Together At Last!

I know that it has been awhile since we've updated our site and I'm sure that many of you are just dying to know what's going on! Sorry about that. As you can imagine, things have been a whirlwind of events but we are settling into our new Florida life just fine. Brian really enjoys his position as a Risk / Treasury Administrator with Campus Crusade for Christ. He has even been able to take two trips (one to Philadelphia and another to Clearwater, FL)!

Here are some pictures of the Campus Crusade Headquarters where Brian is working. The grounds are beautiful and very peaceful to work in. We are blessed that Brian's parents live about 7 minutes or so from work which makes the commute very bearable! We also have really enjoyed staying with Brian's parents. It has been fun to coordinate meals, decorate for Christmas, and just spend time together getting to know each other. They have been (and continue to be) a huge help to us. The weather here is gorgeous and it's nice to have it be cool (low 60's) in the morning and evening to give it that holiday feel as much as possible here.


Now to brief you on the baby news. Thankfully, Delia is feeling better then she was. She is now almost 15 weeks along and officially is in the second trimester. Although the nausea has not completely subsided it is much more bearable then it used to be. She is really enjoying this time to rest, read, organize, talk to her family, exercise, and get meals ready for us. She has been a tremendous help to my Mom with cooking and cleaning and she always is willing to help out in anything. Before Delia left Chicago to come to Florida (November 22nd - our 3 year anniversary - we were FINALLY reunited) she had a checkup on her and the baby. Everything is progressing beautifully and she was able to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time! We are starting to look around for a midwife as Delia really would prefer that to a doctor in a hospital. We are visiting a birthing center tomorrow to tour the facility and ask any questions to their midwife staff that we may have. It still hasn't completely sunk into our heads that we are going to be parents, but I have to admit that Delia has never looked more beautiful. I can't wait to see her become more and more visibly pregnant with our tiny child and only hope that the discomfort is minimal.

Other news is that we're flying to Chicago next Tuesday (Dec 12th) and fly out to Romania the next day for our Romania Christmas trip to see Delia's family. We are SO excited to see them as it has been over 2 years since we last visited and it has been 7 years since Delia has been home for Christmas. Everyone in her family is even more ecstatic that a new life will be added to our family soon. We fly from Chicago to Munich, Germany and then to Bucharest, Romania landing on December 14th. From there her parents will pick us up and we will drive about 2 hours to Delia's grandparents in the country and stay for a day and half visiting them. From there we will drive about 5 hours to Delia's home in Sibiu, Romania. I am very excited to be in another country for Christmas and see all of Delia's family traditions (carolling, sledding, food, and church). We will then fly from Sibiu to Bucharest on December 28th. From there we'll fly back to Munich, Germany, then to Washington D.C and then on to Chicago where we will land on the evening of the 28th. We will then stay at our townhouse and visit with some friends before flying back to Orlando on the 30th. As you can see - we have a long trip ahead of us. Please pray for safety with traveling, protection for our luggage which will carry the Christmas gifts, and for Delia's health during this time.

The only update in regards to the selling of our townhouse is that there is no update. Realistically, the soonest things will pick up will be mid to late January. Please continue to pray for a buyer of our home by March so that we have time to find a place here and set up the baby's room in time for his/her arrival (right now her due date is June 1st).

Thank you for reading this long update. We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and thank you for your prayers, letters, phone calls, and overall support and encouragement for us. We know that our transition down here would not have been as smooth without it. We will update you after the holidays and will include pictures of Delia's family and our trip there. May this Christmas be a season, not just one day of celebration!