A Day at the Lake

I love youth camp! I have been attending for many many years. As a child in the 70's we went to Faith Week, then in the 80's that became Discovery Week in TX, the 90's saw my return to Faith Week....and now in the 2000's Camp Zenith. I have so many things to relate from our time there, but I have chosen one story for this blog which really touched my heart.

On Wednesday of last week, the campers all headed to the lake for raft building and raft races. The campers divided up into 3 teams and using plywood, innertubes, and ropes, they built rafts. Hudson's team was the first to finish their raft. They got it into the water and set 3 people on it without the raft sinking. Yea, because Hudson was one of those people!

After that, the race began. It was a windy, cool day, and the distance from shore to shore was great. The teams had to send 3 people down to the other bank, then switch and have 3 more team members come back to the original shore. For Hudson's team, 3 high schoolers took the first leg and were in 1st place on arriving on the opposite side. Then, it was Hudson and his 2 buddies to take the last leg and paddle back. This would have been great, except for the wind and the current. They found themselves paddling as hard as they could, and yet going nowhere. They tried and tried but couldn't fight the combo of the current and wind. They were exhausted. Suddenly, Rob jumped in the lake and joined their little team. He added his strength and they soon were moving again.

As I watched this unfold in front of me, I was very moved. I thought of our Heavenly Father who watches over us and cheers us on. And yet at times, we find ourselves exhausted, working with all of our might and still going nowhere. We try and try, but as hard as we work, we are stuck. As Rob jumped in and helped the boys continue on I thought of how much we need the Father in our lives to be our strength and our guide, helping us get back on track, going in the right direction.

Adventures in Moving...Part 1

Moving. The word that can strike dread in a heart alongside excitement in an instant. The dread of packing endless boxes and going through drawers and cabinets and sifting and wrapping.....YUCK! And yet, the thought of the new adventures your family will have are very thrilling!

Our moving date is moving ever closer. 2 months to be exact. And already we have had so many fun (ny) things happen that have left Rob and I just staring at each other not knowing whether to laugh hysterically or cry. I thought with this post I would give you a list of things we have experienced while planning to move to a city where we (and our friends, who are moving next week) are the first foreign families to ever live there. And this is part 1 because I am sure the adventure is just beginning!

1. Landlord: Hot Water?@!?@! What do you need hot water for? Well, it is impossible to run lines with hot water in them.
O Fam: No problem, we will do it ourselves.

2. O Fam: Why are there two squatty potties in our downstairs bathroom. There should only be one toilet in every bathroom.
Landlord: Someday you will leave and we will split the bathroom into two bathrooms. We don't want to tear up the floor to put a second toilet in someday, so we'll just put it in now. No problem.

3. Landlord: Kitchen? This isn't a kitchen, but maybe a very tiny office or another very small bedroom, there is a spicket of water and you can buy a portable gas burner for cooking out on the balcony. That is your kitchen.
O Fam: Ummmm......that's a deal breaker. We need a kitchen, have you seen us?? We like to eat.
Landlord: Nobody here does a kitchen like that, everyone cooks on the balcony. You can, however, build one yourself.
O Fam: No problem, we will do it ourselves.

4. Landlord: We have decided that instead of buying you a refridgerator, washing machine, and TV like we agreed to, we want new ones in our house instead. You can have the ones we are getting rid of.
O Fam: Well, we will need to look at them first.

5. O Fam: Will there be a mirror above the sink in the bathroom.
Landlord: (laughter) what? no.

6. Landord: I think 2 toilets in the downstairs bathroom is still ok
O Fam: No.

7. O Fam: Why did you move the doorway to the schoolroom from the hallway to the master bedroom? We do not want the traffic to flow through our bedroom. It is much more convenient to enter from the hall.
Landlord: Oh the wind flows much better this way?
O Fam: We don't care about the wind....we turn on the A/C. Please move the wall back.

8. Landlord: How many people are living in this apartment?
O Fam: 4
Landlord: Only 4 people? You could just rent one bedroom and one living room. That would be much cheaper.
O Fam: No thanks, we like this.

9. O Fam: Why are there still 2 toilets in my downstairs bathroom??
Landlord: (no comment)
O Fam: Didn't we agree to take out one of the toilets?
Landlord: You probably aren't going to live here very long.

10. Landlord: After this is all over, we will can be very good friends!
O Fam: Yes, yes we will.

The Tutor

As of today, Hannah is no longer employeed. No, she didn't get fired, nor did she quit. Summer has come and we are moving, and will no longer be in town on Sunday afternoons....ever. I know that sounds dramatic, but it is true. We will be traveling or busy until we move in August. So, today is Hannah's last day as a tutor.

I am so proud of her progress. There were a few days she didn't want to do it or felt like she didn't want to because it cut into her "sunday afternoon rest" time. But, by the end she had learned to put together lesson plans, teaching objectives for each lesson, and creative ideas to teach. Today, her last lesson, she put together her 2 hour lesson all alone, just checking with me to see if it would work. Hopefully she is getting a good taste of what being a teacher is like.

The above picture is of Hannah and Jenny, her student, last weekend, when Jenny and her mom came over to spend the morning making cookies.

Proud Parents

Well, it is the time of year when summer is looming like a welcome friend, just waiting for us to say goodbye to school and play!! My kids, however, don't get out of school until June 11. Yuck! They had their end of the year program this weekend, where each class presented recitations, songs, and plays and then there are awards given.

I would like to take a moment to brag on my children. Hannah and Hudson both received awards. Hannah received academic awards for her Bible memory (99.86 average) and most improved in Chinese. Hudson almost received a Bible award, but his average was only 98.64 so he missed the 99% by just a fraction. While I am very proud of both of my children and their hard work in school, I am most proud of their other awards. The teachers and administration also present 3 character awards that the entire school (1st-12th) is eligible for. Hannah received one for Christian Character and Hudson received one for being an Encourager.

Here some pictures of our fun evening.

Hannah and her friends waiting for the program to begin.

Hudson chopping wood, wearing Korean dress, in the folk tale his class presented

Hudson's class singing a song about love. Hannah's class singing about "just being me".

Hannah and Hudson's awards.

Children's Games

This is my "part 2" blog about our trip last weekend.


When we were in Thailand 5 years ago, I remember watching the little girls play a jump roping game. It was AMAZING to watch! Happily, the girls this weekend played the jump rope game, and this time I got some pictures.


Apparently, the girls start out doing certain steps jumping over the rope back and forth, after each round the rope gets higher and higher. Eventually the girls must jump up and hook their feet on the rope, jumping over it, do their steps and jump out on the other side. What is most astounding is how high the girls can jump. Toward the end of the game the girls holding the rope are holding it above their heads and the girls can jump higher than their height to hook the rope. AMAZING!!! Puts my childhood, "teddy bear teddy bear turn around" to shame!!

This girl is "hooking" the rope with her toe and then jumping over the rope. If you can tell, the rope is about head high.
These girls literally look like they are flying through the air as they jump and hook the rope. Here is the first girl again, and she is really impressive!

A Different Weekend

We currently have a group of teachers here from California teaching English during the week at several schools. Unfortunately for me and the kids, they have to go to school here in the city. So, we can't be with our CA friends or ROB while they are out in the countryside teaching. However, this weekend, we took a bus about 3 hours from here and met up with Rob and our teachers at an orphanage/welfare center.

The children at this orphanage were all school age children. In fact they live on the school grounds. Some of the children have lost both parents, but a lot of the children have only lost their fathers. Apparently, in the traditions of the local culture of this area, when a man dies, his wife must leave the man's family and all she obtained, behind. This includes her children. They become orphans. The mom must walk away and marry into a new family. This was very hard for me to grasp, but standing in front of me were dozens of examples of this occurance. It broke my heart to think of the rejection these children already know and are well acquainted with.

We spent a lot of time playing, laughing, singing, doing field games, and making cookies. Hannnah, Hudson, and I brought enough stuff for all 60 kids to make and decorate sugar cookies. It was so much fun. It was such a joy to spend time loving on these kids.

Cookie Making

The countryside is so beautiful with these mountains/rocks shooting up out of the ground.

Field Games and Relay Races

Dodgeball
Steal the BaconMy man telling some poor kid he was "out!"

There is a song that kept playing in my head all weekend by Leeland, and I couldn't help being reminded over and over all weekend of the truth of this song.

You lived among the least of these, the weary and the weak, and it would be a tragedy for me to turn away. All my needs you have supplied, when I was dead you gave me life. How can I not give it away so freely? So I'll, Follow you into the world....

Birthday Fun

I hope you aren't tired of all my birthday themes, but it is May and there is still one more birthday to go! Rob is traveling right now, and since school hasn't ended, we can't travel with him. So, he is gone for 2 1/2 weeks. Boo! However, because he is such a great dad, he rode the bus 5 hours home to suprise Hudson when he woke up on his birthday. Hudson was more than thrilled. And, poor Rob, had to get back on a bus the next day and go 5 hours back to meet up with the group of teachers he is traveling with.

That started the birthday off right for Hudson! He loves his daddy! Hudson had asked for hamburger jiao zis for dinner, which is a blend of western and eastern food, labor intensive, but fun. So, we finished preparing them after school and headed off to ride go-carts. It was quite a fun time, Hudson is my boy driver....aggressive and fast. Hannah is cautious and careful.....hmmm alot like their personalities.

We came home and ate our hamburger jiao zis and rotel cheese dip (we had been saving it for a special occasion) then had a small party with our friends. We ate cake and ice cream, opened presents and truly celebrated Hudson! Thanks G Family for coming over to help us party!

Thanks Grace for the water gun!! Little sister likes it too!This is the classic "money" shot! Thanks to Grandad, KA, and Granny for the money! What was once green.....turns into a bunch of red 100's over here.

And how do you know we don't live in America? Because for your birthday you request food items and are very happy to get them!!Finally, what do parents of 10 yr. olds look like?