My Sweet Boy is 2 Years Old

Thomas turned two on our team retreat which means he got to celebrate in a hotel.  We had lots of fun celebrating with our Macedonia/American family.  

Opening his first present.  

When he saw it was a train, he said "Choo. Choo."  

 I made "Boots" cupcakes. Thomas' favorite character is Boots from Dora and he asks to watch Boots all day long. So I attempted to make Boots into a cupcake. They are just monkeys, but when Thomas saw them he said, "Boots." Mission accomplished! YES!

Not the best picture of me.  Ha!

We celebrated with just our family again on Monday so we could do some of our family traditions. We got to Skype and open presents from family back home. Thanks guys!!!

And then Thomas had his cookie cake. Yum!!!

Birthday breakfast!

Rough housing with daddy. It's his favorite thing to do.

Airborne

Kate had to get in on the fun.

Whoa!

Daddy is telling him about the secret of making cookies. "Just warm up the dough." Thomas likes the idea!

My sweet Thomas Andrew, I thank my God for you. I magnify His name for you, His creation. He formed your inward parts and knitted you together.  Praise Him, for you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are the works of the Lord. Give thanks to Him and trust Him for His steadfast love for you endures to all generations.  May the Lord be your confidence. May He fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Walk worthy of the Lord, always striving to please Him alone.  He is a wall of fire around you. He is your defense and His glory is in your midst. Do not fear for He is with you always. Do not be dismayed. He is your God. He will strengthen you and help you. He will uphold you with His righteous right hand.  (from the Bible)

We love you Sweet Boy!

A Former Volunteer

One of the volunteers we had from William Carey University (check out their work here) is now getting ready to head to England to share the Good News.  Her name is Jaime Smyth. She is a singer/songwriter and now she will be a minister of the Gospel among the nations.



Pray for her today and why not go on over to itunes and check out her album.  I just bought it, and it's good stuff!!!

23 Year Old Mother of 14?!

Katie Davis is RADICAL. She gets it.  She is living a life of passionate love for her heavenly Father AND her "neighbor." She is a single girl, living in Uganda, who is 23 years old, and she is mothering 14 girls while also taking in whoever God puts at her doorstep. Her love and reckless abandon to follow the Lord is inspiring!
Check out her interview with David Platt here: Disciple-Making International

Some of my favorite quotes from it:

"Who knows what God might do tomorrow when we are faithful today."

"I will be faithful in the small. He will be faithful in the big."

"The Gospel demands the same thing from every single one of us. It demands a blank check TODAY. A blank check with our plans, our dreams and our money." -- David Platt

Check out Katie's blog here.

Another Tea Party with a Sweet Visitor

Maggie came and stayed with us for a few days which was so fun!  Kate and Maggie had a big time together.  Here are some sweet pictures of their tea party together.

Sweet feet.

Thomas serenaded the girls while they had their tea party. :)

We love sweet Maggie and her precious family. I think they should just move to Ohrid and be our neighbors.  Don't you?!

Musical Nights

Weddings in Macedonia are SUPER fun. You know all of those movies where a song comes on and everyone knows all the words and all the dance moves, and you are like, yeah right, if only we lived in a musical?!  Well, Macedonian weddings are kind of like a night in a musical.  

We had the privilege of getting to go to two weddings in September, and we had a BLAST!  The first was some friends of ours who live in Skopje. They are precious lovers of God and His Gospel which made this particular wedding even more beautiful!  The ceremony was gorgeous as was the bride.

Isn't she lovely?!  The guy beside the bride and groom is Alek, another friend of ours. He was the kume.

(The "kume" is the best man, and in Macedonian weddings, he is WAY important. To be asked to be a kume is a huge honor since there really is no one else in the wedding party. The kume is the wedding party all wrapped up in one dude. He is kind of like "the godfather" of their marriage and will most likely be the godfather of their children.)

The ceremony was very worshipful and so sweet.   Then, the party began.

Here are Amy and I waiting to leave the church. I LOVE this girl!!!

At the reception, the bride and groom wait outside, greet and take pictures with every single person that comes.  It takes a while.  While they are doing that, the guests that have already had their picture taken are seated in the reception hall and wait for the party to begin. Once the bride and groom finish the taxing job of smiling non-stop for over an hour, they enter the reception hall very slowly and normally go straight into their first dance.  Maya and Stefan, however, had the official signing of their marriage license at this point. Then both families and really close friends gathered around for a champagne toast to commemorate the moment.

 Then we dance and Dance and DANCE!  Everyone knows ALL the dances (different types of the oro) and all the words to the songs. It's SO much fun!

And what is a true party without a little table dancin'?

The other wedding we went to was a Macedonian friend of ours and his American bride. :) So fun!

They had a some traditional dancers perform at their wedding. So cool! (They also had a belly-dancer. I didn't take any pics of her.) 

Do you see Brian in the mix?!  

At Macedonian weddings, the bride and groom cut the cake, and then all the guests come up to their table to get their piece of cake.  The bride and groom serve every single piece of cake.  

And after the cake??? More dancing! It is the most fun EVER!  I love Macedonian weddings.  At the end of both weddings, Brian and I both smelled like we had just had a pretty intense workout. I guess that is what happens when you dance 4-5 hours in a non-air-conditioned room.  I will take that workout over P90x ANYday!!! I think I was made to live in a musical!

4 Years Old

I cannot believe my little girl is FOUR years old. Golly-day!  I am so very proud of the sweet little girl she is and of the little lady she is becoming.

 A daddy's girl to the core, and to say she has him wrapped around her little finger would be the understatement of the century.

  

Blowing out the candles.

The little girl beside Kate is Jovana, Kate's BFF.

Poor Thomas. He was partied out, so he crawled under the coffee table and hid for awhile.

The birthday breakfast.

She was showing off her first two presents.

Thomas helped me make the cake. He was part of the clean-up crew.

The cake: she wanted a Little Mermaid cake WITH the crab and fish. 

Sweet Kate Joy, Oh come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our God our Maker. For His word has given you life. Praise the Lord for His merciful kindness is great toward you. He knows your frame. He shall cover you with his feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge. For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. Seek Him early because His lovingkindness is better than life. He is your help therefore in the shadow of His wings you can rejoice. His right hand upholds you. He is your defense. Trust in the Lord and do good. Feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him, for He created all things. Abide in His love so that your joy may be full. (From The Bible)

 We LOVE you baby girl!!!