Silas on the Telephone

Sorry it's sideways :O). And of course he was talking so much more before I started the camera.

Silas' Skills

Standing, talking, and fitting small objects into bigger ones. Towards the end you'll hear, "Da, da." As you'll see, he gets a bit wobbly and distracted with the camera.
To the left of me there's that corner cupboard, which is Silas' favorite to get into and pull things out of. Right before we got this shot, he did something funny. After he had cleared the cupboard, he climbed in and sat down in there! Ha, he's continuously such a little boy, and so cleaver.

Human Knot Family Time

Every Wednesday we have 'Family Time' from 9-10am, where we do different activities such as sharing visions and dreams, praying and worshiping, and building our bonds in different ways.
This last week it was simply the biggest human know I've ever seen. It's looked quite painful really, but there was an unusual spin on it, which was once you've gotten out you can help PULL others out...I still don't quite get it....I think it definitely added to the pain. But lately I've been learning how tension literally builds strength and character, so I suppose this was actually a pretty good exercise to illustrate that.
After the fun time, this years outreach locations were revealed; South Africa, Asia, and France. We're getting more and more excited to lead a team to France!

LoveFeast

LoveFeast: A time that the staff put together a special evening to honor the students and praise God for them!
This year's theme was, "A Night in Morocco."
The cobra definitely caught Silas's attention!

Washing hands before eating with them...Remember, only use the right hand!

mmm...Couscous is yummy.

Redeemind Dance

The dance track completed their first dance assignment. We gave them the assignment to find a dance piece from modern culture, find what they like about it, what they don't like, and ask God what he thinks about it and what redemptive qualities are in the dance. I think the videos will help explain. We didn't do this because we think that So You Think You Can Dance dances for example, are necessarily bad, but because we believe God has a whole lot more intended for us and our giftings, and what can be said through them.
The first video is an explanation of the redemption choreography that Josefine did.The second video is Josefine's re-working of 'The Face' by Lisa and Miles from So You Think You Can Dance Canada (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERFv2VitmKo).

A Moment to Enjoy Life

Returning home from the Nations 2 Nations conference in Oslo, Mitch pulled the van over and ordered everyone out to run in the snow.
Silas' first time touching, and tasting snow :O).

Back Home in Ålesund

Here's a small update on the last week or so...

PERSONALLY:
Flying solo from Seattle to Ålesund went really well. People were so sweet, so many were so eager to help me. Even though things were going fine, I had at least five strangers offer to hold Silas, and people practically tore things from my hands to help me get them in and out of the overhead compartments. Icelandair didn't have the bassinet seats like Scandinavian Air does, which meant holding Silas in my arms the whole time. But I got to hold him while he slept which never happens anymore, so I looked at it positively even though it was a bit challenging. Still trying to catch up on sleep. Silas is taking good Norwegian naps outside, he has a nice schedule and good fresh air going there. I was also a bit anxious about how I was ever going to get anything done while Silas was napping since we live in a studio and I would always fear waking him. I had kind of forgetten about the napping outside thing, however Silas fell asleep one day while we were walking, and it all came back to me. So it's nice to have the apartment to myself during that time.We're definitely still working on night time sleep, I don't know why it's so challenging for him. He definitely sleeps better at night when I just can't take it anymore and bring him into bed with us. *sigh* The good news is I'm reading a book called 'The No-Cry Sleep Solution.' It has sold many, many copies and has a really good success rate. I haven't yet got to the "tips" part of the book, but hopefully soon.

We're still trying to unpack, but we're settling back into our Norwegian home. To celebrate coming home, and because Silas enjoyed Grandpa's fishies so much, we went and picked out a Beta Fish the other day. I'll send a picture soon. He's a nice bright red one who swims all around a lot and seems to come to say hello when Silas is lifted to him to say hi. It was so nice to finally see Mitch again after being apart for almost two weeks. Silas gets so giddy over any site or attention from Daddy, it's so special to watch their special bond.

WORKWISE:
Staff training and preparation has began here at the base. All the staff has shared about their summer, along with their expectations and any fears they have for this year. Today we had a really impacting and important teaching on Servant Leadership. The rest of the weeks we will divide responsibilities for the year (ie. welcome board and folder, welcome baskets, prophetic word rocks which are given to each student, list maker, ETC.), Mitch and Arnbjørg will speak on DTS focus for this year, go over kitchen routine/rules, and I will be leading the house guidelines again, and last but not least, we will continue to worship and pray together each morning before work. Oh, and we'll have an overnight staff retreat this weekend to unite as a new staff and leadership group and have some fun together before the hard and rewarding year begins.