A year of firsts...

This is a picture of us the morning we left Carrollton, January 25, 2010.

We left Carrollton for a long time, for the first time.
We met some amazing people for the first time, who we will always have our hearts tied to.
We saw snow that was more than 2 inches deep and lasted for more than 2 days for the first time.
(It was in fact 2 feet deep and lasted for the better part of 5 weeks!)
We were without a car for the first time.
We were without a TV for the first time.
We came to Europe as a family for the first time.
I blogged for the first time.
We stepped foot on Serbian soil for the first time.
We got long term visas in a foreign country for the first time.
We enrolled our children in foreign schools for the first time.
We began living life on about a 10% level of understanding for the first time.
(I am happy to say that we are now tottering between a 42% and 59% understanding level.)
We live in an apartment building for the first time.
We have ridden cabs, sleeper trains and city busses for the first time.
We have ridden in ambulances for the first time.
We saw the church where Jill and Grozio got married for the first time.
We have sent 2 of our 3 kids on international trips without us for the first time.
We have eaten meat from a tube for the first time.
We have seen Roman ruins for the first time.
We buy fresh bread from a bakery daily for the first time.
We have made friends who speak no English for the first time.
We buy fresh produce from the market for the first time.
We celebrated birthdays and holidays away from family for the first time.
We saw the Black Sea for the first time.
We've been mistaken for Russians for the first time.
We have said things like:
     "I don't know why they hate for me to pull out a thousand when I go to the store."
     "That graffiti was really cool."
     "Tomorrow is second Christmas, so don't be alarmed by the sounds of things exploding outside...it's just the fireworks."
     "Yes, I did make the sausage from scratch."
    "Yes, that was my family that you saw on the news."
              ....for the first time.
As well as things like:
     "Ućim Srpski jezik.  To je težak."  (I am learning Serbian.  It is hard.)
     "Ja sam iz Amerike, živim u Novom Sadu, i imam troje dece."  (I am from America, I live in Novi Sad, and I have three kids.)
     "Štetali smo na park"  (We did damage in the park...I meant to say we walked in the park...I was only one little letter off.)
     "Volimo naš zivot ovde."  (We love our life here.)
              ...for the first time.

We have, for the first time, learned what it means to miss what you had while, at the same time treasuring where you are, what you are learning and who you are becoming.

A Three Week Holiday and Three Great Trips

On Christmas morning our kids opened up three surprise gifts...well, two of them were surprises.  Connor had asked everyone to send money for his Christmas gifts so he could go on a trip with his soccer team.  We decided that we wanted to give Brooke and Kyle each an "experience gift" rather than a "thing gift" also.  Brooke got to go to Macedonia to visit with some great friends for a week and Kyle got to have some special Daddy time on an overnight "you are the boss of what we do" trip to Belgrade.

I think we'll go with the ladies first idea and share a little about Brooke's trip:

Spencer, Janae and Kate came to visit with us for a few days between Christmas and New Year's.  Brooke was able to ride back to their town of Prilep, Macedonia with them for a fun filled week.

Here are the highlights:

Brooke put some of her "mad cupcake decorating skills" to use when she and Janae made cupcakes for friends in Prilep.  Chocolate with mint frosting....yummy!

They had a movie night when she enjoyed some pop corn and a very special Dr. Pepper.  I think that can has been from London to Bulgaria and on to Macedonia...an invaluable treasure that her generous hosts shared with her.

Janae taught her to make hairbows.  She loved all the creative fun she had on her special trip.

Brooke was able to do some shopping, play with her favorite two year girl friend and have some extra special girl time.  She started her own blog and is looking for followers...

http://briineurope.blogspot.com/

She spent some time with another dear family who brought her home to us, safe and sound, 8 days later.

Kyle got to go on an overnight trip to Belgrade, our capital city, where he got to choose what he and his daddy did for two days.  He was in heaven...he's very seldom the only kid.

Even though this is blurry I had to include it.
The guys slept on air mattresses at our company's office and made one of the conference rooms into an indoor soccer field.  This was (strangely enough) one of Kyle's favorite parts of the whole trip.  An empty room, a soccer ball, and his daddy's full attention.  What a blast!

They went to the military museum at the fortress in Belgrade.  Kyle LOVES the fortress but this was the first time he'd been able visit the museum.  Happiness is...a boy and his gun.

Kyle got to pick what they ate for every meal too...
They ate 5 meals in Belgrade.  Kyle ate pizza once and McDonald's FOUR times!!!  I'm sure this will never happen again.

They went down on a Thursday morning and came back Friday night.  They got to eat a lot, play some games, go to a movie in a real movie theater, go bowling and meet the cutest little strawberry blonde bundle of joy that Belgrade has ever seen.  (Our new friend Wilson had just come home from the hospital.  I'll always be jealous that Kyle got to meet him before I did.)

And finally, Connor's "super great awesome once in a lifetime trip"...

He was able to go with his soccer team on a whirlwind 10 day 6 country trip to play ball, sight see and watch some professional games.  The went through Croatia, Slovenia, France, Italy, Monaco, and Spain.  He spoke a lot of Serbian, got to see some really cool stuff, and make memories that will last a lifetime.

Here is a picture of his teammates walking around the stadium in Fiorentina, Italy on their way to watch an Italian league professional game.

This is a picture of the Mediterranean coast taken in Lloret de Mar, Spain.  It is a city near Barcelona where they stayed.   

Here is C man in front of one of the sites they visted while in Barcelona...a church that has been under construction for over 100 years.  (and some of us thought our churches had long building programs).

We are all back in town now and back in school.  The kids got a three week break and Trey and I had two weeks off from language study.  We loved our "odmor" (rest) and are are happy to all be under one roof again and getting back to "real life".
We hope you all had a happy new year.  Blessing to you all.

Santa Comes to Serbia

Well, we've just concluded our first holiday season away from home.  It has been bittersweet.  We miss our friends, family and traditions from home, but were blessed to share some of this with our new friends and family here in our new home.  The last post was about a favorite tradition that we brought to Serbia...the Gingerbread House competition.  Today I'm sharing pictures of our Christmas Eve and Christmas day as a family.

Kyle wanted to leave carrots and water for the reindeer out on the terrace.

We frosted cookies for Santa and left him some milk just like we've done every year since Connor was one.

Sure enough...Santa found us here in Serbia...just like the tooth fairy did.  Kyle was never worried because we sent him a letter.  

Kyle got a new bicycle...It started snowing the day after Christmas and hasn't stopped yet though, and so he hasn't been able to try it out yet.

Brooke got a cake/cupcake decorating kit.  I can't wait to see all that she creates.

Connor got money for the trip he is taking with his soccer team...They will be traveling January 8th through the 18th and going to play and watch games in Italy, Spain and France!

The boys busting into the Lego love.

Brooke practicing on parchment paper.

After the fun of the morning our American friends joined us for Christmas dinner.  It was a super day to share with friends and family.

Amy's YUMMO yeast rolls!!!

All our favorites...dressing, greenbean casserole, mac and cheese, broccoli, cheese and rice...we had roasted chicken instead of turkey...it was just as good, and much easier to get ahold of. 

Trey's favorite "Anna Potatoes"

The crew around the table...Trey took the picture and Kyle looks a little drugged, but this is the best one I've got.  

Although we missed our loved ones (that sounds like something an old Baptist preacher would say, huh?) it was a blessed day.  We know Jesus is the same in Texas and in Serbia.  He loves Serbs and He loves Texans.  He came as a baby for Serbs and He came as a baby for Texans.   He is fully in both places.  The joy of His gift of salvation is the same wherever you are...Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.