Celebrations!

I will be honest and say last week was one of the most difficult for me in a while. Still, God gave me over the past few days many, many beautiful moments with our friends and family here. And I like to try and focus on the positive. So, here are some of these moments in pictures:






Look at that big hand and tight grip on his mug! Bigger still is the smile that follows a first-time hot chocolate. He helped me make it on the stove and obviously really enjoyed drinking it. :) We also dipped our graham crackers into it. Yum!





The next several pictures are from Jakub's birthday on Saturday. No, he's not really 2 just yet- not until the 20th. My friend Stana and I wanted to share our boys' birthday celebrations this year so, we invited a few of our closest friends to my house and we had a party. Mikulas actually turned 2 on Saturday. We can't believe 2 years have gone by so quickly. I still distinctly remember the dinner I took Stana to the day before she would check in to the hospital to have Mikulas- and 2 weeks before Jakub would be born. We were both so big by then and people were watching us as we laughed a lot and talked about what our lives might be like with our boys. I'm thankful we've continued to grow closer over the years. It was a lovely birthday celebration together!



The Birthday Boys! Don't they look like they know how to get in trouble? :)




Jakub's birthday gift from me and Josh. He set it up with Jakub and Mikulas just before everyone arrived for the party. It was perfect for all 4 of the young boys to play and eat at. I look forward to many afternoons spent here with Jakub this winter as we do arts and crafts. :) Right now he really loves to paint so we often do that.







The birthday cake. We had a lady Stana knows make this for us. The collar had a name tag on it for each of the boys- so sweet!




Stana made these wonderful, tuna bread snacks for us before lunch. I don't know what to call them in English, but it was a spicy tuna spread with sweet, red bell peppers on top. They were so good! And I made lasagna and salad for lunch.







Starting to open gifts together... Both boys received some wonderful gifts! Jakub got Bob-the-builder stuff (his favorite cartoon right now- he even sings the tune now), Thomas the train things, 2 cars, and some Krtek items (a famous children's fairytale character here- he's a mole who goes on lots of adventures with his frog and butterfly friends).






Here is Krtek tent the Keen boys gave him. Neither look thrilled here for some reason, but they were all laughing and playing in it together. All 4 boys at the party could fit in there together.







I love the tradition of giving and opening gifts here. Even towards young children it's a very polite and thoughtful way to give gifts. No matter the age, when you give a gift here you first shake the person's hand and while shaking it you look them in the eyes and tell them all the things you wish for them or you want to say to them to celebrate their special occasion. It was special to see everyone coming up to Jakub to wish him well, tell them they love him, and give him his gifts. Then you tell the person thank you and give them a hug or kiss or something to say thanks. It makes gift giving very meaningful and personal and it helps the children slow down and learn to appreciate what they have.







All of the boys playing with the new toys together.



Yummy cake on top of lightening McQueen car plates. Perfect for the boys!


On Sunday we celebrated the Keens and had a final worship time with them and farewell party with friends. I'll have pictures of it soon, but I'll have to get them from Christie first. 55 people responded to say they would come... I didn't ever count, but I'm sure that's how many were there, or more including all of the children who came as well. Though emotionally difficult to get through, it was a beautiful afternoon and evening together!