Winter in St Andrews - Great PhD news, a Fire, Snow, and a Visit from Gigi

We have had a lot going on over the past couple months.  Here are some photo-highlights...
(The Fire recap is at the bottom)

Our Wee Man is getting big!

Some of Esther's friends from school!  The two boys on the left are probably her closest friends at school (as close friends as you can be with "boys"!)

Girl faces...

Boy face!

In late January, we finally got some snow!  The girls were so excited to go play! We have had 3 snows with accumulation so far, including one time when there was enough to sled -  in the park behind our flat.

Downtown St Andrews - a common place for us to be walking or scootering.  This is about 10 minute walk from our home. [and the building on the left is the remains of a building from the 1300s]

My beautiful girls!

We were SO thankful for a visit from Gigi (Forrest's mom) for two weeks.  We had some really fun adventures together, like this one to Stirling Castle (think Braveheart!).

Stirling Castle royalty!

Stirling Castle Great Hall, recently restored.  The ceiling is my favorite part (besides the sweet dancing girl in pink)!

With Gigi outside my school.  The building behind us was built in the 1500s!  I spend most of my time Monday-Friday in a room on the second floor of that building up an awesome stone, spiral staircase that makes you think you are in a castle.

Gigi did lots of 'normal' stuff with us too, like going to the local library to read books (and walking Bella to preschool/nursery)

Janelle's "welcome" art for Gigi.

The Stachefier!!  Gigi brought us a whole box and suitcase full of necessary supplies from the Motherland, including gluten-free pizza mixes, Easter presents, and most of all the Stachefier!!

Come on!  I know I'm not neutral, but how handsome can you get?!

The amazing National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh with Gigi! Another fun adventure (except the parking ticket I got because I misunderstood the signs - oops!)

Together we weigh as much as a...Penguin!

Happy Birthday Mama/Janelle!

We had some awesome warm weather that taunted us with the possibility of Spring's arrival...we made sure to enjoy it.  One thing we have learned here is that when the sun is out, you do whatever you can to get out and enjoy it!

Scottish version of a Merry-go-Round!

Ever since Janelle read the Little House on the Prairie series to Esther, Esther has been waiting for the chance to make "Maple Snow."  One snowy morning it was our chance!

Fresh snow + a little maple syrup = Amazing creamy dessert!!  No joke!

One of my favorite places - the lawn is blooming!!!

"Don't worry Dad.  I'm not cold at all.  Keep walking around this Scottish Farm as long as you want."

Our River by the river behind our house.

The USS Discovery - the ship built in Scotland that took Shackleton (and others) to Antarctica near the turn of the century. 

The boys with the boat.

Preview of Proms to come!  Getting ready for a "Girls' night to the Ballet"

Ready to watch the Russian Ballet Coppelia.

This is what Bella calls "the Little Kid Table." The girls spend a lot of their free time there!  Esther has in front of her her "spelling book" that she decided to make with 40 words she can spell.  Both girls are learning so much right now - it is such a gift to watch.

Easter Egg dyeing thanks to Gigi and Crystal sending us dyeing supplies (they don't really do dyeing here).

1am, 24 March 2013 - firetrucks outside our Flat to put out the electrical fire that started downstairs.  More story below!

Of course there is so much more, so here are a couple important happenings for us...

• Great PhD News - I am so thankful to share that I recently received the official word that I have been admitted to the PhD program here to study under Professor Alan Torrance! We came here hoping to study under Alan.  He is an amazing man, scholar, follower of Christ, dad, and pastor, and I am so thankful I get to learn from him as I go through this journey.
• Great PhD News part II - I also received word that I have been approved to roll over this year into the first year of the PhD.  I won't receive the Masters degree from this year, but I can now focus strictly on my dissertation!  That means that if I can get my work done (which is going to be quite a task), I should be finished here in 3 years total, one fewer than we had initially anticipated.  That is great news financially, and in terms of returning to the States sooner to serve the church and be nearer to family and friends.  Thanks God!
• My Surprise PhD topic - The journey to this topic is a long story; here is the shorter version.  Entering this year, I knew I wanted to focus on the way that we as Christians participate in the communion of the Father, Son, and Spirit through being united to Christ.  As things progressed, I felt God leading me to a topic that is an outworking of the reality of our sharing in the Triune life of God through Jesus.  The topic that arose was God's wrath.  My question - if God really is Father-Son-Spirit in loving communion from eternity who shares that love with us by inviting us into their eternal love/glory communion, how does God's wrath fit?  The Bible is replete with passages that talk of God's wrath that I tend to breeze over on my way to more tenable passages.  Others tend to really highlight God's wrath.  This topic is especially clear in the theology of John Calvin (who is the theological father of the Presbyterian Church), who has very strong doctrines of God's love and God's wrath.  So, my PhD question (which could shift a bit as we go) is, "What is the relationship between God's love and God's wrath?"  Are they in tension within God?  Does God's wrath serve his love?  Is God loving toward some and wrathful toward others?  [My bias is that God's love and wrath are not in tension but that God's wrath serves God's holy, loving purposes for the world...but I have a lot to learn before I can make any conclusions]. In order to address this topic, I will be looking at the theology of John Calvin and Karl Barth, arguable the two most important and diligent Reformed theologians.  Both of them sought to really understand and apply the Bible, but they came to some very different conclusions on this topic.  They both also wrote a LOT (especially Barth), so I am seriously going to have my work cut out for me (and I'm going to need to develop some "Buns of Steel" from sitting in a chair studying for the next 2.5 years!).  One of the coolest things about this topic is that at its base it asks the question "Who is God?"... "How do we know God?"... "What does that mean for us?"...pretty awesome questions!!  I'm really thankful for a topic that I am passionate about and that I hope will serve the Church and many people in the Church who may have similar questions about the relationship of God's love and wrath.
• GERMAN!  About 12 days before the Spring semester began, I realized that I need to learn German for my chosen PhD topic.  Fortunately I found out that the University was offering a German class-Yay!.  Unfortunately, it was German 2 (and I had NO German background)- Boo!  I would have to pass a competency exam to be permitted into the class.  For better or worse, I'm always up for a challenge, so I spent the next 12 days (not counting the weekends with the fam) studying German every waking hour (except fam time)...and passed the test - Praise God!  After a few weeks of feeling quite behind, I'm feeling pretty good about where I am now.  And I've already enjoyed the benefits for reading some theological articles that toss German in here and there.
• Bella's Nursery - The final place that hasn't felt settled for us here has been preschool ("nursery") for Bella.  The one she was going to was fine, but Janelle and I didn't feel great about it.  Eventually we started noticing that Bella wasn't herself.  She was the only one in the family who often spoke about wanting to leave Scotland. Instead of her boisterous, confident, joyful self, she was becoming shy, saying "I can't do that" about way too many things, and frowning often. After praying and wrestling, we decided it was time to remove her from her nursery.  We have since started her at a different, private nursery in town that is SO much better.  It has much more structure and is much more peaceful...I think Bella finally is finding her place here.  After only 1 week, her smiles are returning, her ridiculous faces are re-emerging, and she is excitedly learning to read!  Janelle and I are learning to notice the small things and act...hopefully sooner next time.  We are so thankful to God for his provision for her.
• The Fire!  Here is Janelle's summary: 
  "We are filled with thankfulness!
  Last night was a great reminder to really STOP and take note of the small things...
  Our house came very close to burning down last night in an electrical fire.
  We are extra grateful for Forrest's late night working... When a thick smell filled the hallway and stairs up to our flat at around midnight Forrest was getting concerned-I woke up and checked it again with him.
  We then saw smoke coming out of the wall!!!
  Forrest ran into action called 999, woke our children up, & banged on our neighbors doors. We were grateful the elderly lady in our flat had just given us her key! She had a fright w/Forrest barging in her flat as you can imagine!-
  We all got out as the fire truck arrived and right as the flames had started!
  They were put out quickly!!!!
  Really thankful!"  We are receiving the timing and events of the evening as a gift from our loving Father.  
  Although we are very excited to celebrate Easter this weekend, holidays are definitely when we miss our family and friends the most.  If you ever felt led, we always enjoy hearing how you are doing as well! We are so thankful for you and pray that this would be a wonderful week knowing the love of the God who became man, suffered, died, and rose again in victory over sin, death, and evil FOR US!  A few days early, Happy Easter!  He is Risen...He is Risen Indeed!