April 1 is the day of the fools in Romania, and most people make fun of each other, so… there are many unexpected things to happen, but the most unexpected thing that happened, and that surprised all the Romanians, was 24 hours of abundant snow.

          This happened exactly in the middle of spring, when the trees were blooming and the flowers in the garden were spreading their fragrance for some time. It was a very strange phenomenon to see both snow and flowers at the same time. We hoped that apples, plums, cherries, sour cherries would not have been affected, because it would be a real loss for us. Hundreds of trees broke in our area because of the weight of snow and unfortunately this also happened in our orchard. (1,2)

          But the glory of the Lord as snow was only for three days, then very quickly melted because of the great heat that followed. This way we could continue working in the garden without too much delay. (3)

           Yes! The spring is here! Finally, the children can spend more time outside. The atmosphere outside can not be compared to being indoors! (1-3)

           Because it still gets cold every once in a while, the packages sent by Dolha family from the USA were very much appreciated. The children have been very excited by the clothes items they received and they thank you very much! (4-5)

           We are glad to announce you that once the spring is here, we have a new “flower” sent by God in Gavril Matei and Madalina's family. The little Abigail is now the smallest to everyone's delight (6-7).

           Regarding the donations and aquisitions, in March we have been blessed with a transport from Germany. We have asked some old friends to help us with furniture for the new buildings. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts! Their donations have saved us a lot of money (8).

             February started in a very pleasant way for the children with a week long vacation. The children enjoyed to this the fullest this time and had a lot of activities. Of course, they also did their homework but in slow motion. (1-12)

              Ionut Dodita has turned 16 on the 12^th of February. He was only 5 when he first came to Casa Ray. Now he is a teenager with big feet(42) and large clothes(M) .His transformation can only make us happy !!

              The 20^th of February was an emotional day because we had to pass the control from the Emergency Situation Department. Because of the fire we had last year, we had many, many requirement to fulfill. With God’s help we over passed with congratulations this control.

              Ciprian Vantoaia had a big surprise when, after 6 years of absence, received his father’s visit . It was a short, 30 minutes conversation, which surely filled his heart. (16)

          January is typically a rather static month. Both in trade and in everyday life looks like things get a rest.

          So it was for us at Casa Ray. From the bustle and agitation of December we jumped into a "calm and relaxing" month.

          We had four anniversaries this month. Denisa turned 8 years old, Doinita and Ciprian finally reached the long awaited age of 14 and Cristian who turned 17, made us realize how quickly time passes, considering that when stepped the threshold of the Casa Ray he had only 2½ years. We thank God for each of them and pray that He may guide them step by step in life! (1,2,3)

          The first month of winter, in December, was poor in terms of snow and children have yearned after a lump, but the large amount of snow we had in January offset any shortcomings. The children's joy! (4,5) It was also our joy, but we looked at things from other points of view, and we want to share with you some problems we face in winter:

          We can describe December in four words: work, competition, visits, presents.

          Because all the preparements for the holidays, the month of December had all kinds of WORKS: holidays rehersals, general cleaning in the house, killing 2 pigs and making all kinds of culinaries delights, decorating the house, and all kinds of chores. (1,2 )

          We also worked a lot for the handmade COMPETITION organized by the Child Protection Department where all the Centres in the County participated. The children together with Catalina started working in October and managed to finish 300 objects. You can admire them in the pictures and we are sure that you will also think they are excelent. They got a "congratulation diploma". (3-15)

            Without even realizing, the autumn is finished. Time goes so fast when you are in such a big house as Casa Ray, where all the activities succeed one by one since the early morning until the night.

            We thank God and to all the warm hearted people who donated to us this month, all kinds of vegetables and cereals for the animals. We want to underline again that all these aids are very useful to us because they cover a lot of our needs. Thank you again!! (1-5)

            Last month we were very glad to announce Denisa's coming to our home and this month we have other 2 new-comers: Dumitrita ( 13 years ) and Madalina ( 9 years ). Now we have 21 children.

           Preserving for the winter continues in October. Young and old, we all participated so we are ready when the winter comes. Beans, vegetables, pickles, they are all ready.(1-4)

           School started again so the volunteer Rebeka began the English Language lessons. Praise God for her!!(5)

           The children’s creation panel reflects the outside atmosphere. The children and their instructor, Catalina created a beautiful corner full of imagination.(6-10)

           Nature has the ability to always surprise us so we got the first snow.(11-12)

           We were also pleasantly surprised by the Romanian State (which is not very common for us). The children received some school supplies which they were very useful and it saves us some money.(13)

          We know that many of You have asked why You have not received any news from Casa Ray for some time, but ... as usual, there is an explanation JIt was vacation time, so now we come with new information for the months of July and August!

          We start with birthdays that we've had, because since the first days of July we had Andrea's anniversary, who turned 18, than, on 22^nd of July, Alexandru turned 20, then followed Vasile's birthday, who turned 12, Ionel in August turned 13 and last but not least, at the end of August we celebrated father Mihai, who turned 66 years with the Lord's help. Each anniversary is an occasion for celebration at Casa Ray, children enjoying every sweet they receive extra! (1-5)

          These celebrations were not the only joys of the month. 6 of our youth went to a camp at Voronet, along with other 70 young people. This camp was organized by the Baptist Church. You realize that our young people felt very well surrounded by so many new friends.(6, 7)

          June was important because of the Child’s National Day on the first of June .

          All the children from Casa Ray, together with their friends from Dobreni (about 40 children) went to a village called Izvoare to celebrate this event. 150 people in total, played games, sang songs, learned songs, studied Bible stories, received prizes , after answering  questions, they watched a play, took lunch together and finally eat a giant birthday cake made especially for them.

          You can imagine the joy and the happiness!! (1-12)

          Constantin got 2 birthday celebrations because he also turned 15 on the 19^th of June. (13)

          We made a trip to Bacau, on an invitation from a Christian church. The children really enjoy and cherish the traveling and seeing new places. (14)