Okay, so this is my first official post while living in Vienna! I have been too tired to put anything coherent down in print. But after almost 2 weeks I am feeling a bit more acclimated. Nothing much has "happened" to write about. There are no students yet, no classroom time, etc. What has happened are the little things of life: finding a grocery store, getting a bank account, getting a train pass, finding Tom's office at school, kids getting their placement tests, getting to know our neighborhood.

While we are doing all this we have had opportunity to get to know our "buddy" (our personal assistant to help us get acquainted in Vienna) and his family, Brian, Betti, and Tobi. A lovely family. She is Czec and he is American and their little boy will speak English, Czec, and German! We have met many families with multi-linguistic talents!

I have made the acquaintance of Isadora Laury...a sweet Austrian mother of ten year old twin boys who are in Andrew's class. I met Isadora because she lived her for a month before us and they go to the church we visited on Sunday. We went to a large, clean lake for the boys to swim and we chatted with other women from church. It was very nice to talk to Germans, Poles, Northern Irish, Austrian, and Montanans! I was the lone Minnesotan, so I really put on the accent for fun!

Today is Sarah's Homecoming Day. 16 years ago today we held her in our arms for the first time. I still remember the longing I felt to meet her and to hold her and see her and just have her forever! Everyday she has been a blessing and is a lovely young woman who thinks of others ahead of herself and has a cheerful happy heart. I am truly blessed to be her mother and have her for my daughter! She knows how to read my face--almost too well. The other day I walked slowly through the kitchen thinking about making a cup of tea. She said "You want a cup of tea, don't you, Mom?" I was floored...how could a 16 year old know that her mom wants a cup of tea? She even offered to make it for me just the way I like it!

We are kindergarteners here in Austria in terms of language and culture and just knowing how to get around. It is hard to go from being "insiders" and leaders to being "outsiders" and followers. God loves it, I think. We have called out to him in so many new ways and He is faithful! This is one of the reasons we have made this move, to find God in new ways that we never needed before.