As time goes by...

It's been a very loooong time since we wrote our last post. Kevin and I were in the Czech Republic back then, getting ready to finally fly to Texas. Well, believe it or not, now we're here, all settling down, still getting to know new members of family and friends. It's been lot of fun and wonderful experience. I (Katerina) love it here so far. We managed to visit some places here in Texas and it is amazing to see how different Texas can be from my home country and still so beautiful. I think every country has its own beauty that its people should be proud of. Thank to my new wonderful family who helped me go through the first days in this new place, I feel like home already. 

Flight to America

We will be returning to America on November 17th! Can't wait to see everyone!

KATERINA IS COMING TO AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are very very very happy to announce that we received notice from the American government that our application for Katerina to come to America has been approved. We have a few things left to do. We still have to go through some formalities like an interview at the embassy. We don´t have exact dates yet, but Katerina will be coming to America!!!!!! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. Please continue to pray that all continues to go well. Praise and thanks to God!!!!

Folk Festival

Yesterday was our 7th month anniversary, so we went to see a movie. We watched Ocean's 13. It was very good. We both thought it was better than the second movie, but still not as good as the first. On Saturday, we went to a czech folk festival. It was very interesting. The folk music and dancing was intersting, but also there were many people useing old traditional crafting skills to create many things. One man was making flutes out of pieces of wood and bone. He would pick up something that looked like nothing more than a stick and then make music come out of it that was unbelievable. There were others who made smoked cheese, traditional clothing, and also various kinds of folk art. What was really cool, is that there was also a group from america who performed american folk music. Here is video of a czech folk dance and also an american one.

Sightseeing

On Tuesday, we travelled to two exciting places. The pastor of Katerina's church and his wife, were kind enough to provide transportation and join us in our explorations. The first place that we went was the Punkevní caves. They were very beautiful. At one point, we exited the cave and found ourselves standing at the bottom of an abyss called Macocha (stepmother). This was amazing. It is a rare thing in our lives to be witnesses to such a beautiful and awesome part of nature. We have included an image, but know that it does not come close to seeing this wonder in person. There is a legend from the 17th century behind the name, Macocha. It is said that in the village of Vilemovice once lived a widower with his son. He married a second time and his little son got a step mother. In time, the woman gave birth to her own child and wanted to get rid of the stepson. She asked him to join her in collecting the fruits of the forest. As they came close to the very edge of the abyss, the woman threw her stepson down into the depth. However, the boy was spared from death by being caught on extending tree branches. Wood cutters, working nearby, heard the desperate cries, and saved the boy. Upon hearing the tales of the wood cutters, the village people of Vilemovice threw the step mother over the abyss.Since that day the abyss has been called Macocha, the Czech word for stepmother.

There are many concerts at this location because of how well the music sounds when being performed at the bottom of this abyss. We also got to ride in a boat through an underground river in the caves. If you would like to learn more about the caves, you may look here http://www.cavemk.cz/punkevni-caves/. Here is an image from the cave and of the abyss.

This stalagtite and stalagmite are called Romeo and Juliet, because they have dried up and will never touch. If they had not dried up, they would have met in only 750 years.

And here is the Macocha Abyss

After the caves, we went to the Bouzov Castle. The castle is about two hours away by car. It was magnificent. We took a tour of the castle and also of the tower which is part of the castle. There

were many interesting and historical items inside the castle, including very old handmade tiles, weapons, armor, paintings, a model of the castle made of silver and precious stones as well as many other old and beautiful things.. The castle has been around since the second half of the 13th century. It has been the home of many different people through the years. The first owners were members of the Přemysl family. Later owners included the teutonic knights. At one time, it was under the control of nazis. The view from the top of the tower was amazing. We could see for a very long way. The landscape of Czech looked very beautiful from this viewpoint. Here is an image of the castle.

The Bouzov Castle

A closer image of the castle

The day was wonderful. We both enjoyed the experiences at each place very much.

Kevin's Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Kevin's birthday. It was his 34th birthday. He loves pirate movies, so his czech mother and I made him a cake shaped like a pirate ship. There were cannons, gold, and bottles of rum all made from sweets. Also, there was a plastic monkey, because Kevin and monkeys go well together. The cake was fun to make, but I hope that he doesn't start liking aliens, robots, rockets or something even harder to make for next year. : ) Because of his age, there were so many candles that one of the ship's sails caught on fire. It took the whole crew to blow out all of the candles and put out the fire on the sail. Kevin, my mother, my sister, and I went to eat pizza for lunch. After that, we went home and ate cake and sweets. Today, we all feel very fat, full, and satisfied. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. Here are a few pictures from the day.

The monkey stealing a bottle of rum.


Kevin and his cake.


The sails that caught on fire.


Kevin, my mother, and my sister at the pizza place.


Kevin and I at the pizza place.

Sunday School at the Brethren Church

Today we visited the Brethren church in Listna. We spoke to the children about mission work and sponsorship in Tanzania. We also taught them about how to be ready for any mission work at their age. It was a very nice experience. We both had a wonderful time. There were many fun questions that we answered for the children. The funniest is when they asked if I was the Kevin from the movie, Home Alone. After class, we sat with the children in little chairs around a table and had snacks with them. One boy, Kristian, had many questions about american football and soccer. Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't have many answers for questions that have anything to do with sports. It was a lot of fun though. The boy followed us outside even after class asking many questions and telling stories about the football(soccer) playing that he does. The class was very nice and gave us a gift. We were given a nice towel that says "z lasky", which means "with love". They also gave us a photo album with many pictures of the children and teachers. Here is a picture of the class. Kristian is the blond boy on the right in the front row.

School Festival

Today, Katerina and I went to a festival that celebrated the end of the school year for the children. We had a good time. There were several dances by the children and then they played games. While we were there, I had a delicious sausage. Katerina and I shared some french fries. Below are a few pictures from the day.

The following is a video of one of the dances performed by the children.

Five Months

Wednesday, June 6th, we celebrated our fifth month of marriage. We have spent nearly the entire time apart, so it was very special to be together on this day. We both love animals, so we spent the day at the zoo in Ostrava. That evening we went to see the new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. It was a very fun day, but after all of the traveling, we were happy eventually to be home again. Here are some pictures from the zoo.

And here is video of a bear who really enjoys the shower of water he is getting from above.

A Walk in the Village

Today we went on a walk in Hradek village. Before we left, Kevin helped Katerina's mother fix a chair. We decided to walk to a river near Katerina's house to watch the brook minnow swim upstream. On the way, we crossed railroad tracks. A train was coming soon. Kevin placed quarters on the track, so that the train would flatten them.


As we continued walking, we passed some trees that had wonderful flowers growing in them. Katerina decided to stop and smell them for a moment.

Kevin took a break to feed grass to some sheep. This sheep was not interested in mere petting. It would not come to the fence unless you had grass for it to eat.

When we made it to the river, it was amazing. It is wonderful to have a river like this so near your home. The water was a bit low today, but it was still high enough to be flowing over rocks and creating a very pleasant sound. Many of the baby fish seemed to have moved on since our last visit, but there where still thousands to be seen.

Here is video of the fish trying to jump upstream and of Kevin holding a fish he managed to catch.




We are having a wonderful time together. We hope that all of you are also doing well.
Please send us email if you wish to wimberley.kevin@gmail.com