Photo Shoot with the girls....whew...

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

And we're done...whew...it is tough to get a picture of these little ladies these days!

ICSB Supports Dozens of Ministries in Budapest...read about ONE of them!

In December, Trisha participated in a Christmas program put on by KEGy, a local Hungarian church here in Budapest. KEGy is the city church plant that our Budapest City team with Reachglobal of the EFCA leads. Within our mission organization there are technically three teams here in Budapest. There is the City Church Plant Team, the International Christian School of Budapest team, and our EFCA Reachglobal Europe Headquarters team.

God is doing amazing things through their church plant, and it was a real honor for Trisha to be part of the community choir that particpated in their special Christmas program. The goal of this choir was to bring people together in the community who love music, and enjoy singing. Praise God that through this choir, God is working in the hearts of some of the particpants and drawing them closer to Himself. There is once couple in particular that is really seeking answers to their personal spiritual questions, and God is using Mark and Jodi, the choir directors and our EFCA Reachglobal teammates to pursue answers to their spiritual questions. Praise God! The choir was a small part of the overal program that the church plant put together for Christmas. I was so excited to see that Mark, one of our Budapest City teammates posted this video of the Christmas program.

Seeing work like this keeps Bjorn and I on fire about our ministry at the International Christian School of Budapest. Mark and Jodi's kids attend ICSB, and it is a blessing for us to hear of the work that God has called them too. Their kids started in the Hungarian school system, but for personal reasons had to move their kids to ICSB this semester. Praise God that ICSB is in existence and allowing so many families to stay on the mission field and remain committed to the work that God has called them to.

Check out this video of the Christmas concert!

January 2011

We love bundling the girls up and taking walks as a family!

Uncle Bruce Olsen came to Budapest while he was leading his Bethel University students on their International Business trip. It was so fun to get to see him and hang out for a couple days!

Little miss personality, AKA Alyssa Noelle makes us laugh all day long! She is crusing along in her development walking everywhere, talking, feeding herself with a spoon...wow..I mean...wow!She is now 14 months, and we are so thankful for her! It is hard to believe that this little munchkin is going to be a BIG SISTER! Yep, in July Baby Olsen #3 is due! :)

Lianna Joy, our champ. She is making HUGE gains in her development..and we are soooo grateful. Lianna just turned 4 years old a couple weeks ago, and it's perfect because 4 is her favorite number. Wherever she sees the number 4, on clocks, house numbers, anywhere..she makes sure to tell us that she sees the number 4. She is doing great identifying letters, and trying to talk more each day..and actually using new words that we've never heard her say before. PRAISE GOD!

Bjorn LOVES his girls..and of course so does Mommy. It has been so fun to see Lianna and Alyssa starting to play with each other more. Alyssa loves to chase Lianna and tickle her...it is soo funny. Lianna loves to bring Alyssa puppets for her to play with her. It will be fun to see how they both react to being big sisters in July.

More December...

Daddy opening Christmas gifts with Alyssa and Lianna.

Christmas Eve dinner at our friend's house. Lianna loved getting to sit by Oma!

December

Here is Papa enjoying some cuddle time with his grand girls! :)

Here the girls are having a pajama day playing with their buses. Alyssa started the race and then Lianna joined in. It has been so fun to see the girls loving to play with one another.

We have had a lot of snow here in Hungary this winter. This was the FIRST TIME that Lianna was strong enough in her walking to be able to walk in boots in the snow without assistance!!! PRAISE GOD!

On December 2, 2010, Alyssa Noelle turned 1 year old!!! Happy Birthday Alyssa! :)

Here is a picture of one of our students teaching English in a local Hungarian public school in Budapest. This was a great outreach that our students did here in Hungary!

Gramma and Grampa Olsen Visit..and the Youngs

Mr. Richard and Kim Young came to visit with Gramma and Grampa.

Lianna loved cuddling with Gramma and Grampa while they were here.

We had a GREAT time when they came to visit! The girls loved getting to play with Gramma and Grampa!

Lianna and Alyssa loved playing with the doll house with Gramma.

Of course they loved it when Grampa and Gramma would read to them too!

We even got to celebrate an early Christmas with presents that they brought in their suitcase!

Wow..God always meets us in our struggles...ALWAYS!

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" Matt. 5:4

So, in my last post, I talked about struggling with feeling alone and I feel a short explanation might be needed. When we left Chicago, we left an amazing Young Marrieds group that really encouraged us in our marriage and walk with the Lord. We had small groups and well...a lot of other friend and family support. God has blessed us with a great Christian community to be part of here in Hungary, but we still miss some of those friendships when we could walk life together on a daily basis. We had a few couples that mentored us (Bjorn and I), and we miss them and their encouragment and guidance too.

Having kids here, and not having that same support is challenging at times. God has been faithful though, and is bringing other couples to us and for that we are incredibly thankful.

A big struggle lately has been sweet Lianna's speech. Sadly, she is struggling greatly with getting the words out and expressing what she wants/needs. In the last week, she has started biting herself in frustration. She bites her wrists and leaves deep teeth marks. She also has started hitting herself in the face.

I write this to you and ask that you would please pray for her. Please pray specifically for her speech and to give her frustration to Jesus and not hurt herself. Please pray that when Bjorn and I can't understand her, that God would give us insight on what she is trying to communicate. Pray that even though I am not a speech therapist and have all this great ideas up my sleeve to pull out to help Lianna, that God would meet me and teach me...lead me...and that I would put it in his BIG hands.

A couple of days ago we were sitting in the kitchen and Lianna kept saying the same thing over and over again. In her sweet mind, it made perfectly good sense...but Bjorn and I sturggled to understand what she was trying to communicate. Lianna started screaming and whining and Bjorn and I watched out sweet little girl with her head buried in her arms on the table. These are moments that the enemy loves to stir up dissention between Bjorn and me too...because we are so overwhelmed with how to help her. Please pray that as a family we would ALWAYS stop in these exact moments and give them to Jesus, so that the enemy does not get a foothold.

Bjorn and I decided that we really need to cry out to the Lord with this struggle.

I do have to tell you an amazing story though of how God has met us in this struggle this week. This past week I called a friend in the states to wish her kids a happy birthday. She answered and said, "Trisha, I am so glad that you are calling, because I have something to tell you and I didn't want to forget. Last night, all night long I kept waking up. In my dreams and when I was awake, I kept praying for Lianna. I kept praying specifically for her speech."

There I sat holding the phone with tears in my eyes, and have them even now as I write. How amazing is our God? Here is my friend that lives on the other side of the world and has NO IDEA of this struggle that we've been having specifically this week, let alone the day before at the kitchen table. I stand amazed at the body of Christ. She felt compelled to pray for our family due to the prompting of the Holy Spirit!

Thank you Jesus, for hearing our hearts' cry. We beeseech you Lord to meet us in the midst of our struggle and give us peace. Amen