the Daugereaus: Let all that I am praise the Lord

"Let all that I am praise the Lord;

may I never forget the good things He does for me"

Psalm 103:2

Christmas 2014, what a great feast we had!

After being in the USA for 18 months we were blessed by the visit of my family, 4 of them, my mother and father, my sister and little brother came.

We were packed, 9 people, three bathrooms and two bathrooms to share.

We had to learn to share our time, and rooms.

I loved watching the expressions on my parents' face when we were in Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu.

I think they didn't know how to express it in words, but on their faces there was the amazement that said it all.

On their first drive around they took pictures of anything out of the window; the cars, the trees, the birds...

They were like little kids with a new toy.

This was the first time they were on a plane and the first time some of them went overseas.

I loved being able to have my little brother here.

He was 7 when Josh and I got married and it has been interesting to get to know him as a grown boy.

We have always lived apart and spent only vacations together. I love to see what the Lord is doing in His life day after day.

While we were all together they wanted to give me a taste of Italy, so we made pettole (fried pizzas), homemade ravioli, spaghetti and orecchiette, pizza etc.

My kids ate a ton of kinder eggs, and many more chocolates!

We were all spoiled....

...and blessed.

It has been a blessing to have my parents here, we did many things but mostly we spent time together, we argued and laughed like good italians do. But the most important thing is that we were together.

I loved being able to bring my dad to see the Christmas concerts that our church put together, he loved every minute of it.

We went to take a tour of Joni and friends (the ministry of Joni Eareckson Toda), I think her book was the first one I read after I got saved.

She did an amazing job sharing the Gospel and my dad was there to listen (he is not a believer).

He enjoyed listening to Joni so much, he decided he wants to read her book.

So I was blessed by seeing my family, and also by my dad being able to hear the Gospel many times.

(My sister Anna with my Hannah on a train ride to LA)

My middle sister came too, and as she left here she is going to England to the New Tribes English school to learn English and then who knows what other marvelous plans God has for her life.

She was the one that brought everybody here, the one who took the charge and came taking the responsibility for three more people.

A long time ago my mom and I were the only believers in our family, God made many changes, He saved many and then He changed their lives to the point of bringing my sister on a trip to Indonesia last summer to discover how missionaries live and what the need is around the world.

God has done amazing things, what more amazing things will He do?

(My dad at downtown LA, amazed looking at all the mexican vendors)

My mom had told me in the past that she would never come to America. She not only came but in her words "everything is beautiful here" and she would like to come back again sometime. She grew up on a farm and didn't see a city until she was in her twenties.

For her anything that the city had to offer was amazing, so you can imagine how it felt for her to be here. Because of those farm years my life was impacted.

My food was always homemade and fresh, I wore cloth diapers and most of the time she hand washed our clothes. I learned many good things that were useful later in life.

So when my mom was here she did all kinds of stuff and blessed us once more with her homemade deliciousness :)