We Made It

Thank you everyone for praying for us ! After a 2 day journey (we stayed in Copenhagen overnight because of our late flight) we made it. We are home! We are so happy to be back in Sarajevo seeing our friends and speaking Bosnian. You can pray for us as we resettle: that we find a good preschool for the kids, that our language comes back and we can start classes soon, and for adjustment for the kids. Thank you!

Overdue update!

Hey guys,

First of all, thank you for being patient with us as we haven't updated in a while. Life has been busy, as I'm sure all of your lives have been. Where did we leave off...

1. Thank you for praying for our friends the Jacksons. Anne is doing better, although still suffering the effects of a brain injury. You can follow her recovery here: www.caringbridge.org/visit/annejackson

2. We packed up in Bosnia and came back to Atlanta for a month. We had a great time seeing family and friends but of course it was so short we didn't get everyone in we wanted to. :( You guys who we didn't see...come over to Bosnia!

3. Currently we are finishing our time in Ft. Collins, Colorado for our training with our team. It has been very beneficial and we are enjoying life at a slower pace. My (Taylor) parents arrive today and will attend the parent sessions later this week.

4. We return to Bosnia in about a week! Please pray for our transitions and stress level as leaving is always hard, but we are really looking forward to being home! Thanks guys!

5. Josh continues to work on his book about Miss Irby and Irby Road. (Josh's distant cousin came to Sarajevo 150 years ago and became a national hero because of her humanitarian work) Please pray as he will start working with a writing coach once we return to Sarajevo.

Thanks everyone for your prayers!

Oh, and if you would like to give financially, please visit:

give.ccci.org and type in our names. Thanks!

Please pray for our friends the Jacksons

Hey everyone,

We are doing well here in Sarajevo. Our friends who live in Turkey came for a visit, so we are having fun with them. They may stay here a while due to the volcano cloud!

Just a quick update to please pray for our sweet friends, Eric and Kathryn Jackson and their family. Kathryn and the kids were in a very bad car accident last week and their sweet 5 year old daughter, Anne, is in ICU. Check out the caring bridge site and pray! Anne is such an awesome kid, we want to support this family as much as we can!!! And prayer is the best way to do it .

www.caringbridge.com/visit/annejackson

thanks, guys!

Easter Weekend

We are enjoying our Easter weekend, although missing you all at home. Quick rundown what's going on at Irby Road...

Good Friday: We got to play some "Jesus Music" (as our friend Armin, the boss of the pub, calls it) at the British Pub here. It was great. Armin loves the Jesus music :) haha. It was wonderful, for 3 hours we played worship songs, CCM and everything.

Saturday: We had a great time with our dear friend Dzenana and her family at her nephew's 1st birthday party. It was so much fun. Israel and Elijah had their own fun playing with the other kids and eating lots and lots of dried meat. (I think this has replaced chocolate for them!)

Today: Kids woke up to gift bags with Easter loot. We celebrate not with the Easter Bunny, but saying that because Jesus rose from the dead, there are many blessings He gives us. So we have Easter blessings in the bags. It was great fun teaching the kids that when someone says "He is Risen!" They reply "He is Risen indeed!" Josh preached at church today and now we are preparing our Easter feast with friends Todd, Karen and Bethany and baby Josh to play and have an Easter Egg Hunt. Should be fun.

Have a great Easter! He has risen! He has risen indeed!

All Well...Now for Passover

Israel is well, and our church is celebrating Passover tonight. We are happy to celebrate with them, esp. because we used to do it every year as an Irby family at Josh's parents' house. I'm making chocolate macaroons for it this afternoon, I think I'll ask Israel to help me.

Israel and Josh had a pretty cool talk last night. She disobeyed last night (after Josh asked her to get ready for her bath) so Josh had to have a "talk" with her in her room about listening vs. talking back. After a very long talk (and a bit of discipline) she ran right out, butt naked and ready for a bath! She said, "I'm sorry Mommy for not doing what Daddy asked, but now I'm ready for my bath." I forgave her and she got in the tub. After about 5 minutes of playing, she (on her own) put all the toys back in the toy bag, lifted the plug, and got out of the tub. Ran in her room and grabbed a diaper, and got ready for bed by herself. She cleaned her room and asked for her Gummies (vitamins) so I gave them to her. Last week, I accidentally gave her 4 (she usually gets 3) and we had a big talk because she lied about getting 4, saying she only got 3. (she was hiding the 4th one behind her back saying she didn't have 4) But last night I gave her 4 by mistake again and she said "Mommy, I got 4, here's one back!"

She quickly got into bed and Josh read her a Princess story. She asked why there is always a bad person in the Princess stories. Josh explained to her it's because in life there is always an opposition, but who wins in the end? The good. Then he explained the Gospel to her, how Jesus always wins in the end. It was a good end to the evening. We think something clicked for her tonight.

The Princess is Sick.

Israel woke up at 5 this morning throwing up.  If you have known us a while you know that makes me nervous, as last time she threw up she ended up in the hospital.  Please pray for her and for me as I get sick when I see, smell or hear the stuff.
thanks!

FINALLY an update

Hey everyone, bet you are wondering what's going on at Irby Road!? Here's a quick update:

My parents and sister came after Christmas. We had a great time together playing Cards late into the night.

We went to Spain in January for a conference. We spent a few days in Barcelona for vacation. It was great to go to the Aquarium and run around in the parks. Then at the conference in Nerja we got to be on a worship team with Seth and Laura (Josh's brother and sister in law). They live in IN and are on staff with Keynote, CCC's music ministry. It was really fun to be with them (and to see Laura pregnant! She's expecting their 2nd baby, a boy, in April!) . The kids had their own conference. A church from the US sent a children's ministry team and did a full out VBS. At the end, the kids could recite Eph. 2:10! They also provided free babysitting when needed. It was wonderful.

ZAGREB: We spent a few days in Zagreb, Croatia for a day of celebration with all the staff from Croatia and Bosnia. We got to stay with our national directors, Brooke and Karen Butler who we always enjoy being with!

VALENTINE'S: We had a Valentine's party for Israel and Elijah's friend. A few MK's came and some of Israel's Bosnian friends from ballet. It was wonderful! (see my FB for pictures)

MOVING: We moved to a new house! We LOVE our new place. It is so comfortable for our family and quiet and beautiful.

SNOW. We have had so much snow dumped on Sarajevo in Feb. and March! We are excited to see spring come. But we have had fun sledding on the Olympic mountain and outside our home! And making snowmen :)

DIANE: My dear friend Diane Thiel came for a visit last week! Diane's been a friend of mine (and a mentor) since college. 4 years ago, her husband was killed in a car accident when a man who was recklessly driving ran into him. 1 1/2 years ago she stood before this man and forgave him because of the forgiveness Christ has shown her in her life. She got to share this story in many different venues around our city. It was amazing to see God use this powerful testimony in the lives of so many people. Having her in our home and showing her our city was so much fun!!!

LANGUAGE: We all still are working on language. We took Israel out of preschool for now since she was really missing Elijah. She still is taking ballet and doing a great job...meeting lots of new friends and is really happy there. Our babysitter Merima is speaking only Bosnian with the kids now, and teaching Israel some great life skills like baking homemade bread and crepes and cleaning. Elijah is working on his basketball! He can shoot and make the basket now!

COMING TO THE US: We come back to the States May 7 and will be in Atlanta for 4 weeks. Then we are going to Ft. Collins Colorado for 6 weeks for a training. Please pray for us for this time. We need to raise more support. We also need to borrow a car and 2 car seats so if you know of anyone who can help with this, let us know!

FROM ISRAEL: vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvbnmm,,

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FROM ELIJAH:nnnnzpmmtaxcvbnm,....

We love you all and thank you for your support and prayers!

taylor