Shay Thomason – Page 25 – everything beautiful in it's time

From a Bear to a Boom

I shared yesterday that Titus was going to be part of some kind of event tonight that we honestly thought was a play. The directions we were given was that he was to have a mask or costume and have a paper lantern on a stick. Bethany actually ended up making him a lion mask because Titus wanted one and we thought there were two parts or something to the evening. For instance, maybe the kids come in masks and then they change into something else for a formal program. Either way, we weren’t sure.

Bethany commissioned me to go to the store and hunt for a paper lantern and a stick. I don’t know even know where I would find that in the States much less Czech, but we texted some friends here and they pointed us to the store that had it–a paper store in the town square. I found what we needed about thirty minutes before the program was starting, went home, and we all walked over to his school. When we got there everyone from the school was lined up outside and there tons of families still walking there. Below is a photo of a few pumpkins outside the school that were lit up which was a little confusing. Was this a Halloween thing? I also noticed the lights on the school were completely off which the made me seriously wonder if we were ever even going inside. As I looked around I saw kids dressed up as witches, skeletons, and had their faces painted. Are we trick or treating? What is going on? These are the questions that ran through my mind. When I saw Titus’ teacher she was dressed as a witch and had a broom. Oh boy…what have we gotten ourselves in to?!

After seeing some of the other kids outside we realized there was a little misunderstanding about having a light inside the lantern so I ended up running (literally) over to the store and getting a stick with a light for Titus’ lantern. I had seen them on my first visit and knew now what we were actually supposed to buy. We just wanted to make sure that Titus had what the other kids had because remember, we still think he’s going to be a bear in a play. While I was at the store everyone ended up walking around the town with their lanterns, including Bethany and the kids. Bethany took a few photos of their walk (below).

I met back up with the family as they were completing their walk around the park in the center of town. I put Titus’ lantern together with the light. Here’s a photo of him with it.

Mostly we just followed the crowd around which brought us back to the school at the end of the walk. We all walked into the school property and the all teachers were dressed up with bags of candy and wrapped treats. It was dark and very confusing for us so I stayed with Avery by the gate to the school and Bethany took Titus to the teachers with the bags. He got a little wafer bar with chocolate that he shared with all of us. The crowd began to move towards another part of the school yard so we followed behind. Everyone ended up sitting on the picnic tables and benches out in the playground area. Again, it was dark, so we just found a spot towards the back of everyone and just kind of sat there.

After a few minutes the teachers and kids started chanting something that we didn’t understand. This went on for a few minutes. How long will this last? I guess there’s no play tonight? Titus ran over to the slide and was playing because he knew his way around the school yard. He told us he played there all the time. Not 10 seconds after he came back to where we were sitting, we hear BOOM! and suddenly fireworks are going off about 30 feet from us. They were close and loud. The kids quickly covered their ears and Titus started crying and yelling, “I want to go home!” He’s not a huge fan of fireworks. I grabbed Titus and put him in my arms and told him he would be OK and that it would be over soon. Below is a photo of the slide he had just been on before the fireworks started to go off.

The fireworks show lasted about 2-3 minutes. Titus kept insisting we leave, but there really was no way for us get back to the gate with everyone standing around so we basically had to grin and bear it. I just started laughing. This is just not something you would ever see happen in the States: a bunch of preschool and elementary kids with their families standing a few feet from huge fireworks that are literally exploding directly above them…in the playground of the school. Welcome to the Czech Republic.

The fireworks ending signaled the end of the night and also confirmed that there was definitely no play or bear suits tonight. In the end it all turned out OK. Titus cried a little more on our way home, but we assured him, as we often do, that Jesus is always with him when he’s scared. We walked back to our place with some Czech friends from our church who have a son in the same class as Titus. They are a great family and that was actually the highlight of the night being able to spend a few minute with them.

I guess the moral of the story is we’re learning to trust the Lord in new areas. We have no idea what we’re getting ourselves in to sometimes, but we trust the Lord will lead the way as we walk by faith.

Tags fireworks, lights, preschool, Titus

365 Czech Republic

A Bear Named Titus

Bethany took the photo below of an announcement on the door at the preschool which we think has to do with school photos. It looks like you can sign up for a time and bring you kid in for some Christmas portrait? We’re not exactly sure.

You could say there is an ongoing dialogue with Titus about just what exactly is going on at his school. His teacher does a great job of trying to give us some explanation of what is happening, but Titus usually tells us the full story. Today the teacher said the kids are doing some kind of play tomorrow in the late afternoon. Titus, however, said that he’s dressing up like a bear. He told us his teacher helped get into this so-called bear suit and put a nose on him. I guess we’ll just show up tomorrow and find out if our kid is going to be a bear. Ironically, Titus is supposed to play a bear in the Christmas play at our church here in December. They even gave him a line to memorize (all in Czech). He must just have those bear like qualities?

I finished up my retreat with the Creative Communications team today. Mostly today we spent meeting on a lot of different projects and how we can improve our processes across Josiah Venture. We had some great conversations and I think the team left with a lot of clarity about what the future holds and how we can be good stewards of the time God has given us. I’m really thankful for this team and their hearts to see God glorified in their work and the quality of what we produce and care for us as a team.

Tonight I have had to fight fatigue and tiredness. I realized on the drive home this evening that I needed to try and push hard to be “all there” for Bethany and the kids as I was returning from being gone for two days. It’s so easy to want to come home and just relax because I’ve been busy for two days, but Bethany has had her own hands full with the kids and she too needs a break. She’ll have to evaluate how I did, but it’s amazing how much you have to fight to serve and care for your family when you’re just plain old worn out.

Tags bear, preschool, retreat, Titus

365 Czech Republic

Retreating

It’s been a full day and I’m pretty tired. I’m going to try and summarize the best I can.

First, had a great meeting with the international team this morning at the Josiah Venture office. We really just spent a lot of time sharing recent stories and happenings and weaved in prayer throughout our hour together. There’s always a lot going on in the lives of the team here and I was encouraged by how God is working in each of them.

After the meeting my team left for a retreat. All five of us had lunch together and headed to Josiah Venture’s retreat cabin called “Selah” (which stands for a place of peace and rest). It was designed for all of our missionaries to have a place to come and just rest. It’s a beautiful cabin in the mountains here in Czech. Our team is meeting here today and tomorrow to just regroup and think through projects for the upcoming year. This evening we spent some time working on getting a few things for our office to make it professional and hopefully a great place to work. I’m excited about what God is doing with this team and for our time today and tomorrow to just focus and plan for the months ahead. Below is the incredible view from Selah.

Tonight was kind of crazy because one of my teammates, Daniel, got a phone call while we were at the store from his roommate. His apartment was robbed tonight. Thankfully nothing major was stolen, except for some cash in one of his roommates drawers. We left the store and went to his place and I helped him pack up some of the important things he owns and of course he felt like he had lost a little trust in where he lives. The police came and fingerprinted everything and took photos so we’ll see what happens.

It’s already a late night and I’m off to bed. Only the Lord knows what tomorrow holds.

Tags retreat, Selah

365 Czech Republic

The Field Trip We Didn’t Know About

Post author By Shay
Post date November 3, 2014
2 Comments on The Field Trip We Didn’t Know About

Bethany: “So, I think Titus went on a field trip today.”
Me: “Really?”
Bethany: “Yeah, he was telling me all about it.”
Me: “That’s hilarious.”

Why is that funny to me? Well, it’s because we had no idea this was going on today at Titus’ preschool. Other missionaries have told us repeated stories of this happening to them and today it happened to us. Our four year old went on a field trip some place without our knowledge.

Bethany got to the school this afternoon to pick him up and no one was there. She texted me and wrote, “So I’m here and nobody’s in his class? His coat is here so they’re inside somewhere?” She said she saw pumpkins sitting in their classroom but really didn’t think much of it. The kids were actually at lunch when she and Avery arrived so after about 10 or 15 minutes they all came out, she got Titus, and they walked home. On the walk back Bethany was asking Titus about his day and the conversation went something like this:

Titus: “We went to the pumpkin patch!”
Bethany: “Oh, really? Did you walk there?”
Titus: “No.”
Bethany: “How did you get there?”
Titus: “We took the bus!”
Bethany: “You took the big bus? You walked to the bus station and took the bus?!”
Titus: “Yeah.”

That’s about all we know right now. I asked Titus more about it tonight and he said something about playing on a playground there, but I’m not sure what that was all about. Bethany made a good point too, regarding pumpkin patches here. We’re not aware of any that are close and they’re not super common from what we can tell, so there’s a good chance that bus ride was out of town and to someone’s farm, but we’re just speculating. All we really know is that we paid a stipend at some point for trips like this so that’s probably what they used to buy his bus ticket (they use the city bus and not a school bus system). And apparently signing up your kid for school is all the permission slip you need for them to go on a field trip. That’s good to know!

In other news, we made cookies tonight as a family. IKEA had a little set of cookie cutters that we bought yesterday for a few bucks and we thought it would be a fun activity to do with the kids. Everyone got involved and the kids were excited to put on aprons and help put the ingredients together. Here’s some photos of the process and final result.

The cookie cutters are setup to make standing cookies. Below is the final result of Titus’ little tree he made.

Every day is a new adventure around here and tomorrow will probably be another. I am leaving for two days to go on a retreat with the Josiah Venture Creative Communications team. I’ll be gone for just one night, but I never enjoy leaving my family for any extended time. If you think of us, pray for Bethany and the kids. Hopefully Titus won’t go on any field trips without our knowledge, but if he does, I’m sure it’ll be on this blog!

Tags cookies, field trip, preschool, pumpkin patch, Titus

365 Czech Republic

The November Envelope and All Souls’ Day

Post author By Shay
Post date November 2, 2014
3 Comments on The November Envelope and All Souls’ Day

Sundays are not easy. At first they were really fun and the experience was so new and exciting, but I feel honestly that today was harder. Nothing big happened and we didn’t have any issues, but as we were making the short drive to church I realized I wasn’t excited about going. Please, don’t misunderstand me. I love the local church. But sitting through a 90+ minute service in another language week in and week out is getting tough. Always feeling like you’re behind and not knowing what’s going on is just simply hard, and it’s not just me. Bethany struggles too, and so do our kids. Today I stayed with Titus again in his Sunday school class (photo below) and I wasn’t encouraged. He’s struggling with paying attention and he’s almost aloof because I think the language barrier keeps him from focusing on what the class is doing. Again, it’s just hard. Every week we are encouraged by our Czech brothers and sisters, but we just wish we could do a little encouraging of our own. Pray for us and for our kids if you think about it.

After church this morning we made another trip out to IKEA for a few organizational things. We’re continuing to try to improve where we store things and get our kids stuff more organized. We bought a few shelves and some plastic bins that I think will help a ton. We spent most of the afternoon/evening cleaning up and organizing the kids room. It needs more time but we’re excited about the progress we made today.

Tonight we opened our November envelope from our Bible study at our home church in the States. Each month for our first year here they have blessed us with these large envelopes that we get to open with fun presents inside. Pack inside we found coloring books, birthday cards, customizable gift tags, make-your-own card supplies, and taco seasoning! Here’s a few photos of the kids diving in. Thank you, friends, for blessing us each and every month!

Check out this taco seasoning! They got us two pouches and we are STOKED!

Avery’s birthday is at the end of the month, but we let her open this little birthday card that was included in this month’s envelope. This was her reaction.

Tonight I took a quick trip to a local cemetery around 9pm. I’m not usually one for visiting graveyards at night, but today is kind of a special day in Czech. They call it “All Souls’ Day” and even though it’s close to Halloween, it’s not really the same. From what I’ve read, it’s a time where people visit the grave sites of their loved ones and place flowers and candles on the graves. For the past few weeks we have been seeing a ton of candles at the stores and people have been buying them up. Out of curiosity I went out to a cemetery tonight and got a few photos. It was actually quite beautiful to see, even though it’s also pretty odd considering how nonreligious Czech is. There might be more meaning to it, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless. I only spent a few minutes with my camera in hand and below are two photos I got. If you’re curious about All Soul’s Day, I found this article to be really helpful.

As the Czechs remember their dead family and friends today, I’m reminded of how many of those same people are spiritually dead. They are the walking dead. This is exactly what Paul says in Ephesians 2:1-2 when he writes,
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…” He’s talking about the spiritual walking dead. That was me before Christ saved me and that is the state of everyone before Christ, the light of thew world, opens their hearts to the gospel. While the graves tonight flicker with candle light, my prayer is that the True Light, Jesus Christ, would shine bright in this dark place. When His light shines it’s so much more than a flicker and it doesn’t represent death, but life!

John 8:12 “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Tags All Souls' Day, envelope, holiday, IKEA, November 2

365 Czech Republic

Training and Painting Pumpkins

Post author By Shay
Post date November 1, 2014
1 Comment on Training and Painting Pumpkins

Saturdays are usually are rest day and we enjoy a big breakfast as a family (often that’s Swedish pancakes). However, today I was attending some training with the international team at Josiah Venture (JV). The training was led by Steve Patty (brother to Dave Patty, president of JV) and focused on how to do research for evaluating the effectiveness of a ministry. That might sound like a mouthful, but it was very insightful, helpful, and instructive. Essentially, Steve was trying to put into our hands the tools to evaluate how ministries are doing by asking the right questions and being able to discern through what kind of data to collect and what kind of data is actually going to be helpful in the actual evaluation. For those on the international team this is a great tool for evaluating all the different ministries that JV facilitates. Mostly I appreciated Steve’s focus on how to as ask questions and what categories different types of questions go in. All in all I thought it was a great morning and am thankful for JV’s commitment to continue to build up and train it’s staff and leadership.

Yesterday I mentioned that I was having a sharp pain in my side for most of the day. I didn’t sleep great last night, but it did feel a little better this morning as the pain had mostly subsided. A lot of people were asking me about it at the training this morning and I was still feeling some discomfort, but not like yesterday. Hopefully it was just a one day thing, but who knows? My takeaway right now is it’s helped me think and talk about where exactly I would go to see a doctor and what to do in a more emergency situation. I still have questions about that process, but at least it got me talking to other people and allowed me to get a little insight in to just how that works over here.

While I was at the training this morning, Bethany and the kids decided to pain the pumpkin we got a while back. She gave them each half of the pumpkin to decorate. Titus painted a face that had pointy teeth and Avery just went for full coverage. The kids told me all about it when I got home today, and here’s a few photos of the fun (one above, two below).

We had homemade pizza for dinner which I thought turned out great! On one of the two pizzas we baked we used spicy BBQ sauce and topped it with bacon and mushrooms and it was delicious. After dinner we video chatted with Bethany’s parents and her grandmother (shown below). The kids are always so excited to see family, even if it’s over the computer. As always, I’m thankful for the time we get to connect with family.

That’s all for today. Time to hit the hay. I rhymed.

Tags family, pumpkins, training

365 Christianity

Candy, A Little Pain, and Reformation Day

Post author By Shay
Post date October 31, 2014
1 Comment on Candy, A Little Pain, and Reformation Day

At this moment I am pretty bummed out. I’m sitting here in an empty house and my family is at our friend’s house just enjoying some fun together for the evening. Czech doesn’t celebrate Halloween, which I’m actually very thankful for, but our American friends here decided to do a little mini thing at their house. They have a three story house here in Czech and I think they were planning on doing different activities with the kids on each floor. I guess I’ll find out the details when they get back home. So wait, why aren’t you there? Good question.

From about noon today until now I’ve had a very weird pain at the bottom of my ribs (on my left side). This afternoon it was really bad and I thought maybe it was my stomach so I got some lunch. Nothing changed. I came from a little earlier today and I was still really uncomfortable and it was almost like my back was out of whack or something, but it was affecting my rib. I have no clue, but no matter what position I sit, stand, or even lay down, I’m still feeling a pain there. It has subsided a little bit, but it has had me a little freaked out tonight. Even as I type I’m feeling a little bit of a sharp pain there. I’ve searched around online for any kind of answers, but nothing seems really accurate. Tylenol has helped a little, but it’s weird that it has been going on for quite a while now. Hopefully it’s nothing serious because I don’t know what would be more painful: the pain in my side or trying to figure how to see a doctor in the Czech Republic.

“In my opinion, John Huss bought with his own blood the gospel which we now possess.” – Martin Luther #ReformationDay #CzechPride

— Shay Thomason (@shaycam) October 31, 2014

While many will celebrate Halloween today, the bigger celebration should be that of Reformation Day. That day when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church in Wittenburg, Germany, protesting the sale of indulgences and thus igniting the Reformation. In the above Tweet that I sent out this afternoon, I quote Martin Luther talking about another man, John Huss. Huss, who we’ve written about before, is considered a pre-reformation reformer who wrote about similar issues with the Catholic church during his life time as a preacher here in Czech. The only difference really between him and Luther is about a century of time. As a preacher in Prague, Huss, like Luther after him, bravely stood for the Truth of the Scripture. I don’t want to take away from Luther’s bold faith in the face of the Catholic church, but it’s interesting that Luther considered Huss a hero of his (as the quote above reveals). Other things I’ve read talk about Luther going through the writings of Huss and saying, “I was overwhelmed with astonishment. I could not understand for what cause they had burnt so great a man, who explained the Scriptures with so much gravity and skill.” What he means by “burnt” there is a reference to Huss’ martyrdom when he was burned at the stake.

More than anything, I’m thankful for men like John Huss and Martin Luther who boldly defended the Truth and faith in Christ amidst great opposition. Reading about them is like reading the book of Acts and seeing the courage and faith of the Apostles in the early church. We have much to be thankful for in all of these men. I’m reminded of Acts 13:36, “David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers.” David, the Apostles, Huss, and Luther served the purpose of God in their generations, and then they died. Now the question is this: will I serve the purpose of God in my generation? My prayer to that end is simple: Christ, make it so.

P.S. The family just came home. Here’s a few photos Bethany got of the festivities tonight.

Four on a couch.

The next two are of the kids playing a little bean bag toss game.

The kids did trick or treating in the hallway while the adults were inside each room with a bowl of candy.

And for good measure here’s one I got of Avery before they left tonight.

Tags friends, Jan Hus, John Huss, Martin Luther, pain, Reformation Day

365 Czech Republic

Friends and Stickers

The day started early with one of Titus’ friends coming over for the first half of the day. Beni showed up a little before 8:00am and he and Titus had a ton of fun playing together. Linda, Beni’s grandma, has been taking care of Beni and his brother Caleb for the past ten days or so while their parents have been in Israel. Today Linda had to go to the Foreign Police because she’s been have issues with her visa, so Bethany asked if she could help watch the boys and hopefully help Linda focus on that. Since Caleb had school today, Beni was the only one who came, but of course Titus thought this was a wonderful idea and even when I got home this afternoon he was still talking about how much fun he and Beni had playing outside and being together.

A lot of what I do for Josiah Venture (JV) is really fun, but one of my most recent projects is a little extra special. Right now JV has people across the United States on what we call the recruiting tour. Our staff goes around to a lot of different Christian colleges talking about Josiah Venture and recruiting students to come over for the summer and do an internship. My team was asked to help create materials that could be used while on the tour and one of our ideas were these 4×4″ stickers that could be passed out to students on campus (shown above). Along with the stickers is a card (shown far left) that has some additional information and ways they can connect with us further and apply. What I love about the stickers though is that they are just bits of Scripture that students can stick up in their dorm or wherever they want and hopefully be reminded about what God is doing over here and around the globe.

Bethany and I worked with college students for four years in our church before coming here and at first I really didn’t like. Quite honestly, I loved working with high schoolers because they seemed more open to change than I thought college students were. But after a while I realized that college students are at such a key part of their lives where they are going to make crucial decisions about friends, jobs, churches, missions, etc. that will effect them for a very long time. During that time they need a lot of help, training, discipleship, and mentoring. Obviously a sticker isn’t going to magically make someone want to do missions, but it’s about the conversation that happens when our staff hands that person a sticker and invites them to join us in the work going on over here. There are a tons of needs here, especially in the summer months, and I hope that these little pieces of Scripture and the conversations that go with them will be a helpful tool to bring more young people here to serve and be part of God’s movement in Central and Eastern Europe. You never know, maybe one of those big decisions college students are making will be coming here full time to tell others about the Greatest News there is.

Tags college, friends, missions, stickers

365 Czech Republic

Peace

Post author By Shay
Post date October 29, 2014
1 Comment on Peace

We have a children’s album called “To Be Like Jesus” from Sovereign Grace Music. It was released back in 2009, but it was only this past year that we bought it. Originally, we just purchased the title track so Titus could perform the song with his Faith Kids class in the States last year at our church. Somewhere along the line we bought the whole album and lately I’ve had more time to play and listen to all the songs. Sometimes I will turn it up loud and let the kids dance around with me. But a song that has caught my attention is a slower, softer song called “Peace.” Tonight I started to really listen to the lyrics and I heard Titus and Avery try to sing it and I was just blessed. I think I listened to to it six times tonight and learned how to play it on my guitar. Musically it’s intentionally peaceful and the song could probably be a song adults sing on Sunday mornings. I love the lyrics to the chorus which read,

Peace, You give me peace
When the storms come and I’m afraid
Peace, You give me peace
When I trust in the words You say
You give me peace

I encourage you to listen to the entire song by playing the video below.

I guess today that song just kind of, as Bethany put it, “struck a chord with us.” As parents we definitely want our kids to have a Biblical understanding of peace. I mean, I know it’s a fruit of the Spirit but I don’t know if it’s a word we discuss much. Peace is such a strong theme in the Scripture. Think about the Psalms:

Psalm 4:8
In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 29:11
May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Psalm 34:14
Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

Psalm 119:165
Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble.

Peace is even a name of Christ:

Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Those are just a few passages, but it’s used throughout Scripture and it’s clearly an important topic in the mind and heart of God. And even though I don’t feel like we’re not at peace here right now, it was just the simplicity of the song and those words that reminded me that peace is something we need to model as parents and is an important fruit of being a Christian. We’re people of peace. Ephesians 6:15 even says our feet are fitted with the gospel of peace. The gospel, the message of the Christ, is what brings true and lasting peace and I need to wear it out like a pair of shoes. I don’t know if the Lord is preparing our hearts for something this week or this month or next year, but it was a nice reminder tonight to think on peace. I love how God uses little things like our kid’s Bible or their worship music to remind me of how I need to think. Thank you, Lord, for bringing peace to my heart at salvation and in my life each and every day “…when I trust the words You say.”

Tags Bible, children, peace

365 Czech Republic

Winter Wheels and Good Meals

Post author By Shay
Post date October 28, 2014
No Comments on Winter Wheels and Good Meals

Today was Czech Independence Day from when they became Czechoslovakia back in 1918. Like many American holidays, in observance of the holiday many stores and shops were closed. Our team in Czech follows the Czech calendar so our office here was closed as well. With the extra day I had hoped we would be able to get our new winter tires on the car before this Saturday because November 1 is the date you’re supposed to have winter weather tires. We bought them a few weeks ago, but I’ve had them sitting in the garage for a moment when I can go get them switched. Thankfully, I can see the tire place from our house and it’s a 30 second walk to get there. While looking out the window today to see if they were open I saw their gate was unlocked and cars were driving in. Score! Titus and I packed up the car and coasted down our street to get them changed.

Titus thought it was great fun. For him, changing tires is just like the movie Cars and a pit stop with Lightning McQueen and honestly the guys today were about as fast as little Guido is in Cars. In about 8 minutes they had our car in and out with the tires on and ready to go. The guys at the shop are really nice and the main guy spoke really good English which was so nice. I don’t expect it and when it happens it’s an extra blessing, especially with the technical stuff like tires and auto repairs. They told me we probably need a few new tires for spring time, but we’ll get those fixed at a later date. And in the end the total charge was like $11 for the work. All in all it was a great little errand and I’m thankful to have those guys so close and be so helpful.

For lunch we decided to do a little picnic outside on the grass. The weather was cooler for sure, but the sun was shining and it was actually very nice outside. We basically did leftovers from last night’s chicken and drop biscuits. Bethany brought a little blanket out and all four of us enjoyed lunch together. It was nice just to relax a bit and be still.

While we were eating lunch Avery started to collect these leaves with long stems and turned them into a bouquet of dead leaves. She was really proud of it.

Tonight we had dinner with our friends, the Stephens. They invited us out since it was a holiday and we were excited to join them for a big family meal. The food was incredible and we enjoyed these fully loaded, barbecue grilled quesadillas! When we walked into the door Brian was still prepping them on the counter to get them ready for the grill and I snapped a quick photo. Mmmmmmmm.

The Stephens have a daughter, twin boys, and another boy on the way in November. Our kids had a lot of fun just playing with their kids and later in the evening they enjoyed playing the Wii in the living room. Brian and Aliesha are a blessing to chat with and wealth of knowledge on helping us continue to maneuver the Czech culture and transition here. As well, they were our regular support and Skype friends for the past few years before we came over here and I don’t know what we would’ve done without their help. Thank you, Stephens family, for having us over again and for the wonderful evening and great food!

Tags food, friends, meal, tires, wheels, winter