Pickle Making

We've been getting a lot of cucumbers from our garden, but we eat them pretty fast.  Duk-Sun went out and bought more from the farmer's market nearby, and using both types, she made pickles.  She looked on YouTube at several methods, and borrowed from a few and made her own recipe.   They taste as good as they look. :)

Summer Splash on the Chattahoochee

Sung Hoon and Hannah and I took the inflatable kayak down "the Hooch"--that is the Chattahoochee River, today.  It was his first time on a kayak, but he was eager to go and each time I asked him he said he was enjoying it.  Hannah got a little bored once or twice, but I had snacks to keep her happy.  She liked the chocolate covered almonds the best.  Just when we thought we couldn't stand the heat any more, there came a thunderstorm to cool us off.  It was rather refreshing.  I'm guessing we spent 2 1/2 hours paddling the 6 miles from Morgan Falls Dam to Powers Island.  It was quite exciting and fun to be on the water.

A Visit to Chick-Fil-A Headquarters

Not too long ago, our friend and neighbor, Bill Connolly got hired by Chick-Fil-A restaurant in their IT department.  The day the kids arrived at the airport, the Connolly's invited us to have lunch with them at Chick-Fil-A Headquarters.  So we ate there just before going to the airport.  It was a special treat to go there.

I've long since admired the founder, Truett Cathy for his approach to business.  All Chick-Fil-A restaurants are closed on Sundays so employees can attend church and spend time with their families.  That's rather unique for a restaurant chain.  He pours so much of what he makes back into the community.  See the Winshape website and look at some of the ministries he sponsors.  The idea of Winshape Homes helped inspire Duk-Sun and I to start hosting students full time, as a way to reach out to them and make them feel the love of Christ as they attend school half way around the world.





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Arrival Day for Heidi, Lisa and Sung Hoon

After two months of spending time with family and friends back in Korea, Heidi Han and Lisa Lee returned.  It was so good to see them!  They are like family to us.  And it was also good to meet Sung Hoon, who is new this year to our home and to Georgia.  He is quiet, mild mannered and seems to get along with others just fine.

At Sweetwater Park with Andrew

I didn't get enough photos on this trip.  I was too busy cooking on the grill or talking with Andrew.  Andrew is the young man who tutored Heidi and Lisa in math last year.  He is quite gentle and responsible and we discovered that his whole family is into math education.  In fact, his aunt and mother are partners who made an entire math program that instructs kids to do math in their heads instead of on paper.  This "mental math" program is reported to speed kids up on their math significantly.  We're studying the program ourselves to teach it to the kids that live with us.  Andrew and his mom were hosting about 7 kids for the summer, so they came with us to the lake.

Home Farm - Gardening

I've been saving photos since March for this blog post.  After seeing this, you will understand why in June and July there were so few blog posts.  We've been gardening, for one thing.  Our friends and neighbor's the Connolly's have been gracious enough to let us plant a garden in their yard.  They have shared in some of the work of course, but we have had more time to invest in it, so it's been good for our family and theirs.  Hannah and Naomi enjoy going to the garden as often as we can take them.  I'm so impressed with Duk-Sun.  She works really hard and knows how to take care of edible plants from start to finish.  The girls and I have learned so much by doing this.

Hibiscus in Bloom

Our hibiscus plants are so pretty this time of year.  Duk-Sun is learning how to make tea from the flowers.  They are supposed to be very good for keeping blood pressure down.

Riding Rio

Hannah and Naomi got a special treat today when our neighbor and friend Julia let them ride her horse, Rio.  The girls really like horses these days.  Makes me wish I had some acreage and some horses of their own to ride.

A Cicada Emerges

How can you not like a bug like the cicada. You hardly ever see them. They spend most of their flying days high in trees singing to you, and when you do get close to them, they don't bite, sting, or feel gross when you pick them up (at least not to me). Here's one we actually saw fresh out of its exoskeleton.  It was on our front deck!

Switching from Gas to Electric

Most folks we talk to would rather cook with gas than electricity.  Duk-Sun and I would agree, if not for glass top ranges.  They make clean-up so quick compared to cooking with gas.  They also cook better to us.  Our gas stove would melt the handles of our pots because so much heat gets away from the bottom of them.  And the oven can make the handles of pots so hot if they are on the back burners that you can get burned trying to pick up a pot with the oven on.  But keeping the gas stove clean was the hardest thing.  There were so many parts that got dripped on when everyone came to see what was cooking in the pots.  Anyway, it took me a while to do it, but Duk-Sun got her a glass top cooking stove!  Yeah!

Fellowshipping with the Rose's

Here are a few photos from the times the Rose's and the Spillers' visited each other's homes.  It was a wonderful time of fellowship.