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365 Czech Republic

The First Saturday in Spring

The First Saturday in Spring (3/21/15)

Even though the weather people are forecasting rain and snow for tomorrow morning, we had incredible weather today! It really felt like a beautiful spring day so we spent a lot of time outside enjoying the sunshine. You’ll notice in the photo above that our kids are wearing jackets and that’s just because it’s what we’re used to doing, but they probably didn’t need them. We enjoyed the park this morning and Titus and Avery love going down the big red slide together. There were definitely a few more people there than normal because everyone agreed it was the perfect day to be outside.

The First Saturday in Spring (3/21/15)

Our friend Romi and Michal needed some help with a little video they were making. Michal is making a short commercial for a company that makes these stretchable laces for shoes. They are actually really convenient here in Czech because you have to take your shoes off often. In the above photo we actually went back to the park with Titus to get some shots of him wearing the laces on the playground equipment. If you look closely you can see he had special colored ones that he said were like Lightning McQueen (you know, the main character from Disney’s Cars). I also was part of the filming and we re-laced my shoes and I rode down the street on my skateboard. It was a fun little afternoon event and it was great to see our friends, especially on such a beautiful day.

The First Saturday in Spring (3/21/15)

I didn’t take any photos tonight, but I attended our church’s youth group which meets on Saturday night. It was a good night and Landen preached from Ephesians 4 on being part of the body of Christ. His wife Jenny translated for him, but for me it was nice to be able to hear some preaching in English. Afterwards we had a small group time that was a lot more challenging because of the language barrier. It’s always just another reminder to keep pursuing the language as hard as I can. One of the guys in our group translated for us which was nice, but it feels so awkward to talk about spiritual things and have to keep translating and listening that way. But overall it was a great night and I enjoyed being there.

The First Saturday in Spring (3/21/15)

After youth group I went to the store to get some things for tomorrow and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I turned down the dairy aisle and saw Philadelphia cream cheese! We have only heard rumors that it exists here in Czech and today was the first time I had seen it. Bethany says she may have seen it one other time, but I was excited and it was a double blessing because it was on sale. Bethany uses cream cheese in a few Crockpot dishes we like and of course in dessert so I bought a few of them. Sadly, there are no bagels in Czech to spread this creamy goodness on, but maybe we’ll have to dig up a recipe and start making our own?

I still can’t believe I’m writing this, but we continue to battle sickness in our house. This entire week both Bethany and I have struggling with sore throats and now the kids are starting to sneeze and have runny noses. Depending on how they are in the morning, we may just take them to the main service with us as opposed to going to their classes. With the weather going up and down, that definitely doesn’t help but we’ll just continue to pray and trust the Lord with these challenges.

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365 Czech Republic

Saturday is for Strollin’

Often on Saturdays we find ourselves trying to catch up on house work and errands. Today we spent the morning and early afternoon focused on cleaning up the house. Bethany worked with the kids on getting toys put away while I helped get the kitchen cleaned up. We have what I’ll call a half-size dishwasher which means we just can’t do large loads. One large pot or pan in that thing and it feels full. This means if we even delay one load we’re backed up. I’m happy to report we’re back on track and things are nice and tidy.

Strollin' on Saturday (2/21/15)

After the housework we decided to go out and just spend some time in our town. The weather was in the high forties and we had clear skies, so it was a nice day for a walk. We headed to the town square where the kids like to run around the water fountain. They were sad that it’s not running right now, presumably because of winter, but we had fun chasing each other in circles around it. Below is a photo of Avery on the big concrete pillar things that line the square and beneath that is a shot of Bethany with Avery in our big stroller in front of the town hall.

Strollin' on Saturday (2/21/15)

Strollin' on Saturday (2/21/15)

While we were out Bethany remembered our friends telling us about a little cafe that we had never been to. A lot of stores and shops are closed by noon on Saturday in our town, but we decided since we were just walking and having fund we would go see if they were open. Amazingly, they were, and we went inside. It was a fun little place and they even had a little play area for kids inside. Below is a photo of Titus beginning work on a puzzle he found among the books and toys.

Strollin' on Saturday (2/21/15)

We had fun trying to figure out how to order hot chocolate for the kids and coffee, for us but the woman running the cafe was very gracious with us. They didn’t really have hot chocolate in the traditional sense, but they had this kind of hot chocolate pudding stuff. I can’t really describe it, but it’s thick enough to eat with a spoon. It wasn’t expensive, and you could order lots of different flavors. We ordered chocolate/banana and chocolate/strawberry for the kids. Titus and Avery weren’t really into, but Bethany and I loved it! I’m so glad we got to enjoy that little shop and hopefully we can go back some time.

Strollin' on Saturday (2/21/15)

The kids enjoyed a little video chat time tonight with Nana and Papa (Bethany’s parents). Papa was kind enough to read them a book over the computer and the photo above is them just enthralled with the story and Papa’s storytelling abilities.

Immediately after we finished with Papa and Nana we headed to youth group at our church. It was a special night where they were inviting friends and doing an extended music time. There were a lot of students there and we were a little late so there weren’t really and places for us to sit. It probably wasn’t the best night to bring the entire family, but the kids had fun listening to the music and they were a little sad when we left early. It was fun to be there and I like that the students are getting more familiar with us being around.

All that to say…it was a great Saturday!

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365 Czech Republic

A Sleepy Saturday

Why is Avery walking around with an American flag in her mouth? Honestly, I have no idea, but I took the photo below today and was just laughing at her. She was running around with a little flag she has and kept wanting us to do the pledge of allegiance. I’m realizing now that there was a moment today where Bethany and I had our hands on our hearts and we were reciting the pledge of allegiance while both of our kids were holding little American flags. That’s funny to me, but it’s probably because I’m so tired.

A Regular Saturday (10/4/14)

I’m feeling the effects of a 3am night last night. No, nothing bad happened. No, I’m not sick or suffering from insomnia. I’ve just become that guy. You know the one. The guy who has to watch his baseball team no matter the cost. The Dodgers were playing their first postseason game and I just got hooked and couldn’t stop. Looking back, it was a terrible decision. The game started at 12:30am (our time) and I was able to watch it through our AppleTV. By 3:00am the Dodgers were leading the game 6-2 and I felt confident I could go to bed around the end of the sixth inning with that lead. But like clockwork the kids were in our room early this morning and I tried to stay in bed. Bethany let me sleep in a bit, and when I did get up to check the score all was not well with the Dodgers. The game was close, but they lost the lead shortly after I went to bed. I told Bethany I won’t do it again. No sports team is worth that kind of lack of sleep…well, unless we go all the way to the World Series. If that happens I’m pulling an all-nighter.

A Regular Saturday (10/4/14)

For the most part we stayed inside today. We had some cleaning to do and I just felt like we were catching up on life. It was colder out today (high around 55), but Titus and I did play a little tennis in the yard while Avery napped. When she woke up we did some puzzles inside and played with their toys. Avery has gotten really good at puzzles. I love it when she says, “Hhmm…where this one go?” Above is her putting together the big Curious George puzzle we have.

A Regular Saturday (10/4/14)

Tonight I went to youth group at church and Titus came with me. Bethany, Titus, and Avery have all had yet another round of sickness. It’s kind of unbelievable to be honest. Even though Titus had a runny nose and was coughing, he really wanted to come with me so I let him. Youth group was great and the youth pastor introduced me to everyone (it was only my second time being there). The pastor and his wife shared about relationships tonight and were just trying to have some open discussion about dating and marriage. Our friend Misa translated for me so I felt like I got the gist of the content. Titus and I had to leave around 7:20pm (it starts at 5pm) so we could get back for a few Skype sessions with friends and family. I was a little bummed we had to leave because they were about to start so open questions from the students and I would’ve loved to get to know them better.

When we got home we Skyped with some good friends of ours in California. It never gets old seeing familiar faces, especially those of close friends. It was a sweet time together even if it’s over video. Right after hanging up with them we spent some time Skyping with Bethany’s parents. Our kids were just full of energy during both video chats so that wasn’t always fun, but we still had a great time with them too.

It’s getting late and church is tomorrow. You know what they say, “Sunday morning starts on Saturday night” so it’s off to bed for me. Goodnight.