Our 4th Anniversary

Last week Daniel and I celebrated our fourth anniversary. Since August 2nd fell on a Thursday, we decided to have a special dinner that evening and then do something more over the weekend. Daniel took the afternoon off work and surprised me when I got home from work with a bouquet of roses. We drove up to Newburyport, where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner outside overlooking the river at our favorite fish place, Bob Lobster. Daniel had the fish and chips and I had the steamed lobster. We finished the evening off with a cone of Richardson's ice cream.

On Sunday, Daniel and I got up early and headed to Gloucester for a morning of whale watching. We had a fabulous time! We spent time watching 10 different humpback whales, including a mom and her calf. We also got to see two finback whales and a large school of dolphins! Our biologist guide told us that it's rare to see dolphins this time of year. We also had beautiful sunny weather and calm waters. We definitely had the perfect whale watching trip.

Visiting Newport

While Mom and Dad Koski were visiting us in June, we spent a weekend in Newport, RI. We joined up with Aunt Karen, who was working in the area for a while. We had a wonderful picnic lunch overlooking the ocean, spent a few hours touring the Green Animals Topiary Gardens and enjoyed the spectacular views along the three and a half mile Cliff Walk. Here are a few pictures of our time.

Memories of Kenya

Daniel and I spent an amazing two and a half weeks in Kenya over Christmas and New Year's. We had been planning this trip for the past four years and were finally able to make it. We stayed with Daniel's brother, Jonathan and family at their home in Nairobi. His parents also stayed at the house and his sister's family joined us for a few days as well. It was great to get to spend the time together. While we were in Kenya the whole family traveled to Ngilai, in the Samburu region in Northern Kenya. Daniel's family lived there for three years when he was little. We visited Kitich Camp, where we went hiking in the mountains and also spent a night in the house Daniel's dad had built and they lived in. We then flew to Malindi, on the Indian Ocean and stayed four nights in a guest house. While we were in Nairobi, Daniel and I were able to visit the giraffe center and fed giraffes, and the animal orphanage, where we saw orphaned elephants and a rhino. We toured the hangers for both Africa Inland Mission (AIM) and Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and Daniel showed me around Rosslyn Academy, where he attended school. We also camped at a game park in Nakuru and went on two safari drives. It was an incredible trip! Kenya is a beautiful country, with beautiful people, animals and landscapes. It was special for me to see where Daniel had grown up and where the rest of his family currently live. I can't wait to go back!

Our Home - Part 2

Our Very Own Home

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. We welcomed Daniel's parents for a visit, closed on our house, and moved, all within a couple of days. It was wonderful to have Daniel's mom and dad here to help us with the move and with projects around the house. We've begun to make our house a home and have added some personal touches. This past week we had new light fixtures installed in the kitchen and bathroom as well as adding electrical outlets in both rooms. We also had our new washer and dryer installed. I've never been more excited to do laundry! We have lots of ideas and plans for now and in the future, including some landscaping and a bathroom remodel. Thankfully the house is in great condition and we don't have very much work that needs to be done right away.

We began thinking about buying a house in the Beverly area this past winter while I was dealing with health issues related to an allergic reaction during construction work that was being done on the house we were renting. We found out I'm allergic to horsehair plaster, which is used in old houses. I had a severe reaction to the dust and couldn't live in the house for almost a month. Once I was back home, I had to take allergy meds to reduce the reaction I continued to have. Daniel and I began to wonder, since we plan to stay here long term, if we could buy a house now. When we inquired with a realtor from our church, and mortgage broker, also from church, we found that it was a possibility! So we began the search. We looked at 15-20 houses and had accepted offers on two different ones (both of which failed inspections) before we found our house, which is perfect in size and location (just a block from the train station).

We'd like to share some pictures of our new house with you. These were taken during the walk through before we closed. As we hang pictures on the walls and decorate, we'll post more photos. For now, we'd like to give you a glimpse of what our house looks like!

Front entry

Living room

Living room looking into dining area

Dining area

Kitchen pantry

Master bedroom

Guest bedroom

3rd bedroom - office