Look Who's 40 !!!

Can you believe Larry Lock is 40!

May 8 1968 Happy Birthday Larry!

The Communists are Behind Us!

Our carriage ride through Česky Raj ...

Dominika's friend owns horses and a carriage. They took us on a beautiful ride through the Czech forest. At one point the driver sped up and we could hear him saying to the horses, "Yaw, yaw...the communists are behind us, hurry...!!!

A perfect way to turn 40!

To celebrate Larry's 40th birthday, we were invited to our friend's chalupa (country home). It is about 1 hour from Prague and is surrounded by woods. Robert and Dominika have 4 children: Berenika, Norika, Angelica and Sebastian.

This of course was an incredible birthday gift for Larry (who may just go crazy in the city). We enjoyed a beautiful morning just relaxing... well for Larry that included splitting wood! Then in the afternoon we took a carriage ride through the beautiful Česky Raj (a national forest). We spent the night and Larry enjoyed a long walk in the woods Friday morning. We were so thankful for such a beautiful escape from the city.

Laini's 6th birthday - A Pinata in Prague!

April 12 was Laini's 6th birthday and she was determined to have a pinata for her birthday. She asked her teacher if she could bring a pinata to school for her birthday. Her teacher had never heard of a pinata before and she said "Sure, why not!" None of her friends had ever heard of a pinata either.

So we made fish pinata! Her teacher and classmates loved it. They gave Laini a super party with games and gifts. She loved her 6th birthday and even got to enjoy it with Gram and Grandad!

Jan Hus

Here is a picture of Larry's Parents with Zachary, Laini and Larissa in front of the statue of Jan Hus in Old Town Square in Prague.

Jan Hus was a reformer who was influenced by John Wycliffe. Hus is mainly known for believing that people should have the Bible in their own language and that everyone should get to take the cup and the bread in communion (Catholics only got the bread and the priests took the cup). He also was against the church amassing wealth and property. Hus was invited to the Council of Constance in 1415 to defend his views. He was guaranteed safe passage, but when he got there they burned him at the stake. This set off a huge protestant movement in the Czech lands, which remained predominantly protestant until 1620 when the Catholics finally crushed them at the Battle of White Mountain near Prague. Not long after the defeat 27 protestant nobles were beheaded at Old Town Square and for years their heads hung in baskets on the tower of Charles Bridge.

Easter Monday

In the states churches fellowship with food! In the Czech Republic they go on a 8km walk! On Easter Monday we went on a trip with the Czech church. We rode the train about 45 minutes out of Prague. Then we walked about 8 km through the woods. On the way we stopped and built a fire and cooked hotdogs (okay they can't avoid the food altogether!) We ended up at Karlstejn Castle. It is an incredibly beautiful castle built in the 1300's. Here are some pictures. If you would like to see more pics here's a link. http://www.vinohradskysbor.estranky.cz/fotoalbum

Hody Hody Doprovody

Hody hody doprovody

Dejte Vejce Malovany (Give me a painted egg)

Nedate-li malovany (If you don't give me a painted egg)

Dejte aspon bily (At least give me a white one)

Slepicka vam snese jiny (The hen will lay another)

Now here is a different tradition...On Easter Monday, men and boys set out in search of girls, in order to hit them with their Easter wands (Pomlazka), which are braided from four, six, or eight willow branches and decorated with one or more colored ribbons. Czechs thought that it was good luck and healthy for the girls to be hit with this stick! (Guys, don't get any ideas) During this carolling and whipping, the girls present the boys with eggs - painted, colored, or even just white.
In the homes, men also receive something besides eggs - alcohol. So on that Monday you will see many very drunk men.

Easter, just like Christmas, is a "religious" holiday that continued to be celebrated even in socialist Czechoslovakia. It simply acquired a slightly different interpretation from the years 1948 to 1989 - it was celebrated officially as a holiday of spring.

Sir Larry, lord of the forest

For several months, Larry has been attending the Myslivost class so that he can get his Czech hunting license. The class has been (of course) taught entirely in Czech, so Larry has been working very diligently to translate and to understand the curriculum. (The textbook was several inches thick-full of information he had to know.) Saturday, March 8 was the day of the exam. All of the students went from one teacher to the next in order to answer questions orally.

After the testing was finished, there was a ceremony. They actually knighted (with a sword) the new "graduates". So now you must address Larry as "Sir Larry, lord of the Forest" The leader gave a speech saying that Larry was the first American to take and pass the test.

Červinka

Here is an article for all of you cow lovers. I thought it was interesting.

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/101597

English Club to McDonalds

This last month at English Club we taught the children how to order food in English. The last week of the series, we took them to McDonalds so they could practice ordering in English. The children loved it. (Fortunately we went to a McDonalds where someone actually understood English!!)

This month (March) we are teaching them about Easter! Most of these children have never heard about Jesus (except at English Club). There are about 30+ children and it is such a sweet group of children (ages 5 to 16).

Classes for the adults: While the children are downstairs, having lots of fun, learning lots of English, and hearing about God, many adults are upstairs in English classes. Many of the adults really appreciate this because knowing English is helpful in their jobs. The classes have grown so much this year that they have split into 3 different groups: beginner, intermediate and conversation. Larry has recently begun to help teach the intermediate adult class. He is enjoying this and it is a great way to learn some new Czech words at the same time.

Grandma in Prague!

We just had a wonderful week with Melissa's mom (from PA) and her great friend, Cheryl (from VA).

We walked miles everyday, but thoroughly enjoyed every minute. We, of course, took them to Prague Castle, Old Town and Charles Bridge. We walked up 299 steps of a tower to see an absolutely amazing view of this city. The beautiful and amazing architecture never seemed to end.

We (the girls) rode the train (along with some other Americans) to a small Czech town to a factory crystal shop. While we were there, I (Melissa) got brave enough to ask in Czech for a tour of the factory. The tour guide was so kind. She patiently waited while I tried to translate what she was saying.

On Sunday, my mom and Cheryl went with us to English Club. It was McDonald's night when we took all of the children to McDonalds and they had to order in English. Mom and Cheryl jumped right in to help out.

Myslivost? What's that?

Myslivost is the Czech word for game-keeping or game management. I have been taking the myslivost class to get my hunting license. For the most part I like the way they do things here. You have to take a serious course. It starts in October, takes a break for December and January and then starts up again in February. In March there is an oral test. Hunters are viewed not just as hunters but as game managers.

It has been interesting since everything is in Czech, but it is very good for my language. You can pray for me March 9th as I take my test. I'll have someone there to translate for me, but it could still get interesting.

Here is a picture of the new Czech record red deer. Thought some of you might enjoy it.

Skiing in the Alps!

The week before Christmas, we had to go out of the country for

Visa/Passport purposes. So we drove to Austria and had an amazing Skiing Weekend in the Alps.

The mountains were absolutely beautiful. Larissa kept saying (and we were all thinking) "Can you believe we are skiing in the Alps!!!"

We enjoyed a great sled-riding hill that was right outside of our apartment, and a ski trail that came right to our back door. It was such a blessing to us to be able to enjoy this beautiful part of our world.

The Nazi Concentration Camp at Dachau, Germany

On our way home from Austria, we drove through Germany. When we got off of the highway to look for a place to eat, we saw a sign for Dachau. Larry's grandfather came to Dachau with the U.S. Army in WWII and liberated the prisoners of the concentration camp.

We were only 10 miles from Dachau, so of course we had to see what was there! The entire concentration camp is still standing and is now a memorial site. It was pretty amazing to read about what happened and also pretty amazing to think that Papa rolled through that very country side in his tank.

More than anything, we enjoyed calling Papa to tell him where we had been and hearing his amazing stories about that historical event.

What an exciting History lesson!

Carp for Christmas!

The Czech tradition for Christmas---A few days before Christmas-all over Prague there are tanks of live carp. You buy your carp, take it home and put it in your bathtub!!! -No kidding!- Then Christmas eve dinner, everyone eats fried carp and potato salad.

We named our fish "Reba". "Ryba" (in Czech) means "fish".