31 August 2009

30 August 2009

29 August 2009

Buzzzzzz


As you can see a haircut for Brennan is NOT a fun thing! What is hard to believe, based on the picture above, is that it is actually getting to be an easier thing for him. Poor guy though! I try to make the time between cuts, or should I say buzzes, as LONG as possible.

28 August 2009

Coffee Date With Karis

 Karis recently had her day out with mama.  We had a good time going to the Flora Mall that’s close to our house.  We did a little shopping for everyone.  Karis got a new purse and we got a present for each Brennan & Reegan.  Reegan got a pink purse and Brennan got a Thomas the Tank Engine train.  I had no idea he would love it so much!  He even goes to bed with Thomas!
We even got ourselves a little coffee & a treat!

In other big Karis news, she started taking showers recently.  It’s funny what gets a kid excited.  She is now a big girl and taking her own showers.  With all that curly hair, I have to still help her with that.  But she is doing all the washing on her own!!  She is one happy girl!!


26 August 2009

I ♥ bread!

Butter - Dipped Biscuit Squares


2 cups self-rising flour *
2 Tablespoons sugar 
1 cup milk 
1/2 cup butter (no substitutes), melted 
all-purpose flour 

Combine self-rising flour, sugar, and milk; mix well. Turn onto a floured surface; sprinkle with all-purpose flour.  Pat dough to 1/2 thickness.  With a sharp knife dipped in flour, cut into squares.  
Melt the butter in a 13x9 pan in the oven.  Dip bread in butter, turn to coat.  Bake at 450F for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

*If you don't have any self-rising flour, an easy substitute for 2 cups is  2 cups of all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt.

21 August 2009

20 August 2009

18 August 2009

16 August 2009

14 August 2009

A Date With Brennan


It was Brennan’s turn for a day out with mama.  He was fairly easy to please.  A trip to the playground and McDonalds, included with ice cream!!  So, we headed to one of our favorite parks to play. 
Brennan was loving the slide on this particular trip! And no trip is complete without playing in the sandbox.


 At certain parks in the city they leave sand toys in the sandbox, so no need to drag your own along.

Prague seems to be on a mission to redo all the major parks/playgrounds in the city center.  We are
happy to make use of these new parks!  They are wonderful!!
There is also a new waterfall close by.  So off we went to throw some rocks in the
water.  That seems to never get old with him!!  Ha!


 Then off to enjoy a Happy Meal, topped off with a McFlurry!!  Which he didn’t even eat half of!


The trip was wrapped up with mama paying for a token (actually 2) to ride a car and a boat before we
headed home.


 I think he would agree that we had a great time!

12 August 2009

Date With Reegan



We have been talking for months (probably longer really) that we needed to make a point to have one on one time with each of our kiddos.  A time when they could pick something they would like to do and have one parent’s undivided attention.  Today was Reegan’s day!  I gave her a few options and really, she just wanted to go to the play ground!  So we did!  I forgot to pull out the camera for that, but afterwards we went for lunch.  At first I gave her the option of McDonalds or KFC. 
Then I remembered a nice restaurant  near by and all she really wanted was french fries, so we went to Red, Hot & Blues.  It was SO nice!  The fast food restaurants would have been packed, but our restaurant only had a handful of people in it and SUCH better food!!
We shared a chicken wrap and some french fries!  Perfect for us!!


 Reegan is not normally a good eater, but maybe this one on one time is just what she needed because she ate wonderfully!  Ha!

We then headed to Starbucks for some coffee!!  Reegan called it coffee, but it was really just some frothy milk with vanilla.

Reegan took my picture.  She’s not too bad!


 BB needed some coffee too!



 We both had a great time!

08 August 2009

Summer in a Nutshell

I can’t believe that I am already hearing friends talk about school starting!  This has been a whirlwind summer of re-adjusting to life in Prague, an annual meeting of our colleagues, Jerry & I celebrating 15 years of marriage & receiving & unpacking our crate.
It started off with a trip to Greece to spend a week with our colleagues.

Jerry with the kids while I attend a ladies' night out event.



Two days after our return from Greece we received our crate.  That was a lot of fun and felt like Christmas!!  The kids had a blast seeing all the last minute things we had picked up for them to put in the crate.  It took me about 6 weeks to get it all unpacked with the daily grind of life.

Our apartment finally feels like a home!!  It’s amazing what carpet, curtains, new bedding & pictures can do for a place!
Then in July we took an early anniversary getaway to Berlin to see U2 in concert!!  It was a blast!  We left the kids behind in Prague with some colleague/friends and drove 4 hours to spend 4 days in Berlin.


I’m not normally a concert goer, but this was U2, Jerry’s favorite, and it just seemed like a fun thing to do.
I have to admit I was a little nervous going to a concert.  I just didn’t know what to expect from the crowd.  However, it was quite tame.  I guess it helps that U2 has been around since the early 80s and have drawn a crowd from all generations.  It was kind of fun watching the people around us.  Some guys in their early 40s in front of us.  Although they did quite a bit of drinking, they were at least happy drunks, as Jerry called them.  Then their was the couple next to them, probably in their mid-40s who just didn’t look like the typical U2 fans.  I would giggle to myself as I watched them dance and sing.  And 2 young couples on either side of us.  It really was a great time!

On the way to the concert in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany!

No cameras were allowed inside.  This is after the concert.



Our 15th wedding anniversary was actually this past Thursday, August 6.  We weren’t even together on our big day!!  Jerry was at Western Europe’s annual meeting to get to know some of the people he would be working with.  I was a little sad by that, but we made it through and I just focused on the good time we had a few weeks ago in Berlin.  Even watched our wedding video, which was a good laugh with a few teary eyed moments in between.

05 August 2009

Central & Eastern Europe’s 2009 Annual General Meeting in Eretria, Greece

Our AGMs are one of the highlights of our year.  It is an absolute blast seeing colleagues/friends that we haven’t seen in a year or more.  We have hundreds of volunteers come to preach, lead us in worship, keep our kids (and did the Boomerang Express VBS this year).

The meeting generally consists of training, time with our teams, personal development, etc.  All the while the kids are having a good ole time doing VBS, crafts, swimming, music and I know there was lots more.  We had an incredible bunch of volunteers coming from all over.  All the way from California to North Carolina and everywhere in between.  Several of the volunteers/churches that came have been coming for years.  We just love our volunteers!!!  If you are ever interested in doing something like that, let us know!  We can set you up!!




Deeper

  Deeper - adj. 1. extending or situated relatively far down from a surface: a deep pool. It's been a long time since I've ...