All Is Quiet

For now! Both of my girls are napping at the moment, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to write another update.

School is in full swing again, we're coming up on our first big exams of the semester this week. I have a written and an oral exam tomorrow (maybe I should be studying instead of doing this!) It's a lot of fun to see our progress and realize that we actually are learning some things and can understand some of the morning services at church. It's a great feeling to be able to listen and respond to people (i.e. have a conversation), and tell them your likes/dislikes and how you feel!

It's hard to believe that February is already here, soon we will be heading back to the US and finishing up the long long list of last minute details and packing before heading to Africa. It seems a little surreal sometimes as I look back over the last 8 years of training and preparation. I think of the hundreds of people involved in getting us to this point, and all I can really say is an inadequate "thank you." I think of the countless folks who are constantly on their knees praying for us--how humbling. I think of all the Bible courses and technical training and now learning French! But we've learned so much more. We've learned that our God is faithful in all things; we've learned the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit; we've learned that being "missionaries" happens not only in Africa, but wherever we find ourselves at the moment. We've experienced the joy of being able to encourage our brothers and sisters in the Lord, and the hope that comes from being on the receiving end of such encouragement.

We are hoping to leave for Africa sometime in September of this year. We still need to pack our shipment and I have a class or two that I still need to take for working on airplanes. We also need to finish up our ministry support; it has climbed a little since we've been here in Sherbrooke, but we still need about $500/month. This has to be taken care of before we are released to the field. Please pray with us about these things, and continue to pray for our language learning and the parenting lessons that Kaitlyn gives us on a daily basis!

"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape."

Tradition

It's a sunny Saturday morning around 8am. The air is crisp, the sun is shining brightly and the thermometer reads 5 degrees. Someone is unraveling a stiff garden hose, making his way to a big, empty tank. He turns on the water and begins filling the it, then gets this great idea to shovel 5 or 6 scoops of snow into the tank. The fire in the wood stove has been going for hours, making the warm house almost unbearable. Preparations are underway....

It's now 11am and the temperature has steadily risen to a balmy 10 degrees. A crowd has gathered around the water tank, which is still being continuously fed with scoops of snow. The crowd is getting anxious...and then....finally, the announcement is made and one by one, people begin to emerge from the warm house wearing everything from bathing suits to full costumes...the crowd goes wild.



That's right, today is the annual "Polar Bear Plunge", where students *willingly* jump into a freezing tank of water in the dead of winter. Most learned from their blunder and only did it once, for some it took another try before the cold sank in, and a few even dared to take the plunge three times in a row!



Most of them didn't have to say anything, their facial expressions said it all!



We even had a few brave representatives from the US!



And then...there are the faces:

Discoveries

Hi everybody, it's Kaitlyn! Guess what?! I'm learning so many new things and discovering so much of my surroundings. Mommy said that since I can somewhat sit up on my own, I get my own chair at the dinner table, that's exciting! I always like dinner time because that means I get to play for a little while. Mommy and daddy give me a bunch of plastic things that are all connected together; some of them even make funny noises when I push them in a certain spot. I've never heard a lot of these noises before so they're kind of strange to me.



I'm also starting to discover what mommy and daddy keep calling my hands. They're pretty interesting, and really useful for lots of things...like chewing on and holding my toys. I'm also learning what it means to be "cold." Every time we go outside mommy and daddy say that it's cold. All I know is that my new-found fingers feel like they're going to fall off and it gets hard to breathe.



One thing me and daddy have in common is that we get kinda cranky when we're sleepy, so when we get on mommy's nerves, we just take little mini naps together.



Well, that's all for now! Thanks for listening!

Holiday Pictures

Here are some photos of the past few days:



This is me and my brother, and Kaitlyn of course, on Christmas day after we opened all our presents.



There have been plenty of games to play, from "tri-ominoes" to tripoley, we've kept busy!



Grammy and Kaleb look like they're having a good time!



Even Joy's mom flew in to spend Christmas with us here in Ohio.



This is my nephew Sam, growing growing growing!



This is my multi-talented sister-in-law, Aly.



And what Christmas would be complete without a little wrestling?!

Finishing Up

Cookies and Christmas music, snowball fights and fireplaces, hot chocolate and family--it's that time of year once again! That's good because I think the snow is here to stay in Sherbrooke. We're living in a perpetual state of "flurries." Tomorrow we're supposed to get "beaucoup de neige" [lots and lots of snow] thanks to the snowstorm that's hit the rest of the US earlier this week. I'm half-way through my final exams for the semester, only three more tests and then I'm done!



Joy finishes her first semester on Friday as well, and we are hoping to leave Saturday morning for Ohio. I hear rumors of snow along our route...measured with a yard stick, so we'll see how long it takes us to get there. Usually, it should take about 15 hours, but with a baby and the weather, it will probably take significantly longer =) Our classes begin again on January 5th, so we will head back a few days before then.

Kaitlyn got her first taste of snow today; I don't think she liked it. She must have gotten some of that California blood from her mommy. When we come back for the winter semester I'll have to take her sledding and see how she likes that. But I'll have to wait for a warm day around 10 or 20 degrees. We did get an opportunity to take a family photo though right after I finished my oral exam.



We are definitely looking forward to some time off from our studies, and we'd ask you to pray for a safe journey to Ohio and a refreshing time with our family.

Fireside

Grab a warm blanket, a good book, and a tall mug of [insert hot beverage of choice] and make your way to the fireplace...if you have one.

It's one of those days here in Sherbrooke! It rained yesterday, snowed most of the night, and rained all morning. Now the windchill is right around 20 degrees thanks to the 40mph winds. Old man winter arrived overnight and is holding on with an iron grip!

But I was reminded (as the snow plow drove by really early this morning!), life moves on. So I got up and met the guys for a Saturday morning prayer breakfast. Thankfully, it was mostly in English. While we are making great progress in French, it is still very difficult to get much out of our French chapels and church services. We can understand many words and phrases, but our brains aren't fast enough to keep up with what's being said.

Two weeks lay between now and our Christmas break. The plan is to spend most of the break in Ohio at my parent's house. Aside from all the scheduled appointments at the doctor, dentist, attorney, family pictures, etc., we will have a blast! My parents and both siblings now live in Ohio, so it will be great to see everyone, and give my brain a rest!

Speaking of progress, a certain little Kaitlyn is already growing up so fast! She's trying to stand, roll over, and has turned into quite the talker. She is always excited when I come home from school...so is mom for that matter.



Our support has climbed a little bit; it's right around 85% now. Please continue to pray that the rest will come in by the summer so that we can leave for Congo on time! Pray that we will finish the semester strong and have a safe trip to Ohio (we are driving)! We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!



*Don't forget to take a look at our latest newsletter here: www.maf.org/konop

Starting Early

Last weekend I did something I haven't done in a l o n g time! Some of our friends here let us in on a little secret that one of the university's here has free ice skating on Sunday afternoons. Of course I was interested right away; I even brought my hockey skates just in case there were any opportunities to play some hockey while we are up here. Joy didn't have any, but a quick trip to the local thrift store fixed that problem, and we went last Sunday. Most of the time Kaitlyn was bundled up in her snow suit, happily sleeping away. But right before we left, I thought it was appropriate to introduce her to the "coolest" game on earth, and we skated around for a few laps. I even let her feel the ice and stand up on her own. She loved it!



Kaitlyn also really likes bath time--or maybe she just likes to be pampered!



Our French studies are continuing; it seems weird that we only have six weeks of school left before our Christmas break. It's going by so fast. So far we have been healthy, but many of our friends and family have either been sick or are sick. It's been surprisingly balmy here; we've had a lot of rain, but it hasn't really been that cold yet. I have a feeling it's coming though.