Fall! Yeah!

On the playground



Where we feed our ducks behind our home


Taking a walk





Watching the ducks








Love him!

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!

5 years!

Well, God did it. God answered our prayers regarding our dream to work here in Olomouc together for at least 5 years. He has blessed us in many ways while we have lived and worked here trying so hard to grow his Kingdom in this difficult and beautiful place. We are thankful! We celebrated on Saturday by getting together in our home one last time (with the Keens present at least) for pizza, telling stories, viewing old pictures and videos, discussing our greatest and hardest moments together over the years, and sharing with the Keens how much they mean to us. I can't believe they leave in 2 weeks! It won't be the same without them, but we're determined to keep planting the seed here for as long as God sees fit for each of us.





Apparently, not everyone got the memo for a "crazy shot." :)






Our 3 boys... I can't begin to describe how it saddens me to see them go. I know Jakub won't fully understand it, and is just young enough to not hurt like I will, but I know the moments are coming when he'll ask for them or wonder why they aren't at Bible class on Sundays. It hurts already knowing it's coming and I just hope we'll get through it with strength from God and a positive view towards being excited to discover what God has in store for these boys next in their lives.

We're hosting a party for the Keens on Sunday after worship with all of the people invited who they've become close to over the years here. It's sure to be a bitter-sweet celebration. I'll have more pictures and stories to share after that.

Please keep our team and God's work here in your prayers as we transition to life without the Keens here and what that means for our work. Thank you!

Fall Festivities!

Here's what we've been up to the last week: Lots of singing, as seen in picture above. :) I caught him while working on a puzzle.







Look at that sweet face!








We had the Keens over for the afternoon and dinner for, likely, the last time together with just our families. What a beautiful and bittersweet day. Thank you God for the time you've given us together. You knew how much we needed each other.







We made some special memories together painting pumpkins with our boys. They loved it and Evan told me it was his favorite part of the afternoon. So sweet! They all did so well at it!









Of course Jakub had to eat a little. :)
















And then we cleaned up together before dinner. They have so much fun together and are so loud and full of chatting and laughter. Evan has such a tender heart and is so full of love at such a young age (almost 4!). Before dinner he pulled his chair right up next to Jakub's at the table and said "I want to sit this close to Jakub because I love him so much." It filled my heart with joy and is something I wish Jakub would be able to remember. These boys are his family here and I'm so thankful for them.






And here are the results:

Jake's pumpkin. With very minimal assistance he did this all himself. He really loves to paint! I thought it turned out beautifully!






Evan had this beautiful rainbow colored pumpkin that I just loved!






And Thompson did so well also with lots of color! His Daddy added a smile for us. :) Now I have these 3 pumpkins on my mantle to remember this moment all fall long. Good memories.







And we had our dear friend Stana and her son Mikulas over for dinner this week. We planned for the birthday party we will host together for both of our boys. They turn 2 in November so we wanted to celebrate together. I look forward to celebrating with them as Stana is one of my closest friends here. I thank God for placing her in my life.






And this afternoon and evening we had a Fall Carnival for our Moms' and Kids' class. Our theme since starting in September has been the 4 seasons. We are wrapping up Fall soon and today we talked about God's Harvest time, different foods from harvest time and all that we have to be thankful for. It was a great celebration!


Here's the pumpkin I made for the bean bag toss.




Some ghost suckers for the kids...







Pumpkin sugar cookies.....






Me and my little dinosaur! :)







The kids in class helping me finish our fall tree by adding more leaves to it and practicing naming the colors. I loved Beranika's pumpkin hat. :)







Here we're singing a song to teach us about different colors. They have to find the right one on my fingers after we sing about it. The kids love this song and game.







Here everyone's painting and decoration different pumpkins and gords. We can't actually find a lot of pumpkins here so we were happy for what we found. :) It definitely made for a unique pumpkin decorating session. Jakub made a one-eyed gord monster. :)








Painting with Daddy.....







Creative creation by Zuzka and Beranika









Christie came to do some face-painting for the kids. She did a great job and it was so enjoyable to watch. The kids did well with it while she painted on them.








Jakub, of course, picked a blue train. His two favorite words- Christie knew just what to offer this boy. :)








Food table...








Our group at the carnival. What a great afternoon!

My little monkey...

Here are some videos of Jakub from recent times. Sorry the lighting is so poor!

Laura S., I'm adding one with the gymnastic move Lillian and Harper taught him. It's not his best performance, but it's all I've got. :) I hope the girls enjoy!

I still haven't caught him singing, but I'm working on it. He's added Old McDonald to his playlist now! I just love hearing him sing all the time.

23 months and counting!

What fun days these are with Jakub! Every day seems to hold something new. His imagination is more and more active. Here, above, he's acting like a soldier or something marching around with his "hat" on. He also loves to lay on the floor and pretend with his trains that he's traveling different places around the room.





This picture is for the grandparents- His incisors on the bottom are in, and one on the top is poking through now. Only one left and it looks like it will come through any day. He's been a little fussy with it when tired, but other than that has handled these well. He's had these 3 teeth come in over the past 4 weeks.





He's such a big boy and likes to do everything on his own. He climbs up into his booster seat himself and puts his bib on when he's ready to eat. Almost everything he says now is in 3 word sentences. He likes to give commands like "Mommy right there." He tells me where to stand when we kick the ball to each other. ;) He's also doing well at recalling events when we ask him questions. The other day Josh asked him what we had done together that morning (me and Jakub) and he correctly told him that we walked outside, went to the store, and played with the ball. It's interesting to watch him thinking through these things and trying to talk about them with us.






We recently bought him these things so he can have more independence when going to the bathroom. Today, for the first time, he told me "Mommy, bye-bye. Door." Which clearly meant, while he was pointing to the hallway and door, that he wanted me to go out while he tried to use the restroom. I couldn't stop laughing.





He also plays really well with others and I'm so proud of him for this. His nature, in general with others, is gentle and calm. I know it won't always be and there are moments still when he doesn't behave well, but that's mostly just with us. :) Otherwise, he loves to watch other kids, shares toys willingly, and doesn't whine or make much of a fuss. I'm thankful for this! Here, above, he's playing with his friend Liam. They do so well together and Liam has a similar nature as Jakub's. Liam calls him "Jake," and Jakub calls him "iam." It's so sweet! We played in the park for a while until we were all frozen and then we went to a restaurant that has an indoor kid playground. It was perfect!


We've also started sending Jakub with a babysitter 3 times a week. On Tuesdays and Thursdays a friend's Mother keeps Jakub for me in the mornings. She lives just behind us so it works perfectly for her to walk over and get him. He does really well with her and doesn't seem to mind at all. She says he smiles a lot, talks and sings all the time (she only speaks Czech so they don't understand each other completely, yet, but prayerfully Jakub will pick up Czech well in the next year with her), and that he laughs a lot while they play games together. She also loves to read him Czech children's books and she says he listens well. I'm so proud of him and happy for this opportunity. It's also allowing me to get more work done in the daytime, plan some meetings with people we know here, and work less at night so I can sleep better.

On Wednesdays another friend, a college student, watches Jakub at our center while we have our team business meeting. That's also been great because it's been a long time since I felt fully a part of the team business and plans for the future. I hope, through the help of this friend, to have a larger role in our teen ministry again and in our summer camps next year. It's already going so well! She also speaks Czech with Jakub so it's one more opportunity to help him with his language skills.

A few other things to remember:
- He brushes his own teeth so well now.
- He correctly identifies and groups things with similar colors, but can only correctly verbalize blue, white, black, and purple. The other names just end up being blue if he can't get the right word out.
- His favorite thing is to be outside running and playing. I love this about him and dread the harsh winter that's likely coming. I'll have to figure out some active things we can do together.
- He loves to play "Simon says..." and can follow commands well. He even hops around on one foot while holding on to something and thinks it's so funny.


I think that's it for now. Hopefully I'll also have some video uploaded soon. I can't believe the next post about him/his age will be his 2 year old post! I'm so excited for him!

Brrrr!

Because it looks and feels like this outside in the morning now (around 28F) ....







We went shopping this afternoon for this....





It's definitely Fall now, and quickly moving into winter it seems. We're having beautiful days filled with sunshine and all-blue skies, and 30-40F degree weather in the mornings. Today it made it to 50F by afternoon. Brrr! It was gorgeous outside, though, so I really can't complain. I'll take as much sunshine as I can get and store it away inside for the months of gray that will come soon.

Jakub definitely needed an update in his wardrobe as I've been in trouble 2 times in the past week for him not being dressed well enough in this weather. What can I say... the Czechs are honest- at least the Grandmother types. :)

He loves his new "puncoky," or thermals that go under his regular clothes. They have trains on them so it couldn't be better. He also loves the new gloves since he can use his hands better with them. He refuses the mittens now since they make his hands feel useless outside while playing.

Ok, off to bed. I've been meaning to write soon about everything we've been doing lately, but that will have to wait a little longer... Love you all!