Krakow (It's in Poland)

dzień dobry(Good morning)
There are many theories how Krakow, Poland got its name. The history books say there was a Lord Krakow over the city.
I think it's more likely a big, loud crow flew over the city and squawked a mighty, "KRA-KOW." It just so happened that the city council was about to pull their hair out thinking of a name for the city. They heard this unmistakable sound resounding through the city, and thought, "Well, that's a good name" and so it is to this day.
This blog is going to be random. It won't have a nice flowy feel,

The 12 apostles:

Dad was almost in paradise when he read this sign:

"Keep walking, mom, keep walking."

I was sitting there when my dear friend Sammie the photographer said don't move. Hmmmm...what do I do with my face...

There was also this really cool picture frame in the middle of the garden that we tried to look through. We were both too short. I ended up just holding myself above the bar by my arms. Oh my word. If you ever want an extreme ab workout, come to me: I'll show you the proper technique.😉

Sammie might be one of the spunkiest girls I know. She decided to swing dance in the middle of a courtyard in Krakow at dusk 'cause she said she always wanted to do exactly that. (I've never aspired to do something so detailed before.)Well, what do you know, we walked upon that exact scenario, and in the courtyard there was a tent playing swing/jazzy music. It was the coolest thing. AND my other amazing friend, Courtney, (Sammie and Court are from ELF) is a photographer and videographer, so we got the best pictures. They rocked it...

Even though they had their moments:

I was shy at first, but it looked like so much fun that I did part of the dance with him.  Of course as the 'professional' couple (we've had swing dancing lessons), they were expecting us to show them how to do it, but as you can see, we had our moments. This is me mid-fall. 

We found this amazing coastal paradise right in the heart of Krakow!

                                                                                                     
                                              .......in a magazine

Sammie drew this little picture during supper. "God is holding the teapot, filling this world with living water, flavored with his love and grace." (flavor exclusive from Heaven)

Funny story:  In the heart of old Krakow, there was this guy doing amazing bubbles with a huge circular string that he kept dunking in his bubble solution and blowing bubbles so big that even the adults wanted to pop them. It was actually kind of funny. Imagine all these kids running around like chickens with their heads cut off. (I'm sure most of you can picture that quite vividly.) Now imagine adults eyeing the bubbles wistfully wondering if they could catch them. They would take a little bound, miss it, then sort of shuffle after them, trying to maintain their dignity.

That actually wasn't the funny story. I'm not sure if you know what a stag party is, but it is a bridal party for men, and they are a big deal over here. I'm not sure why, but a lot of the time the groom and his groomsmen all travel somewhere together, and have a jolly time pulling pranks on the groom-to-be. For example, they told us that each day they are away, the groomsmen choose what the groom will wear. They get crazy. (We saw one groom with his mates in the airport--a real manly man with a hot pink wig on, and a cheap, hot pink cheerleader outfit on that was so short it nearly made your eyes water. There was another groom-to-be in a 'Where's Waldo' outfit.) Anyway, back to the bubbles. So we were watching these bubbles and we looked over to see this guy blowing these tiny bubbles from a little normal stick, and he must not have grown up with blowing bubbles because no bubbles were actually being blown.

He then proceeded to play a plastic recorder or flute.

He should have just told everyone he was a comedian or entertainer. Everyone was b.a.g.in' (busting a gut) as dad likes to say. You can see his friends in black thoroughly enjoying themselves.

We took a little rest at this cafe and got some refreshing treats. Chocolate berry ice cream, above, and Caleb's super cool minty berry drink below. I bet they got it off Pinterest. (Or maybe Pinterest might get it off them.)(whaaaaat)

I wasn't the only one who thought it looked cool. Paparazzi pop!

This one was called Winnie the Pooh!

And there Winnie is posing with a horrible Winnie-the-pooh eating monster. Little does poor Pooh Bear know...

Don't do it Daniel!

Here we are walking down the streets of (KRA-KOW) Poland, and suddenly we were transported to New Orleans. Dad starts hummin' the classy jazzies this guy was playing. Seriously though, the afro, the dark skin, the shades, goatee and saxophone...he had it all.

We saw 3 college girls sketching...it was amazing to watch them at work.

There were loads of Cinderella carriages. I wanted to give you a clear shot of the whole thing, but to no avail. Now you get the privilege of knowing what they looked like during the day and during the night! The carriage below would've been drawn by white horses, the horses above would've drawn a dark carriage.

This was our Krakow exploration group: (left to right)
Carol, Sammie, Brooke, Courtney (Carol's daughter), Stud, Tori, Nick, Mountain Man, Josh (main sound guy for the conference-worked with the boys), and Marvin. (He picked his own name when he came over from China) :)

We found a Costa Coffee with castle ruins on it's basement floor. Best kept secret around.

See you soon, 
(I can finally say that!)

Czesc!!

ELF in Poland!

             This is Dan here. So we spent about a week and half in Poland, because dad was speaking at the European Leadership Forum (ELF).  The Forum encourages, strengthens, and equips national Christian leaders in Europe. Over 800 people came. It is held in this 4-star hotel, Golebiewski. in Wisla, pronounced "Veezwa". Dad spoke at the conference, while mom attended and we three kids went as volunteers. Caleb and I were working in the plenary hall for the main speakers, specifically with the lights, cameras, setup, and teardown. Tori was doing all sorts of things, from registering and greeting people, to directing people to their tables at meals.

The first morning we and some others hiked to the Czech Republic.
 About 6 miles all together. 

The flowers were mom's idea.

We found the border marker between Poland (P) and  Czech Republic (C - on the other side).  Caleb is obviously very happy about our find.

Czech Republic. Legit.

Poland. Legit II.

This is the ridiculously nice and large hotel where the conference was held.

Caleb and I on duty. We had about 20 minutes of training in how to work those cameras.  Let's just say the first session was a little sketchy and scary. :) But spending 5 hours a day behind the camera paid off and we were comfortable doing it in the end. 

Tori directing people to their tables.

Mom and Dad helped out at a couple of booths.

This is our friend Aseel whom we met at the conference.  
She is an Arab Christian and her hometown is Nazareth! That's too cool. I told her I knew someone from there, and she freaked out. I said it was Jesus, and she said something like, "Oh, right..."

We had the pleasure to talk to Dr. John Lennox a lot over the week. He was the main speaker every morning for 50 min.. It was crazy.

There were quite a few speakers from Tyndale house. On the left is Dr. Peter Williams and on the right, Dr. Dirk Jongkind. They were speaking about the reliability of the Bible. They are very very brilliant.

A good time was had by all!

Nuremberg, Germany

By: Caleb

We flew to Nuremberg, Germany and stayed with our good friend Gabriele Braun, who lives right outside Nuremberg, for five days. It was amazing. Here are the memories:

We went on a day hike from Nuremberg, and got this spectacular view of the German countryside.

Courtroom 600, where the famous Nuremberg Trials of WWII took place.

Outside the Palace of Justice, where the war crimes trials took place.

An artist known for his high quality metal engraving.

Tori and Gabriele singing a hymn during the celebration of her PhD completion. 

This much meat will put hair on your chest. Fortunately I already got me some.

The same hike overlooking the German countryside.

This is the platform overlooking Zeppelin field where Hitler stood to give his rally speeches to crowds of up to 350,000. 

This is the incomplete Nazi music hall.
 The finished model would be able to seat 50,000.

Another reason we loved Nuremberg was the giant panda street performer.