Happy Thanksgiving!!

I love Thanksgiving.. reflecting on all that we are thankful for, a big feast surrounded by friends and family. I love the preparation for it, the hunting and gathering of just the right ingredients, the anticipation of being together for a yummy meal, the laziness that comes after with great conversation and football on in the background.

This year as I looked around the dinner tables as our community group gathered together, as all the children were sitting at the kids table, and all of the amazing dishes flanked us, my heart was just reminded at how truly blessed I am. That the people around me, my sweet family and friends are all given to me. They are all gifts that I am not entitled to, but they are given to me from the Lord, they are precious gifts that I am so thankful for.

I cooked this one and Talitha cooked the other... really have not tasted a better turkey, and I don't think I have ever eaten as much food as I had on this Thanksgiving. Every single dish was truly remarkable. We even had non-Americans making stuffing that was delish.

We cleared out the playroom and set up some tables and had great fellowship and community.

Sweet blessings in my life.

This man makes my heart melt. Love him and blessed to call him mine.
Wish bone.. Clark got the bigger piece and really he has captured my heart.
After dinner we had an ornament table set up to make ornaments for our church Christmas tree.
It was really a sweet night. So blessed. So Thankful.

Dresden

November 17 is know as the Velvet Revolution. It is the day that the Czech Republic was freed from communism. So it is a national holiday. We had a really lazy morning, and just enjoyed the day off in the middle of the week. And then around 11 we decided to drive to Dresden for lunch and a bit of shopping. It is an easy two-hour drive. First stop was lunch at the Milk Shop. Yummy... very good cheese, fresh milk, and ice cream. We had a lovely leisurely lunch, yes I just said leisurely (our kids are getting older...). Then we headed to the toys r us to do some pre-birthday shopping. It was one of those days that is just a pure unexpected blessing. Thankful.

Owen's Birthday!

Owen turned 7 and we had a blast celebrating him. Owen, we love you and are so glad you and Clark are BFFs and that little P has a crush on you and that Lucy thinks of you as another brother.... Happy Birthday!

Fireworks Night

Riverside had it's annual Guy Fawkes' night. Spectacular fireworks, friends, and food... what more could you ask for?

Exploring the world

Clark's class has made a passport and has toured all over the world from their classroom. They have been to Antarctica, Europe, Asia, and now North America. The fun part about being at an international school is that everywhere they tour they have experts to help, or in our case freaks that LOVE America. Laura and I really can not help ourselves. We brought in books, treasures from many favorite places, money, pictures, and of course patriotic cookies. Like I said freaks. Yes we had a great time talking about all things American and even maybe singing some patriotic songs..... maybe.

Happy Halloween!!!

Three little jack-o-lanterns sitting on a stoop... Here is our crew of trick or treaters... they were so cute and so fun. The Syvertsens and the Pokludas joined us after school for costume dressing, pizza, and trick or treating. We realized that we have been celebrating together for 6 years, the first two were a party that we hosted and the last 4 years we have gone door to door together.
Piper is a bunny, Vivi is Jessie from toy story, Lucy is a girl version of gargamel from the Smurfs, and michelle is Asrielle, Gargamel's cat.
We have two astronauts, and Cap'n Jack Sparrow.



It was a really fun night of trick or treating in "little America" a neighborhood that is connected to the International School of Prague. We saw lots of really fun costumes, fabulously decorated houses, and lots of friends.

Berlin!

The kids had half-term break that corresponded with a conference that Phil and Jake were going to, in Berlin. So we decided to go with him and the rest of the Hunt family. The Hunters, another WHM family from Vienna, were also attending the conference so we got to hang with them for the week, so fun!

The conference was for church planters in Europe, specifically indigenous. It was hosted by Redeemer Church in New York and Tim Keller was the main speaker. It was huge, almost 500 people attended and they were from all over. It was exciting to see what God is doing in different places throughout Europe. It was really exciting to hear about the ways the guys could really partner with church planters here in Prague.

While the daddies were at the conference the moms and kids took on the city! 3 moms and 8 kids played really hard in Berlin... we kicked it off at the Lego Museum, we spent a whole day building, climbing and running... pure Bliss. Dinner was at a new favorite Mexican place Berlin Burrito Company, oh yeah baby.

Love how much these two enjoy playing together.
Multiple stops at Dunkin' Donuts... yum
Day two was the ZOO! really en route to the aquarium that happens to not be the right aquarium but it was great fun anyway. The Berlin Zoo is amazing. It is like you are transported 60 years ago where the animals were almost so close you could touch them. Dinner: more Berlin Burrito Company (can you tell we miss good Mexican food here).

On our way home we took a major detour to Tropical Islands, Europe's largest indoor waterpark and spent the day swimming, sliding, and pretending to be on a warm tropical island.

Fantastic Fun Three Days!