Mr. Thomas

The cool part about being involved and supporting those involved in ministry is all the cool friendships that you build. I (Zack) first met Thomas through my friend Deanna's blog. He was a very dedicated servant in their student ministry in Jena, Germany. When they left to come home, Thomas and his wife and family took over the ministry. I stayed with Thomas and his wife and son while I was in Germany last fall. They were awesome to have me in their home and cook for me. When Jenn and I learned that we had a 13 hour layover in Frankfurt, I immediately emailed Thomas. I didn't really think he would be willing to drive 3 hours to see someone that he has only met twice, but he was! So, on Monday, we will get to hang our with a real man's man in his home country and see it from a great man of God's perspective.

The photo above was taken on a hill overlooking the beautiful city of Jena, Germany. From left to right, Jeff, me and Thomas.

Please pray for Thomas' family as they continue to minister to the university students of Germany.

What we've been up to

I haven't posted much about us lately, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to do that now. (And as I've mentioned before, I'm not going to do an adoption update until after Vera's fundraiser has ended. All adoption-related posts are about Vera until my birthday! )

William is playing soccer for the 4th straight season, and he's getting better & better!
His passing skills are really starting to develop.









During the first game of the season, while in goal, he dislocated his finger. Here he is, being nursed by the assistant coach (always helps when that coach is also Daddy!)














I was so excited to get the privilege of picking Zack up at the airport 2 weeks ago... it's great having him back home!












William received his very first report card, and it was great! We'd been looking for an opportunity to take him to Medieval Times, and we thought this was a great time to do it. We all had lots of fun!











We took William to his second Lowe's Kids Clinic, and he made a Frankenstring Magic Trick. He has a blast (but all that hammering will definitely give you a headache!)












We met our friends the Davis family at church a little early last night. They were wanting some family pictures made, and the lake area was a great place to do just that. Zack took the official photos with his camera, but I snapped a few while we were there, too.

The first picture looks like it should be on a campaign poster...
Looking Towards The Future













I am thankful for the Davis family and their friendship. Deanna has become an especially special friend of mine, and I know without a doubt that God's fingerprints are all over our friendship. Our families' lives have intersected repeatedly over the years. Our husbands grew up together. We all worked in ministry together at another church. And now we are in church together again: Deanna leads our women's ministry, where I'm actively involved; and Jeff led the mission trip that Zack just returned from.

And an added bonus to all of this? Our kids are now friends, too! We are especially thankful that William has friends at church now, something we'd been praying for.









I just love this picture of Deanna with her 2 girls (her son & William were off hunting for deer tracks by the lake at the time).

Borsch and Golubtsi and Varnyky... yum!

We had a fun evening yesterday. While checking out restaurant.com I found a place I'd not seen before, Verdi Italian & Russian Restaurant. I was excited to see the menu had varenyky, Ukrainian borsch, golubtsi, and other familiar foods from William's homeland.

So we made our way to Norcross and found the place. The varenyky were yummy and the borsch was some of the best we've had. We were finally able to try golubtsi (cabbage rolls stuffed with meat & rice), and we enjoyed it as well.

Then we found a European deli called Arbat. We purchased several of our favorites, which worked out well because we have friends coming over after church tomorrow for a "Ukrainian lunch"! Zack and I have been busy in the kitchen this afternoon, preparing borsch, Korean carrot salad, and a Greek-style salad - all favorites from our time in Ukraine. Tomorrow we'll prepare the vareniky and perogi to go along with everything else (as well as some chicken fingers and fries for the kiddos).

Here are our finds from Arbat...