Roses are blooming in the neglected back garden…
Wow, here we are in our final two weeks in Colorado – the time has flown by. First, thank you to those who have kept our visit in your prayers. These trips will always be bittersweet for the kids especially, and we’ve appreciated the understanding, prayers and encouragement we’ve received from many. While there have been those bittersweet times, and some bumps in plans as well as some rough times – overall, our visit here has been so restful and yummy (lots of American foods!). There is also no comparison to last summer’s hard visit, we’re not moving for one, and we’re able to be in our own house – albeit in the basement. Rachel’s cousin and his wife are renting our house from us now, and it’s been a huge relief to know it’s in good hands – and has also been a blessing to have a place to stay in the basement when we visit. We’re so grateful to their sharing their home and space with 4 more people for two months – and we all still like each other. We’ve also spent a lot of time working on the neglected garden and yard and doing some needed house repairs – the last renters left it pretty trashed and/or ignored. But gardening has always been a therapeutic time for Rachel, so that’s actually been an enjoyment too.
With our High School Graduate, and Grandma
Josiah’s High School graduation was a wonderful time, we’re so proud of him. Grandma Willson was able to be here for it, making it extra special. We arrived in the middle of a crazy time for Siah, with his Men’s Choir’s final performances that first week, and then his many school finals the next. Once school was officially over, and the graduation events and parties all done, there was finally time for some special heart to heart talks with our oldest boy. He is not joining the Navy after all, but instead will be pursuing Voice Acting or something behind the scenes at Disney. For those who have not seen him in person in a while, he has an amazing deep voice – his Choir teacher is really going to miss him. He has also enjoyed creating and editing playthroughs of his favorite video games, and so taking all those interests and abilities and mixing them with his love of Disney and enjoyment of making kids happy…he’s going to see where it all leads. First he’s going to get a degree here in Denver, at the Colorado Media School, a yearlong course starting in September in broadcast media that will include internships at local TV or radio stations. As of now, the plan would then be to head out to CA, get a job at Disneyland and work his way up. He’s keeping his job at Chuck E. Cheese while doing the school here, and continues to enjoy it and be a favorite employee. We could not be prouder of his accomplishments over the past year – a year that was really his first ‘on his own’, as well as dealing with the issues of coming back from living overseas for two years. He doesn’t claim a Third Culture Kid status as his other brother and sister do, but his life is not that of a normal American-only teen either. This July Siah will be going up to his beloved Camp Rosalie through Crossroads Church of Denver, this time as a Camp Counselor, another step we’re proud to see him taking. And lastly, he’s asked, and we’re all working and hoping toward having him join us in Hungary and attend the Calvary Chapel Missions Conference with our family the third week in August, Norbert’s only real week of ‘vacation’ all year. Siah’s school does not begin until the end of September, so he’d also be able to have a short visit with us; his siblings want him to see their school in Budapest. As of now we don’t have the funds for his visit, he’s working as many hours as he can, but will also have other expenses this summer. We don’t like asking for financial help, especially for ourselves, we’re not good at it. But if God puts it on your heart to help us have that family time with Siah in Hungary, we’d be so thankful.
Our celebration of our College-bound boy, once the enrollment was all official.
It seems with each visit back to Colorado, it’s more clear to us all, the kids especially, that this is no longer ‘home’. We all love Colorado dearly, the beautiful state and the many beloved friends and family who live here. But we are all ready to go home, we miss our dogs, we miss our own beds, we even miss walking everywhere. We also miss the dear friends that the Lord has placed in our lives in Hungary, and in nearby Serbia. It was special to get to share with our church about the retreats and encouragement we get to bless our growing group of pastors and church leaders with – and yes, they’re ‘our’ group now, we love them dearly and are excited to get back to their time zone. Rachel picked up a few special gifts for the women that she’ll give them at the upcoming Fall Women’s Retreat. Our flight back leaves on July 6th; just after the 4th of July holiday, we’ll arrive in Budapest on July 7th. Once again, we’d appreciate your prayers covering our trip – and over these last two weeks here, as we squeeze in as many more times with friends as we can, as well as the always challenging task of fitting everything we want to bring back with us into our suitcases.
We hope your summer is going well, full of some lazy days, frozen treats and fun memory making moments – ours has been so far!
Norbert & Rachel
lakatosfamily 