Good Christmas Morning!

I'll post again soon with more pictures and stories from our Christmas holiday time, but since we're apart from a lot of our family and friends this Christmas I wanted to quickly share some pictures from this morning with you. I hope you enjoy! Merry Christmas!

A quick note- a few of our most precious gifts this day- having Jakub with us, Jakub sleeping in until 9am (and us, too), waking up to a WHITE Christmas outside, cooking breakfast together, and noticing that Jakub is unknowingly taking a couple of steps even when we let go of his hand. :) Thank you God for the gift of Jakub.



Our Christmas Eve dinner, it was wonderful to have together and Jakub liked it, too! :) We had a very delicious ham, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, cranberry salad, cherry pie, and chocolate chip cookies.




Christmas morning breakfast- pancakes, bacon, and cranberry salad. Jakub got a pancake in the shape of a snowman:)



Jakub's gift to Daddy- a picture he colored.






Giving his gift to Daddy.


Daddy's gift to us all- a keyboard. Jakub loves music- loves to listen to it, sing it, and play anything that makes noise. He LOVED this gift.




Standing alone!


Merry Christmas! More to come later...

Merry Christmas to you all!

This free scrapbook personalized with Smilebox

Moms' and Children's Class

Here are some pictures from our Children's English class this session. Not all of the Mom's were present for this photo, but we took it at one of our class sessions so we could print and frame it for them as one of their Christmas gifts. We had a lot of fun this session teaching the kids about various holidays, their meanings, and some associated games, songs, and stories. The Christmas class, our last class this year, was especially important to us as we were able to share some about the reason why we celebrate, as well as read them the story of Jesus' birth during our story time. Unfortunately, due to the weather and time of year, it was hard for many of our Moms to attend, but we had a wonderful time none-the-less and are so thankful to God for these people in our lives here. We already look forward to our next session, beginning sometime after January. Please keep this class in your prayers as we continue to build on our relationships with about 12 Mothers and their children.

Our week...

The last week has had many good, even great, moments and some very difficult ones. The one most often on my mind is the moment we received an email from our teammate Christie, who is in the states on furlough, to say that her Grandparents, Great Aunt, and Great Uncle were all killed in a car accident. Our first thoughts, along with all of the normal feelings of sadness, were "please no, not this, not for her and her family right now..." It's difficult... We want to be there for her and we can't be right now. They've dealt with so much heartache and loss in the last year, after the passing of Christie's Father, that I just can't imagine how this feels when added to that. So, we've just been writing her and praying a lot. It's all we know to do. Please pray for them, too, as the memorial service for her Grandparents is today.

One of our teens was really sad this week after having broken up with her boyfriend and I was glad I could be there for her, but struggled at times to find the right words in Czech to encourage and comfort her. She's so sweet and patient, though, and we got through it and hopefully I can continue to help her through this difficult time.

We had a great Moms and Kids class again this week and I am thankful for each of the Moms who came and got out in this terrible weather to spend a couple of hours with us. The kids are so full of joy and laughter and it makes for a great part of my week. Jakub loves playing with them all and does so well throughout the program. One of our teens has volunteered to come and be his "Mom" while I lead the class this time and it's so sweet to see their relationship grow. We'll be celebrating Christmas together this week in class and I look forward to the opportunity to share what Christmas really means to me and I'll be reading a children's book on the birth of Jesus. Please pray this is received well among the Moms.

We put our Christmas tree up and Jakub has been really good about admiring it from afar. Hopefully he'll keep that up. :)

Jakub got another tooth yesterday and did so well with it over the last week. You wouldn't even know it was coming as he slept, ate, and drank well. It's an incisor, and his two front teeth seem to be soon to follow. Hopefully he won't look like he has fangs. :) Sadly, though, there seems to be a virus going around our kids here and Jakub started getting sick today before church. He was playing well, but then took an unusually long morning nap, laid back in his high chair through lunch, and then started having a fever before taking another long nap. Needless to say we didn't get to make it to church with Josh today. His fever got up to 102.4F, but then broke and was down to 100F at bedtime. He's sleeping well tonight, so here's praying that he rests and heals well and has a better day tomorrow. We're supposed to get his one year shots this week, but I guess we'll be holding off on those as he has to be illness and fever free for 2 weeks before they'll give them to him. I hate seeing him sick, and thankfully I don't have to do it very often- it breaks my heart!

Well, here are some pictures from the last week or so. Enjoy! Thanks for your prayers!

Tickle fest with Daddy






Bowling with the teens






Just one of the several days it has snowed here over the past couple of weeks. Much of it has melted now, as it reached 32 yesterday, but I think we're due for more tomorrow and this week.






Making a break for Daddy's coffee. He's big into getting on his tip toes and crawling up onto anything he can manage. He crawled onto me, and then up me onto the couch yesterday. He's creative... and he doesn't have a lot of fear of anything... I'm thinking this is going to make for a bad combination later as he learns to walk and get around even better.







Playing with a great, new ball that was given to him by a friend as a birthday gift. It changes colors as you bounce and play with it. He loves it.







I actually had the camera out already and caught him standing alone for the first time. It was awesome and he was so proud of himself! He's increasingly brave about it and has done it several times since then. No steps alone yet.







He loves to throw things and has a pretty cute expression while doing so.







I hear they had a good discussion at worship time today about things you can't or don't want to live without. This boy is definitely high on my list. It's hard enough to think of him sleeping in there with a fever right now, and I miss him when he's sleeping, so I can't imagine life without him now that he's here. I know God is with us through all things, and I won't dwell on something that isn't necessary now, but I just can't imagine... I know they had some visitors today and a great and honest discussion around this topic. Josh filled me in and I was sorry to have missed it. I did get to spend some prayer time with Jakub, though, and that was very special, too. What a great and overwhelming task to have a child enter the age where he can really start to learn from you about your faith, about prayer, about God and who He is. Hopefully we'll teach Jakub well to follow God and love Him as he grows up.


Ok, I'm tired and starting to ramble. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that your coming week is filled with blessings!

We give thanks to God!

This is the best family photo we could manage, and it turned out blurry, but that's ok. We had an amazing Thanksgiving time and worship and that's what matters. Every year our team hosts a Thanksgiving celebration for our closest friends in Olomouc. This year we held it on a Sunday and invited them to join us for our worship time as well. Many of them did and we had a wonderful time praising God, singing, reading His word, and celebrating together the many things we have to be thankful for. We also enjoyed a lot of wonderful food, which our friends helped us cook (with the help of our recipes and sometimes our ingredients as well)! :)




Here's about half of the guests, after they were stuffed and were enjoying some tea, dessert, and conversation time. We had about 25-30 friends come, and that doesn't include the children. What a wonderful time of fellowship we had together. Please pray that they witnessed God, and community, while with us and that many of them will want to seek further God and His Church.




Here's my close friend Stana, and her son Mikulas. You've heard plenty about them recently. :)



This is my good friend Jana, who has been a very close friend of mine for 2 years now.




This is a close friend of ours, Radek, who has been a friend for a few years now. He has helped us with our English camps the past 2 years, with other events, and he regularly visits us at worship.




Jakub and his Teta (aunt) Stana.





All of the kids had a wonderful time together. We had 7 children total. We were able to give their parents a nice break and a chance to eat and enjoy visiting with others while we helped watch the kids. All of these kids are a part of our Moms and Kids class that Sarah and I teach, so they've been together for a while. Jakub loves to throw balls now...




This is Elenka (Ellen) and she's around 2 now. She's a very sweet girl with a lot of spirit!





Here's Mikulas!






Do you remember my good friend Petra who had her son, Vitek, on the same day as Jakub? We were hospital mates together. :) Well, there he is one year later. He's a little taller than Jakub and weighs just a bit more. He is sweet and likes to stay right next to his Mommy. He and his sister, Klarka, were loving the bubbles.





And here's the food we served. We had them make some things for us as well, like one of the sweet potato casseroles, one of the squash casseroles, both the green bean casseroles, the fruit platter, the corn, and a couple of desserts you'll see next. We also had 3 turkeys and 2 hams, mashed potatoes, veggie platters, 2 dressings, corn casserole, rolls, and gravy.They did a great job and I think had a lot of fun helping us celebrate this holiday. How do you like them rolls??? Mmmmm...






Our dessert table. Can you see the apple pie in the back and the chocolate pie? Czech friends made those. Radek made the apple pie. They were excellent and they decorated them for us because of the holiday and wanting to make it special for us. What love! We also had a gingerbread cake, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, butter cookies, and snickerdoodles.







And just one fun one to leave you with. He's so cute all bundled up like this. The sleeping bag type set-up is called a "fusak" (fuuu-sock) and it zips all around him to keep him warm. I usually put a blanket inside with him and one on the outside. Then he gets hats and gloves, too. These kids ride in style, and warmth, it's the poor parents who freeze to death! :) It's fun, though, to take him outside and watch him discover everything. Right now he's loving all of the snow we have (about 8 inches) and can't get his "wow!s" out fast enough. We love it and hope to take a bunch of pictures outside soon.

So, that's Thanksgiving. Please keep us in your prayers as we hope to further some relationships after our recent worship together. Maybe we'll have more visitors this Sunday!

More to come soon... We put up our Christmas tree today and Jakub has done really well admiring from afar. :) He does like to rattle the tree some because it jingles with the bells.

Good night!

One year!

I just can't believe this moment was just over one year ago. Wow! I just can't believe he's one now. He is at such a great age now. I have loved going through each of the stages with him, and I've tried not to take them for granted or rush through them, but right now is truly a fun stage that I was waiting for. He's almost walking alone, he's trying to talk and saying some words, he's so happy and playful, he's sharing all of his food and toys with us, he laughs and smiles all the time, he loves to play with other children and lights up when they are around, he eats so well and sleeps so well, it's just a great stage. I have to say, though, that we are so thankful for Jakub and the child he has been thus far. He's really been a joy through all of the stages and has generally been a happy and peaceful baby through them all. I know it might not always be this way, but I thank God for the past year with this wonderful boy and all of the joy and love He put into our lives. I just can't thank Him enough.





There has been A LOT of celebrating and traveling lately, so I'll just post our favorite photos and talk you through them. :) You might want to get a cup of coffee and a snack... you may be here for a bit. :)

About a week and a half after returning to Olomouc, from our trip to the states, we left again for 5 days in Germany. There is an annual American Family/Thanksgiving retreat held in Germany for families in the military, missionaries, or other American families living in Europe. We usually go every-other-year and we get to see there many families and friends we have grown close to over the years. It's nice to share in our similar experiences, to share our joys and struggles, and to be encouraged by one another. It was an 8 hour car ride there and Jakub did really well. I'm so proud of him! Here are some of our photos from that time (and other people's photos...). :)


Rothenburg is a very beautiful city. It was decorated for Christmas, which I loved! You can see in the photo little Christmas trees above the store windows- they were real trees.




They are known for making these dessert balls. I only tried 2 and they are pretty good, but not sweet enough by American standards. Apparently, we have a high sugar tolerance in comparison to most Europeans. Still, they are good and I recommend them. They were beautifully displayed in a lot of windows throughout the town. (No, I did not take this picture and I do not know that lady) :)



Watching the snow come down outside our hotel room.



Loving the snow:)




Many of you know the Karnes family. They, and their team, are now living and working in Ireland. They came to the retreat and it was awesome to meet their team and to spend time with them. We always feel encouraged by them! (Denise, I obviously stole your pics) :)



Hanging out with the Karnes family our last night in Germany. This is their daughter Bailey.




Our drive home from Germany.


A couple of days after we returned home from Germany we finally celebrated Jakub's first birthday with our friends here. We had a wonderful time celebrating, eating, and playing together. I wish you could hear the laughter and noise all of the children made together. It's one of the best times we have had in our home.



Here's the food. My friend Stana made the meat, it's called vepřový řízek, and is basically fried pork. It is excellent with the spices she adds to it.



His birthday cake. This was supposed to be much more elaborate looking than it is, but I ran out of time and figured Jakub would be forgiving about it.


His good friend Mikuláš who is about 3 weeks older. Stana is his Mom and we get together at least once a week to walk with the kids or let them play together. They also attend our Moms and Kids class we teach each week.

Corey and Sarah's youngest, Thompson, who is 2 1/2 months younger than Jake.




Corey and Sarah's oldest, Evan, who will be 3 very soon! Such a big boy now!




Happy Birthday to you! He loved the candle.



And the cake.



Satisfied:) Now, on to the gifts!



Our friends were very kind and gave Jakub many nice things including: a toy dump truck with big legos inside, a set of building blocks, a puzzle, a coloring book and crayons, a Czech fairytale book, a snoopy stuffed animal, a lion, and a BIG back of snack puffs. We (or I should say I) were so caught up in the fun and entertaining duties that I forgot to give Jakub his gift from me and his Daddy. We keep forgetting to give it to him... and he has plenty of things right now... so I'm thinking ours is going to sit under the Christmas tree instead. :)




Stana and Mikulas giving Jakub his gift- the dump truck, legos, and snacks. They have a beautiful custom here of greeting someone on their birthday, looking them in the eye and telling them "Vsechno nejlepsi, hodne stesti, a zdravi, a lasky, a spokojenosti, atd..." It's wishing them all the best and lots of luck, health, love, happiness, etc. in the year to come. It's wonderful and was so special to hear her do that for Jakub.

All the boys and their toys. I told you the snack pack she gave us was big! Jakub loves those things! So does my sister:)


And just a few random thoughts and pictures to leave you with as I remember the special things Jakub is doing right now.


I love that I caught this face on camera. He doesn't make it often, but in general he's very expressive right now and I love it.


One of his favorite games to play is hide-and-seek. He loves to be chased and then he will hide behind a couch or table and peek around it. My favorite thing is when he holds my stare for a few seconds, then raises one eyebrow and laughs at me, and then takes off crawling away and laughing. It's such an adult expression and I really think when he can talk he'll have a lot to share with me about what he's thinking.




This is just half of the bundling that goes into a walk out in the cold. It takes FOREVER to get ready to go outside in this weather. Again, I'm so thankful for his sweet and calm nature, because generally he's very patient and playful while we get ready and doesn't mind all that I have to do to him. :)




And lastly, a sweet picture of him napping, which is rare for him to do outside of his bed so I had to get a picture. I also had to de-layer him gently so he would overheat in the house. It took a while, but he kept on sleeping. He's so sweet. :)

So, there's still a lot more to come, including our Thanksgiving celebration, which we had yesterday. I have to stop now, though, so my eyes don't go blind and so I can have some quality time with my husband. :) I hope you enjoyed the stories and your coffee stayed hot through it all. I'll try to post again soon. I also have a lot of video, but I'm not sure when I'll find time for that... :)