Discovering the Art of Fishing

Blog Post about Fall 2020

I think the only time Caleb has ever gone fishing was when he was in second grade and my dad took the grandchildren fishing.

Keira has never gone fishing.

One of Doug's first employers, Mr. Skaggs,  from 30 years ago asked if we'd like to come out where he was living and fish a few lakes on the property.

We said, "YES!"

September 18, 2020

It was all catch-and-release and SO MUCH FUN! 

It also doesn't hurt that Mr. Skaggs was a fishing instructor at Hardin Simmons University for a few years.

Did you know that was a thing?

He knows ALL the tricks.

Almost every time his line hit the water, he got a bite. It was crazy!

He even showed Keira how to hold her fish closer to the camera to make it look bigger.

And because every little kid likes to drive a golf cart, we checked that off the must-do list, too.

Caleb got really good at catching fish.

Doug got really good at taking the hooks out of their mouths.

And I, apparently, got really good at catching very large sticks!

We had so much fun, and no one wanted to quit, so we went back the next evening to do it all again!

A Beautiful Welcome!

Jamie drove us to the home we would be staying in for the next 6 months, and it was such a sight for sore eyes! 

(Did you SEE Keira's eyes in the last post?)

We arrived around 1am, and I think we stayed up until 3:30am just looking around, unpacking, and taking it all in.

After that long flight, I was SO glad to see this bed!

June 24, 2020, 1am

A couple of fellowships and some friends chipped in to make our stay so enjoyable!

Keira opened her closet and found new toys all for her.

That morning, when the sun came up, we were able to see the backyard, and I have no words to tell you what all of the grass and trees did for our souls.

June 24, 2020, 9am

It was good to be here, but we were still waiting on the rest of our family, and we knew we were not complete yet.

As a matter of fact, our luggage wasn't complete either.  That must have been a rough flight on everyone and everything.

One suitcase arrived with only ONE wheel, and another was missing TWO!

Covid affected our stay in America, as expected. There were some people we couldn't see. There were some people who didn't feel comfortable seeing us. And all-in-all, it was kind of weird.  But you know all of that, because you experience the same thing, right?

Back in April, when we were quarantining, numbers looked small for our country.

April 13, 2020

But the day we landed in America, the numbers looked different back where the rest of our family was.

June 24, 2020

The numbers were so small compared to America's, but the fear was very real for a lot of people, and it actually still is. The fear of death has paralyzed a lot of people, and they still aren't traveling outside of their homes much. Here it is, a year later, and our numbers are up again. We were put on a "restricted" list August 8, 2020, which means other countries do not want citizens traveling out of this country coming their way.

Hasten the day...

(Shout out to Kylie who turned 19 yesterday!!)

Another Day of Discovery

The next morning, we went looking for breakfast and we found a tiny shop open selling assorted breads and coffee.

What more could we ask for? 

The pastry that Karis is looking through and that Keira is sitting under a picture of is called a Trdelnik. 

We called them "turtlenecks," which makes sense since they do look like a turtleneck...for a giraffe.

Dough is wound around a stick, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and then cooked over an open fire while spinning. We didn't add chocolate or whipped cream, etc. They were good just as they were, off the fire, and they quickly became my new favorite thing!  

It was also a good morning to get pictures in front of the entrance to the famous Charles Bridge entrance. 

Some of us were more excited than others :)

Keira modeling on the bridge

Next, we met up with our friends to head to the castle on the hill (Sheeran, anyone?)

We had some trouble understanding the transportation system and how to buy tickets, but we eventually made it.

I took a little advantage of all of us being together to take a "few" photos.

All the kiddos

Vitus Cathedral is inside the castle complex

We decided to walk all the way back, sightseeing on the way. It was such a nice weather day.

Kylie had been planning to get her ears pierced whenever we left our country, so this was a perfect opportunity.

We split up for a bit because Doug and the girls wanted to explore parts of the city that required a lot of walking, Caleb wanted to go back to the Airbnb, and Keira wanted to find a Claire's Boutique.

Yes, you heard that correctly.

It's her favorite store in the whole world, and when our friends told her they had seen one in the mall, she just HAD to go.  Actually, it was a smart move.

I sat outside the display window, reading my book, while she looked for over an hour!  I was able to buy a lot of cheap things that she wanted, save them, and put them under our Christmas tree later as gifts from my mom and her other grandmother.

The middle picture was taken as she signed and mouthed things to me from inside the store

And can I just say, this girl can find a rainbow or a unicorn just about anywhere.

Actually, maybe they just find her. The one on the left was in a fudge shop and the one with pink hair was on a street, advertising a flower shop.

Doug and the girls had some fun of their own out on the town.  They found a new Christmas market.

And hot apple cider.

Later that evening, we met up for dinner and a stroll downtown to see another market. We loved the lights and the feel of Christmas in the air.

Before we climbed the stairs to our apartment, Doug found a marker for the Prime Meridian in the courtyard, so we took another "family photo."

December 8, 2019

An Unplanned Getaway

My last post came out May 2020.  

Life happened.

Hopefully, since there wasn't much to report for most of 2020, I can get caught up again soon, but who knows. The trick is making the time to sit and do it.

For now, instead of starting current, I'm going to back up to December 2019 where I left off before the world went crazy. It's funny to look at all of these pictures where so many were gathered before we had to social distance.

We had a meeting in late November with our friends talking about Kylie's last Christmas at home, our friends' son turning 16, and the fact that it was time for a break, and we decided to quickly plan a Christmas getaway to celebrate all of it. None of us had ever been to a Christmas market in Europe, but we had heard great things about them, so we decided we would give it a try. (In hindsight, I'm so glad we went because lockdown was coming in a few months)

My sister has told me in the past how much she loves Prague, and we decided it would be a great city to explore.

We had REALLY early flights, and unbeknownst to us, Karis took photos of our exhaustion during our layover.

We arrived late in the afternoon, and right outside our Airbnb's window was a magnificent tree and one of many markets in the city.

Our window.

Keira taking it all in from the window seat while we rested from travel and got settled in.

Later, we went out to experience a little Christmas spirit and find something to eat. We found all sorts of food that didn't disappoint.  You just can't find this sort of thing where we live :)

Boys

This is the Czech Republic version of St. Nicholas. He was posing with people in the town square.

(Caleb thinks this could be Professor Trelawny with Dumbledore ;)

December 6, 2019

What a fun first evening. We planned for an early morning so we wouldn't miss a thing.

Tree Decorating

On December 1st we decorate the tree, eat junk food, watch a Christmas light display from Texas on the TV, and then watch "Elf."

This year, since we we had good electricity, we brought out our raclette. The word "raclette" comes from the French verb racler, which means to scrape (you can see one of the scrapers on the black raclette at the bottom of the photo below). Doug and I heard about this for the first time when we went to visit his brother and sister-in-law who were living in Germany at the time, and we loved it. 

It's like a mini-grill, but more. You can cook meat, veggies (or whatever) on the top grill while you are melting cheese (there is even a special cheese called raclette) in little trays on heaters UNDER the grill.

The amazing thing this year is that we invited some single ladies over for our tree decorating night, and two of them were from Holland, and they have such fond memories of using raclettes in their own homes, so it was special for them as well. As an added bonus, they brought some Dutch treats for us as well.  I just don't have a picture of them.

Wrapping our red material from Kenya around the center pole gives it just the right touch.  Kudos to Doug for all the decorating items he has bought over the years.  I do not have an eye for any of it.  

And to all a good night...