fries

Piper is having her first waffle fry from Chick-fil-a. She loves them!

A visit with Santa

We headed out to Short Pump Mall for a little shopping, playing in the play area, lunch, and a visit with Santa. They were excited to see him and a bit shy, but when asked what they wanted Clark said jelly stickers and Lucy said a barbie and barbie house. Piper was amazed by the man in red.

normal

funnies and frosted mini-wheats

So far...

We arrived in the States on Tuesday and have had loads of fun already.  Here are some highlights:

Shanna was so tired on Wednesday that she poured Diet Coke on Clark's cereal instead of milk...

We made a quick, 24-hour trip to Charlotte for 3 doctor appointments, including the last one with Piper's helmet doctor, Miss Susan.  We've loved getting to know her, and she gave Piper a good final report (although Piper was sort of sad and still sick that day)...

A truly American phenomenon: tacky Christmas lights.  In Richmond you can drive around and find certain houses on the Tacky Christmas light Tour.  This one is only a mile from Papa and Yaya's - you drive up, tune your radio to a certain frequency, and watch the lights blink in synch to the music.  Unreal.

Non-tacky Christmas Lights

The botanical gardens in Richmond have a nice display of lights, so we walked around last night (I won't say how warm it was to upset our Prague friends).  They also had some model train exhibits, which Papa was very excited about.  We had a great time walking around enjoying the lights.

More Clark is 4!

We arrived in Richmond (after a circuitous route through London and Washington, DC) at about 1:30am, but that didn't stop us from finishing the birthday celebrating for Clark, who, with the time change and all, has had the loooongest birthday ever.  We had an ice cream cake at 1:45 and then collapsed into bed at Papa and Yaya's house!

Clark is 4!

'Tis the season of birthdays!  We'd already had Clark's birthday party at school, but his real birthday was on the 16th - the day that we flew to America.  So... on the 15th, we had a little party for him at our house - he chose to invite Nils from his class (and his 2 brothers).  Lucy felt a little out-numbered by the boys but she held her own.  The theme this year was definitely pirates!  We had pirate napkins, candles, party favors, and Clark got his very own treasure chest and pirate costume!  Arrrrrr!!!

Check out the blazing speed Clark has when opening presents - it's like the Matrix for 4-year-olds!

Little Angels

Our church had its annual Christmas service last Sunday, and the kids did a great rendition of Hark the Herald Angels.  If you ask me, I think Lucy has a great voice!

Art

Some of our friends have formed a new group of artists, and they had their first exhibit recently, coinciding with Advent.  Shanna and I went to go see their works, which included photography, drawings, mixed media, and more.  The venue itself was cool too - the basement of a Catholic church.

Lucy is 6!

Shanna and I can't believe that Lucy is 6 now!  Her birthday was last week, so we had a party for her at school and then a smaller party at our house that evening.  Shanna did a great job decorating Lucy's classroom, and Clark got to come up from nursery to celebrate with us.  She got to pick the dinner menu that evening: taco salad and ice cream bar (3 different flavors) for dessert!  We are so proud of our beautiful girl!

Lucy's teacher, Mr. Haig, loved interacting with someone who couldn't talk back to him...

Clark's Debut

He can sing and dance too...

more Christmas programs

Clark had his Christmas program today and he was Joseph. (Isn't he SOOOO cute?) Gracie the girl in blue was his Mary. He had one line "do you have any room for us?" and did fabulous. I think he may be an actor! They also sang songs and looked so very cute that you could just eat them up. Then it was off to games and fun with the reception class and a Christmas party with lots of yummy party food including a chocolate fountain, sausage rolls, quiche, and cookies. He was wiped when he got home but had an incredible day.

Christmas Program

Lucy had her Christmas program on Monday night at school. She was very excited, the school was decorated, the show was outside so we were all bundled, hot chocolate was served and the Christmas story was told with lots of songs and cuteness. She played a couple of different instruments including the sticks and shaker. She was cute and we were of course so proud.

the weekend's activities

Last weekend started with Santa on Friday afternoon then moved to a very fun Christmas party for all of the staff and board members of the school. Since Phil sits on the board we had an invite. It was on a fun hotel and restaurant boat on the Vltava river. Plenty of food and fun. Then the next morning I headed to the Christmas markets in Nuremberg. Kelly and I drove up Saturday morning and met a few other mommy friends who had gone up the night before. We shopped and had a great time. The town was SO cute and the markets were very festive. Phil held down the fort and one of the highlights was he along with Kelly's husband Michal took the kids to see High School Musical 3. In HSM3 they go to college and Vivi has been filling Lucy in on college and as you can tell they are ready to go.

Father Christmas

The high School had a visit from Father Christmas! So we all headed to see him and when he asked what they wanted form Christmas they just squeeled "presents!" they don't really know what, but they really like the idea of gifts!

Clark's 4th Birhtday Clebrations

Clark is turning 4 on Decemebr 16 but since all of his friends will be on Christmas holiday we decided to have his school party early. Clark wanted a pirate party complete with eye patches and pirate earings, gold chocolate coins and crossbone balloons. Our family came during snack time at school (even Lucy snuck away from class to celebrate Clark) and he was truly delighted. I love watching him with his friends.

Community Group

Each Monday night we host a bible study in our home. We always eat lots of dessert, laugh, have an absurd ice breaker, study the bible with lots of tangents and as a result build lots of community together! We had a very fun Christmas party with a white elephant gift exchange where Sarah actually got her very own white elephant, viewings of the Office and of course dessert! We love this group of friends and we are excited to kick off the new year with them.

Where's my tie?

I was asked to speak at Riverside's High School Christmas assembly last week, which was a good opportunity for me to (a) hear some amazing music from great kids, and (b) find my ties in my closet. The assembly was held at a beautiful (but cold) Hussite church near our house. The musical selections included such diversity as Bach, Chopin, and Bryan Adams. I'm not kidding - the choir sang "Heaven" near the end, which is probably the only time Bryan Adams has been performed in a Hussite Church. Ahhh, 7th grade...

Watch out

someone's mobile... and breathing quite heavily...

Advent

This Sunday also marked the first Sunday of Advent. We celebrated at church with a special testimony and lighting of the first candle. Another tradition we have is that here at home we light our advent candle and eat dinner by candlelight. Then after dinner while we are all gathered around the table, Phil reads a part of the Christmas story and we sing a song. It's loud, a bit hectic, exciting, and oh so very special. The kids have come to expect this, this is now part of their heritage and I love it. And they love it too, especially eating by the special candles.

traditions

I love tradition. I love candy cane cookies. This is one childhood tradition that I was so excited to pass to my children. As a child they were always the first cookies we made to kick off the Christmas season and now the same is true with my children. I have my mom's old cookie book, that was passed down from her mom. Lucy and I pour over this book and its 40's looking cookie pictures, giggling with excitement deciding what cookies we are going to make. It is such a fun part of the season... and sharing bits of who I am with them.

Finished Product

Merry Christmas!!!!

Next: Cards for school

After the tree comes making Christmas cards for friends at school. Riverside has a "Christmas postal service," where kids can send cards to each other before the break. There's a mailbox in the parents' room, and then deliveries are made to each classroom every day. Clark and Lucy loved making cards with candy canes on them.

It's beginning to look...

We don't mess around here. Thanksgiving ended and we went into full-blown Christmas assault mode. One reason is because we leave in 2 weeks for the States and need to pack it all in before we leave, but mainly we just love Christmas.

Giving Thanks

We've had a moment to catch our breath, the tent and dishes have been taken away, and the house is back to "normal," so I thought we should elaborate on all the festivities that make up a Prague Thanksgiving.  We were very blessed this week to celebrate with our biggest crowd yet, and there were no major catastrophes, no kids falling down stairs, no fires, not even a broken glass or plate.  

There were friends from church, from Riverside, from squash - from Austria, Czech Republic, Sweden, America, Canada, England, Scotland, Poland, and New Zealand (among others) - from 10 months to 60 years old.  And all of them came to give thanks and enjoy each other's fellowship.  

Once again this year, I read part of Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation (but only to half the crowd) - I like to mention that it was instituted in 1863 at the height of the American Civil War, and still there were things to be thankful for.  Here's a snippet:

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. 

Our family was watching some of the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving video and trying to explain that a pilgrim was someone who left their home to go to a foreign land and start a new life.  Clark, who's becoming quite perceptive, said: "Like us?"  Well, in a way, yes.

So, from the Davis pilgrims, sojourning in Prague, we hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We are thankful to each and every one of you who read our blog, laugh with us, pray for us, and help us give praise to God through Jesus Christ!

Thanksgiving: After

Shanna decided to start drinking alcohol (not really, but the whip cream chaser might be a winner - hmmm....)

We were very thankful that we didn't have to do any of the dishes.

Thanksgiving: During

The girls staked out their own table in the tent.

Some of the 4 turkeys and 11 boxes of stuffing...Some of the 89 guests...
Good luck finding your coat.