At the Danube Church Retreat

After months of preparation on our part, the church retreat that we were in charge of finally took place on April 17-19. By all accounts it went well, for which we were grateful. The weekend was a good opportunity to meet new people and to develop friendships with those we already knew. Probably the biggest surprise was on Saturday afternoon, when some middle school students, at the prodding of an adult who shall remain nameless, decided to throw Gary into the swimming pool fully clothed. Unfortunately that moment was not caught on film. However, he ran after them and jumped into the heated pool where the other kids were gathered to watch. Gary also learned from this experience that mobile phones are not generally waterproof and that he should take his out of his pocket, if need be in midair while being tossed into the water.

Everybody at the retreat wanted to hold Ethan. He did great there, not phased at all by having so many people constantly around him. We think he is an extrovert, since he does so well around groups of people.

The shirt says it all.

Ethan's first hike

On Ethan's two-month birthday today, we went for a pediatric check-up. He now weighs 13 pounds and is doing well. Afterwards at lunchtime we went for a short hike in the Buda Hills near the doctor's office.








We hiked up to a shelter with a beautiful view of Budapest, including the Danube, its bridges, and the parliament building. Ethan took no notice.

Easter Sunday

We spent Easter Sunday afternoon at our team leaders' house with nine other guests. There was a family from Romania, another one that is half Romanian, and a lass from Scotland.

This spring in Hungary has been unusually warm and sunny. It was a beautiful day to be outdoors.

This is the first time we ever gave Ethan a bottle, at age 8 weeks.

He was probably thinking, "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy."

A candid shot - the other side of feeding.

First smile on camera

We wanted to send a photo to Lori, Gary's sister-in-law, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. So we wrote out this message, had Ethan "hold" it, and we started snapping pictures. Without any prompting from us he smiled briefly at one point. We had seen him smile a number of times, but this was the first time that we caught it on camera (age 6 weeks).

We would appreciate your prayers for Lori, who has a long road of treatment ahead of her, and for her husband Bret, Gary's brother, and their two children, Seth (15) and Kenna (11). The disease has spread to several bones and other locations in her body. They are experiencing the grace of the Lord through the help and presence of many around them at this time.

Korean lunch

The mothers of many Korean students at the school cooked lunch for the staff today. Ethan was a big hit with them and with the staff members who saw him at school. We suspect that Ethan is an extrovert -- he almost always seems to be in a good mood whenever he is around other people.