Germany

Once again we headed to AGM or our Annual General Meeting...it may mean something different but that fits. I LOVE this week. It is a time for us to worship with fellow Americans in my heart language, have some training and hear from other people what is happening in their ministries. Of course our favorite part is getting to see all our friends for the week. I am so glad our kids are old enough that we can put them to bed and then go hang out with people! Our kids are able to be around other American kids living in foreign countries and facing the same adventures in life. They also had bible school, which is always a lot of fun. I am SOOOO thankful for American Southern Baptists who see the value of this week for all of us on the field.

When we weren't in sessions, we were able to walk around the town. We took a train ride that we thought would be fun...we were wrong! It was boring AND expensive. And we took our friends with us. Sorry Stephen and Traci. Should have just gone swimming instead. Haha!

We drove to southern Germany to the city of Oberwiesenthal. On our way we spent the night in Dresdon. Oh My Goodness...it is such a cute little town. We got to spend the night in a small castle. The lady who ran it was just a sweet as can be and told us she was a Christian and most of the community around them were Christian. Cool, huh?


After AGM, we drove to Nuremburg to catch a flight to Spain for vacation. Nuremburg was not nearly as cute, in our opinion, as Dresdon, but we got to eat some yummy food at a cool restaurant some friends told us about. I am so thankful for all the places we have been able to see. Sorry for the massive photo overload...actually I could add a ton more!

Dresden

This a charming little "castle" where we stayed in Dresden. 

We took a train ride that we thought would be so fun around the little German town...we were WRONG!! 

This was a picturesque setting though.

The kids always do a little program on the last night. My kids LOVE going to VBS all week and doing other activities with other MKs. Such a blessing for them to spend the week around kids just like themselves. 

 Nuremburg

This tasted a lot better than it looks. It was some kind of roasted pork. So tender and flavorful!!

James and the girls had bratwurst...because after all in Germany is there anything else to eat?

Macie Lou

SEVEN?!?! WOW!!! Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was bringing you home from the hospital. You cried ALL. The. Time!!! I wasn't sure we would ever be friends. But then something happened and you became my silly, playful, fun-loving, sensitive, caring little girl. You are so quick witted. You are sarcastic and catch our humor with a quick response most of the time. It is never a dull moment when you are around. You are so independent and free spirited. No matter if you are making a good choice...or a not so good choice...I know that you weighed the consequences and made the decision you wanted in that moment...not that you always make the right decision. But we are working on that.

You love fiercely. You struggle when someone wants to play with you but it means someone else might be left out. You are a great friend! You are good sister...most of the time. You encourage Ella to be the best she can be. You guys are so sweet with each other and for that I am so thankful!

You are so smart. You have learned to speak 2 languages flawlessly. You can read in both English and Polish. We are always in awe when you know a word in Polish but have to ask what the word is in English. Oh to have your young mind so I could speak this language better.

God has big plans for you, Macie. You have a beautiful spirit. You are a natural leader...the other kids just follow you, no matter what you are doing. But I am praying that you will always lead them in the right direction. I am praying that God continues to work on your heart and praying for the day you will open your heart to Him as your Saviour. You are a blessing and joy to your mommy and daddy, Macie. We love you so very much!!!

Mom's Worst Nightmare...

Ok well I know there are much worse things that could happen, but this is one thing that gives all moms the willies.  So what is it? LICE...ICK!!! This weekend we got an email from Macie's teacher that the school nurse had found nits in her hair. This is probably the 5th-7th email from her teacher this year about lice in the class. It truly was a matter of time before they came to visit our house. I am trying to be calm and chill about it so as not to freak Macie out, but it is a PAIN!!! We have stripped the beds, washed all hats, scarves, coats, sheets, blankets, etc in HOT water. I have vacuumed the house and beds. So far I haven't seen any little bugs just nits. I have scrubbed her hair with the special shampoo and sat for hours picking through her hair like a monkey. Blah!

So today she of course stayed at home and I found on pinterest a fun art project using salt, glue and food coloring to paint a cool picture. This occupied her for a while painting and designing a few pictures. It was a nice distraction.

Christmas is in the Air

So...it's almost the middle of December. What?!? Where did the year go? We have been amazingly busy the past 3 weeks. This was our first free weekend in the past 5, I believe. And today is the first free Monday also. So I am taking advantage of some blogging time.

This weekend we decided to put up some Christmas decorations. Ella and James worked really hard on putting the tree together...lights, ornaments and of course topped with the angel Macie made our first Christmas in Krakow.

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas soon will be there. 

This is James's stocking from when he was a kid. How cool that we still use it! 

One of our sweet neighbors gave the girls a fun book full of punch out ornaments. So the girls literally spent ALL day making ornaments and hanging them around the house. Unfortunately this is the only picture I got. 

On Friday, James and I were in Warsaw to take a language competency exam...cross your fingers that we did decently. Anyway, snow was in the forecast for Friday. I suppose it is time for snow, but this Texan girl is not ready for our world to be covered for months in snow. Well ready or not, we got the mother of all snow storms which we had to drive all the way from Warsaw through. We had hurricane force winds also. We saw a couple of large delivery trucks laid over on their sides and several 18 wheelers that were really struggling to get up hills...this caused major traffic delays. Our 4.5 hour drive turned into 8 hours. When we left on Thursday there was no flurry of snow in the air. When we returned on Friday this is what our yard looked like. 

TWENTY FOUR HOURS, PEOPLE!!! Unfortunately, even if we were in Texas we would be having similar weather this weekend. 

We are praying that you and your family are blessed this holiday season. In the midst of the hustle and bustle, remember the reason we celebrate this holiday...the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! 

Stutthof

We live in a country full of rich history. One of the things that had a huge impact on their society is WWII. There were many concentration camps all around Poland during the war. While we lived in Krakow, we were able to visit one of the most famous, Auschwitz-Birkenau. It was so humbling and unbelievable to see how people lived during this time.

Close to Gdańsk is another concentration camp Stutthof, which was the first camp outside of Germany. It was much smaller than Auschwitz but equally as unbelievable and humbling. It was a cool, rainy day when we visited this week. It was my first time. Here are a few pics I took. 

And I was worried about my surgery. This is where they performed surgery...usually WITHOUT anesthesia. YIKES!!!

gas chamber

We also visited Westerplatte where the first shots if WWII were fired. 

In the midst of this sadness and tragedy, we were able to see God's creativity and how much he loved us. The Autumn colors were gorgeous.