Well it has been a long time since I have posted a blog. Who knew how busy life would be with just one more additional blessing aka Elaina. Well, we will start back in February and work our way to now.
On February 15 at 2:12pm Elaina Grace Owens was born! She was 8#10oz and 20 inches long. To our surprise she had a ton of black hair!! Kayla and
Braeden were both bald
lol! We were in America at the time and stayed there until April 1st. Thank you to
Peepaw and Grandma, aka Justin's dad and
step mom, for letting us stay with them for three months. We had a great time welcoming the newest addition into our lives and enjoying time as a family.
On
April 1st we arrived back in
Tallinn Estonia. Note to self do not take anything as carry on baggage when you have three little ones with you (not to mention one that is only six weeks old) unless it is just a small backpack. Elaina did well on the flight we had three stops on the way and with the 19 hour flight and 8 hour time difference all of the kids did well. When we arrived back here in
Tallinn we began getting
accustomed to life here and life with Elaina.
Since we have been back we have been praying for God's guidance and what He would have us do here. He has opened the door for Justin to be able to teach an
evangelism course called share Jesus without fear. It is a practical and easy way to share your faith on a daily basis. He has taught the course at the church we attend and at a missions trip we went on in August to southern Estonia. We feel that as missionaries our job is not to come in and take over, but to rather help in any way that God
wills us to do and our goal is to have the Estonian people reaching there own people.
In May Franklin Graham came here to Tallinn and thousands accepted Christ as their Savior. it was
amazing to see all of the people come to the alter! To God be the glory!! Justin has been involved in an American football team here and plans on continuing with that next year. Justin took an intensive language course in July for three weeks and learned a lot of Estonian. While he was at school I went to the park with the kids and met a new neighbor each day! Our neighborhood is full of young families like us so we naturally have something in common.
We went on a missions trip to southern Estonia in August for a week and were able to see how they do their camps and help as needed. The kids attended the children's camp each morning and had fun.
I have started language school recently to learn Estonian. We both started with a private tutor in September. The good thing about the
Estonian language is it uses the
English alphabet with a few extra letters. It is a very
vowelular language so for me a southern girl it is difficult to make all of the sounds. With God's help I will be able to learn though.
Kayla is in first grade now. We are homeschooling and it is going well. She is a very intelligent peaceful child and she loves to learn.She has made a few friends that come to the house often to see her.
Braeden is just now starting to learn preschool books. He wants to do school work so badly, he says, but his attention span is still very small. We will probably have to do his lessons running in circles
lol. Elaina is now seven months old. She is eating
baby food and she enjoys it. She has four teeth coming in two have already broke through and the others will soon. She enjoys
babbling and has said "
Da Da" on many
occasions. Anytime I ask her to say ma ma she just grins and laughs. She is rolling and scooting everywhere and can't wait to catch up to Kayla and
Braeden.
I am enjoying being able to spend time with my family and little ones during these precious moments of their lives. I have been missing nursing however because it was such a big part of my life. I recently found out about a possible medical outreach that I may be able to be involved in though and am praying for that.
Pretty much that is it in a nut shell. I will try to update this about once a month. We are just ordinary people who have followed God's call for our lives which for us is to be in Estonia. We are not worthy by any means but we allow God to use us for His will and let others see His love shine through us so that they may come to know Him as their Father some day. Thank you for your prayers and support. I will post pictures next. Bear with me this is new to me this whole blog thing
lol!
My two princesses!
Buddy and Ellie.
One of daddy's girls
Elaina in a dress that my memaw gave her.
The beautiful plants my family sent me for my birthday!
Sweet Elaina!
Braeden Kayla and Avalanche the dog we adopted.
Hi!
Kayla and Braeden at the park here in Estonia.
Elaina 4 weeks old.
Braeden's fourth birthday!
His cake
My family
Kayla and Braeden in Otepää, a town in southern Estonia
Crafts at the missions week in Otepää