Update :-)

Sorry we haven’t updated our blog in a while! We weren’t really sure if anyone was reading it since we never get any comments on our posts……just kidding ;-) But seriously, please feel free to comment. We would love to hear from you.

A lot has happened since we last wrote. I’m going to start with some bad news :-( Šimon is gone. It makes me sad just to write that. A couple of weeks ago we had a game in Czech. We were going to be gone for a couple of days and didn’t want him to be cooped up inside all that time. He was used to being outside…we usually put him outside for a few hours each day while we were at practice or just running errands, but the second we got home he would come running. It was pretty sweet really. Well this time he didn’t come running. We were so excited to see him that we were disappointed when we didn’t see him right away, but it was like 5 in the morning so we decided to just go to sleep and call for him when we woke up from our nap. When we woke up there was still no sign of him. We knew something wasn’t right. We called for him constantly for the rest of the day, but he still never came. About two days later we made signs with his picture and information on it. It took a while to get these done because we don’t have a printer so we had to go to a copying store. On top of that, we had to write the sign in Slovensky. I (Tina) made the sign but then had my teammate look at it and help me make the necessary corrections. We hung them all around where we live, at the vet’s office, and everywhere else we could think of. We had some glimpses of hope over the next few days with people calling about our signs saying that they had seen our cat. It took us a few days to realize that there are a couple other black and white cats around where we live, and the people were always calling about a cat that they thought looked like Šimon. It was very sweet of them to call though! To make a long story short, our kitty is gone, and we miss him like crazy! I seriously don’t even like cats, but I LOVED that cat. He had the personality of a dog, and it was just so cute. There is still a small part of me holding on to hope that he might just randomly show up one day, so we would appreciate some prayers if you think about him :-)

We had a day off a while ago so Jen and I decided to take a day trip to Košice, a city about 30 minutes from where we live. It is the 2nd largest city in Slovakia (the largest is the capital, Bratislava). In Košice, we went to the mall first. We shopped, saw Santa :-), and ate McDonald’s! After that, we went to the Center where the city’s Christmas Market is set up. From what I understand, many European cities have Christmas Markets during the holiday season. Our city, Prešov, has one. Also, when we were in Vienna a few weeks ago, they were beginning to set up theirs. It is basically a bunch of booths set up in the center of the city selling food, hot drinks, ornament-like things, and then there are always some completely random things that don’t really seem to fit. It was fun to see Košice’s market, but we didn’t stay long because we were freezing!















We were supposed to have a game against the 2nd place team in our league last Sunday, but on Saturday after practice, our teammates told us that our game was cancelled. We thought they were kidding, but they promised they were serious. They said it was cancelled because the team we were supposed to be playing had some players who were sick. Jen and I looked at each other like, “Are they serious?! Tough break…” I don’t think I have ever heard of a game in the US being cancelled because some players were sick. Anyways, we are now learning that that game has to be rescheduled sometime before January 16th and one possible date is January 5th. If that happens, our Christmas break will be shortened by about 5 days which we are not happy about at all! There is a chance that the game will be rescheduled for January 13th which is what we are praying for. Hopefully we will find out soon!

It snowed today! It has been getting steadily colder over the past week or so, and a few days ago we had some snow flurries, but it didn’t really stick. Today was the first real snow! I’m so excited. We have been waiting for this for a long time….we can’t wait to have a snowball fight, make snow angels, and go sledding! We still need a little more snow before we can do all of that so we will probably have to wait until we come back after Christmas. Driving in the snow is a new experience for me! I think our car was in shock today because it did not seem like it wanted to take us to practice. It would barely accelerate, and then when I tried to brake it was very delayed. I learned quickly not to follow closely behind the other cars. At one point, when I was in the middle of a left hand turn, the car just stopped turning and started sliding to the right. Luckily we were only going about 5 miles per hour or it could have been bad! Thanks for protecting us God :-)

We have a tournament this weekend before we go home for Christmas. We play 3 games in 3 days against different teams in our league. Apparently this tournament is a pretty big deal so I hope we do well!

We can’t wait to go home for Christmas. It will be great to be with family and friends and also just to be back in the United States! I have been craving Mexican food soooooooo much so that’s something else I’m looking forward to :-) Anyways, we leave the morning of the 22nd to head home so we have 5 days left! One thing that’s pretty weird is that as of now, Jen and I are on different flights. We are both leaving from Budapest and flying to LA but not together. Weird…..I don’t know who plans these things. We called our manager and the travel agent and asked to be on a flight together since that would make our 15 hours much more enjoyable, but we will see what happens. Also, I’m glad that I got to look at my itinerary ahead of time because after a quick glance, I could see that my last flight stopped in LA instead of making a connection that would take me home to Phoenix. Haha…..I got that problem resolved pretty quickly :-)

We hope you are all doing great, and we hope that you are enjoying this Christmas season! Only 9 more days until Christmas!

Here are some verses to remind us all of the true meaning of Christmas!!!

Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Luke 2:9-14
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Until next time,
Jen and Tina