"There can be miralces, when you believe." - Prince of Egypt soundtrack

This has been a week of miracles in the Compton family.  First, Matthew learned on Thursday that he passed the bar so he is now an attorney at law.  He and Jennie signed on to spend three years studying the law while also having and raising a beautiful family (in a small two-bedroom apartment).  Here they are pictured, with Michael, at the beginning of this adventure.  After a very long road, they made it!!  And they also made their way into a beautiful home with a washer and dryer, a fenced backyard, and a kitchen that's the envy of any Iron Chef!  What a testament to the fruits of patient perseverance, diligence and sacrifice.

John and Kaylyn just found out on Thursday that the baby they are expecting is a baby boy!!  It is truly a miracle that we can create life and welcome our Father's children into our families and homes.  Now I'm crossing my fingers that somehow we can convince them to move to Texas so they'll be closer.  :) 

Friday afternoon I found out that, along with 19 other Ph.D. students from across Finland, I was accepted into Langnet--The Finnish Graduate School in Language Studies (http://www.joensuu.fi/fld/langnet/english/).  Basically, this means that I was awarded a four year scholarship by the Finnish Ministry of Education (at first I thought it was three years, but it is in fact four years) to carry out my Ph.D. studies and dissertation.  In addition, I will take part in research seminars led by leading scholars in the field of applied linguistics.  The best part?  Saija, one of the Ph.D. students in the English section, was also accepted so we'll be studying together.  And Elina, another classmate who owns the exact same track suit that I have (truth be told, I copied her because I want to be just like her!), has been in Langnet for two years already so we have great footsteps to follow.  These flowers were waiting for me when I came home Friday night.  Thank you Eija!!  She's stuck with me for a good long while now.  :)  I still can't believe I am so blessed.  My cup runneth over!

The Jyväskylä soccer team took third in the country.  Here they are celebrating in the city center earlier this week.

The last of the leaves that I can see from my window.  Check out the color.

Tarja Aalto (my friend on the left who took me to the hospital) and Anu Leppisaari (one of the Young Women and also Eija's former student!!) on Thurs. night as we were decorating for the Halloween party on Fri. night.

Pihla, Milla, and Anu (Leppisaari).  Three sisters sporting their costumes Fri. night.  Totally reminded me of the three Compton sisters.  Awwww!

Michael, my nearly 4 year old nephew, knows that he is (and always will be) my best bud.  When I last Skyped with him I asked, "Michael, who is my best bud?" he responded, "Me!"  Well, here is my best Finnish bud: Kai.  I just LOVE this kid and I'm so grateful that his parents indulge my requests to hold him and play with him.  He was a vampire for Halloween.

Face painting station.  Päivi Jäkkö is painting Helena's face.  Remember Nilo?  This is his little sister who was just baptized a few weeks ago. 

This is our scarecrow...??  Katie planned all the decorations and activities.  It was by far the best Halloween party ever.  The kids had a blast!  I dressed up as a chef.  I'm donning Eija's work clothes.  Totally a cop-out but I am no good at dressing up for these things...

The young men manned the scary boxes.  The kids would put their hands in each box to touch gooey things like wet noodles, jello, and frozen grapes.  They had to guess what they were.

There was the donut on a string eating contest.

Cookie decorating.

Christmas is in the air!  We worked on wrapping the trees with white Christmas lights.  We didn't have enough lights so only the bottom 1/2 of the tree is wrapped.  We'll be back on the ladder again after we get more lights.  We then raked up the remainder of the leaves.  Can I just say that living in the Garden of Eden is a lot of (enjoyable!) work?!  I am amazed that Eija does this all on her own.

This has been a week of miracles.  I was reminded again that prayers are answered.  Sometimes the answers are very long in coming.  Sometimes they are answered before the prayer ends.  And sometimes the answers are not what we wished them to be.  But nonetheless, they are answered (James 1:5).  For that I am so grateful.