Vacation

On vacation now STOP Writing from my cell phone STOP In Germany STOP Will blog upon our return STOP

Interns' last supper club

Jason hosted our supper club at his new phat flat this week, in conjunction with (a) his birthday and (b) the interns' imminent departure on Friday. It was a nice way to close out our summer supper clubs - enjoying pizza on the newly assembled IKEA furniture that the interns sweated over.

Doh!

We went and saw Shrek 3 today. Lucy loved her popocorn. Phil and Shanna laughed harder than anybody. Clark covered his ears for 85% of the movie.

We also think Lucy and Clark would fit in quite well with this family...

Slip n Slide - level 1

My uncle Tom in Richmond has spent numerous man hours constructing the ultimate Slip n Slide at his house. We're talking a massive ramp, downhill, into a pond. I thought it was time to bring the Slip n Slide madness to Prague - I've got a long way to go to match Tom's skills, but it's a good start...

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Pool Days

The weather has been consistently nice for awhile now, which means that Shanna and the kids go every day to the local pool, called Petynka. We like it better than the pool we used to go to - it's a little less concrete/communist, surrounded by nice trees, has a great kids pool and a decent water slide.

Lucy usually meets up with some of her school friends, and Shanna hangs out with other mommies too. You'll know where to find them this summer!

Ready for all kinds of weather

We've had some fun afternoons together - more swinging, fun in the backyard, and new friends.

First Lucy and Clark tried out the big swings at our favorite Belgian restaurant (I guess it's also our least-favorite, since it's our only Belgian restaurant we know of)

Then they brought out their umbrellas when the weather turned a little colder and rainy again this weekend

And lastly they got to hang out with some friends (and BIG KIDS!) - the Falk family came over for dinner this weekend. Mrs. Falk is going to be one of Lucy's teachers next year, and Mr. Falk is the upper school principal. And their kids kept Lucy and Clark entertained all evening.

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Slow Spokes, Prague chapter

My friend Michael in Charlotte started a non-serious bike club called "Slow Spokes." I love the name, and as of 3 days ago, I'm making myself a member. I've been wanting to get a bike ever since Lucy got hers, mostly because I simply can't keep up with her anymore at the park! So I found a used bike store near the Czech Inn and had a very broken-Czech conversation that went like this:

"Do you rent bikes?""No..." (long pause) "But you can buy this one for 1500 and when you're done, I'll buy it for 1000. That's like renting."

"Sounds good, I'll take it."

So now I'm the proud owner of a used bike - brand named "Easy Time." You probably haven't heard of that one before. I would argue that it's actually a misnomer. I haven't had the easiest time riding on it so far - it needs a serious tune-up, but then again, so do my muscles.

I took it for a ride yesterday along the river, took this self-portrait picture, and when I was parched enough, I came home. I actually turned around when I came upon these guys at a make-shift jump course...

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I realized that neither "Easy Time" nor myself could hang with them, so we went home.

Pool size doesn't matter

The hot weather means the inflatable pool has returned to our patio. So have the synchronized swimmers, as you can see.

Swing Away

Shanna and Lucy had a fun girls' outing a week ago to one of our new favorite restaurants - it's out of the city, past the airport, so it's quiet and rural. They have good food and a beautiful garden, complete with swings and toys for kids, as well as rabbits, chickens, and geese to admire. Lucy and her friend Zara had fun, and the girls spent some fun time on the swings.

Church Website is Ready

After some more tweaking, we're finally ready to officially introduce the new Faith Community Church website! It won't be updated as much as our blog here will, but it does give a nice overview of the church and its ministries and activities. A permanent link will be on the right too, with all our other links.

Open Mic

Several of us went to an open mic night at a fun pub last night, mainly to hear Dustin (see blog on right) perform some of his music. Over half the spectators were Dustin-groupies like us, so it was good fun. He did a great job and is playing in the cafe at the Czech Inn this weekend too.

Anyone would have had a hard time following Dustin, but Ondra and the open-mic emcee jammed for a couple of songs, which was equally as fun.

Supper Club

We had tried for several Tuesdays to go to the Letna Park Beer Garden with our Bible study, but the weather had not cooperated. This week the cold, rain, and wind has been replaced by stagnant heat, but it's been a welcome change. Every Prague citizen seems to go outside and go to the pool in the mornings and then the beer gardens at night. It was packed out!

Letna park overlooks the city and the river and has some impressive views - it was especially nice in the evening since it wasn't as hot.

Why I love my wife

Shanna took a trip to a military base in Germany last week with a friend whose husband works for the embassy. That meant that they got to shop at the base's commissary, where you can find lots and lots of great stuff that we can't get - for cheap! Shanna returned with Lucky Charms, Edy's ice cream, Wonder Bread, and... a new Xbox game for me - NCAA College Hoops, with J.J. on the cover.

How did I get so lucky?

So far, my Dukies (just like last year's real Duke team) have stunk it up, but I have no idea (as of yet) how to shoot free throws or control defense. Fortunately Chris Collins and Wojo aren't featured as do-nothing assistant coaches, either.

Ondra's big day

Today was a wonderful occasion for Faith Community Church - our first baptism! Ondra, our good friend who makes church a great place to worship, has a wonderful story which he shared with us today during the service. He became a Christian just over two years ago through the ministry of Athletes in Action and his friendship with our mutual friend Zach (yes, he has a blog too - click HERE - can't wait to have Zach back in Prague this fall!!!).

I've gotten to spend some time with Ondra over the last two years and he has now been helping us out big-time with worship at church. He is always smiling and makes everyone around him glad to know him. It was a very special day for him, and I was honored to be able to baptize him.

Congratulations, Ondra!

iPods for all ages

On the train to Vienna, Lucy liked being with the big people and listening to her Princess Music.

The Wiener Team

Our team had a fun, fast trip to Vienna Friday and Saturday. We took a 4-hour train ride there and met up with the Hunter family, who moved to Vienna about 3 weeks ago. We got some dinner and the ladies got some girl time that night. The next day we assisted in some more IKEA furniture assembly. Our little team has been in the "IKEA-zone" for a couple of weeks now - we've become quite proficient at putting this stuff together.We also got some great prayer time in with them, praying for their new home and their new lives in Vienna. Lucy and Clark had fun playing with their three awesome kids - Luke, Abby, and Levi. We look forward to spending more time with them and seeing them again soon.

Off to Vienna

We head out tomorrow morning with the team to Vienna, for about 36 hours - it will be a great time to get out of the city, explore, eat Burger King, and drink Starbucks! We're also excited to meet up with the Hunters (see link on the right), the newest World Harvest Mission team to land in Europe - and now they're our closest neighbors within the mission. Pray for our time with them - hopefully we'll have some good stories and pictures when we return.

The Jonesovi

Our team had the privilege of meeting Dot's family last night. Her parents and 2 of her 3 sisters came to visit her - they are great! We loved getting to know Dot a bit more through meeting her family - they all share the same warm, Southern personality that Dot does. They're here in Prague for a few more days before they venture out to Greece and Italy on a little vacation (where the 3rd sister will meet up with them).

Thanks for a fun dinner!

Big Boy Clark

We almost bought a new big-boy bed for Clark yesterday, and then Shanna had the wonderful ephiphany that we could simply take off one end of his crib - voilà! Instant big-boy bed. He's sporting some new dinosaur accessories too.

Last night was his first night, and he only fell out once. We had placed some pillows on the floor next to him, but we heard a thud around midnight... no crying. I said to Shanna, "I'm sure that wasn't him - he would be crying." Shanna went ahead and checked, and sure enough, he was asleep on the pillows on the floor. Other than that, he did great - called for us in the morning as usual (that would be around 5:20 am).

He's also been using the potty more and more - the little guy is getting big!

July - jackets and hot chocolate?

This week has not been the warm first week of July that we're used to. Quite the opposite - it's been windy and cold! Nonetheless, it's been an exciting week of ministry and fellowship.

We had grand plans to hang out at the pool on July 4th and have hot dogs and watermelon. The weather didn't cooperate, so we went to the park, flew kites, and then had Mexican for dinner with a couple of the interns. (Cinco de Mayo on the 4th of July, anyone?)

Thursday was one of two national holidays in a row. Shanna took the Stewarts to IKEA for a marathon shopping session to furnish their home, so I took the kids on a train ride to a little town north of here - the only shop that was open was a sweet shop - perfect! We had a fun day together, and then the kids had their first summer Bible club at church. It's like Vacation Bible school, only it's on Thursday afternoons for 3 weeks - another great intern project, and the kids had fun while we had dinner with the Syvertsens. (pictures of Bible club to come soon)Lastly, today is Jan Hus Day, so for the 3rd year in a row (amazing that we can say that!) we passed out one-page flyers on "Who Really Was Jan Hus?" We did this at Old Town Square, where Jan Hus' statue is currently getting a huge makeover and covered with scaffolding. We all had fun and passed out almost 200 flyers in an hour! It was really cold, however, so we warmed up with hot chocolate at a nearby cafe afterwards. Brian was so cold that he stole Clark's jacket to wear around his neck. Is this really July???

This blog will self-destruct in 5 seconds...

One of our favorite nearby parks has this cool zip-line. Clark loves it, probably because he feels like a spy. Check him out...

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Worship Night

Our highly musically talented interns, along with Dot and Ondra, helped organize a very special evening of worship last night at church. It was a beautiful evening, a time to just come together and sing. It was a great way to start off July.

A hard good-bye

We said farewell to some good Prague friends this weekend, the Verbrugges. They had been here the whole time we have called Prague home, but work has called Brandon back to America. Ann Marie and Shanna shared lots of playgroup times, coffees, and women's gatherings together. And our whole families spent many hours at the bagel shop together on weekends. We had one final bagel outing on Saturday with them and the Syvertsens. There were lots of hugs and some tears too. Two years is a long time for Prague friendships, and they are already missed!