Ian's birthday

Ian is 1 yr old today. Here is his wake up call in the morning! So cute!!

Joel & Kim visit

We had a great time with Uncle Joel and Uncle Kim. That's right, "Uncle" Kim! Thad just can't seem to get "Aunt" out of his mouth and so she is most affectionately called "Uncle". Here are some highlights from the week.

River boat cruise down the Danube

Celebrating "Uncle" Kim's and Ian's birthday

Hiking to a castle

And seeing the funniest car on the way down from the castle. Chicago police written on the side but found in a little town in Austria :)


Also, another highlight of the week was the Frauenlauf ( Woman's run) that Kim and I ran in. We were both able to run the 5k without stopping!! Kim finished before me and my short legs....but it was a blast and definitely something I'll do again!

Junior Formal

We had a blast last night at the Junior Formal dinner and dance! It was held at the Marriott across from Stadt park (city park). What a delight to see them all dressed up and taking pictures in the park before dinner. As we enjoyed the evening we kept thinking how grateful we are to be a part of such a classy event with our wonderful students. We did dance and that in itself was quite funny! The students loved seeing Thomas dance and Oscar even sang a love song for us and another couple to dance to. It was quite the night! Here are some pictures for you to get an idea of what the evening looked like.

Our 10th grade boys

Senior class

Senior guys singing their favorite song!

Salil and Oscar being funny!

In addition, there was a slide show for the seniors showcasing their graduation pictures and photos of each one when they were little kids. We had a fabulous dinner and then hung out with the students on the dance floor. We will be planning this event next year as our class will be juniors! It was great to have an idea of what we need to plan for and we look forward to making it a special time as well.

Staff worship evening

Last Saturday, we had the opportunity to organize a staff worship evening at the school. Within the busyness of life is hard to find time to gather our staff as a whole and fellowship. We thought it would be neat if we had just a time of praise and worship with no other distractions. So, I (mollie) was able to create a small team to help lead an hour and half of songs with scripture read intermittently. It was a wonderful time and so many have expressed what a blessing it was to get quiet before the Lord. In most of our churches here, the worship time is different than what we are used to or maybe there's no childcare during that time. Sometimes it can be difficult to sing and enter into a worshipful spirit when you have so many distractions. The Lord provided such a sweet time of singing last Saturday that I truly believed it encouraged and uplifted our staff in a special way. So glad to have been available for that purpose!

Thad turned 3 years old!

What a wonderful birthday party at the zoo! Thad loved seeing all the huge animals and getting his picture taken with a few of them. He liked the Giraffes and saw polar bears and lions. Thought we'd share some picture of the birthday boy!

Seals in their water tank

a prairie dog that was not really caged in!

birthday boy with blue icing from his cupcake

just an elephant statue

No rest for the weary

Let me introduce you to the Black Forest Academy Varsity Soccer Team. They're big. And good. I have been trying to put together a trip for my boys to play these guys since last year. There were about 6 or 7 times that I was pretty sure the trip wasn't going to happen. But after countless meetings and only 2 real practices, we loaded the boys up at 2:30 in the morning and headed for Germany.
I realize that this map is hard to see, but we traveled roughly 9 hours each way from Vienna to Kandern. It was a long trip, but well worth it. This group of athletes has been one of the most successful in the history of VCS and so one of the main goals of the trip was to give them one last big trip/sporting event to close out their VCS time.

BFA was great to us and they had a fantastic location (the field was in the side of a mountain). I don't have any pictures right now but I hope to have some video once the boys in the videography class get the clips on youtube.

When we arrived, we saw their teaming warming up (in full Adidas warm-up outfits, with their team bags lining the field). Our boys have uniforms, but we are usually doing well if we all have our matching socks. So needless to say, there was an intimidation factor. Our lack of real practice time together added to our tension.

They boys played fantastically well. We were even up 2-0 going into the 2nd half before our lack of fitness finally told and they managed to mount a great comeback and see us off 3-2. I was so proud of the boys and they were really proud of themselves. We had a 1 hour break and then played their JV team and beat them 3-1.

After the games, we had pizza with their team so the boys could get to know each other. Later that evening BFA had their open dorms night and so we all got to tour their rooms and the kids had even more of a chance to interact with one another. The boys also had fun staying in the BFA gym and playing everything from basketball to indoor hockey (all while they should have been tired and sleeping of course).

As well as everything went athletically, I was floored by God's leading of our conversation in my van on the ride home. I had spoken in Chapel on Friday, and one of the things I shared about was how we don't always "know" everything about our friends. I asked the Senior boys (who were all in my van) to share with each other about things that they might not know about each other. It was a great time.

The questions kept going: Share something with these guys that makes you emotional. If you could choose a girl in your class for one of your friends to marry, who would it be and why? What movie makes you cry? What's your favorite musical style and why?

Interestingly enough, this opened them up to asking me questions about all sorts of things. I was able to share my testimony of how I came to know the Lord, and also testify about the Lord's faithfulness in how he has led and directed my life.

I really can't even put into words what an amazing time this was. I can only give you a glimpse but I would like for you to join with me in thanking the Lord for this special time with these special men. Please pray for me and their Senior class sponsors as we work to help these guys connect with each other and leave well from VCS.

I Teach Amazing Kids

One of my students is a really talented artist and has taken advice from other teachers and started to let teachers commission her for art work. The other day while practiced quick sketching she drew Bob Marley and showed it to me. It was amazing and so I had her draw this for my brother who is a massive Bob Marley fan. I chose the lyric and the verse but Kelly did all the work.

Easter and Thad's photos

Here is our family picture from Easter. The celebration of Christ's death and resurrection was especially meaningful to me this year. As I thought about some of our dear friends who have gone on to be with the Lord, I tried to put myself in the place of Peter and John as they realized their dear Lord had truly come back from the dead. How amazing and unbelievable it would be to see someone you love rise from the dead. I was so comforted as I remembered that our dear friends will be raised from the dead, because Christ raised himself from the dead. Can you even comprehend that?! It's an amazing truth and one I couldn't keep from weeping over this past week.
Thank you Lord for life and for conquering death!

A little photography from Thad

I like the depth on this one with the baby formula in front

A pretty good photo of our kitchen

Photography by Thad

his guitar

self portrait

cooking pot on stove

reflection of the artist's legs in the oven door

Well, when we downloaded the most recent photos off the camera, we found some odd pictures and the culprit who took them.

Enjoy!

Here are some South Korean girls doing a traditional Korean fan dance at International Family Fun Night.

International Family Fun Night

This is my favorite school function! We have the privilege of seeing all the students dress up in their native clothing and some share about their countries in different class rooms. At the end of the evening, many of the kids participate in the cultural showcase. I love seeing the kids perform songs, dances and even play instruments from their homeland.
Enjoy the pictures and know these are the families you are ministering to.

Costa Rica

India

Venezuela

Nigeria & Namibia

South Korea

A little behind on Christmas activities

Here is a video from the VCS choir's performance at St. Peter's Church downtown.
It was beautiful! I couldn't remember posting about it and wanted you to be sure and see part of the concert.
Enjoy!

Another VCS Videography Class Project

This one is starring my good buddy Matt, but I had the opportunity to be a part of the creative process and so the boys gave me a guest appearance. I hope you guys actually like watching these.

My two bottom teeth

I included the top photo because it's cute, but the others showcase the lone two teeth.

Missing My Mississippi

While I feel sure that most of you are dying to get out, those of us who once couldn't wait to leave find ourselves oddly drawn back. We love it here in Vienna, but every now and then we long for the unique beauty of Mississippi. I found this video the other day on youtube and I thought I'd share it with those of you "stuck" in good ol' MS. God has made every place beautiful in its own way, even Mississippi.

Austria vs. Germany

Whenever I really start to miss my friends and family back in the States, it seems that God gives me some really cool experience over here that I otherwise would never have had. Last Wednesday some good friends of ours, the Pachecos, invited me to go with them to see Austria & Germany play soccer in the national stadium here in Vienna. I personally didn't care much for seeing the Austrian team, but I was really excited about seeing Germany.

It was a great game with Germany coming up with a 3-0 win. All of the goals were scored at the end of the field directly in front of us. I know people in the states get really passionate about college football but the level of chanting and singing at a European soccer game really beats anything I've ever experienced at an American sporting event. Here are some videos of the Austrian and German national anthems (jeered and whistled by each set of opposing fans).

This video is of the German fans chanting while the Austrian team was being announced.

7 Things about ME

Ok, so apparently we've been tagged by another blog to answer the 7 things about me.

So here we go:

Mollie :

1. I love staying at home all day long. I don't even have to go outside! There are several days where I haven't made it outside at all!

2. I love doing the dishes!! I could wash dishes all day long and I'm quite a perfectionist at it.

3. My one dream job is to repaint and distress furniture to look antique. Of course, I would have an old barn as my entire workspace and this barn would be on a beautiful property in the country :) ( I currently paint when I can....but to be full time would be amazing!)

4. I married my high school sweetheart and I'm so in love with him. He is an amazing man and I love him more everyday as he promotes me and finds out how I can use my talents in the ministry here in Vienna.

5. My favorite thing to do is play the piano for hours at night with all the lights turned off in the house and only the piano lamp on. Doing this in an empty house is even better because I can play and sing my heart out without anyone hearing. This is when I feel God....

6. I find such enjoyment in organizing and cleaning out boxes or rooms. I love to help others do this and get so excited about completely changing the look of a room or closet. Organizing is healing for me and anytime you need some help.... call me! ( unless of course you're in the States, I won't make it there for awhile :)

7. I like to jump out and scare my kids... hee hee. I'll start hysterically laughing at them to get them to laugh and then make crazy faces at them. Thomas tells everyone this is why our kids are hyper and silly. He thinks it might damage them for life, but I just can't help it! It's so fun!!! :)

Ok that's all!

I tag Erica!

We're Back

Wow, it's been a long time since we've posted! Sorry about that. Here are some updates on the family.

Our boys continually amuse us and they always have something up their sleeves! Thad loves playing with Ian and they chase each other around the apartment for hours. Ian wants to do everything Thad does and can barely stand to eat or take his bottle if Thad is walking around playing.

Recently, I (mollie) started getting up before my children and enjoying some quiet time. This sunrise greeted me one morning and I couldn't resist capturing the moment. I love this alone time to think, read, & pray. It has been my life saver for getting through the day and accomplishing the tasks required. If you don't do this, I highly encourage you to try and wake up with the sun! Your kids will thank you!

Thomas and I are well and thinking through our plans for the year. We desire to come to MS to visit family and friends this summer. Would you pray with us as we make final decisions about plane tickets and such. We want to honor the Lord with the finances He's given us and at the same time honor our family's desires to be with us. Thank you for praying with us!

We'll post more about the students activities very soon. A lot has been going on and we look forward to sharing all of it with you.

Random pictures from the Holiday Season

Mom & Dad at their first castle

Thad deciding that he really doesn't like sledding

This picture speaks for itself

Thomas took me to Venice for my Christmas present

Shock & Awe

Last year we made the discovery that New Years Eve (Silvester) is kind of a big deal here in Vienna. Apparently everyone in the city that is old enough to use a lighter shoots fireworks. This is a city of 2.1 million people so that ends up being a whole bunch of explosions that being around 6:00pm and go for about 7 hours. Things obviously pick up at about 11:30 and are really consistant until 1:00am.

This footage was taken right around midnight. We also had some extra entertainment from some Austrian guys who were across the street in the Lidl parking lot. They had obviously partaken of a large quantity of fermented liquids. This definitely added to the joy of New Years as one or two fireworks managed to go off in the crowd of Austrian guys but thankfully no one was hurt. It sure was fun to watch.