Marching right along...

March has almost come and gone, and so quickly I can hardly believe it. Where do the days go? It's gorgeous here this time of year and we've been busy enjoying God's beautiful creation. We even recently had our Sunday worship outside so we could experience and be inspired by the nature and sunlight all around us while praising God and studying His word. It was a lovely day and time spent in the park together.




Other things going on:

Jakub LOVES chocolate, or anything sweet for that matter. Because we don't give him these things very often, it's really a special treat for all of us when we do. He was so happy to try this mint-chocolate treat and after the bites of mint he would say "oohh, that's spicy." It was hilarious. :)






Here's my brave boy showing off a bag of his pacifiers that we would later that day give away to baby Emmy. I think I was more fearful of this event and the night to come than he was. Here he is sitting on his first motorka (kid's bike/motorcycle), not knowing yet the surprise that awaits for being so brave.









And here he is on his new motorka, which was a gift from us. He was so excited and proud of his new bike.








Here's precious baby Emmy. Jakub did so well giving her the bag of pacifiers immediately upon our arrival to their home. He never even asked for them back or seemed to care. I know it's not always this easy with children, and I'm not bragging, but I was so afraid it would be hard for him and that I would want to give in and give them back. Especially if it ever came to many sleepless nights. To protect myself from this I made sure we gave them all away and there weren't any left to return home to. ;) Jakub did better than I did- I wanted to cry that my little baby, I mean boy, didn't need them anymore. He occasionally still mentions them, but then says that baby Emmy has them now. I'm so proud.










Here's Jakub playing with Emmy's brother, Liam. They are good friends and get along really well. Jakub left a gift for Liam as well- his old motorka. Now they can ride together.










Tonight we enjoyed a blue-water bubble-bath. Thanks Grandma for our Elmo water tabs. Jakub loves them and mentions that they are from you. He's been sick this week with a bad cold and we've been inside a lot, so this is one fun way to spend some time- especially before bed. Evan and Thompson, those boats are named after you (Evan, you're the yellow one), and Jakub always mentions you and playing with you while he plays with them in the water. Today, he asked 2 times if Corey, Sarah, Evan, and Thompson could fly a plane to Jakub's home soon. I love it when someone is on his mind and he asks about them. This made me very happy. Keens, you are missed and loved.








Jakub showing off his new pajamas tonight before bedtime. They are a little big still, but he is so proud of them. It's the second pair, maybe third, I've ever bought for him myself. Thanks to a very generous family, and especially 2 very loving and generous grandmothers, I've rarely had the need to buy Jakub clothing from me. I don't mind that. ;) It helps to make it even more special when I finally do. I also appreciate and like that Jakub always wants to know who his clothing (or toys, or books, etc) is from. Now I can say "this is from Mommy."


To end I'll mention some prayer requests. Our family could use prayers for better/good health. I've been battling some tooth issues and jaw pain for about one month now. I've had work done on 2 teeth and prayerfully we're almost back to a healthy mouth. It's been painful so please pray for the pain to end soon and not return. Also, Jakub and Josh both have bad colds this week. Jakub is starting to get well already, and hopefully Josh will soon as well.

This weekend we'll have a special Easter celebration and worship with our church and closest friends. Please pray that many will come and that our time together will be blessed. Please pray for open hearts to hearing God's message and that we can share our faith boldly with love. Next weekend, on Easter, we'll be away at an annual retreat with other churches from here and Slovakia. Please pray for all of our travels and for an encouraging time spent with our larger church family.

And one more. I know it's rather vague, but I want to maintain privacy where I should. God knows exactly the faces and stories I have on my heart right now. Please be praying about some new opportunities we're beginning to have for deeper relationships and Bible studies with some of our closest friends. It seems with this Spring time forming around us there is also growth and change amongst our friends. It's an exciting and inspiring time for planting more seeds in God's Kingdom. We want so much for those we love to also know God's love and God's story. We could all use your prayers as we seek to know Him better.

Thank you so much for your prayers. Love to you all.

Too good to forget...

Jakub is doing and saying so many things right now that I don't want to forget. I thought I should write them down.

- He used to call chocolate milk "chocho mooch," but it's already starting to sound the way it should.
- He likes to ask us questions in strange and deep voices and he's always inventing new sounds to try out on us. He's such an entertainer.

- He sings for us ALL the time, but now he's starting to sing for others as well- if they will cover their eyes. He asks them to do so and then waits until they can't see him before performing. :)
- He sings ABC's, Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle, I love you song, and the 123 numbers song. When he hears other songs we sing or play for him he tries to match the notes by humming along. I really think this will be a gift of his.

- He would rather be outside riding his bike or playing than be inside. I'm happy about that and love to go on walks with him or take him to play grounds.
- He can count to 10, or sometimes 12, but if we don't help him through the number 4 then he has the strangest (and consistent) counting method of: 1, 2, 3, 5, woman, 8, 9, 10. So strange. :)

- He greets almost everyone we pass with "Dobry den" (hello/good day). Most of them love it and can't believe he knows to do this already. He's also speaking more and more Czech each week now. He can say "boty (shoes), je moje (it's mine), dobry den and dobrou noc (good day/night), vyborne (great/excellent), pesek (little dog), modra (blue), auto (car), autobus (bus), tramvaji (street car/trolley), ahoj (hello/bye), and nashledanou (formal good bye).

- His favorite toys are cars and trains. He loves to build tunnels and tracks out of blocks and other objects. He also loves to watch an educational DVD we have about different modes of transportation and how they work.

- He still loves to read and is now taking the books from us and trying to read them to us. He makes up all kinds of stories and words. :)

- His prayers are getting more complex now, but they always start in the sweetest, softest tone of voice with him asking for God to keep Mommy and Daddy well. It's so innocent and kind. Sometimes he prays for someone or something that we haven't talked about in a couple of days and it's moving to see him think through these things again.

- He's started greeting us in the mornings with "Good morning, Mommy/Daddy." He also likes to know what we might do in the afternoons after his nap is over. Then, when he wakes up, it's the first thing he talks about. He's got a great memory.

- Lastly, and sadly, he's started talking about his family members in the U.S. and saying "they live so far away" and "when will they ride a plane to Jakub's house?." Those are tough to answer, but I'm so glad he remembers everyone and wants them to all come visit us here. He loves his family very much!

Ok, I have to go now. He's found a sucker and is trying to quickly get it open. :)

Weekend Getaway...

Recently we had been wanting to get away for a little family time, but we were bad about planning ahead and making time for it. Last week we thought we would finally do it and at the last minute we found a place we thought would be nice. It turned out to be perfect. We left on Friday after lunch and drove to a small city about one hour away from home. We stayed the weekend and had a wonderful time together. Here are some pictures from the weekend:



This is the hotel where we stayed. It was neat to stay inside of this tower and our room was nice with a unique "u" shape to it around one side of the tower. We ate breakfast and dinner a couple of times on the 8th floor, which had a nice lookout over the nearby city of Bohumin. You can see we were also blessed to have WONDERFUL weather over the weekend. It was sunny and about 40 F, which is a heat-wave here. :)





Here's the water park, which was just across the road and to which we were given unlimited access due to our staying in the hotel. We went on Friday and Saturday with Jakub- he loved it. We swam and played a lot. He also went down a large, indoor, slide with Josh several times. He's very brave and we were proud of him. This place also had a tunnel to swim through to the outside where you could swim in an outdoor, heated pool. We did that as well, but only for 10-15 minutes at a time before heading back in. It was definitely still very cold outside. :)






There was also a nearby park we could walk to and which had many fun things for children to do and play. Jakub wanted to try everything, except climbing to the top of the rock wall.










I'm proud of him for also trying and loving the zip line, though he definitely loved it even more when Daddy stayed nearby. :)






And then, as he always does, he found a tree stump to climb upon and then proceeded to entertain us with his loud singing and crazy,wonderful dancing.




So sweet. I hope he always keeps singing with such energy and joy. This day it was "the wheels on the bus."







Love this boy...











On Sunday we took him to his first movie theater, in Bohumin, for a one-hour showing of a classic children's cartoon, Krtek. It's the name of the little mole in the picture above and there are tons of cartoons with him in them. They were made in the 60's and 70's and are still wonderful to watch for children today. He LOVED it and sat watching and laughing the whole time. What a wonderful memory to make with him. What a lovely weekend it was as a family!!!







Other recent fun times (or not all completely fun) :


Playing in sleeping bags with Daddy...







Watching Toy Story 3 together and then running and playing and pretending to be some of the characters....









And these last 2 are for you, Laura B. :) Jakub had an accident about one month ago. He dropped and broke a cup, then he tried to get down from the table to help clean it up and before we knew it he was falling out of his chair. Josh instinctively caught him with some of the cup already in his hand and cut Jakub's head with it. We went to the ER in case it needed stitches, but thankfully it did not. He was so brave and never cried once about any of it, until 1 1/2 weeks later when we took the bandage off and it pulled some of his hair. It was a very heavy-duty, sticky, bandage and was not easy to get off. Other than that he was fine about it all. These shots are after 2 weeks of healing. He looks more distraught here than he ever did with the actual accident and ER visit. We were proud of him for being so brave, even when blood was dripping in his eye.

That's what's been going on around here lately. More pictures from furlough to come soon... maybe.... sometime...