The Life of the Marty Party: November 2008

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Best Friends

"the last supper" Marty-Dico dinner out at J.B. Dawson's in Lancaster Nov. 7th 2008

The hardest part about leaving Lancaster of course was leaving all of our special friends. Four years ago when we moved to Lancaster PA, it was an unexpected gift to live close to our friends Dawn and Jon and their two kids, Sophia and Anthony. Dawn and I have been best girlfriends since jr. high...we went to college together and met our husbands there. After both getting married, we went our separate ways...Dawn and Jon to Pennsylvania and Q and I to Minnesota. We always dreamed of living close again and our kids being best of friends but never imagined how it could possibly come true. ...until HOPE...long story short...HOPE brought us to Lancaster! One hour from Dawn and Jon.
Over these past four years we have created so many special memories. When we moved to Pennsylvania we vowed that we wouldn't let the time pass us by and end up with a bunch of "if onlys" or "we should haves". We made so much effort to not let the hour drive be a deterrent from getting together as much as we could - and it was worth every minute and every $ of gas! Our friendship as couples has grown so much over these years and it has been a dream come true to watch our kids grow into the best of friends. We have built the foundation for a life-long friendship for our families, regardless of the distance between us.

Dear Dawn, Jon, Sophia and Anthony,
Thank you so much for all the special memories. We miss you so much already and we've only been gone a couple weeks. We will cherish the 4 years we had with you forever in our hearts. So many things will remind us of you...You will be in our thoughts and prayers always. We love you!
Come visit us in Poland soon!!! Please?
love you,
Bethany, Q, Eden Truman and Briar
...oh yeah, and thanks for the html code for the slideshow, Dawnie, I love it!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Iron Man, Gabriella and a Bumblebee!

We had a fun halloween this year. It was extra special because my little sister Brook was in town to visit and to help me get some serious packing done.
Eden was Gabriella from High School Musical 2
Truman was Iron Man
and Briar was a bumblebee!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

POLAND!!!

Well, the roller coaster ride has come to an end in Krakow, Poland. After months of prayer and consideration, unanswered questions and uncertainty...it was 50/50 right up 'til the end...we decided to take a huge step of faith and move to Poland.
We've just been seeking God through this whole process and sometimes it seems hard to know where He is leading us, but sometimes I think our minds just get clouded by our own selfish desires. We truly felt all along that we had two really good choices. We would've been completely happy and content to move to Minnesota or Poland, but we needed to prove that our faith was in God 100%.
We needed to put our foot in the waters before they would part. So, before the final inspection received approval, before the sign flipped to OPEN and before even one cookie was sold at the cafe in Krakow, Poland...we said, "Yes, we will go!"
...A few days later the cafe passed the final health inspection! APPROVED! READY TO OPEN! A few days after that...they unlocked the door...and the first day the sweet little cookie shop was open every single cookie baked was sold! Praise God!
We are so excited about this new adventure for our family! Everyone has been so happy for us and supportive...it really makes the transition so much easier. It's going to be sad to leave HOPE, but we are only leaving physically. We are committed to support HOPE International any way we can for the rest of our lives.

Q and I have been married for 16 years. We've been through so much together from traveling the world and living overseas to the births of each of our 4 children and everything in between. Our marriage is stronger than ever and for that we are very grateful. We do not take it for granted and we're always working on staying close and improving our relationship. Marriage definitely has it's ups and downs just like every part of life, but we've chosen to relish the good and to learn from the bad and grow through it. In 1996, we started our life together in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Q was an associate pastor for 5 1/2 years. Our life changed forever in 1999 when we had our first baby...a girl. In 2001 we had a boy.
In 2003, Q began working for HOPE International. We moved our little family of four to Kiev, Ukraine for the first 15 months and then transferred to Lancaster, PA where the HOPE headquarters is located. We lived in Lancaster for 4 years. During that time we happily welcomed our sweet baby #3, another girl.
Then, in January 2009, Q resigned from his position with HOPE and we moved our family overseas to Krakow, Poland to join Q's parents and siblings in a family business. The business was called "More Than A Cookie". We baked and sold gourmet cookies and brownies, ice cream, and specialty coffee drinks. Our passion has always been to further the Kingdom and support ministries close to our hearts so the idea was to give a portion of every purchase to support children's ministry.
In December 2009, we moved back to the states yet again. This time to the home we know and love *Minnesota*. [We have since sold the rights to our family business in Europe]. It has been a great experience to reconnect with family and friends after being gone for 6 1/2 years. I was able to start up my cleaning business again and I still love it. Q is back with HOPE International working as the development representative doing fundraising work here in the twin cities and Chicago as well. We feel so blessed to be part of such a great organization.
In May 2010, We bought a house on a lake...which is so fitting for Minnesota...and we have really enjoyed getting settled into our life here. Have you heard the saying "new house new baby"? Well, we found out baby #4 was on the way only 4 months after we moved in!*SURPRISE*
We evened the score with another boy and our party of five became six last May. We know each one of them is a special gift from God and we are enjoying this incredible journey of parenting together. It's not always easy but we can't imagine our life without any of them. We feel so blessed.

Eden is 12 years old. She is a beautiful, sweet, fun and very creative girl. Eden enjoys sewing, drawing, painting and any kind of art project. She is also very talented in singing. She's played fall soccer for the past 2 seasons and this year her team even won the championship. It has been such a joy to watch her grow into a young lady {preteen}...it could not be more true "the years go by so fast" we have enjoyed every stage so far. What a great big sister and help to Mommy and Daddy she is! She is very responsible and is always watching out for her little brothers and sister.

Truman is 10. He loves sports. His most favorite is football...any version...He plays on a city league team, he plays on the Playstation, he plays with his friends at school and with just himself in the backyard while narrating the play by play (this version is especially fun to watch out my kitchen window) and then of course there's his favorite NFL team, the Vikings, he loves to watch on Sundays...he even collects football cards. He also plays on the traveling basketball team and he is very good. He was on the track team in the spring and he won several blue ribbons in that as well. He's just one of those athletic kinda guys.
He also really loves fishing! His biggest catch was on a guys' weekend with Daddy when he caught a 24 inch Northern.
Although Math is his favorite subject in school, like his sisters, he is also very good in art and he even has his own little creative side.
He has such a great sense of humor. He's always making all of us laugh. He is a total entertainer. But, he is also one of the most thoughtful, sweet and sensitive boys you'll ever meet. We love this about our Truman. Most of all he is so happy to finally have a brother! It's been so fun to watch him with Jude.

Briar is 5. She started Kindergarten this year and so far she loves it. She goes for half days. In the morning she rides to school with Truman and then she comes home on the bus at noon. I love getting her dressed in the morning and doing her hair in fun braids or piggy tails, buns or curly buns. I want to take a picture of her every day because she is so stinkin' cute! Briar also played soccer for the first time this fall. She did a great job. She's not terribly aggressive or anything but it was still really fun to watch her.
She is such a fun little girly girl! She loves to play kitchen, babies, Barbies, Polly Pockets, dress-up, make-up...I guess "girly girl" would suffice! She even has her own little sense of humor. I wish I could video tape every moment right now because she is so adorable and she says the cutest things in her sweet tiny voice.
Briar is my best helper in the kitchen. I love that she doesn't just get bored with it half way through and quit. She always helps until everything is completely done.
She has been loving her new role as "big sister". She is definitely Mommy's little helper. Briar always helps me with bathtime for Jude and she loves to change his diapers and even burp him. I have loved watching her with him. It is truly precious. Every day when she gets off the bus she runs to give Jude a big hug and kiss!

Jude Blaser Marty baby number 4. Arrived on May 21st at 10:27am via C-section.
Weight: 7 lbs 6 oz
Length: 21 inches.
We didn't know we would ever have a 4th baby, yet here we are...completely in love with this little boy. He has completed our family. We are all crazy about him.
Jude is such a perfect "baby of the family". He is so laid back. He is very patient...it's like he knows there are 3 siblings to compete with for our time and he's totally okay with it. He's such a little love nugget speaking of which he already has so many nick names including but not limited to:
Ju.d.ju
juju.b
jude dude
lovey love
the man
the one
total munch
munchabunch
love munch
kicky bubbles
honey love