Epiphany

The last series of photos and experiences are from our very recently getaway to Cogne, Italy. IT is a quaint mountain village at the foot of Gran Paradiso National Park and nearby Mount Blanc (15,771 feet and Europe's highest mountain). Hope you can appreciate the photos, Siena did some of her first sledding ever. Enjoy!

New Years 2006

On New Years, which is typically the grandest party in Italy, we were invited to spend it with Luca and Cristina (they were at our Christmas Party) and 6 other friends. Davide, Anna & Caterina were present also. There was entirely too much food at this gathering, however, we were so blessed to hear Davide and Anna respond to the question launched "What New Year's resolution do you want to make this year?" "We want to become better at parenting and being married!" They testified to the power of Jesus in them who values relationships over materialism and humility over achievements.

Christmas2006

Okay, so I am not the most efficient at updating the BLOG. Evidently, I am not an avid BLOGGER. However, take comfort, this is my first one this year and only 6 days have past!

So how could we highlight our Holiday season? Joyful, expectant and relaxing... after the 24th that is. We began the season at il Rifugio where we hosted roughly 60 students at our annual party. This year we had a sketch on "why do we celebrate Christmas?" It was answered by Aida (a 13 yr old member of the church) who said, "We celebrate Christmas because God broke into our world to bring us hope in Jesus." Checco Testa (no relation), a very young passionate believer, shared his testimony urging people to check into Jesus. The entire night was a testimony!

Next came our annual family Christmas Party. We celebrated it with four other couples, only one who know Jesus. We were rather behind that evening, preparing all the food american style, but at the end it wrapped up nicely. One friend of ours named Stefano, after reading Romans 5.8, said, "That is the most beautiful description of Christmas I have ever heard." We had a chance to pray over each couple urging them to check out who the Jesus of the Bible is. They stayed with us till 3am helping clean up.