First in Prague

We must be the first ones in Prague to have our tree. Besides the Stewarts, of course.

Food, Friends, and Football

Our Thanksgiving feast was full of fun and food this year and was a wonderful occasion to celebrate our many blessings! We had (we think) 53 adults and 20 kids, and it seemed that everyone had enough food (and personal space) all evening. The tent worked out great - notice its new position in the backyard...That is because my 7-month pregnant wife and her friend rotated it 90 degrees all by themselves. (see comment on post below) Yes, it matters. Add a rug on the floor, string some Christmas lights, turn on the red heater that looks like you could roast a full pig on it, and you can see from the pics that it worked!I gave my brief devotion on Abraham Lincoln's original Thanksgiving Day proclamation, reading from a portion of it and commenting on how Thanksgiving became a holiday in 1863, right in the middle of the Civil War - a reminder to us that no matter what our circumstances may be, we do have much to be thankful for. Then there was much pie and time for some football on TV.Before the kids went to bed we tried to take a family shot - here's us tired from the day...
We stayed up talking a little more, then crashed and had a great night's sleep! Thanks for all your prayers and emails to us for today!

Gettin' Ready

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We are very blessed and thankful for all of our friends and family all over the world. May you have a day full of thanks (and turkey and football).

Here in Prague we're getting ready for our 3rd annual Thanksgiving Day feast. Since we've moved in the last year, we had to be a little more creative in how we try to seat ~50 people. Fortunately, one of Lucy's classmate's Dad owns a catering business, and he has generously donated tables, chairs, and this awesome tent.

(Our flat comprises the ground floor and the basement area) We're excited for today's festivities and we'll post pictures as soon as we can.

Worship Night

We had another special evening of worship last week at the church. It was a great night to just sing - and we had some extra help on the music side. I asked the music teacher at Riverside if any students would like to help, and four great kids volunteered! Our music was great and everyone sang loudly.

We went to the nearby Czexican (that's the Czech version of Mexican food) for dinner afterwards...

Last chance to sleep in?

I surprised Shanna yesterday with an overnight date - our destination? Prague. That's right, all we wanted was one night of uninterrupted sleep and one morning to not get up when little people force you to. So Sunny came over and spent the night with Lucy and Clark while we went to the new mall here in the city center and then stayed at a nice hotel. It was great! Room service, Die Hard 4.0 (at least that's what they call it here) on TV, and good sleep. Who knows when we'll be able to do this again...

This is us well-rested:

I Said Brrrr, it's Cold in Here...

(Bonus points for anyone who knows what movie this blog title is from)

It got really cold, really fast. But we much prefer snow at 30° than rain at 38°.

Owen is 3!

The team kids just keep growing - next on the birthday list is Owen, who turned 3 yesterday! He had a great party at his house with an incredible chocolate cake. Owen really has grown up into a great little boy, and we're so glad that he's part of our team and our team family. Happy Birthday Owen!

Kids being silly...

Click To Play

8 days...

Going... Going...

Gone

Who's on first?

Recent conversation with Clark at 7:30am:

Phil: What would like for breakfast - oatmeal or cereal?
Clark: Oatmeal AND cereal.
P: OK, first oatmeal, then cereal?
C: No! Oatmeal, then cereal!
(Pause)
P: OK, first oatmeal, THEN cereal?
C: NO! Oatmeal, THEN cereal!!!
P: (slightly louder) That's what I said! OATMEAL FIRST, THEN CEREAL?!?
C: (much louder) NO!!! (almost crying) OATMEAL! THEN CEREAL!!!
(Pause)
P: (pursing lips, rubbing head) Ok. Cereal, then oatmeal?
C: YES!

I love you honey, but I just can't smile

Lucy had to get some passport pictures taken for her swimming class ID card. (They don't mess around here - not just any 4-year-old can swim) We went to the picture place to get them taken. As the camera lady picks up her camera, Lucy beams her typically huge, slightly goofy smile. The lady puts down the camera and mutters something in Czech which I interpreted to mean "no smiling." This has happened to me before as well (all ID pictures here are fairly depressing looking), but to tell a 4-year-old girl to NOT smile is... well, just look at the resulting picture.