It's been a wild year

2010 started with the Stevens Family waking up in a new country, starting a new adventure.  This time 1 year ago we were sitting in a new apartment, in a new city, in a new country (we had been here about 4 hours) and I was thinking wow, what have we just done.  What we had done, turned out to be the best year of our lives.  For us it's simple when your obedient to God, things work out.  Obedience does not mean things are easy but they are worth it.  So in no particular order here are some highlights and insights from 2010:
- learning a new language, easily hardest thing I have ever done
- kids are amazing, they have learned language, made new friends, and adapted with ease and grace  
- I finally made it to London and saw Westminster Abbey: AMAZING
- It takes less time to drive through three countries here then it does to drive across Texas
- urban life is good, we love the close proximity of bakeries, cafes, and markets
- I could do without having to use public transit, but it is the way things are done here
- as little fun as public transport is, parking in the city is crazy hard
- vacation was on the Black sea, not a bad vacation spot
- we have met countless wonderful people who have taken care of us as we learned to live here
- I started a non government organization/small business in a foreign country, definently did not see that coming
 - Skype and the Magic Jack are amazing, keeping up with family and friends all over the world with the click of a mouse is pretty cool
- my European geography is greatly improved
- fireworks mean different things in different countries, in America they mean pretty sparkly things in the sky, here they mean extremley loud bomb like noises or small arms fire
- driving in Europe requires you be offensive, defensive drivers get run over
2010 was a great year for us.  God taught us a ton, most importantly I learned this in living color: Philippians 4:19  And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Seeing how God has provided for us, and seeing how that provision has glorified him, has been both inspiring and humbling.  We know 2011 will bring many changes and new adventures (namely a little dude names Wilson!) and we look forward to seeing how God is glorified in 2011. 

Letter FROM Santa

I know most of the time the kids write the letter to  Santa but this year Santa left a letter for the girls.  He made some special deliveries to the girls and wanted to give credit to some super friends of ours. Following is what Santa had to say:

Dear Kyleigh and Michaela,
I knew you both wanted an American Girl Doll for Christmas so that is what I was going to give you girls.  Now as I was going through my list of gifts, my computer let me know that American Girl Dolls had already been bought for both of you.  I was shocked! How did your mom and dad buy American Girl Dolls in Serbia?  I sent Buddy my investigative elf out to solve this mystery.  While investigating he found out that your parents did not get the dolls.  The dolls were bought by the Fields and Murphy Life groups at Lakepointe Church.  Buddy contacted Shay Fields to ask if their was anything Santa could do to help with the gifts for the Stevens' girls.  Shay was so excited, of course Santa could help! He could deliver the dolls to Serbia.  Shay also gave Buddy some clothes for the dolls that were a gift from the Clements family.  I am so excited I got to deliver your dolls for Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Santa Claus

We want to say a big thank you to The Fields and Murphy Lifegroups, as well as the Clements Family for all their help in making Christmas special for our girls this year.  There is no way we could have been able to gift them the way all of you did.  It was a great sacrafice on your part to provide for us and again we thank you.   Shay we would really love to hear all about meeting Buddy the investigative Elf.  I figured he was kind of Gil Grishamish from CSI, glasses, a little beard, big black equipment case.  We love all of you guys and you are amazing in how you have blessed us this past year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

New Place and Traditions

Living in Dallas the Stevens family had three Christmas Eve traditions.  We attended the Lakepointe Church candle light service. After church we had dinner at IHOP.  The girls also open one Christmas present (usually new Christmas PJ's).  Living in Serbia we knew these would have to change but we wanted to try to do all we could to continue them.  Thanks to my wife's amazing creativity and a little technological help we were able to modify and enjoy some "new" traditions.  Jennifer created the Stevens International House of Pancakes (SIHOP) and we all enjoyed our favorite breakfast meals for dinner.  After dinner the girls opened their PJ's, the ones Grandmother brought from America.  We then hooked the computer up to the TV and were able to watch the live stream, of LPC Candle Light service.  We all sang carols with the congregation and enjoyed hearing a live message from Pastor Steve.  It was different but it was great and really filled our hearts and helped make Christmas for this family.

Menu

Our Lovely waitress

Rooty tooty fresh and fruity

the "grandmother flew around the world" special

Christmas PJ's

Singing with Danny and the people of LPC

Giving and Sharing on Christmas Eve

The card with the story of Jesus inside

Miki, Jelena, Goca, and Nedja

Kyleigh passing Christmas cookies out to her friends

Kyleigh, Teacher Ljiljiana, and Grandmother

Kyleigh and her classmates with their cards and CD's

Miki adding the star to her class Christmas Tree

Miki and her class with their gifts

This Christmas Eve the girls decided to play Santa and deliver gifts and cards to all their friends at school.  Miki gave each kid at her school a stuffed animal a homemade card and a CD with her favorite Christmas music.  Inside the card we had copied the story of Jesus' birth in Serbian and placed it in each card.  Kyleigh gave the girls in her class a stuffed animal and everyone got a card and CD.  Jen also baked a ton of cookies to take to each class.  It was a great time for the girls to share some of our Christmas traditions as well as a great opportunity to talk about Jesus.  Both girls were so excited to give to their friends. 

13 Years Together a Journey

This week marked Jen and I's thirteenth anniversary.  We thought we would look at some of the changes we have had over the years through the numbers.
13 - years delivered this far on the promise to love till death do us part
12 - jobs we have had on the path to finding the one we are presently called to
11 - thousand kilometers separating us from our friends and family in the States
10 - higher education years that pale in comparison to life's lessons learned
 9 -  years of trial and error figuring out this enigma called parenthood
 8 -  hundred square feet of living space for soon to be five people, one-third of what we 
         lived in two years ago
 7 -  million, give or take a few thousand language mistakes since arriving in our new 
        country
 6 -  new ways of keeping in touch with people we love: Blog, Newsletter, Skype
         Magic Jack, Facebook and E-mail
 5 -  cities we have lived in as we have sought his perfect will for our lives
 4 -  grandparents whose love grows despite the distance between them and their 
         grandchildren 
 3 -  precious blessings named Kyleigh and Michaela, whom we have know for a while and 
         Wilson, whom we will meet soon
 2 -  people trusting desperately in ......
 1 - Lord making our love for one another possible because he first loved us 

     

Getting ready for Wilson - Girls in Training

I'm the big so this is old hat to me!

If Wilson is as easy as Bitty Baby....

I wonder if we can handle Wilson with this much love and affection

Two sisters waiting on Wilson

Family night this week was all about babies.  Jen made baby meatloaf (she cooked it in a muffin pan).  After dinner we had NAT (Nappy Application Training).  Nappies are what the Brits call diapers and what most people call them in English here so we are going with nappies.  It's dignified! In a house with two girls there were no shortage of babies that needed to be changed.  Jen had a very serious discussion about changing nappies and the things to look out for when changing boys (or the things we have been told since really we have no idea).  The girls loved changing nappies, Jen even gave them little newborn  Pampers for their babies.  After NAT we read from the children story bible.  We read from Isaiah where he tells of baby called Immanuel. Finally we painted the belly and let Wilson know we are ready to meet him!

Why did Jesus come as a child?

If God's plan was to save humanity from itself through Christ why did the Messiah come as a baby?  Now there have been books written on this by much smarter folks then me, but in keeping with my Christmas theme for the season "The birth was just the beginning", I wanted to look at this question.  God could have done a number of things in this redemptive process.  Christ could have just shown up with an army of angels and wiped out all the sinners, problem here is that would have been all the people.  Christ could have come down from heaven, climbed on the cross, proclaimed he was payment for all sin, but that lacks full commitment.  For Christ to be the full payment for the world's sin he had to be fully committed.  This means he had to be fully man and fully God and that starts with his birth as a child.  Through the Gospel's we see a full life.  We see a perfect life.  We see temptation over come, we see anger, we see weeping at the death of a friend.  We see love for children, love for the widows, love for the poor.  As John says in closing his Gospel there were so many things we don't know about because he could not write them all down.   We see the lessons we needed to learn lived out in the perfect human form.  We can believe these lessons because they were taught by Christ, fully man.  Most importantly we see that every spike nailed in his hands and feet, every lash of the whip, and every drop of blood was real.  Was spilled with all the pain and suffering that we too would have felt.  This was no easy plan for salvation, and this redemption was not cheap.  This was the death of a man, a man who was fully God.  For that to happen Christ had to come as a child.  The author of Hebrew's says it best in Hebrews 2:16-18.  16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.  I for one am greatful that God chose this way.  When I pray I pray to the one that has experienced it all.  I pray to the one walked among us.   

Where is the Music?

One of the really strange things this Christmas season is the missing music.  We are listening to  Christmas music at home but that's the only place to get Christmas Music.  It's not on in the car, it's not in stores, it just does not exist here.  I'm not even sure they have Serbian Christmas Music, I'll investigate that this week.  But even though there has been a lack of Christmas music outside of the house, we are listening at home.  While I was listening to Third Day: Christmas Offerings this week I noticed something new in the song "What Child Is this?"  Third day had added a new verse :

Nails and spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

That verse really caught my attention and got me thinking.  I love Christmas, I love celebrating the Birth of My Saviour.  I love the image of a little baby.  But after thinking about this verse I am just taken back because we have to remember that the little baby becomes a man who died for me and you.  And he did not die a peaceful, easy death it was nails, spears and unimaginable pain.  More then that his death was not a surprise to him or to God, his death was THE PLAN for me and you (and Mary and Joseph probably had a good idea how the Messiah's life looked in Isaiah, so you have to wonder when looking at that baby if they to thought of this verse: Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.)  Any way one little Christmas song, one new verse, and I look at Christmas with even clearer eyes as I think about a baby in a manger.  Here is a video with the Third Day Version:

object width="480" height="385">

Christmas Season in a New Place

December's arrival marks the beginning of the Christmas season for us in our new home.  I'm going to try to do a series of posts this month just detailing what Christmas is like for us this year.  The biggest difference is when Christmas happens here.  Serbia's calender is the Julian calender which results in Christmas being celebrated January 7th.  For an in depth explanation go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_calendar.   The kids don't even get out of school for Christmas until Dec. 30th.  (On a side note, we can tease the kids about not getting to open presents until Serbian Christmas!)
Christmas is not as important here.  New years is a much bigger day (trees are not Christmas trees, they are new years trees).  We will still celebrate on the 25th (and maybe a little on the 7th).  I'll admit it has been a little more difficult to get in the Christmas spirit this year.  But this weekend I got a Christmas spirit booster shot.   This past weekend the girls stayed with friends in Novi Sad while we went to Budapest.  Things are much cheaper there so we knew we could save money.  When Jen and I woke up Friday morning it was to this:

Now I'm in the Christmas spirit!

Thanksgiving Serbian Style

Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving in our new home.  Before I get to the details of that glorious day (and meal) and observation.  Thanksgiving is not celebrated around the world - amazing it is only an American holiday.  Now I knew that, but was still shocked Thursday morning when I went for a quick jog and Belgrade was still business as usual, anyway back to Thanksgiving.  Our original plan for the holiday was to celebrate with our friends in Novi Sad.  Check here http://lovegrowslovegoes.blogspot.com/2010/11/crazy-weekend.html as to why that plan changed.  So we celebrated here in Belgrade with the Isreal Family.  Because Randi was out of commission Jen made most of the lunch.  She worked hard and prepared a great meal.  Lets start with the Turkey, can you get on here?  Yes you can! Many folks had said we would not find turkey in Serbia without a special request.  But living in Belgrade they are fairly available around the holidays.  On Monday Jen checked at two stores both assured us they would have Turkey.  The Super Idea would have them available on Thursday after 2:00 and Mercator would have them Friday after 9:00. (Another clue that thanksgiving is only celebrated in the U.S.)  On Wednesday I went to try one last store (Rodić) and was told after three on Wednesday I could get turkey.  So I went back to the store looking for whole turkeys.  Oops! Rodič had turkey, but it was already cut up into breast fillets, wings, thighs, legs etc, so I bought two huge breasts and 4 legs.  With the turkey in hand and Jen having acquired sweet potatoes earlier in the week we were in business for Thanksgiving dinner.  Jen did a great job of preparing our favorites as well as some things the Isreals considered essential.   The meal was great but celebrating with the Isreal's was terrific.  On Wednesday night we ordered pizza, while the women cooked and Randi taught the kids about the first thanksgiving.  Thursday was food, and more food.  Great fellowship. Both us and the Isreals Skyped with family back home.  We finished the night watching the Cowboys over the Internet.  We finished the weekend by decorating our tree for Christmas.  It was fun talking about the different ornaments and when we got them and why they were significant.  Over all it was a great day, different but great. Here are some pics of the festivities. 

Pumpkin Pie YUM!

The story of the first Thanksgiving

The Four legged Turkey

The Feast

New place, new people, new tradition

The tree is up and decorated

Thankfulness!

Anyone would be thankful for these guys

Wilson we can't wait to meet you

Today marks our first Holiday in Serbia away from friends and family in the States.  But despite the little bit of sadness that creeps in we have an amazing list of things to be thankful for. I mean I do get to spend everyday with my amazing family and God has seen fit to bless us and continue to grow our family.  We are thankful for good doctor's and hospitals here in Belgrade who are ready to help bring Wilson in the world and who take great care of Jennifer.   We have made great friends here, both national and international, and get to spend today with our good friends the Isreal's.  As I look back over the past year (can you believe we have been here almost a year) God has blessed us in so many ways and we have so much to be thankful for.  Simple things like our landlords, the Labalo's, who took great care of us when we first got here, friends like Sasko and Ira who are always taking care of us.  God has introduced us to great people who's lives we can share and speak into.  He has introduced us to great partners to work with and reach Belgrade.  I am also so thankful for the incredible growth I have seen in my self and my family since our arrival.  I am thankful for the girls schools and teachers, which have been so great for both of them.  I am thankful that regardless of whats going on the God of the universe is involved in and directing my life, how easy it is to be at peace knowing this.  This week I was reading the following verse “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7: 37-38).  Wow, Christ called ANYONE, not just the rich, or the best, or the pretty, or the successful, he called anyone who needs him (and we all need him).  That really struck me this week, we have a God who's heart yearns to know us all and who has invited anyone to join him.  In the ESV it says Christ SHOUTED this invitation!  This was no quiet invitation for a select few, the greatest orator in history shouted his invitation.  I am blessed in thankful to have accepted that invitation and to know that my God cares so much for me and for all people.  

Crazy Weekend

Wow did this past weekend turn out to be CRAZY!  Our friends  (The I family) came down from Novi Sad.  They are going to be moving to Belgrade this summer and will join us in the projects our new company is doing in the city.  We are very excited to have the help as well as the friendship.  There reason for coming was to see us, look at neighborhoods so we can narrow down the apartment search and third go to the English speaking church with us on Sunday.  We had a great time Saturday starting the day with Mcdonalds Breakfast,  that's right Mcmuffins for all.  We then explored several neighborhoods so they could get an opportunity to see how things would be logistically.  Using busses and such.  That night we stayed up late talking,  Pretty normal day but that would change.  On Sunday when we woke up R was not feeling well (that' the wife and mom) so she stayed home we went to church.  By the time we got home she was very ill, fever and vomiting.  My brilliant wife got on the internet and I called a private clinic near our house.  The men and R loaded up and headed to the clinic.  After about an hour they decided it would be best to take her to the hospital.  The great thing about this clinic is they have their own private hospital across town, so off in the ambulance the I's went.  I headed home to help Jen take care of the kids (our 2 and their 3).  We were hoping they would just observe R for a few hours and release her but around 8pm the Doc's decided she had a severe bacterial  infection (not contagious PTL) and needed to keep her a few days for an intense cycle of antibiotics.  T took the kids back to Novi Sad for a few days of school and Jen was in contact with with R.  Luckily things cleared up quicker and R was able to come to our house Tuesday night.  She still has some treatment but can do it near our house.  T and the kids are back, we will be celebrating Thanksgiving together tomorrow.  Keep praying for R that she heals completly, but wow what crazy weekend. 

Car Registration

That's a simple title.... it is not a simple process.  See this picture, this is what I look like after nearly three months of working to get cars registered in the name of our company in Belgrade.  Let me take you through the process.  Nearly a year ago I was tasked with starting a company in Belgrade.  One of the things we wanted to do was be able to register cars with the company and not individuals.  This makes it easier for people to drive the cars since we constantly have personnel coming and going from the states.  So in July we got he company set up and in September we started the process of adding two of the cars.  First the company had to buy the cars from the individual owners.  Sounds easy enough.  Well this took a month of going to lawyers, mailing contracts, remailing contracts, drafting, stamping and mailing powers of attorney.  Finally at the end of October the cars were sold which took a whole day of me in line at the court for about two minutes of transaction and of course paying some unknown tax. Next was a little trip south (about 3 hours) to finish the sale.  See the cars in question are registered in Kraljevo so after they are sold to the company in Belgrade I have to go there to pay the taxes and return the license plates.  This little trip should have been it's own blog but lets just say if it wasn't for our friend Pauk (spider in Serbian), I would still be in Krajlevo.  So we got the taxes paid, turned in the plates, got temp plates (so we could drive the cars back to Belgrade).  Side note here, Jen and the girls went to Krajlevo with me so Jen could drive a car back.  Can I just say TROOPER.  She spent all day, like 10 hours, keeping the kids entertained at various parks, restraunts and coffee shops, she rocks.  When we got back to Belgrade the fun really started.  Tuesday I went to get the cars inspected.  Well after about two hours of really great conversation in Serbian, it was determined I did not need an inspection the present inspection was still valid so I just needed to go to the police station register the cars and bam, I'm done.  Since nothing is that easy and I was paying lawyers to help, I called them and came up with a plan.  Wednesday at 11 we would meet at the police station and we did.  After standing (I mean really standing) in line for 3 hours we paid taxes, completed forms and the lovely lady at the window informed us because our company was in a New Belgrade we need to go to the police station there.  This is not a big deal it's near our house so no problem right.  Well because of our 3 hours in line, it was to late for Wednesday so we decided we would meet Thursday morning at 9:00.  On Thursday we only stood in line for an hour and were cruely tricked.  The clerk took our paperwork looked it over got up and grabbed new plates. (I knew the end was near!) Then started pecking at her computer only to get an error message... She looks up and tells us since the previous owner of the car was a foreigner we needed to be at a different police station to finish the process.  YIKES, my cheerful optimism was waning big time.  So Miloš (the lawyer) and I headed to the police station on the far side of the moon.  Seriously I know I live in a mega city but we drove forever.  We finally arrived and went in.  We found the right window - no line I knew God was with us- We handed the lady our documents and walked out the door 30 minutes later with the above viewed plates!!!  Miloš and I were pretty happy and now we (our team) could drive the cars.  Welcome to a day in the life of an American in Eastern Europe 

My Journey

This past few weeks I have gone all over the place finishing paperwork to officially start our business.  Instead of giving you a boring rundown, I'll let my friend tell the story.   Hello, my name is Ben, I have spent my whole life as a $100 bill.  I have traveled the world but I yearned for something more, I wanted to make a difference.  Now don't get me wrong being a Ben is great.  People love to show you off when they have you, you get referenced in movies and hip-hop songs, sometimes you are the symbol of a strong economy, but I wanted to be more and the only way to do that is to become something different (not a Euro or a British Pound, then you just become something less).  I decided I wanted to be a Serbian Dinar, at today's rated I could be over 7000 Serbian Dinar!  So I took a little Journey.  My journey started as part of a gift.  I was donated to help make a difference all over the world around Christmas time.  From here I was deposited while decisions were made as to what to do with me.  This past June it was decided I would go to Serbia to help finance a start up education company reaching the people of Belgrade.  I did not get to leave in June because there were many government papers to file.  By September I was ready to go, I even got sent on my first wire trip, but there were problems and I was sent back to the U.S.  My new companies bank had set up the account wrong.  There were emails, skype calls and meetings.  How would I get to go on my trip?  Finally a new bank account, was set up and I was on my way.  I could not wait to become a Dinar, this was going to be sweeeeet.  Well I arrived in Serbia in early October and when I got there I was still a hundred dollars...What?  I was very concerned, but the other dollars told me this was normal and I would soon be 7000 Dinar.  Well I waited and waited and waited.  Come to find out there was a little bank/tax snafu.  I had to have a reason to become a dinar.  So the new company I was working with filed some papers, hired an accountant, filed some new papers with the tax office, got approval for me to become a dinar.  A few paper were scanned and stamped and presto I was a Dinar.  Life is great.  I am going to help pay rent, buy office furniture, pay utilities and take care of other obligations for the company.  This will allow the company to have English classes, business seminars, and other activities to help the people of Serbia.  Thanks to all of you out there that give your rescources so Ben's like me can make a difference. 

It's been a while!

As I write this I am drinking a fresh cup of Starbucks, breakfast blend, brought home from Budapest.  It's the little things in life. I know I have been absent from the blog but life has been moving at warp speed so this post is gonna just catch everyone up!
Kyleigh is playing volleyball and really enjoying it.  She is making new friends.  The practice schedule is a little different then in the states.  They let us know at one practice when and where the next one will be.  We just roll with it.
Miki is doing great, her teachers no longer speak English to her and she is really thriving in Serbian.  We are trying to find her a ballet class, she also wants to take karate, it's Miki sort of par for the course.
Jen and Wilson are doing great.  Last week Jen and I bit the bullet and went to the hospital with no help.  We (Jen really) used her awesome language skills to get us a brief tour and get some questions answered.  We were really pleased and think Narodni Front Hospital is going to serve our needs just fine.  We look forward to sharing our Serbian boy with our friends and neighbors here.   We also completed our third language course and Tuesday will begin a new course in a new location.  We are excited to have new teachers as well be about 5 minutes from home.  This means we avoid a one way, one hour, trip on public transportation everyday.  Very happy people here.
I have been busy getting our business from the approval stage to the up and running stage.  I have rented office space, bought some furniture (still got a long way to go here) and started teaching to English classes a week.  This has really kept me busy but aloud me to meet some great people as well as build new relationships.
We have also started our first small group and are studying the book of Mathew.
I am going to work hard this month to more diligent and keep up with blogging more.  Thanks for reading and have a great week.

It's volleyball time!

Wow, I thought I would never happily write those words, but today K had her first day of volleyball practice with a club team here in our neighborhood.  She was really excited about trying something new and hopefully meeting some new kids.  K was super brave and went straight in the gym, she new one girl from school but that was it.  She is playing on the "young" team.  The girls range in age from 9 -12.  I have said before we live in the land of the giants, and volleyball is no exception - THERE ARE SOME BIG 12 YEAR OLDS OUT THERE.  They spent the hour doing drills and I thought K did a great job.  She really had to pay attention to the coach sense all the coaching was in Serbian.  The practice was very organized and the kids were very quiet, apparently talking at practice not cool in Serbia.  K had a great time and I look forward to seeing her become involved in sports (even if it is volleyball).
Here is a pic of her ready for practice

Mystery Solved

Since our arrival here in Belgrade, we had heard tales of a mystical land know as the "Chinese Market" where goods were plentiful and cheap (as well as possibly stolen).  For many months we have searched for this mystical land to know avail, yet on Saturday the girls and I discovered this magical land!  It was a mere walk, bus ride and walk away.  We discovered many treasures purses, scarves, clothes, toys, electronics.  Goods from companies like Sqny, Panusonic, Addiddas, Nake - yes the real stuff.  You just can't find these products in the States.  All kidding aside we had a terrific time and the market was huge.  We spent almost 2 hours there and only saw about half of it.  The kids had allowance in their pocket so there were many decisions to be made.  Kyleigh finally wound up with leg warmers for less then $2 and Michaela got a "Barbie" and Pegasus from a barbie movie.  My favorite part was using my Serbian with the  Chinese merchants - high comedy!

Miki has a fascination with the Mannequins

All good days out with Dad finish at McDonald's

We dressed alike today!!!!

My Girls

You may be wondering why I would title a blog "My Girls", then put this picture of torn up concrete.  Well this piece of earth is a huge symbol of how my girls have grown up since we got to Serbia.  This little patch of earth is on the way to Miki's school and basically it is concrete with a patch of mud separating them.  When we arrived, Miki was to little to cross the mud, we had to pick her up and lift her across, a few months later we just held her hand and she kind of "jumped", now she just steps across.  When we got to Serbia, K would walk all the way to Miki's school then we would walk her all the way to her school (they're about 200 yards apart), then we just had to walk K across the street (half way), now we get to this spot and she says by and walks on to school meeting friends along the way. 
I know all of you that have had kids have similar memories, but this spot represents more then just my girls growing up, to me its a small symbol of how brave they are.  See when Miki crosses this spot wether with help or on her own she goes to a foreign place where everything is different and everyday she goes with boldness and bravery.  Kyleigh goes from this spot and heads to school where 9 months ago she knew no one, knew not a word of the language and continues to learn and thrive.  To make a long post short, My girls are brave and I am very proud of the young women they are becoming. 

Time of Encouragement

This past weekend we had the great pleasure of hosting Steve and Martha Radney from LPC.  They came to Belgrade to do logistics for future volunteer teams to join us in our work here.  We had great time meeting with nationals and of course showing them our city.  For the Stevens family it was a time of great encouragement.  Whenever we get a chance for visitors from America it is the mot encouraging thing.  Knowing that the staff of LPC is supporting us and willing to send teams to help in our work just fills us with joy.  But more importantly knowing that the people of LPC will be joining us and supporting us is a tremendous encouragement.  We look forward to our partnership growing as together,  we serve the people of Serbia.

Working on Wilson's Room

this might be a little bright for a little guy

Can't believe it is only 3 months and Wilson will be here.  Time is just flying by so this week we spent some time getting Wilson's "room" ready.  He will be sharing the room with Jen and I so actually he gets a nook.  (this may seem strange to some of you but Kyleigh actually got a walk in closet for her room).  We bought a rug, a crib (which I had to carry home on my head African style).  We got our room painted if you remember, it was this color:
We were able to hire some great guys who are believers and needed work.  They painted our new office as well as our bedroom and it was a blessing in this busy week to not have to do that (you know I love home improvement as well as painting).  In addition to the painting our teriffic landlords were able to get to the house this week and fix a few things as well as put some things in storage giving us more space for Wilson.  The week culminated with a family crib building session.  Here are some pictures of the whole family getting ready for Wilson.

Miki was pretty excited about Wison's Crib

Kyleigh was holding it up and Miki - was screwing it together

Tightening the screws

Almost Done!

The girls lost interest in helping pretty quick

Here we are with a completed Crib!

Wilson's Nook : The girls found some friends for him

His crib and "Moses" basket leant to us from some great friends

Fair Day

Tickets for our rides!

In honor of the great State Fair of Texas opening today we took the girls to Belgrade's version of the Midway.  This is a small park area near the fortress, Kalemegdan.  Michaela was very excited because she got to leave school and go to language school with us since the park is near our school.  This was probably the best day we have had in Belgrade in a long time.  It was fun and cheap, (we rode the rides, had ice cream and pop corn, dinner at Mcdonalds all for under $35).  My favorite part was right before we got on the bumper cars the carney popped open a cold one and I don't mean Diet Dr. Pepper.  I'm gonna let the pictures do the talking!

Notice the firepower on the vehicle

The girls loved the bumper cars!!!!!

How many stairs do I have to climb?

Up and down on the roller coaster

Wicked awesome safety features

Disapointment of the day - Ferris Wheel was not working.

My Beautiful Girls (and Wilson)