Videos from Amusement Park

Vacation Day #1...

Technically it was day #2, but the first day we just settled in to our new place. Yeah for Family Amusement Parks! We had a wonderful time riding rides with Jakub and watching him experience so many new sights, sounds, games, rides, etc. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that day:


Not the best picture, but all the boys loved this ride and Jakub would constantly turn around and smile at Evan and Thompson behind him. So precious to see them all having fun together!











Jakub was too busy "driving" his truck and laughing to look at the camera. The track took us around some beautiful scenery and fun things for the kids to see. For example, this giant rabbit below. :)










Sarah and Thompson








The big, elaborate, winding, tree house. Josh and Jakub did this one together and he said Jakub did not want to leave it. I, personally, did not want to crawl through such caged, tiny spaces... :)



Peeking out from the top of the tree house...






Then came the water zone area of the park... There was so much to explore here. They had many different types of fountains, shallow pools, a "waterfall" of sorts, and various objects in the water that would turn in it or spray water out with different types of pressure.





Evan and Jakub play so well together. If Evan is around, this is the expression Jakub wears most of the time. :) Evan's been teaching Jakub lots of things lately- how to play with trains, how to jump on beds, how to splash and play in water, and how to run really fast. So sweet!











After all of that fun in the sun and water, and some lunch, came nap time. He managed to get one hour of sleep amidst all of the chaos around him. After this came the time his Daddy had been looking forward to... the tractor ride!










They had a beautiful barn and field area to ride the tractors through. There were gorgeous flowers and a lot of singing animals and scarecrows. They even had some live mice running through the grass. I'm sure that was staged, of course!








On to the alligator log ride! I have some of Sarah and Thompson doing it, too, because Josh filmed me and Jakub coming down so, I don't have pictures of that part for us.












Then it was on to the big sand pit, which also had a cave. Josh was the only one that ventured in because it was dark, hot, and had a lot of sand blowing out. We took turns with Corey and Sarah watching the kids playing in the sand while the adults rode a big roller coaster. Yeah!







Sweet Jakub watching Mommy and Daddy ride the roller coaster. It was such a beautiful and perfect day together with our families. I didn't even mention that the drive there was through the sun flower fields and vineyards of Austria. It was sunny, blue, and about 75-80F. Perfect. I won't every forget this day. And there are 3 more days coming up that are just as good... and I promise some videos to go with them... eventually... Until then!

So much more to come...

We are back from our first vacation with Jakub and it was AWESOME. I am now filled with even more blessings, joy, and memories I'll keep with me for my lifetime. I'm so thankful for my family and for the chance we had to relax, play, and make memories together. It came at exactly the right time. Here's a small peak at what's coming next...



Not a look of fear on his part, I promise! He was watching his friend Evan go down the ride before him... :)




Ok, a little fear might have set in here... but I promise he smiled after it was all over and said "yeah!" I didn't get that part on camera. You'll have to take my word for it. :)







Watching the sail boats with Daddy. So beautiful. Sweet memories.






The best family photo we could pull off after 7 glorious hours in the sun having fun by the waterside. He really was happy, and content, and very, very sleepy. :)




To end on a good note. This is how I remember him on vacation. We couldn't stop watching him.
Much, much more to come later!

Post Camp Low

Camp Theme: ROOTS


Well, we returned from English Camp on Saturday evening. Our month-long journey through camps has come to an end. On Sunday we had a big worship service and celebration with some of our camp students, as well as a farewell to our American campaign group. Today has been a fairly quiet and very gloomy, rainy, cool day spent at home. It's SO good to be back in my own kitchen, bed, and home, but it's much quieter than camp, and a little sad. I miss spending every day around so many people who are so excited about their day and all that it might hold. I miss spending so much time with two other families who were there and their children. Jakub loved having playmates every day and would often wake up from a nap, hear them playing outside, and immediately start laughing and saying "up! up!" so he could get out of bed and go play. It was so uplifting to talk so much about God and the Bible every day with the Czech teens and our friends around us. I pray now that they had/have open hearts, that God will keep working in their lives, and that they will try to see and hear Him. We had many visit us for worship yesterday. I hope some of them will return very soon! We always expect a low in the work in August as many travel and spend time with family before school starts again September 1st. Then, after school starts, we will truly see those who want to spend more time with us and who are more open to what we teach and do here in Olomouc. I pray for great numbers this fall as our activities begin again. I pray for a growing church community with more believers. The hope in it all is exciting!

I would also appreciate prayers for our Moms and Kids English program, which will start again in September. I'll soon begin preparing the lesson plans for this fall. I'll be leading the program this time, instead of Sarah K., as we prepare for many of the transitions to come with their leaving to return to the states this winter. It's going to be a bittersweet fall and we could all use prayers as we adjust to a new phase in our lives and ministries.

Ok, on to some camp pictures!

I have no idea if this works, but here is a link to my teammates camp file on Facebook (if you don't have FB I'm not sure if you will be able to see it, but try and let me know!) :

A little background info. - our theme was "Roots" this year. Each day had a main theme: Our Origins, Roots (seeds beginning to grow), Courage (to grow, change, develop), Nurture, Commitment (to keep growing, to change as it's needed, to help others grow), Bearing Fruit, and Creation. You'll likely see some of these themes in the pictures as you see the games, skits, etc.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.663068384027.2145790.54604774&type=1

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.663076642477.2145794.54604774&type=1

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.663080180387.2145795.54604774&type=1

And here's a link to our camp dance- something we do every year for the kids with a song that ties together with our theme. You can't see me in it because this year I helped make it with Christie and our interns and we helped lead it each time. I had a lot of fun with it!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=265024856847354&comments

A few more:

This is the English class I helped teach with Madison and Sarah. Madison is in the green shirt by Sarah and is one of our two summer interns. She has been here to work with us for 3 summers now and has become one of my very close friends. Letting go of her every summer gets harder and harder...

Our class was a beginner-level English class, and though they were really shy, they were a great group. We even made up a song about our class and the students in it and sang it in the talent show together. I was proud of them for singing in front of the camp!





Helping with the girl part of the song we sang before every meal to thank God for our day, our friends, and our food. It was a lot of fun!





Our team decided to perform as a team for the first time in our talent show we host at the end of every camp. This event is a highlight of camp because the kids, who came to camp usually shy and not knowing many people, have courage at the end of the week to share a part of themselves with the camp group. Everyone is so supportive and happy to see others having fun and expressing themselves and it's a great way to witness how a bond has formed over the week. Well, our team decided to have a little fun and show our sillier side for once... we performed the "Evolution of Dance" in a shortened version. I hope to have the video of it up soon. :)






Jakub and his Daddy hanging out and watching the group play sports together. You can see he's wearing a jacket in July. Out of both camps and the past few weeks of July I think we only had two days that reached in the upper 70's with some sun. The rest of our time away was spent in the 50's and 60's with rain and clouds. It was very cold at times, especially in the evenings. We had an amazing time anyway, though, and it rarely rained when we needed to be outside for our planned activities. We thanked God for that!






Me and Jakub on a cold day walking around to the different activity stations and watching the teens perform various acts of courage. :) We had them do trust falls, climbing and height-related activities, taste tests, and games while they were blind folded. (By the way, I recently chopped my hair off very short and I LOVE it. I've never had it this short, but it's so much fun and easier to maintain. The back is even shaved a little at the bottom, which is interesting to touch) :)
Proof that 30 is creeping around the corner: neck wrinkles. When did those happen? This photo shocked me at first. I'm ok with it now. :) I'm not posting the one that shows a mad streak of grey across the front...






Me, Jakub, Sarah, and her boys watching the camp groups drop "hopefully well protected" eggs out of the second story window. This activity went with our theme of nurture. They had to care for the eggs by building protective covers, wraps, parachutes, etc. around them in hopes that after dropping them to the ground the egg would survive. A few made it, I think...








Here is a "family" picture of all of us with our boys (the ones I mentioned from the two other families that were with us at camp). Sarah and Corey are there with Evan and Thompson, and on the other side of me is Jamie with Luke. Her and her husband are currently working in Ceske Budejovice, another city in CZ. They came to help us with camp and it was amazing to have them around and to spend time with their sweet family. We have known them since college and have been growing closer and closer over the years. Here I think we were singing "row your boat." Awww.... good times with adorable boys.





The rest here are of our sweet boys together. Evan, Thompson, and Jakub. These boys have so much fun together and especially were spoiled to have each other to play with every day while away at camp. I cherish these times together knowing these will be changing soon. Jakub is going to miss his "cousins" very much. So will I.




They love on each other well!

Camp

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to say that I'm not posting right now because we are away a lot this month for our English camps. We've already had one campaign group from America come through and help us with our first camp. They did an awesome job and the camp was wonderful! The second campaign group arrived Wednesday and we are now doing orientation sessions with them before we leave for our second camp tomorrow morning. I will have some stories to tell and some pictures to share when we get back and have some time to recover the first week of August. Please keep praying for our camps and especially for the hearts of the students to be touched and changed forever. Thank you! Love you all!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

This last week was wonderful! With Summer comes an increased level of activity and service here as our students are out of school and our older friends typically have more time away from work. The weather also helps draw people out of their homes and every-day routines. This week was especially full of various projects, fun, laughter, teaching, playing, helping others, and feeling really used by God. It's a great thing to feel used up by Him. It's what we want and hope for in our lives, and when it happens it leaves us feeling excited and exhausted. :) Thank you for your prayers and please keep them coming as this summer will prayerfully continue to bring us a lot more of the same! Our English camps are also just around the corner- our first American campaign group arrives in one week. I can't believe it's almost time. One of our biggest prayers right now is for the hearts and minds of all of the Czech and American students who will be with us at camp and will be learning about God with us for an entire week!

Also, if you have interest and would like to help financially support a Czech student at camp please write me. We have many students each year who need scholarships to attend camp and we have a program set up just for them. Let me know if you would like to help!


Now, here are some pictures from our week:




As usual we had a good time with our friends Stana and Mikulas this week. With them being so extremely close in age (Miki is 3 weeks older) it's always good to watch them play and to have Stana to talk with about all of the things we are currently going through as their parents.





Dancing to our Thomas the Train video. Jakub has finally realized he might like to watch a video now and then. He asks for "toot toot" and points at the t.v. So, we watch a little Thomas the Train and he really likes the intro song and does the cutest dances to it. Today he took an exceptionally long nap in the afternoon and then he immediately asked for "toot toot" when he woke. It was cute- this time. :) He also snuck a paci out with him... stinker. :) He usually can only have them in the bed and soon enough I hope to work on getting rid of them. Any useful tips would be welcomed.





He's finally riding his "motorka" very well, both forward and backward. We've even been taking it outside so he can ride beside me while we walk to the river to feed the ducks (there are some baby ducks there this week! yeah!). It's exciting to see him want to use it so much- such a big boy! It's also nice to have him walk, run, and ride beside me now and that I don't always need the kocarek to push him in.


He's also doing well on the potty-training front! I'm sure once we have an "intensive training" or "diaper-less weekend" week sometime this summer it won't be long then before we're moving out of diapers! Yeah! If any of you have some special tricks regarding this feel free to pass them along. So far Jakub has been very observant and interested, so I don't think it will take long once we put some real focus on it. Right now we're just lightly teaching about it and helping him use it when he asks, which he's doing more and more and doing well.





I don't think I've posted about these before... These are part of the alphabet letters we put up along one wall in Jakub's room. He loves to point at them and sing the ABC's now. He can also say "A, B, and C" to start the song. The rest of the time he just dances and hums. :) This wall above looks pink here, but it's really a khaki brown.

And these are the letters Jakub's Aunt Nellie made for him. I LOVE them- thank you Nellie! They hang just above his bed and if you ask him where his name is, he can point to it and make 5 sing-song noises to match the 5 letters we say to spell it out.

I still have 3 more art projects to hang in his room, as well as curtains to buy and hang, and when I do I will finally take more pictures. Who knew it would take me so long to get it together. :) I guess that's why most people try to do it BEFORE the kid comes. :) My sister, Hope, painted him something, Josh's Grandmother just sent us her painting for him, and I'm painting him something at the moment. I can't wait until it's all complete!



And finally... the Rizotto recipe that several of you asked about. I made it again tonight, which reminded me that I had forgotten to write down the recipe.

Above you can see the type of rice you will need for true Rizotto, Arborio, though I'm sure any short-grain white rice will do. This particular rice stays soft and fluffy and responds well to cream. I've never made this in the U.S., though, so I don't know what options you have there.

Recipe for the rice:
- 1-2 cups of rice
- 1 spoon of butter
- 1-2 cubes of chicken bullion
- Real whipping cream
- Parmesan grated finely
- Salt to taste

In a non-stick sauce pan put 1-2 cups of rice- depending on how many you are cooking for. I usually do a little more than 1 cup, and that makes enough for me, Josh, and Jakub, as well as some leftover for Jakub the next day. Heat the pan to medium heat and very lightly brown the rice before adding anything else. Stir frequently. Then, add 1 cube of chicken bullion, 1 cup of water, and a small spoon of butter. Continue stirring often and cooking rice until soft. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water at a time as rice dries out, until rice is finally soft and fluffy. It takes about 30 minutes. Rice should be a little moist at end of cooking, not completely dried out. Once it is soft, add real whipping cream and stir it in until all of rice is moist and creamy, not too wet or soupy. Turn off the heat now. If I had to guess I would say it's about 1/2 cup of cream, but I just do it to taste. I also sometimes add a little salt or more bullion to the water for the rice during the cooking process until the flavor is just right. After adding the cream and thoroughly stirring, then add Parmesan to taste. I add about 1/2 a cup and stir it in well. You want a light flavor, but not so much cheese that it becomes clumpy and stringy in the rice. The rice is done.

You will also need:
- Olive oil (or other oil/butter if you like)
- 2-3 chicken breasts cubed
- Chopped leaf spinach - 1/2 to 1 cup depending on how much you are making
- Fresh, chopped mushrooms - maybe 2 cups
- Garlic powder to taste
- Onion powder or chopped onion to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste

In another pan, while the rice is cooking, you can cook the things that will go in the rice when it's finished. First, add a small spoon of olive oil to the pan and heat it on medium heat. Then add cubed chicken breasts and season them with salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powders to taste. Lightly brown the chicken until it's done. Then, add the chopped mushrooms and spinach (and onions if you want) and cook until everything is tender/done. Once the rice is done you mix all of these things together with it.

I hope you like it! I wrote out a lot of details so you would know how I do it, but don't be overwhelmed. It's really very easy! You can mix and match things that you like as well. I sometimes make the chicken with chopped onions and red bell pepper instead of mushrooms. Green peas are another great veggie in it. I almost always add spinach because it tastes so good with this type of rice, cream, and cheese. Enjoy! And let me know if you try it. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Happy Father's Day!

I am very thankful to God for the father he gave me, and for the father he gave Jakub, and for the many wonderful fathers I know and have known in my life. My Dad, Josh, my Father-in-law, my Grandfathers, my Uncles, my Brothers, my Friends... there have been many, many examples in my life of Godly, loving, caring, intentional fathers who love their children and families very much. I hope all of you have had a very enjoyable and blessed Father's Day!

Here's one of my favorite pictures of my Dad with Jakub from last year. It was taken at Hope's wedding. Jakub and his cousin Lillian were dressed all in white and they looked like beautiful little angels. It was such a sweet time and a great memory for me.






And here's one we just took today of our family. I'm so glad Jakub has Josh for a Father.

Josh tries very hard and wants very much to be a good Father for Jakub. He's doing a good job so far! I'm so proud of him and how he wants to be someone Jakub can learn from, respect, come to at any time, and also have fun with. It's a gift to watch their relationship grow and I hope they'll have many years together filled with a lot of love. I'm so happy and thankful God gave me this family.



Here are some sweet photos of Josh and Jakub playing peek-a-boo this weekend.












Jakub loves his Daddy (a.k.a. Da-da) very much. When I go get him in the mornings, because sometimes we don't wake up until 8am or a little later, he wants to walk to our bedroom and go see Daddy. He says "Daddy" over and over and over on his walk there and often Josh is already gone to work or to teach at school, etc. So, then, Jakub wants to walk to the back office room to see if Daddy is working there. Sometimes he is, but often he's already out of the house. It's so cute and a little sad to watch him wandering around asking for Daddy. But, on the days when Josh is there in bed, or in his office, or wherever at home, and Jakub finds him... it's awesome! He lights up and screams and starts running around or jumping. The same thing happens when Josh comes home from work. When Jakub hears the keys in the door (we have a small apartment and you can hear it from everywhere) he jumps up, says "oh!", and runs to the door. When he sees Josh he starts screaming excitedly and running to get a toy to show him. I never get tired of seeing this excitement and love. Josh is just as excited to see Jakub and I appreciate that as well. There have been several occasions when, at night after Jakub has gone to bed, Josh says... I wish I could go watch him sleep for a bit, or just hold him for a while, or see him again before bed. It's so sweet and touching to see this softer, Daddy side, of Josh. He's a good Daddy! Happy Father's Day, Josh!

And to my Dad:

Thank you for being a great Daddy for me! There's no doubt in my mind how much you love me and like to take care of me. Despite the physical distance we have between us at this stage in life, we're growing closer all the time. I'm so glad for how much you want to talk with me, call me, email me, and keep up with me and what's going on in my life. I also really love the way you are a Grandfather for Jakub! Thanks for being so wonderful and special. I (we) love you very, very much! Happy Father's Day, Dad!