Family Activities 2009

So how long has it been since I wrote anything here? Ethan is no longer 11 weeks old but 16 months old. He has done so much this year, heh, this week even. I sometimes look at him and wonder where the baby went all of the sudden. He is walking running and climbing now. He has an incredibly tender heart and loves to cuddle (primarily his stuffed animals) and just this week figured out how to open the doors between rooms (watch out) and is drinking pretty well from a regular cup. He is loving the Christmas tree and got some early presents last week when Grandma Judy was here visiting. Such a change from last year when he couldn't do anything to the presents and now is intent on opening all the presents he can get his hands on. Ethan is incredibly obedient and won't touch the tree or do most of the things he's not supposed to. It is eye opening though to see how I probably look to God when I complain as I see Ethan when he doesn't get to do what he wants. We are on the verge of Christmas here in Austria and I really love the weather, the sights and the atmosphere, they do Christmas right here. We look forward to all that will happen in the coming months and will keep the posts a bit more regular as we settle into a more routine schedule, whatevever that is.

So now what

I can't believe it is October 28 and Ethan is 11 weeks old today! We continue to press on toward the prize of serving in Austria by Spring. Ethan is growing bigger every day. He even started sleeping through the night about 10 days ago. I tell you 6 hours of straight sleep is a gift from God. We have truly been blessed with the Best child in the world. I mean just look at him. He is a pretty cool kid don't you think? Help Us and Ethan get to Austria! Pray!

Well, that was a long time without writing

We are still alive! We hope you haven't lost heart in never hearing from us. We are continuing in the journey of parenthood. Right now, the priority has not been on blogging, so you will have to forgive me for 2 and a half months of no posts on this page. You can see a little more of our ministry and life the past few weeks at www.ambroseinfo.blogspot.com and we will try to keep this page updated more frequently.

So some stats: Ethan Zayne Cornelius Ambrose was born on August 12 at 8:46 pm, weighing in at 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches in length. Today he is 6 weeks old!!! A huge mile stone as technically it is the end of postpartum although our recovery continues. He weighs in this week at 10 lbs 6 oz and 22 and 5/8 inches, although those numbers are actually one week old. He is doing good and you can see his photo album by clicking on the link below.

Ethan Photos

Recent photo

I just wanted to share with any readers the most recent photo of Michelle. She is due to give birth in 52 days! We would be happy with any time up to 3 weeks before the due date, so please pray with us.

3D ultrasound photo

So I finally figured out a way to share the photo we got at the last ultrasound with everyone. Isn't he cute?

Continued Prayer Need

Please continue to pray with us as we are encountering some challenges in Michelle's pregnancy. Although everything appears great, and we keep getting lots of ultrasound pictures, we are definitely in need of prayer for faith and peace. Keep Michelle's health and the health of our son in your prayers! Thanks!

If I figure out how to get an ultrasound photo to scan and upload I'll share it on this Blog.

Where have we been?

Many of you might be wondering why this incredible blog hasn't been updated in 6 months. Okay, so maybe no one is concerned any more and you've stopped reading it.
We have been busy and I mean busy! Since the last post at Thanksgiving our world has changed. We are now expecting our first CHILD! A Boy!!!! This August.
There is a lot that has gone into our getting to this point and I will share that in brief below-

We found out 3 days before Christmas that we were pregnant and two weeks later that we were expecting twins. At 21 weeks we received the tragic news that one of the babies had not survived. This was an incredible shock and loss and we have been trying to move through the grieving process these last number of weeks while at the same time rejoicing over the health of our son. We want to thank all who were able to pray and comfort us. We are still grieving and never will be the same after what has happened.

That pretty much sums up the reason for our absence. There wasn't much to talk about before we were telling people and once we told people of the pregnancy it became very difficult to talk about. Sorry for anyone feeling left out. From now on this blog will have posts about our day to day lives as missionaries and a family returning to Austria.

Thanksgiving with Family

We spent the week of Thanksgiving with Michelle's Brother's Family in Medical Lake, WA. We had a great time and great food. This pic is of the nieces making chocolate covered marshmallows. There was probably more dessert than anything else. The girls were enjoying dessert all week. We had snow the first day there and then lots of cold weather. We saw a lot of deer and birds before eating the turkey. We even went shopping the day after Thanksgiving, which for my european readers is a big american tradition, although a crowded one. I will post some more photos on our web album site. Use the link on the right.

Busy week ahead of Thanksgiving

Well, we had a great service in Lake Stevens, even if I wish I was with Martin who commented about the great time they had in Graz yesterday. We have a busy week ahead with a service in Forks on Wednesday (about 4 hours away) and meeting friends Thursday and Friday. Saturday we head to Oroville, only a seven hour drive. Then all next week we will be with family preparing for Thanksgiving in Medical Lake.

Off to Lake Stevens WA

Just a quick note to let the readers know that we returned from Port Orchard and spent the day recuperating yesterday. Today it is off to Lake Stevens Assembly of God. We only have a 40 minute drive this morning, so that should be refreshing.

I know it has been forever but we're busy

I really don't know if anyone reads these posts, but they probably haven't for quite a while. Very bad blogging on my part. Anyway, I'm sorry. We have been quite busy traveling and doing ministry, but I hope to make time now to regularly fill you in on what we are doing. This week we have been in Port Orchard, WA. We are participating nightly in the missions convention of CLC in Port Orchard. We have been in three homes so far this week and will again be sharing in a home group tonight. We also participated in "Missionary Squares" on Wednesday night with 7 other missionary units plus Buddy Barrel! This weekend we are off to Lake Stevens to share in the Sunday am service. BTW we have also updated our ministry website with some pictures and info, as well as our last newsletter.

Michelle's Surgery

Michelle had surgery on her left shoulder this week to remove a calcium deposit that had been causing pain for the last four years. She is currently recovering from the surgery and will start rehab on Thursday. Living with one usable arm this week has been quite a challenge for both Michelle and I.

September travels

The past three weeks we have been in Pasco, Camas and Toledo, WA. We are looking forward to the coming weeks when we will be in Ridgefield and Vancouver, WA followed by Malone and Aberdeen, WA and then on to Medical Lake, WA.

Where have we been?

Ok, I apologize. We haven't entered a single blog since we got back from Austria. Well, we've been busy OK, and well, I've been kind of lazy too. We have been all over the place in the last 9 weeks since we got back from Austria. We had some great times back with Family and our church home. I performed a wedding for my stepsister, and we started traveling. We haven't been to that many churches so far, but we have been around. We left on July 8, the day after the wedding for Springfield, Misery (spelling mine) and had 10 days of heat mixed with frigid AC. We then headed to Richmond, Virginia. With stops in St. Louis, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. Not a straight line you say? That is correct, but straight lines are no fun. In Richmond we had a great time with Michelle's mom and step dad. We never stopped and can now tell you all about 1. the first British settlement in America, 2. colonial America, 3. The home of Thomas Jefferson, 4. What Washington DC looks like from the outside of every monument, 5. The largest city in Virginia is Virginia Beach, which is a blast when it is sunny, and 6. Busch Gardens Williamsburg is full of great rides. After 10 days in Virginia we headed to Indianapolis for the 52nd General council of the AG. It was a lot of fun/work and after all that we were finally headed home on August 14. We stopped to see Mt. Rushmore (well worth the trip and $8.50 to park) and then drove to Medical Lake, WA to spend time with Michelle's Brother, his wife and their 3 daughters. All this before a church service this last Sunday in Goldendale, WA. (Check your map). Now finally home we are back in business with itineration (read travel/fundraising) and calling churches. I hope to share more of our adventures in much more real time in the weeks ahead.

Final Sunday in Austria

We said goodbye to the church in Graz today. It was hard having to say goodbye and know that we will not see most of the people for at least a year. We will miss the church a lot and look forward to being able to return soon. We leave on Tuesday for the US and a year of itineration. We can't wait to see our family and friends in Seattle. We fly from Vienna to Copenhagenen and Copenhagen to Seattle. Coming soon our adventures in America.

Visitor in Graz

We had a great weekend with our Area Director Jim Sabella and his family. We hosted them and Jim spoke in Church on Sunday. We are getting ready for the transition from Austria back to the USA. We will be going through reverse culture shock and getting used to life in the US after 3 years in Austria. We look froward to it while at the same time wishing we could stay in Austria.

Spider man review

Okay it took me a long time to write it but Spidey was awesome. You must see this film. Most importantly what does this movie tell us about sin, anger, revenge and the church's place in forgiveness? What about the prayer offered? See the movie, answer the question yourself.

Spider man

We are headed off to see spider man tonight. We had a sighting a few weeks ago that I wanted to share with this photo. I'll report on the web hero tomorow.

Paris Trip

Michelle and I had a great time in Paris and visiting her Family, Missionaries John and Nancy Lecossec in Gien, France at a Gypsy convention. We saw all the important sites in Paris, you know the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc d'Triumph, Champs Ellysees, Planet Hollywood, Disneyland Paris, Notre Dame, Starbucks, yeah that is about all the important places. Click on the photo below for our photos.

France Trip 2007

Easter

We had a great Easter Yesterday. We had three guests over and ate Raclette, a swiss meal with lots of cheese, and then we went for a hike up the Schlossberg in Graz. I have a link here to some of the pictures. Please comment if you know what time the clock on the clock tower says the picture was taken.

From Easter photos