Zlin to the left, Zlin to the right

We took a day-trip yesterday to the booming metropolis of Zlin in Southeastern Czech Republic. Where exactly was this? We had no idea, but fortunately our friends sent a map...

It's basically in the bottom right corner of the country, and when Czechoslovakia still existed, it was right in the middle.

So why did we go there? Well, we have recently been approved as members of a non-profit organization called the Timothy Institute, started by some missionaries with Mission to the World. We line up very nicely with their vision and statment of faith, and we hope this will make a good partnership. As a further perk, this membership will allow us to get our visas and residency permits (as far as we know).

We rented a car from Budget here in Prague and made the 4-hour trip in the morning, met with our friends, and came back last night. It was definitely a long day but a great time for us - it was just fun to be in a car again! The drive was beautiful through the Czech countryside, and just like old times, we stopped at McDonald's on the way home.

3 Pumpkins

In preparation for our big Harvest Party on the 31st, Lucy and Phil made a fun jack-o-lantern.

Fall sunset

The view tonight from our flat...

Weekend in Amsterdam

We took our first big trip together since being in Prague. We left EARLY Saturday morning on a short flight to Amsterdam for the weekend. It was a great time as a family, even though we barely slept!


We stayed with Tom and Ann Hawkes and their two youngest boys, Brandon and Preston. Tom is our pastor from Charlotte and is studying in Amsterdam as part of his sabbatical this fall. It was so fun to see them. They live in a great part of the city and have a typical Dutch flat. In other words, the steps are ridiculously treacherous! Here's Lucy sitting on them - we had to make sure that Lucy and Clark didn't try these on their own.


We also got to take a fun boat tour through the Amsterdam canals. Even though it rained for most of the weekend, we enjoyed seeing the sites and exploring the city.

And a highlight was visiting a couple of churches. One is called Zolder 50 - zolder means "attic" and literally meets in an attic of a flat in central Amsterdam. It has great worship and community - we really liked what we saw. It has a neat coffee-shop feel without losing the worshipful-ness. And Tom lined up dinner after the service with one of the pastors, so we got to pick his brain a bit about church.

Overall it was a great trip. The Hawkes were very patient hosts, dealing with all our chaos. God gave us a renewed excitement to come home too - we even called Prague "home" at one point!

"Beauty and the Beast" and the Butterfly

Lucy got to watch "Beauty and the Beast" last night while wearing her new butterfly wings, part of her upcoming Halloween costume. She definitely liked the movie and Princess "Bill" (also known as Belle).

Lucy and Alex

This is Alex, Lucy's new friend from school.. as you can tell she REALLY likes him! We spent the whole day with him and his mommy Emily on Tuesday. We had a blast!

Why strollers need airbags

Poor Lucy didn't start her week off too well. Lucy and Phil were coming home from school on Monday when we hit a big bump in the cobblestone off the curb and the stroller just halted. Lucy flew out of it and landed smack on the road. She was very brave and spent the rest of the day recovering by watching her new favorite show Dora.

The Life of Clark!

Today is monumental in baby Clark's life because as of today Clark is offically 10 months old. So he has spent 1/2 of his life in the US and 1/2 in Prague. So from this day forward he will be more CZ then American.

Bible Study

Each Thursday night we open our home for Bible study. We are doing an 8 week study on what it means to be a Christian. We have had a great turn out... with a very diverse crowd. Some people who have never been to a bible study before to others who have grown up in the church. We have both Expats and CZ (all speak English) and most are single. Phil does an amazing job of teaching and facilitating. Our time starts with sweet treats, then Bible study and prayer and then hanging out till at least 11:30. This is a highlight of our week and we love our new community that is being built.

Clark

Look into my eyes...you are getting sleepy... very sleepy..

Lucy gets a haircut

Lucy before... very excited and very brave!

Lucy sitting with mommy while Mr. Mark cuts her hair... she is such a big girl!

TADAA!!! I am a superstar! Lucy loves her big girl hair!

House is in town..

Our good friend Ashley Houseman from Charlotte came to visit us last week. We had a great time and were loved on and encouraged by her presence. Bill was also in town for the week for work. For those of you who don't know Bill was a part of our team here in Prague as a tentmaker. He recently got transfered with his job to Budapest but gets to come back for work a lot. I think Lucy thinks he still lives here, she loves her Mr. Bill.

Phil's Birthday Day!!!

Saturday October 8 is a big day in our house... it is Phil's birthday and this year he turned 32. We love to celebrate brithdays and especially when it involves daddy and cake. We had a fabulous day and it started with a pancake breakfast and then off to the Pumpkin Patch with us and Miss Jessica, Mr. Bill and Mr. Rob. This was not your ordinary pumkin patch- this one was out in "the nature" (which is any area outside of the actual city of Prague). It was at someone's house/farm, where (from what we could tell) was where the pumpkins were harvested. Lucy and Clark loved all the different sized pumpkins, and Lucy kept declaring that we needed just one more. They also had a bunny petting area and pony rides. We then came home and had birthday cake! (I really think this is Lucy's favorite part of the day). That night a group of us went out to dinner to celebrate Phil. Fun was had by all and we are all so grateful to have Phil in our lives!

Lucy's Day of Splendor

Lucy and I had a great day together it started with arts and crafts and the making of cards (yaya check your mail). Then it was on to beautifacation and her first pedi. Well actually just a polish change, she chose "pink pink"! She was so excited to have pink toes that she did not want to put her socks or shoes becuase she wants to be able to see her toes at all times! I love that she is such a girl!!!
To top the day out we headed to the kitchen to make a birthday cake for Phil whose birthday is October 8. Lucy was so excited to taste the cake batter, she usually sticks her hands in it and it makes a big mess, so today I said "Lucy please do not put your hands in the batter, I will let you taste it in a minute" I turned my back and I heard "Mommy this is yummy!" With my back still turned to her I immediatelly said (in a not so nice tone)..."Lucy did you put your fingers in the cake?" and she said "no, I did this"... and much to my surprise she didn't put her fingers in the batter just her entire face! Don't tell anyone!

Pastors prayer meeting

What do ministers of Catholic, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Church of God, Baptist, and non-denominational churches have in common? This sounds like the start of a good joke, doesn’t it?

Well, no punch line here - we all participate in a monthly prayer meeting for international ministries. I went to my second prayer meeting of this group Tuesday morning – it is one of the more diverse groups I’ve participated in. It is a time for each of us to share what God has been doing in our ministries and how the others can pray for us personally and pastorally. There were nine of us, and it was truly a blessing to find out what God is doing in Prague through these various men.

Release form? What's a release form?

Lucy's pre-school class had an exciting field trip to the fire station. This was no ordinary trip to the fire station, where all you get to do is try on the helmet and sit behind the wheel of a truck. No, here in Prague you get to do just about anything you want to.

After the class took a big ride on the tram together,

Lucy and her little friends got to...

hold the "jaws of life" used to cut open cars in an emergency

slide down the fire pole

run around on top of the ladder truck and take a class picture

sit in the seat of three different trucks

wear the mask and fireman helmet (that's Lucy, not an alien)

use the walkie-talkies

It was definitely a Czech experience, and a lot of fun for everyone!

Ministry Update

Lest you think that ALL we do in Prague is go to the park and play with the kids (which is a lot of fun and what we have pictures of), we do get to do other things like spend time with people and hopefully minister to them. Just a quick update on what's been going on in that area...

We've had 4 Bible studies at our house in our 8-week series on Bible basics. It's been a great series so far, with anywhere from 9-18 people in attendance. It feels like "old times" in some ways for Shanna and me, when we used to have lifegroup at our house in Charlotte. Most people hang out and linger afterwards for several hours.

The chapel services at Sir Toby's hostel have been going well too, after about 3 months. Every Sunday morning is different, with people from all backgrounds and beliefs there. It's been challenging and fun to prepare for anything.

Our little team (the Davis and Syvertsen families) meet every Sunday afternoon for two hours for Bible study, prayer, and team development. We continue to grow together and encourage each other in our ministries and our lives. Chris and Laura have been doing a great job managing the pub area of Sir Toby's.

Laptop + Water = Bad

It's been a few days since we've added anything, for one main reason. I (Phil) am very protective of our laptop but suddenly found myself draining the laptop on its side in an effort to let all the water that I had poured onto it drip out 2 days ago.

Everything seemed fine until I tried to turn it back on, and it wouldn't work. We contacted Dell, and the Dell guy came over yesterday, looked at things, and broke the bad news that everything on the hard drive was lost. It was like I had lost a family member. I wanted to scream, "Why? Why me? Not the laptop!" But I composed myself.

So I've begun the resuscitation process. Thankfully I had just backed up all our Prague pictures 2 days before (the first time I had done that since we got here!) So we didn't lose any pictures, but we did lose emails, contact info, files, Quicken info, etc. - but nothing tragic.

So now, as I drink my coffee while I write these words, I'm being a little more careful about where I put my cups around the laptop!