason and I both agreed this was about the freshest seafood we had ever seen.  We loved seeing all the different options.  And the octopus was a hit with the boys!







We did manage to SIT and eat on our first evening, but we found that the food we grabbed on the go was a hundred times better and cheaper!



On our second day, we stopped and grabbed some pizza.  I'm a lover of pizza even in America, but this stuff was the REAL THING!  Pizza Hut and Papa John's can close their doors as far as I'm concerned!  We found a small alleyway to eat and had a quick lunch.





I guess one of the simplest things that caught us off guard in Venice was the public water fountains with CLEAN drinking water.  For two years, we've only had filtered water.  We have to threaten our kids not to drink bath water or anything that they aren't sure has been properly purified.  In fact, when Jason showed them the first water fountain, they stood back and would have nothing to do with it!





It didn't take them long to get the hang of it, and before I knew it, we were dragging them away from the fountains!  I think civilized people use them to fill their bottles up, but our approach was much more fun!







Although we would have been content just eating and drinking (water, of course) in Venice, there was so much more to our trip!  More on that next time! Ciao!