How to make Czech Easter Eggs!

Our good friend Magda taught us how to do Czech Easter eggs last year and we thought we'd pass the information on. She made an awesome invention. It was a baby jar with metal lids hooked on with wires. That way you can put a candle under the lids to melt wax. The key is to mix BEES WAX with a crayon of your desired color. Then you melt the wax using a candle underneath. Your painting instrument is the back of a pencil - eraser side with a glass ball pin stuck in the eraser. Dip the pin's end into the melted wax mixture and then paint it onto the egg.
They turned out pretty good, don't you think? The amazing ones were done by Magda.

A marathon together.

I've been wanting to do the Prague half marathon since I found out about it the first year we were here. Last year I was pregnant so I signed Dan and I up to run this year. It was a great excuse to have Dan watch the kids in the mornings and get out and run. Unfortunately Dan hadn't run since January, he has been too busy working on his thesis. Everyone assumed he would die. We ended up running most of it with my friends Maylia and Emily. Their pace was perfect. We started in the back so we passed people the whole time until about 19K when I started to hurt. Now you'd think Dan would be dying but no he was keeping me going - saying cute little things to keep me distracted, "Val you're so hot when you run" etc. We didn't walk and got a pretty good time: 2:09. So pretty much we are amazing! Dan says since we both did a half we can say "We ran a marathon together."

Strike three...

So Dan got his third letter from UBC the other day. "We regret to inform you . . . " So now for plan B. Dan has been applying for Geography jobs teaching at Jr. Colleges and Universities and GIS jobs. But we're still mostly focused on graduating from school here. Dan's almost done with his thesis. I think the end has to be the hardest part. I guess we'll move back to the U.S. when there's a job to move home to. Once again - we'll keep you posted.

Grad School?

Dan has applied to graduate school at the University of Utah, University of Colorado and University of British Columbia in Vancouver Canada. So far we have received rejection letters from Utah and Colorado. We're still waiting to hear from UBC. We both figured that getting a masters at Charles University, where the studies are in Czech, would be the hardest part of Dan's teaching-at-a-university dream. So cross your fingers and hold your thumbs for UBC! I guess plan B is to work in Prague and apply for jobs online in the U.S. until we feel like we have something to move back to - hopefully in Utah. We'll keep you posted.

Vinson's Big-Three Birthday

This is how Vinson woke up on his birthday. I guess he was in a hurry to get the celebrations underway!!
Vinson turned three last weekend and we celebrated with his good friend Lo Lo and her Mom. Unfortunately Lo Lo's Papa was on a business trip and couldn't join us. We went to Beckiland, which as you will see is a superfun indoor playground for kids and parents... Benjamin loved it too. There was so much to see. His arms were flapping in excitement most of the time. Lo Lo loved the trampolines. Vinson and Dan really enjoyed the "monkey" rope area. This particular spot allowed us to climb over a nice two story drop. Luckily, none of us fell through the small holes in the webbed tunnel.
Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Vinson, Happy Birthday to you!