Needless to say, we’ve been quite busy lately. In mid April we traveled over to Wüstenrot to where Kontaktmission has their main offices. Every year we go there for their annual conference and co workers retreat. This year was our 4th year attending and it was a special year for us because we got introduced as official new KM workers! Ryan even gave a mini lesson on the Holy Spirit for everyone at the conference, all in German! He did great! As usual, it was so wonderful to catch up with old friends and meet a lot of new ones. The week of the retreat was spent attending workshops, having prayer times, rockin out with the worship band, hearing speakers, eating a ton of great food, and chasing Ollie up and down stairs…all day, everyday… :-)

Ryan and I got to help lead worship one day with the band!

The traveling aspect of the trip was less than ideal (especially with a teething, wiggly, and very vocal one year old) but we made it! 8 hours there on the train and 10 hours back in a rental car, ugh. It was the first time that I (Elyse) had left Dresden since we had moved there 5 months before! It was nice to get away, but definitely made us realize that Dresden is our home now, and it was so nice to come back HOME at the end of the week. Even though the traveling was not the most fun experience, it sure was a lot better than having to fly in from the States, which is what we have always done before. Thank goodness for no jet lag this time! Getting to spend the week with people we love from all around the world was amazing, but being back in Dresden was well welcomed at the end of the week. We LOVE this city and our happy apartment.

Speaking of our happy apartment, it sure has been FULL of extra happiness these last few weeks! At the KM retreat we met a young lady who was nearing the end of an internship in Jena (Where we did our internship 4 years ago!) and was looking to spend sometime getting to know other KM workers in other cities. So, just a few days after the retreat was over, she showed up in Dresden and stayed with us for 3 full weeks! It was a stretch for all of us, comfort zone wise, but it was such a wonderful experience having her here! And then, after about 2 weeks of her staying with us we found out that Ryan’s Mom was coming for visit! It was very full apartment with people sleeping everywhere J We may as well just open up a bed and breakfast! We seriously love it so much though! Ryan’s mom stayed for a week and Jessica left last Wednesday, so now it’s just the three of us again…. Until Friday, when my cousin and her husband come spend a few days with us!

Ryan with his mom and our photo bombing intern!

And now for some other normal everyday updates: We will finally be getting internet next week!!! We’ve been using a couple different internet sticks the past 6 months to get internet in our apartment, but it’s been difficult because the internet is very limited and very expensive. Thank goodness all of this German bureaucracy silliness finally worked out! Also, I (Elyse) finished my 3 months of language school, but now I’m looking for an intensive course to start at a different language school. Pray for me and this decision. It will be the first time since Ollie’s been born that I will be away from him for that long everyday. Ryan’s able to stay with him while I’m gone, and it will only be for a month or two… but it’s still hard for me to swallow. And as for our church work here, it’s always a bit crazy! Our church (B19) is in the process of moving to a new building in a different part of the city by the end of the year, so there is ALWAYS a lot going on with that. Lots of meetings and construction events. It’s all very exciting though! Ryan is still involved with the youth group as well as music in the church. We are gearing up for summer camps, so there are a lot of meetings for that as well. I am still very involved in the weekly playgroup held at the church and am making a lot of wonderful friends there, as is Ollie! We are looking to join a small group from the church, and one of the groups who has invited us to join asked us to go hiking with them last week in the Saxony Switzerland (a mountain range near Dresden). It was a nice and relaxing day spent with friends from church (Ollie had a fantastic day with Grammy Lisa at home while we were hiking!). I have also been doing some photography for friends! I’m not making money off of it yet, but we’re excited to see how that could work once we have the correct work visas and more interest! And for some more exciting news…Ryan’s is finishing up a brand new iPhone app!!!

And if you thought this post couldn’t get any longer, I’m going to dedicate a little section just for our little man :-) Oliver is doing great. He’s running and climbing everywhere. He is so full of energy and personality! He’s a goofy little spitfire, and we are so smitten with him. He’s still not saying many English or German words, though he has is own Ollie language totally figured out (if only we could figure it out!). We’re not too worried about the speaking yet, there’s a lot for his brain to sort out. He has a ton of little friends and he’s so loving and friendly with everyone. He’s such a little love!

Okay, that’s all for now! Thanks for always keeping us in your thoughts and prayers! We love and appreciate each one of you so much!

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Ryan and Elyse Dillon