Every girl's dream...?

Piper has asked Santa for a laminator and long hair.  "I have been good."  We'll see if Santa can come through on this unique combo!

Happy (almost) Birthday

A mid-December birthday means that sometimes Clark is at school, and sometimes he's on holiday by the time his birthday rolls around...  The last day of school was also a day for Clark to be celebrated!

School Parties

Last week of school means TONS of school parties and activities...

Just a few of the "11 Pipers piping" from the Year 1 song!

A Highland Dance routine...

Lucy's Birthday

Our girl turned 11 and started the day off right with some waffles...

 And presents...

 Including a trip to Paris with Mommy in January!

Her friends at school blessed her too with a fun celebration...

We continue to be so blessed by Lucy.  She displays great maturity for a young lady, and she has a great gift of making all kinds of people feel very welcomed and encouraged.  Her laugh is still the most infectious of the family, and we admire her quiet wisdom and trust in God!  

We love you Lucy!  Happy Birthday!

Christmas Play

As Lucy finishes her Primary School career at Riverside, this is the first (and only) year that all three kids are in the Christmas play at the same time!  They all did a great job with their lines and songs.  It wasn't as cold as it has been in years past, but a last-minute canopy was put up in case it started to rain (it didn't).

St. Mikluas Day

The Czech version of Santa Claus is Saint Mikulas (Saint Nick), whose official saint day is December 5.  On that night every year, you can find Mik roaming the streets of Prague, flanked by an angel and a devil.  Their goal is to get kids to be good until Baby Jesus comes to deliver presents on the 24th.  The devil will often try to use scare tactics to achieve this goal (many kids run away in tears) while the angel will pass out some candy if you sing a song or answer a question.

We found one of these trios that evening, surrounded by a huge crowd!  But we persisted and got some treats - and glowsticks!

Christmas Fever

Christmas Fun is here!  Jack the Elf is back...

Christmas cookies are being made...

School parties...

The North Pole communicator is fired up...

 Santa's Grotto at school

 The house is feeling magical...

The outdoor tree is lit...

And advent has begun!

Church happenings

Good stuff going on at Faith Community lately... We installed Jake as Associate Pastor, meaning the congregation voted to "call" him as their own pastor, representing them in our Session meetings.

And the church decorating committee (see below) was busy getting things ready for Christmas!

Black Friday

No, it's not a Czech holiday, but we still celebrate it here!  We went back to Dresden on Friday for some shopping and Christmas markets - it was the first weekend that the markets were open.  The city was so pretty and full of Christmas magic!  We love all the lights, the different food (especially chocolate kinds), and the festivity.  And no American shopping riots!

Lots of these all over German towns, but this one was huge!

Yes!  Please put a potato in a curling machine, deep fry it, and add seasoning!

We brought home our very own (smaller) version...

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so very thankful to God for many things in Prague, and we love that Thanksgiving is one of those days when we can take time to celebrate those things with our friends.  We helped arrange a meal at the church which was packed out!  Jake deep fried and carved 6 turkeys (he has a spreadsheet now if you ever need help) and many many people pitched in to help arrange the room, bring food, and welcome people.

We're very thankful to you too - our dear friends all over the world who encourage, pray for, and support us!

They're baaaack

It's the time of year when we make our favorite Thanksgiving snacks - turkeys with oreos, candy corn, and malt balls!  (Thank you, Cyndy Hylton!)

g

Marine Ball 2013

We do get fancy every now and then!

Every year US Marines around the world celebrate their birthday with a formal ball, and we got to attend this year's party.  So fun!

Our table gathered for a picture...

And we danced it up with the Hunts!

Biking with Bob

We asked Piper one Saturday what she wanted to do: "Go biking with Bob!"  Bob's family is away so we invited him to join us on a nice, leisurely ride before it got too cold.  It was so fun!

Halloween

Trick or Treat!  We had friends over for costuming and then headed to THE neighborhood in Prague that does trick or treating.  It's like seeing all your friends that you've just seen at school, only with crazy costumes.