We checked out housing options in several different districts today. It was lots of driving, stairs, and lots of thinking. It was a good full day.

And felt like and episode of House Hunters International.

And the guys were nice in cozy in the back seat as we drove from apartment to apartment :)

We checked out Prague 2 today. We visited some parks and visited a school that may be a possibility for the kids. Such an encouraging day.

And we had some really good Vietnamese food. When Keith was asking another patron for advice on what to order she told us it was such a great restaurant, that it is a "treasure." So fun to already be finding these places that we'll be regulars at :)

Note: I need to learn Czech so I can start being more adventurous with food. Their pho looked so good over my plate of plain white rice :)

Meeting with more Prague experts.

So thankful for their wisdom, their humility, and their warm welcome.

We've been walking the city until dark (not quite so dramatic- it starts getting dark around 4pm).

And we're enjoying the Christmas markets!

 

Looking forward to our day tomorrow- we're meeting with a professional expat relocator to hear her advice on where would be a good place for us to live. We're learning so much and are so thankful for this time.

Day 1

It is amazing we just got here yesterday! Jetlag hasn't hit yet and we're hoping it stays that way- it turns out taking Ambien on the plane to get 8 hours of sleep is a great idea :)

One exciting tidbit is that we found a restaurant that serves gluten free Czech food!

This morning started well with a happy Autumn- yay for fresh juice bars.

And then lots of walking and discussing ensued.

We checked out grocery stores (and REAL sleds for REAL snow!) ....

Tortillas!

And neighborhoods....

We checked out Prague 5 and 6 today.

Here we are grilling a new friend that has been living in Prague with her family for a little over a year. You can't see her in the picture but you can see how intense WE are about our questions :)

Prague team, rocking out Prague 6! :)

We just finished our recap meeting of the night, and are off to bed. Lots more to see tomorrow! Thanks for praying for us, friends!

We made it to Amsterdam and we're about to board the plane to Prague! Clay and I were able to sleep most the flight. Hooray!

Here we are before our long flight.

When we walked off the plane here in The Netherlands, my heart did a little leap- the Dutch wooden shoes!, SPA bottled water!,the tulip bulbs for sale!- we're BACK!

I didn't expect these emotions as we stepped back onto European soil after so many months.  God is sweet to encourage my heart. As excited as we are to move to Prague, it is hard to think of leaving Texas and our families again. It's painful. But then there's God, present with me. He shows me wooden shoes and reminds me of the last 3 years- how he's provided for me in the past. Oh how I love him!

What was the first thing to make us laugh out loud on this trip?

The way they spelled our name on our coffee cups a few minutes ago:

Dragon and Blee, signing off!

Prague, here we come!

So thankful!

When we got home in March I had no idea we would get to be home for Thanksgiving! In fact I had prepared myself to miss the holidays again. To be at home with family, both our families, was a gift. (As was the meal. Thank you Hubbel and Hudson for your frozen gluten free pie crust! :)

The annual pumpkin toss began with the selecting of pumpkins.

 Then, the warm ups before the the toss.

 After the competition. This picture was not their idea :)

 This picture was very much his idea :)

And, for the record, Aggies may not always win, but they sure are cute.

With Thanksgiving barely behind us, Clay and I are off again! This time....

To Prague!

We will be in the city with the Kellers and Wilkins' for the next week. We'll be meeting with different people in the city, looking at housing options, and spending lots of time listening for the Lord to lead us.

It's exciting... and also scary. Sometimes it's hard to believe we're really doing this!

See you soon, Prague!

Recent happenings and we're in Haiti!

Life has gone on as normal the last few months.

Lots of travel, visiting people, getting visa stuff in order, and raising support.

Oh and loving on my new niece :)



We made it to DC and applied for our visas to the Czech Republic!



We owned it, ha :)



All our paperwork Clay has slaved over for months was in order and our interviews went really well. So encouraging. Now we wait 3-4 months for our visas to come in and continue raising support in the meantime.

This week we are blessed to be in Haiti with our dear friends. They are considering a move to this country and asked us to join us on the trip to help with their kids and be a part of this step with their family. We love them and are so excited.

Here we are heading to the airport. Very excited. You will notice the little one is clutching his suitcase, ready to go! :)



We arrived in Haiti ready for an adventure!

This has been our view for the past few days. Lots of touring around trying to soak everything up.



We visited a lookout point above Port Au Prince.



There are reminders everywhere of the earthquake that hit almost 2 years ago. There are tent-cities all through town housing people that lost their homes.

This building was several stories tall before it was crushed down during the quake.



We got a tour of Maxima, the company Daniel would be working for. Such an incredible place that employs over 200 Haitians.




One of Maxima's projects is producing shelters and small homes that can replace the tarp-tents so many people are living in. It's neat to see this company creating jobs for Haitians and providing products for Haitians.



We went up to Ft. Jacques to get another view of the city, holding hands tightly near the steep drop-offs :)



An afternoon getting to know another family who works for Maxima.



The kids making new friends.



Our group! We love this family.