On January 19, Orthodox Serbs celebrate Epiphany, a celebration of Jesus’ baptism. Water blessing ceremonies take place on this day. Swimmers also brave cold waters in rivers and lakes to retrieve a cross. Three of Tim's friends participated in swimming to the cross at the Morava River.

On New Year's Day, January 14, Zora and Dobrovoje invited us to a special meal celebrating the new year. We had a delicious stew of cabbage and meat (cooked by Dobrovoje!), wonderful salads, corn muffins and kajmak, and desserts. We really enjoyed being with their entire family again, especially their daughter Mileva who was home for the holidays.

Kaca, Zarko, Dusan, and Caleb "help" me make some chocolate chip cookies. What is that saying about too many cooks in the kitchen? :-) We had a fun time, and it was especially nice to spend some time with Kaca. She was in Cacak visiting her grandparents during her winter break from school.

For Christmas, Tim's parents gave the kids bathrobes. They have loved wearing them and look pretty cute in them.

Jelena and Budimir had us over at their place to welcome us back. It was so good to see them! The kids had a great time; Caleb asked Budimir if he could "explore" their flat while Samantha ate lots of goodies. I thought the guys looked quite dashing in their jackets.

On January 10th, the Cacak Angels celebrated their first anniversary as a registered baseball club. The Angels will be looking to build upon their success during their first season as they take on the best teams in Serbia starting this spring. Under the leadership of club president Nikola Kovacovic (Cookie) and vice-president Dragan Zlatanovic (Gagi) (pictured together), the future looks bright for the team.

We had a great time seeing Dusan and Milos, Caleb's friends, last week. We had really missed them while we were in the States. They were very excited to see all the football equipment too, and Tim let them try on some helmets. Sign me up, coach!

On Christmas Day, Mirela and Dragana came by to visit us. They brought the kids lots of goodies (you see Samantha eating away to her heart's delight). Yes, we made them pose wearing the football helmets. I told them to look angry and scary, but they are both way too happy looking. :-) I also included a picture of Mirela with her precious nephew Srdjan. Isn't he a cutie?

On Christmas Day (January 7th), we visited Ziza at her home. It is traditional in Serbia to "go visiting" on Christmas Day. Samantha seems to be saying, "I want this, and this, and this . . ." As you can see, Caleb was his usual calm self. We had a lot of fun together; we had missed Ziza while we were in the States. We also enjoyed seeing her open her gifts from America.

Just a few more pictures of the guys - here they are putting the helmets together.

One of the highlights of coming back to Serbia was seeing the guys look through the new equipment for the football team. What a blessing - that so many in America helped make it possible for the guys to have this opportunity to play with equipment, for the terrific coaching of Chris and Tim, for the friendships developed and the guys' Bible study, and for the many people praying for the guys on the football team.

After going to the church on Christmas Eve, we enjoyed seeing some of the Christmas decorations in Cacak. I also got my picture taken with one of the biggest snowmen I have ever seen!

January 6th was Christmas Eve in Serbia, and my friend Jovana and her mother invited me to go with them to the Christmas Eve service. It was a pretty night walking to the church, and there were many people there. Christmas Eve is an important day to pray for those you love and to remember those who have died; I watched many people light candles and pray for their loved ones.

Thank you so much to our family & friends for making our Christmas so special. We felt so loved and encouraged - it was truly a wonderful time for the four of us. We miss all of you, but we have so many precious memories of our three weeks in the States.

Just a few more family pictures that I really love. We visited Matt & Amber's church, and we really loved meeting the people there. The kids enjoyed a short "concert" afterwards and loved dancing on stage.