A Good Big Sister!

During Brandie’s pregnancy, we tried to prepare Emily for the arrival of the babies. We drilled her every day about what was in mommy’s belly. She’d always answer, “Two babies!” We weren’t sure if she really understood this or not. My aunt Kathy even sent her twin baby dolls (two girls). She’d play with them and even named them the same names we were planning to use. But, when Emily first saw the babies, she just stood there looking at them and said…“Two babies?” and then smiled really big! She’s been a very big helper during the first days at home. She’s loved on the babies, held them, kissed them, and even read books to them. She’s done a lot better than we thought she would. She’s become like a second mother to the twins! Here are some pics we took today. Hope you enjoy!!!

Emily, Abbie (L), & Addie (R)

Emily & Addie

Emily kissing Addie

Emily & Addie


Emily holding both Abbie (L) & Addie (R)

NOTE: The twins were dressed alike this morning; however, Abbie had an upet tummy and kept spitting up. So, she got new clothes.

Trash Strike

As we have posted before, Greek have a constitutional right to strike. For the past three weeks, the sanitation workers have not picked up the trash throughout the country. The way it works here (since we don't have driveways with regualr trash collection) is we throw our trash away in dumpsters located throughout our neighborhood. These dumpsters are now overflowing. To make matters worse, yesterday it rained and some of the trash was ran over by cars causing a trashy "mush" in the streets! This makes for a very unsafe environment and possible health hazard. Right now, there is no end in sight! Take a look at the following pictures to see what we're going through right now!

YUK!

Thank You from Mommy!

I just want to say a huge "THANK YOU" to everyone that has been praying for me and the girls over the past few months. You have all been such an encouragement to me during the entire pregnancy and I felt your prayers even more during the delivery and hospital stay. The morning of the delivery, I was in the room waiting to be put to sleep for my surgery and it was just me and my doctor talking. I told the doctor to take care of my babies while I was out and he said that he knew that Adam and my family was out in the waiting room praying for him. I quickly told him that not only them, but there were literally people all over the world praying for him at that moment. He just stopped and looked at me. I then told him that I knew that God would be in the room with us and that he would take care of me and my girls, as well as him. He didn't say much after that, but I know that God was there because soon after he had delivered the babies, I began to himerage and it took them almost an hour and a half to stop the bleeding. He told me later that he was thankful for those that had been praying for us because under normal circumstances I would have had to have a transfusion, but I did not have to after all. I am so Thankful for all of you that were praying for us and the testimony that it had for the Doctor.

I have a special thanks for all of the letters and emails that we have received. Everyday when Adam would get to the hospital, he would spend the first several minutes telling me about all of the many emails that we had received. It was Wonderful to know that all of you were thinking of us. It kept a smile on my face!

I would also like to thank the special friends that were able to visit us while we were in the hospital. That can be long and lonely at times and you were all a huge encouragement to me and my family. I am adding a few pictures below of those that came and hope that you will enjoy them.

Thanks again,

Brandie

Lousa Dimakos and Christina Sinde


Caterina from Samos and our new friend Irene

Tracey

Comfort

Michael

The First Night At Home

Rough.

We're Home!

Today Addie & Abbie came home from the hospital. Here are some pics from the past couple of days!

Abbie

Addie

Explanation: Their left ear is the only visible difference that we can see up to this point.

Can you see the little "notch" in Addie's left ear?

Getting ready to go home today!

Our New Normal

Life as we knew it is over! Real life started today when Adalyn Grace & Abigail Ruth were born at 11:30 & 11:31 am this morning. They were both 5 pounds and 5 ounces. Brandie and babies are doing great. Enjoy the first couple of pictures taken.

Mommy, Daddy, Abbie, & Addie...or is it Addie & Abbie?

Nope, this is a different kid.

One Proud Pappa!

The Day Has Finally Arrived.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), babies are coming!

More SNOW!!!!

Well, you may be tired of hearing about our snow, but it is so cool to actually have it and then to have this much! The first couple of pictures were taken just before bed last night. When we woke up this morning, we found that the entire city had shut down! It was 23 degrees and everything was covered with snow and ice! We were suppose to have a doctor's appointment today, but we called and told him that we couldn't come. Adam went down to check things out and found that our car was burried and was blocked between 2 other cars that were parked on both of our bumpers. Since we live on a hill, it is impossible to get out at all today. The doctor still wants to see me later today, but we will have to wait to see if we can even get out.

Adam took Emily out to play this morning at the park near our house and they had a great time playing in the snow. I have added some pictures of their fun adventure.

Brandie

These couple of pictures were taken about mid-night last night! It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

All of the kids were out of school today because all of the public transportation was shut down. It was fun to see everyone out playing and many people with video cameras. There was an electricity in the air that everyone was enjoying!

Emily wasn't sure what to do at first, but when she saw all of the other kids throwing snow, she joined right in! She had a great time and was thoroughly soaked and frozed by the time she came home!

The Weather Man Was Wrong

Adam posted this morning that the snow should be gone by lunchtime today, but they were wrong! It started snowing harder while we were eating lunch today and has not stopped. Since we live on the port, we usually don't see much accumulation, but it is 27 degrees and could drop more and it is laying everywhere! Emily and I are so excited because it has been so long since we have seen snow! If I wasn't pregnant, we would be up at the park area having a snowball fight and helping Emily build the smallest snowman in the history of man! Oh well! We are enjoying just watching it fall anyway.

Here are a few more pictures that we just took of our street. Enjoy!

Brandie

Winter Wonderland

One of the questions that we're most frequently asked is…“What’s the weather like in Greece?” It’s hot in the summer and nice in the winter. This winter has been very mild. For the most part, we've had temperatures in the 50's-60's. Where we're from Winter is cold and snowy, so we've enjoyed this weather.

Over the past week, the daily temperature has decreased by a few degrees each day. This morning we woke up with snow on the ground! This is the first time that we’ve had more than flurries at our house since the winter of 2005-2006. The snow will not last long (it may be gone before noon today), so we took a couple of pictures to show you.

Since our building is heated by a boiler (and we do not have control of our own heat) it’s turned on only twice a day (one time in the morning for a couple hours and one time at night for a couple hours). Right now, we’re wondering how we’re going to stay warm. I guess we’ll just make some hot chocolate and stay bundled up in the house.

From our balcony looking right.

From our balcony looking left.

Only 5 Weeks To Go

Dr. Dion told Brandie that she's only got five weeks left before the big day (of course, if the twins are fully developed and ready)!

Way to go Eli!

Being fans of the Indianapolis Colts, we really dislike the New England Patriots. We're glad their perfect season ended with a loss in the Super Bowl! We love it!!!

Need Some Help.

I need some help. I designed our website and blog by filling in templates with the appropriate information. I don't understand html or other complicated webdesigns. I would like to know how some of the people that read my blog (that have blogs of their own with cool, personalized headers) designed thier headers. What program did you use? How did you do it? I realize that the answer is probably going to be complicated...but if anybody has any suggestions on how to create a personalized header, we appreciate it. What I'm looking to do is us a pic of the family with some words and cool design. So please let me know if you have any suggestions or can help.

The Theme Of This New Year Is...New

The word “new” means, according to some dictionary that I found online, “Having been made or come into being only a short time ago; recent.” This word applies to our lives right now. I imagine a majority of the people that read this blog are familiar with our church, South Side Baptist Church (Springfield, MO). A couple of months ago, our pastor, Bud Everett, resigned from the pastorate and took a job with a group that will send the gospel to some countries in the world that lack much of a gospel witness (names have been withheld on purpose…not sure if it’s safe to say exactly where…so I will error on the side of caution). Anyway, that left our church without a pastor for the first time in a LONG time. Bro. Everett served the church for many fruitful years and he impacted us as a family in many ways. We will miss seeing him as much as we did. So, the church interviewed, nominated, and voted on Wayne Barron (our associate pastor) to follow as the next pastor of South Side. Wayne is a close friend of mine and a great Bible teacher. We worked closely with he and his wife April back in 2000-2001 in a high school class. The church is very fortunate to have this man in leadership. We’re excited about the future of the church!

Something else new, a little closer to our home, is a new Bible study we’ve started in a suburb of Athens called Glyfada. It is made up of women (from several countries including Greece) that are married to Greek men. This means that they do not necessarily have the opportunity to go to church faithfully. We meet on Tuesday mornings in a house located in the center of the town. It’s a great opportunity to disciple some ladies in a group setting that love God and want to grow spiritually.

The other new thing in our life right now is the new babies. The doctor today said that we’re going to look at having them on the 10th of March! Please pray that they will continue to grow and be ready at that time. If they’re not ready, then we’ll obviously wait until they’re ready…but Brandie is really hoping they will be ready by then. She grows more uncomfortable everyday. We’ve done a lot of work on our little home to prepare it for the arrival of two new little ones. It’s hard to imagine what it will take to survive the first three months, but we look forward to all the joys that parenting twins (and Emily) will bring.

The Doctor’s Specialty

When anyone considers ministry in a foreign country, he must “count the cost.” I was born with a congenital heart disease (Tetralogy of Fallot) that required open-heart-surgery when I was 17 months old. This condition has not limited my life all that much (I do have some limitations, but they are not things I’d do at this point in my life anyway). When considering foreign missions, it was something that I tried to think through. After sensing God’s call to minister in Greece (a modern country with modern medical facilities), my doctor was confident that I could find decent care here. It’s been difficult to find a doctor that is qualified to treat an adult with a congenital heart defect here in Greece (there is a big difference in a pediatric cardiologist treating children and a cardiologist that treats adults with congential diseases). This is where the story begins. A couple of Wednesday’s ago, Emily and I were out on our weekly “Daddy Date Day.” We went to a Greek fast food restaurant that has an indoor play place. After some time passed, a little boy and his parents joined us in the play place. The father explained that he was a cardiologist (are you paying attention yet?) that deals with adults with congenital heart diseases. He then went on to explain that one of his specialties was Tetralogy of Fallot! I couldn’t believe how God was working…one that specific day, at that specific time, I met a doctor that has a specialty in MY heart disease (the chance of being born with this condition is 0.0003%. I’ve not had any problems with my heart for several years and nothing major since my operation…but it’s nice to have a doctor close in case of any emergencies. Think God is not interested in our concerns? I’m now convinced more than ever!!!!

2008 Is Off To A Shaky Start

Literally! At 7:20 am, we were jolted from our sleep by an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was approximately 75 miles to the southeast of Athens. It lasted for about 40 seconds. Our apartment literally shook back and forth giving us quite an adrenaline rush to say the least. Thankfully, we suffered no damage to the house. The news reports that there was only little damage in Kalamata (the epicenter) and no fatalities. We’ll let you know if anything else develops.

Kalanda

There is a Greek tradition that takes place every Christmas Eve and New Years Eve called kalanda. Kalanda (κάλαντα) is the Greek word for carols. It’s a time that kids go around to the houses in their neighborhood singing Christmas carols in return for money (small change), sweets, and/or cookies. As we prepared to move here, we tried to learn about the different traditions, but there is only so much you can know without experience. So, it’s Christmas Eve 2004 and we’ve only been in Greece for 3 months. Emily was just a week old and we get a knock on the door early Christmas Eve morning. I answer it and find three Greek kids with small musical triangles standing at my door. After an awkward moment of silence they start singing a Greek Christmas carol! At the time, I didn’t understand the words of the song and I thought to myself, “How could anybody be so low as to send their children to beg?” You see, there are a lot of beggars on the streets of Athens and I thought they were trying a new tactic to get money (because it was known throughout the neighborhood that we’re Americans and all Americans are rich beyond belief). So, I sternly command the kids to “Get out of here” after they sing. Then I closed the door amazed at how low some will go for money. About 10 minutes later we get another knock at the door and my mind starts to wonder why all the beggars are sending their children to our door on the same day. To my amazement and shame (for telling the kids to leave me alone) I learned that this is a tradition that happens every Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Man did I feel like an idiot!!! Oh well, sometimes you learn a new culture by making mistakes!

10 Years And Counting…

This week marks an anniversary of sorts. It was 10 years ago this week that God touched my heart with a burden so great that it compelled me to surrender my life to the work of making disciples and planting churches in Greece. It was during my freshman year in college that I was initially introduced to the spiritual need of this country. This had a profound impact on me. A week or so before Christmas, after much prayer and soul searching, I surrendered my life to work in Greece full time. At the time, I was working at the Boys & Girls club. Late one Thursday night, right before closing, I got down on my hands and knees in the locker room that I was cleaning and said, “God, if you want me to go to Greece, then open the doors and I’ll go.” During the invitation time on the Sunday night before Christmas I made my decision public to the church. This all happened in December 1997. Upon returning to school from Christmas break, I purchased a big (4x6) Greek flag to hang in my dorm room to continually remind myself of my calling. Ten years later, I’m setting in my home (in Greece) with my wife of 8 years, my 3 year old daughter, and twins on the way, sent by a great church…doing some last minute preparations for the Bible study that we have started! God is truly good in that He has clearly lead us here by opening many doors…to develop devoted followers of Christ for both local and global impact. Honestly, I cannot see myself doing anything else with my life…PERIOD.

Christmas Program and 3rd Birthday Party!

Yesterday was a first for our ministry here. Brandie's children's class performed a Christmas program for us! The girls were so cute dressed up in their red dresses and nice shoes. Brandie and the girls worked very hard over the past few weeks learning their lines and new songs. They sang “Away In The Manger” and “Joy To The World” and Brandie read Luke 2. They also had a line a piece to say. They didn’t freeze up…but performed like Brandie had envisioned. I then delivered a special Christmas message from Matthew 1:18-25 entitled “The Baby In Mary’s Womb.” It was a great time for us to reflect and respond to the challenge to rest in Christ Jesus during the busy Christmas season!

Immediately following our “Reflection & Response Time,” we switched from Christmas Program mode to Birthday Party mode to celebrate Emilys 3rd birthday. She’s been SO excited about her “birthday party, birthday hat, birthday candle, birthday song, birthday presents, birthday dress…” Anybody who’s spoken to her the past couple of weeks knows how excited she was as that is all she's talked about. She had a "Princess Party." Emily is facinated with the Disney princesses. So, it was pink and girly. We had a great time as Brandie made soup then we ate cake and ice-cream. She then opened all her presents from her friends & family! There were so many!!! We are so blessed to have friends & family that care for us so much!!! I want to say a special “THANK YOU” to everybody that helped make this a special day for Emily.

Emily's Christmas Program Dress

Emily and Melanie singing "Away In The Mananger"

Emily's Birthday Dress

Soup, Cake, & Ice-cream For All!!!

Katarina

On Tuesday night, we received a phone call from a Greek lady named Katarina. She lives on the Greek island of Samos. Two months ago, she had a miscarry (she and her husband have two boys aged 5 & 3). The doctors on Samos do not know exactly how to help her. She pulled some strings with a friend of the family to be seen by a doctor at the university hospital here in Athens. She called the other night to see if she could stay with us for half a day. The boat from Samos arrives in Piraeus at 6:00 am. She just needed a place for her and her sons to stay until after lunch yesterday. We had a great day fellowshipping together. She is saved and was raised going to an evangelical church in Kavala, Greece. She’s married to an unbeliever and is a constant witness to her husband and his family. She is literally alone on the island of Samos as there are no Baptist churches or any other kind of churches (except Orthodox). So, please pray for her and the situation with her baby. She will see the doctor on Friday and she promised to update us after the appointment. Also, pray that she will be a great tool in the Father’s hand to reach people with the gospel on Samos!

Email Updates!?!

We want to keep all of our ministry partners updated with the latest news. If you would like to receive our email updates, please email us at thecrabtrees@thecrabtree.org. Have a great weekend!!

Our Doctor Visit

This morning we went to IASO for a regular check-up. We've been dying to know the gender of the twins since we first learned that Brandie was pregnant with two babies. The past few times, the babies have not cooperated with us....today, they finally did. After a very clear ultrasound, we learned that Brandie is carrying identical twin GIRLS!!!! I couldn't believe it when we saw the evidence on the screen...but it was very clear. Both of us thought that there was at least one boy in the bunch. The doctor is also pleased that the placenta has moved up and the babies have moved down. According to what they were able to see, the placenta has re-attached itself. God is awesome!!!

Computer Crash, Thanksgiving, & Family Day

Last Monday (Nov. 19) our laptop finally gave up and died. It was on its way out for several months though. So, last week, we had no compter for a couple of days until we were able to purchase a new one. We would like to take this opportunity to say "thank you" to all the churches that sent extra Christmas support this year...it will be used to pay for most of the computer!!! Greeks do not celebrate American Thanksgiving...but that did not prevent us from preparing our own and over enjoying it! The day after Thanksgiving has become a family day for the Crabtree's. We wake up and go shopping for a new Christmas ornament. This year, we had to buy a new tree (and we found one that is 7 1/2 feet tall!). We then worked on decorating it and the house for Christmas. It's a little early for the Greeks to think about Christmas...but we do it this early anyway as it's one of our favorite holidays! We still do not know the gender of the babies yet. We will see the doctor in the next week to 10 days to do another untrasound. We're so excited about these new little ones. Brandie is doing good right now. She's still taking it easy...though she is doing more than she has the past few weeks. We'll let you know as soon as we know the gender(s). On Sunday, Brandie's Sunday School class finished their fall promotion. They were learning how to obey. Every time they demonstrated obdience, they could put another piece of their flower together. Sunday we presented them with their completed flowers. With the promotion, they were challenged to memorize two verses of Scripture (a good accomplishment for a 2 and 4 year old): Psalm 54:4 and Ephesians 6:1. Please pray that their little hearts will stay soft and that they will determine to live for God for the rest of their lives.

Our Christmas Tree This Year

Our New Laptop

Melanie & Emily Being Recognized For Learning About Obedience