Anyway, I thought I'd take this little layover window and do a quick catch-up on some of the events of the first quarter of 2016. Nothing epic, just a chance to chronicle some highlights.
January brought Lily's 12th birthday. She has 9 of the sweetest girls in her grade at school. Seriously, they are just precious, which isn't necessarily a word you typically use for sixth grade girls. I had the privilege of teaching their Bible class at school first semester and I fell in love with them. When it came time for Lily to have her birthday party, we couldn't pick just 4 or 5 to invite. So, we invited them all and to our delight, they all came. We did an art themed party and it was so much fun!
The girls played a silly game that involved painting this picture, using only their feet.
We had lots of colorful foods
Lily and I had planned to do a canvas painting, using a how-to video we found online. It seemed to work fine when we previewed it, but when party day came, there was no way the internet was going to accommodate a video. We made a last minute change of plans and had the girls paint little chalkboard instead. It was a real blessing, the way it worked out. I had canvases made by a man who sells little paintings outside of a grocery story I often shop at. Ryan had found chalkboard paint at the market and bought it, just because, why not? When we hit a roadblock with the video, I was so thankful that he'd grabbed it. Let's just say that I am very thankful it worked out that way, because this project proved to be complicated enough!
Abby participated in an outreach trip with school. They drove about 8 hours out of our city to work alongside some other folks for about 4-5 days. She had a great time, but came back pretty exhausted.
In February, the kids participated in the annual field day for their school, which was held at the National Stadium. Everyone in our family was dreading it, except who always has boundless energy! We imagined all day in the heat and sun, doing a myriad of events would be a bit of a pain, but we were wrong. The kids had so much fun, as did we, cheering them on. It was great.
February also brought the school banquet, which is the school's equivalent to prom. Only the oldest two decided to go, but we hosted 12 girls at our house before hand to get ready. That proved to be quite exciting with a few dramatic moments, but in the end, all of the girls left looking beautiful and ready for a night of fun!
We had some other highlights, of which I don't have photos on this computer. We hosted the dorm kids for the salad portion of a progressive dinner, that was fun! Isaac celebrated his 14th birthday with swimming, a giant cookie, and the Pan movie. We also hosted 40+ people for Easter. Ryan made a trip out east to look for a house for one of the families that we work with who is finishing up their language study and is ready to move closer to their people group.
Of course then there is the everyday fun...language class, homeschooling the two middle schoolers, the logistic work which is technically our "job," and I have been blessed to start working with a literacy ministry one day each week. We are staying busy and seeking the Lord on how to best use our time. We are slowly gaining skills in language and culture as well as building relationships. We are thankful for all that the Lord is doing and had done in our lives during this first year in our new city!
