Hidgdon Update from 2010

Higdons in Madeira 2010

All praise to God from whom all blessings flow!

The Lord has been faithful in answering many of our prayers and in demonstrating that His timing is always best.  Our family seeks each year to live before God in all we do.  We trust that He guides and provides, but we must trust and act on His calling and leading in our lives.  We have been living in Madeira for the last four years for this reason.  As most of you know we are now living in Funchal closer to Kristjan’s work and our church family who have been a huge blessing in our lives. 

General Happenings in 2010…

• ·         In January Andrea and the kids started homeschooling again.  This is very unique here as we are the only home school family on the island.
• ·         Kristjan was coaching/playing rugby and spending lots of time with young men mentoring them in rugby and life.
• ·         In February Kristjan’s parents came to visit and help take care of the two youngest while Andrea and Kaija went to Paul and Teresa’s wedding in Tennessee.    Kaija was so excited to be the flower girl! 
• ·         A few days after returning on Feb. 20^th, we woke up to a flooded basement as a “once every 100 years” flood hit Madeira.  We were thankful as Grandpa and Farmor were here to help, though it made their visit a bit more adventurous than expected.
• ·         Andrea began playing piano at the Monday night athletes’ Bible study as well as joining the rotation of teaching Sunday school for kids.
• ·         In April our pastor and his wife took a vacation and Andrea filled in as the church pianist for both the English and Portuguese services and Kristjan preached in the English services.
• ·         Kristjan and I took 5 Brazilian soccer players and their wives to the beach for some surf lessons and fellowship.
• ·         In May Justin Dryden, a pastor friend, visited to consider moving here to plant a church with us and develop some of our long-term goals.
• ·         We find out we are expecting baby #4 at the end of January.
• ·         In late June Aunt Nadine comes to visit and blesses us in so many ways – storytelling, teaching the kids, etc. 
• ·         Kristjan goes to Lisbon to play/coach rugby in early July and wins the tournament.  He was the coach then but suffered a sports hernia and herniated discs in his back and hip impingement in both hips.  The injuries were sustained in surfing and rugby, but are more of a chronic nature after his hips went out in surfing and rugby incidents. This has been very difficult as he is in pain every day and can no longer play rugby.  
• ·         In August, Andrea was given a ticket to go to Paris for a week to visit Paul and Teresa.  Kristjan did a great job taking care of the kids and making them have a great week (going to the beach, surfing, swimming, hiking, exploring the coastline for driftwood and visiting an animal park). 
• ·         Kristjan starts school as the sole coordinator of the advanced levels and receives many extra hours which were a huge blessing for our family.  Kristjan also continues tutoring an Angolan/Portuguese lawyer via Skype and local bankers at 7:00 AM!
• ·         Andrea worked diligently to get our home school paperwork more formal and we were blessed by getting an umbrella school in Lisbon through ABWE.   
• ·         Andrea also works hard getting the paperwork for our building project in Jardim Do Mar (a one bedroom small house).  The Lord blesses us with an excellent builder this time and we are still waiting for the approval letter (it has been 2 years) for the building project of our main house in Jardim Do Mar.  Please continue praying for this situation as our house was left now for 2 years with no roof.  We do not have the money to finish it but with the approval we can consider selling it or getting a loan. 
• ·         Between Oct. 24^th and Jan. 7^th we have all our families birthdays so it a busy time between all the holidays, and we are getting ready for the new addition for our family. 
• ·         The kids put on a Christmas singing program on Christmas Eve.  Kaija was Mary, Mikkai the wiseman and Adelei an angel.  Everyone said they did a great job, and Adelei stole the show with her silly antics.

Update on the kids

Kaija –She turned 7 on December 29th!  She continues to be such a blessing to us as a sweet, helpful and loving child.  She is eager to obey and help out (a little mama).  She is a voracious reader (in three months probably read over 100 books around 80 pgs long).  She is also doing a great job at writing in her school and is advanced in her studies.  She even loves to help teach her two youngest siblings.  She loves animals, studying insects in the garden, visiting the animal park and wishes we could live on a farm.  She won two 1^st place medals in Judo and really started learning how to swim on her own just in time for summer when she also started surfing with Kristjan and diving under waves.  She loves to invent and make things, loves jumping rope.  Like her Papa, the beach is a special place where she loves collecting driftwood, rocks and building sandcastles and swimming.  She also enjoyed singing a solo and playing a short part on the piano at church for the Christmas program.  She sometimes helps leading worship with our friend Marcia on Monday night Athletes Bible study.

Mikkai – He turned 5 on October 24^th.  He officially started Kindergarten and is doing a great job.  He really sticks to his work until he is done and is enjoying his writing, math and learning how to read.  Mikkai is a very sweet and loving boy who is quite the jokester with his sisters.  He is a good playmate for both his sisters.  He also got one 1^st place medal in Judo and did a great job getting use to the water with Kristjan this summer.  He went bodyboarding with his Papa.  He keeps getting better and better at baseball and rugby.  He loves treats, avocadoes, spicier food but does not like cheese except on pizza.   He likes to build and figure things out and organize and display all of his toys on top of his drawer.

Adelei – She turned 3 on November 5^th.  Our youngest daughter but sooooo full of life.  She adds a lot of spice to our family with her loving yet spunky personality.  She comes up with little funny expressions all on her own.  She still loves Mama’s hair and goes to Mikkai to joke around and Kaija (the little mama) when she gets hurt.  She loves pink, dresses, and princesses and all things tiny.  She is starting to color people and the sun etc.  She loves playing on www.starfall.com when her sister and brother are finishing their homeschooling.   This summer Adelei also enjoyed jumping over waves secure in her Papa’s arms.  She loves playing in the sand and helping Mama cook (but mostly eating the dough).

Thanks for your friendship and prayers.   Please watch the 4 minute video with pictures of our year….follow this link:

4 Minute Video of Our Family from 2010

Love,

Kristjan, Andrea, Kaija, Mikkai, Adelei and Baby #4