Team Stay-Treat

Thursday and Friday we had a team retreat here in Prague. We headed to a little village called Okor which has a cute little restaurant and hotel. It is only about 20 minutes from our house but feels like a lifetime away. It is in the nature and has castle ruins next to it. We love this little place. We had a great dinner and team time together on Thursday night and then Friday morning was more meetings and team love. It was a really sweet time to be together and we are excited about this group of people God has given us to work with.

a who in whoville

Book Day

It was Book Day this week at Riverside and the students came dressed as a character. Lucy decided on Frankly Frannie a girl who wants a job and dresses up like a working woman. Clark after A LOT of deliberation decided on Ralph from Ralph the Motorcycle Mouse. They were both quite proud of their costumes.

First Tooth

Clark lost his first tooth this week, the tooth fairy came and he got a silver dollar... from AMERICA! Yes lots of excitement. He is sure the one next to it is also loose and it is gonna fall out any second. The tooth fairy better be on call I have a feeling she will be here a lot over the next few months.

embrace the snow!

Piper can ski by herself too!

We went back for a quick overnight trip to Lipno for more skiing last weekend. The big news is that Piper doesn't need (nor want) my help skiing. (It was quite windy when we were there)

Piper's 3rd Birthday!

Zeal, exuberance, laughter, musical, funny faces, kind, rock star, giving, and very very fashionable are all words that I would use to describe our little miss p. She has blessed us and brought so much excitement and laughter into our lives. She loves people intensely and will immediately give you a shout-out as soon as she sees you followed by a hug and some fascinating conversation. She loves music, swimming and art. She has a sweet little group of 5 friends which she calls her "bestest friends". She also LOVES Lucy and Clark, I get multiple questions a day about them.. Where are they? When are they coming home? What is Clark's favorite color? Should we make this or that for Lucy because she will love it. And the best part is they also adore her just as much. We are truly thankful for Piper and all that she brings to our lives and all that she teaches us. We can not wait to see what this year holds for her. Happy Birthday sweet P! We love you!

Her party outfit that Lucy and Clark picked out including cinderella slippers.
Her new blue bike.Birthday party including Dora cupcake cake

Present time!

Piper also had a party at school the next day. The morning consisted of a party in her honor, games like limbo and musical chairs, several rounds of happy birthday and a special story about the birthday girl. Piper's story was about a girl who loved to get her hair braided by Miss Veronika. After lunch Phil and I brought a cake for a little more party time with the birthday girl.

Happy Birthday Piper!

We LOVE you!

Burns Night

We celebrated Robert Burns at the annual Burns Supper. It is a night of haggis, toasts to the lads and lassies, singing, whiskey, and lots of dancing. We have gone several years in a row and always have a fabulous time.

urbanites

We headed into town one beautiful Saturday and went to the Manes Museum to see an exhibit called Play. It is an entire hands-on exhibit done out of recyclable materials. The kids could run through this plastic bottle curtain and make different sounds with the bottles. There were sections on light and movement and noise. It was really fun to run and be very loud!

Then we headed off to the train restaurant where we met up with the Syversten's. The whole restaurant has model trains moving all along and serving your drinks to you. You have to be quick though once your train arrives and stops you must collect your drinks before it heads to the next station. It was a great Saturday in the city.

passi- fairy

So we have been talking up the passi fairy for quite some time... ya know the fairy who comes and collects all of your pacifiers at night while you are sleeping and then takes them to a new baby to comfort, and in exchange she leaves beautifully wrapped gum and mints. Well she came and Piper was very excited when she woke the next morning. She has only asked for her beloved pacifier once or twice but when we have said remember the passi- fairy came she has quickly moved on usually with a piece of gum or a mint.