Liam Laughing

Liam has been doing so great these last few weeks. He is understanding so much these days which is a blast. This isn't really anything special, but it is at least something which is more than I can say for the last month.




We just finished our second annual winter camp! It was a blast. The theme was about doing 180's, both in life and on a snowboard. We told stories each night from people who had seen God do a 180 in their life. It was a really significant time for a lot of people. Here is a video below of the week.

Back in SLO

We are finally back in Slovenia, and getting back to normal life. Liam finally slept through the night last night, 10 days after we got back. Both Katka and I really enjoyed a good night sleep. We have loved getting back in the swing of things in Slovenia and re-connecting with some of our favorite people.

Here is a quick video of Liam back in the states. He definitely doesn't get his dancing skills from his dad.

Back in the States

We have now been back in the states for a few days. It has been a foggy last few days. Jet lag is difficult enough, but it is made significantly more interesting with a one year old. We have already been able to connect with lots of people which has been great. Here are a few pictures below of our time in Slovenia celebrating Liam's birthday with Katka's family. We gave him a kit-kat candy bar for the first time, and you will notice that it is in almost every picture.

The other pictures are from our time in Boise visiting my brother and his family. We were just there for a night, but it was a great chance to see them and for them to meet Liam. It was really short, but so thankful that we had that time.

Back to blogging

Not sure if anyone out there still checks our blog, but I am going to try and get back to semi-regularly updating this thing. So, I am not going to post pictures of the last few months, but just start from today and move forward.

Today I heard Liam say his first word outside of the usual grunts. He says mama sometimes, but I am pretty sure that he uses it when he wants something, not necessarily to say he wants her. I have been working on Dada, but unfortunately it means grandma here in Slovene, so I will need to work on him saying Dad or Daddy. Right now I am happy with hi.

Some recent Liam pictures

We have been really busy these last few weeks with camps, follow up events, and preparing for other camps. I will post some pictures of our road trip to Nice, France when we get some pictures from other people. Mean while, here are 5 pics of Liam.

Breaking the Law

Yesterday we had two unexpected visitors. They were from one of the main cell phone companies here in Slovenia (Mobitel) and were loaded up with some crazy handheld antena's. They told us that something has been scrambling their cell phone signals in the area, and that they had tracked it to something coming from our house.

Apparently our baby monitors that we brought from the states use a frequency that messes up the cell towers here in Europe. If we didn't live up on a hill they said it wouldn't be a problem, but as it is the signal travels a long ways. They asked us nicely not to use the monitors any more since they are (apparently) illegal here. Then they said that if we continue to use them they said they will send someone who for force us to stop using them.

Smurfs

Remember the smurfs cartoon? Apparently there is a smurf movie coming out this month. Here is Slovenia they will release the same movie but with Slovene voices instead of the English. Today Katka got to go and record as one the main characters in the movie.

Looking forward to the movie premier and some free movie tickets.

Catching UP

It has been about a month since I last updated the blog. Things have been crazy around here. Rather than explaining everything that we have done I just put together a little slideshow of some pictures.

Czech Conference

Last week we had our annual conference in the Czech Republic. We had great time with friends and teammates, heard some great messages, and came back refreshed. It was definitely a different conference for Katka and I having a kid.

We got to introduce Liam to the whole group which was really fun. He thought that it would be fun to scream almost the entire time we were up front.

There were 12 new babies introduced which was really fun.

Katka also received an award for her impact through music.

Liam enjoying a bath

First Hair Cut

Katka and I were packing for a conference today and we came across one of my wigs. We thought Liam might like to give it a try....and it turns out it fits him great. I can already tell he has a great future of costumes ahead of him.

Day in the Mountains

Last week a group of us left Ljubljana with some food and canoes and headed up to Lake Bohinj. We rented bikes and headed up into the mountains, with a goal of reaching a waterfall. With the exception of being completely out of shape the trip was a blast.
I know it is weird to say, but bike crashes are always so fun to watch. We had a couple of pretty nice crashes on the way down. After making sure everyone was (mostly) ok, we had some great laughs.

After getting back from the ride we inflated our rafts and headed out onto the lake. The wind had picked up, which made rowing an inflatable raft really exciting. All in all it was a great day.

Mandatory Liam pictures-

A very special day

Today is David's Birthday...therefore a very special day!
A thing I always say to him when he wakes up on his birthday is... "Happy Birthday David! Look how great you are doing - you are not living with your mom anymore." :) If you are from around here you know that many men around here are very much mama boys and are still living at home at David's age.

I usually do not blog but today is special. I just feel like I want to tell you all what a great man David is. I feel like my respect for him grew in new ways. These are some fresh ones:
- I respect David for how well he leads our family and home. He provides security, leads us to rest and deals with daily challenges so calmly and wise. There have been many in the past year and we are doing great because of how David led.

- He is a wonderful dad. Very present, very engaged, very helpful! He loves Liam so well. It is beautiful to watch. Also, Liam has this special look on this face when David talks with him...I know this little life already knows that his daddy is the best in the world! And so funny!

- He is a great speaker! This is something I feel like he grew in a ton! His sermons have really touched me and many in our church and in our youth group. As much as he does not like the preparation process and needs to stay persistent through the process, he does out-standing job at the end! God honors him as he is a persistent man!

- The way he stays faithful in loving the boys, the youth, of Slovenia. Sometimes I ask him: Do you want to go home and leave this hard work that seams to bear no fruit?" And he always says: "Oh, but I love the youth so much. Above all, I want to stay in the center of God's mysterious work. Not time to leave yet!"

- David will share our best (USA) goodies...I am not always so unselfish!

Happy Birthday David. I enjoy you today more than ever and love you so much!