Its A ........

Merry Christmas surprise!! Its a girl. We had our appointment last Thursday and everything looks great. We saw her entire skeleton, her face, brain, heart, liver, everything. She is growing into a beautiful little girl. We were both shocked that it was a girl. We thought for sure it would be a boy, but we are super excited about a girl.

Street Sightings

Gabe, you can take him any day.

Baby stretching his or her limbs

So I think my belly grew sometime in the last 24 hours. Baby hit a growth spurt.

A team visit to Istanbul with Phil

A woman weaving a rug by hand.





Inside the Haggai Sofia -- This mosque was originally a Christian cathedral and was the largest building of its time when Christianity was the major religion of Constantinople. Some of the Christian art has been revealed from under the Muslim covering.

Visiting Berkovitza

Don't worry, it only looks like Gabe is going against doctor's orders about his knee.



Visiting a local monastery with Phil, who came for a visit, and members of the church in Berkovitza.

Winter begins in Sofia

Is it fall or is it winter?


Outside Saint Alexander Nevski Orthodox Church

Baby Hillman looking cuter everyday

We got to see the baby move this time. It was awesome. And the doctor officially said our due date is May 23. She also said everything looks good and healthy.

A visit to our future place of ministry, Velingrad

Teammates clowing around.
Velingrad in the valley
The girls in front of a lovely Bulgarian home.
Donna, Michelle and I in front of a horse and cow field
A view of the city.
On the hillside.


Our team managed to get bus tickets there, reserve two hotel rooms, eat and explore the town, and get back to Sofia all on our own -- no translators invited. We felt quite accomplished and happy to get out of the city for a little exploring. We simply reacquainted ourselves with the town and learned the system for getting there and back. We had a very good time and enjoyed the beauty of the fall. If you would like to check out more pictures of our excursion checkout our teammates site at www.michelleinbulgaria.shutterfly.com.

So exactly how many grams are in a pound?

So last Sunday was one of those funny days of missionary mishaps. First we awoke for church to soon discover that it was daylight savings day in Bulgaria, so we could have slept an hour longer. Then our team travelled to church and discovered that for some unknown reason, no one was there and the doors were locked. (We still don't know why.) So we of course decided to make the best of it and go eat Chinese. Well due to language miscommunication and American ignorance of not really knowing exactly how much 600 grams of fried noodles or spicy chicken is, we ended up with enough food to feed atleast five more people. Yes we were laughed at and received numerous funny looks, but we were able to laugh at ourselves as well.

Baby is Growing

We had our second doctors appointment and everything is still looking good. I am 9 weeks along now and still feeling nauseous, but mostly just in the evening. Napping has become a new pastime as well.

Team BulgariaHope

This weekend we visited Berkovitza and visited with Roma families from our inviting church. They were super welcoming and took us on an excursion in the mountains. Here is us with our teammates, Michelle and Donna. The fall leaves were beautiful.



We stopped at this mountain hostel to warm up with some tea and we found this sign rather funny. Be sure not to eat the turtles. Take note of the fork and spoon making it clear for even those of us who can't read Bulgarian yet.

SURPRISE!!! We're expecting.

It's true. We're expecting a baby in just over 7 months. The baby should arrive around May 22nd. So far I am healthy and the baby looks good. We will keep you posted.

New furniture and getting a handle on life.

Well we are now wired with the internet in our apartment, so maybe it won't be a month between blog updates from now on. We are still adjusting to life here is Bulgaria. Our language learning is growing everyday, but still there is so much to learn. We are starting to hear words on the street that we recognize, and we are feeling more confident about going out and about. We've even eaten at a couple restaurants and figured out the menus and ordered all on our own. Still we stumble along. Today we went to pay our water bill and they wouldn't take it. The lady said something to us and pointed at the balance. We assumed she wouldn't take it b/c we didn't have exact change, but come to find out it was because the water company owes us money. We have a credit. How silly we must have seemed trying to pay for a bill that said we were getting money back.

Our teammate Donna arrived two weeks ago and our other teammate, Michelle, will arrive on Tuesday. We will all be learning Bulgarian for the next several months and trying to develop as a team. It will be exciting to see what the Lord has in store for us.

Well thats all for now. We'll keep posting pictures when we have something interesting to share. The pictures are more interesting anyway right?

Blessings to you all.

We finally have chairs in our apartment.

Our first meal in our new apartment.

One week in Bulgaria

We have now been in Sofia for one week. Thus far we have been trying to set up our new apartment while living in the apartment of a previous missionary and finding our way through the city. We hope to move into our new place very soon, after we purchase a bed. We start language school this week which is exciting. We both are ready to know more. It has been interesting playing charades everywhere we go.

We made our first big purchase last week; we bought a couch. In fact it was the first piece of furniture that we have ever purchased together. It is bright orange and has a pull out sleeper and a storage area. I will try to post a picture the next time we make a trip there. So the funny thing about this couch is what happened when it was delivered. We decided to not have the couch delivered up to our apartment on the fifith floor but rather just to the entrance of our building. We saved about $50 this way. We thought no big deal, we will take it up the elevator. Well wouldn't you know it, the elevator quit working just when the couch arrived. Gabe and I ended up hauling the two large couch pieces up five flights of stairs. (91 steps to be exact.) We were quite a site as our apartment neighbors began going out for the day and squeezing by us in the hall. We did it though, and I must say that I feel considerably stronger today.

We are learning more and more everyday about Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language. We are feeling well, even when we feel moments of culture shock. Thankfully at this point they are just moments.

Clava na Boga. Glory to God.

Love, the Hillmans

God's Many Blessings

Well we leave for Bulgaria in five days and the Lord continues to show his faithfulness. We have received our visas and we are now 100% funded. We both seem to be more and more ready to go. Everything has fallen into place allowing us to simply rest in the Lord as we look ahead to our landing in Sofia. Can you believe it? It is finally time to go! -- Melissa