Charlie and Lena Depart

Charlie and Lena's 60 day stay was over and they went home today. They are good kids. We'll miss them.

My Slide Shows are Back!

Yes, I joined Google+, but that was not enough to get my slide shows back on my blog.  I had to configure it or link it to my Picasa web albums, and then everything was restored.  Whew!  I am relieved to know that my blog is back in tact.

Now the question is, how do I use this new tool called Google+.  I feel like I need to take a class on it.  And I do wish there had been an e-mail about how to do this from Google.

Lena Lee's Last Day of School

Today was Lena Lee's last day of school.   She is smart and has a good sense of humor.  She is also calm and steady.  She doesn't talk a lot but she writes a lot--and well!  She may be a writer some day.  We are certainly going to miss Lena.  She goes home on Tuesday.

 

 

 

Not Giggling About Google

I'm not exactly giggling about Google today. It seems they are trying to remake themselves into a social networking company by making Google+ and forcing changes on their account holders. I am not thrilled about it at all. I say let Facebook be Facebook and let Google be Google. Have you noticed that my slide shows on this blog are now white rectangles? I checked, and it seems a lot of people with Google Photo Album slide shows on their blogs have had them disappear like with my site. It would take a loooong time to recreate them and I'm not sure if they would disappear again even if I did. I'm exploring other companies for photo sharing and publishing. I'm sorry if you came to view photos and couldn't find them. I'm working on it.

Sharing Layover Time with Mr. Park

David Park's dad, Mr. Park, works for a big pharmaceutical company in Korea.  Today he passed through Atlanta on his way to Puerto Rico.  Since he had a 4 hour layover, it gave us a chance to have lunch.

I knew we could find a better place to eat than the airport, and Duk-Sun reminded me about a place where she had eaten across the street from North Ave. Presbyterian Church one time that was so good.  We got free parking by asking for it at the church (we mentioned that we're friends with one of the elders), and went over to the Bank of America building and had a very nice, affordable meal together on the first floor.  We had a good visit with Mr. Park and Hannah and Naomi love big buildings.    

Lisa's Last Days

These are a few shots of Lisa's last days here. Lisa stayed with us for all of 5th and half of 6th grade. I was so sick the last week she was here. I had headaches, stomach aches and pink eye. I guess the stress of getting her ready to go home, combined with the reality that we were losing her was hard on me. I wanted her last week to be really special, but we were so limited by our schedule, the school's schedule, other people's plans and my being ill. It was a bummer. I also got sick during Heidi's last week here. We really get attached to these kids. We treat them like our own. When they arrive here, they are like newborn babes in that they are being "born" into another country and culture. The time and energy we spend with them is intense.

When I was a teacher in various schools, I was always interested in knowing and caring for the kids on a deeper, more personal level than the teacher-student ratio would allow. With this business/ministry, we sure get to do that! At the end of each school year, I was sad to say goodbye to the group I called my class. But if I remained at the school, I could still see many of them the next year in the halls and such. Nowadays when kids graduate from our home stay and study abroad experience, that's it. We may never see them again. And when new ones come, that intensive training starts over again with them, so it's easy to lose touch with the kids that we once treated as members of our family. It's tough on us. And it involves the whole family.

Now Hannah and Naomi are sick and one of them has pink eye, too. We love what we do. We'd have to, or we wouldn't be able to do it. But this is a hard time for us now especially this year because Heidi and Lisa are returning in the winter. I'm not sure if we'll accept kids for a half a year any more because it means we have to say goodbye to our winter program kids and them back to back. It's too much sadness at once.
 

Group Shots

Here are some group shots of us. Christina and I took turns holding the camera.

Atop Kennesaw Mountain

These are just a few photos we took on top of Kennesaw Mountain.  It was a weekday so we could drive to the top.  The kids had walked up there a few days earlier.

Scenery by Stephen and Lisa

Actually, all scenery comes from God, because He made everything, but these photos were from Stephen's camera (lying on the trampoline looking at the sky) and Lisa's camera (at the top of Kennesaw Mountain the day they climbed it). There are a lot of cloudy days in the winter, but they alternate with those brilliant, blue-sky days. It reminds me of a Bible verse: But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 1Peter 5:10.

Daddy-Daughter Date Night

I love my daughters!   I often look at them (especially when they are sleeping) and say to myself, "Who am I to deserve such children!"  Sometimes while they are awake I say the same thing but it has a different meaning.  Ahem.  But that is rare.

Anyway,  this is the second year for us to attend Chick-Fil-A's annual "Daddy-Daughter Date Night".  It was so nice, but to be honest, we were able to give each other a lot more attention last year when there was no giant, live COW on the scene.  He kind of stole the show, so to speak.  Maybe next year I'll wear a costume.

You buy your meal, but they give you coupons for free food, and they take your photo and give it to you, and each daughter gets a rose to take home.  Oh, and the ice cream is free.  If possible, I want to take my own desert for them next year.  They give too much ice cream and the girls can't be still and then afterwards when the sugar wears off they get grouchy.  So with a minor adjustment or two, the date night will only get better from year to year.

Anyway, I love my daughters!   Did I mention that?

Nari's School

Nari attends school at First Baptist Christian School in Kennesaw. Today, Hannah went with me us to check out where Nari goes each day. Once a month, they have something called All Pro Dad's Breakfast.   We arrive at 7:00 a.m. and after a Chick-Fil-A breakfast, we hear a short talk on a theme related to biblical fathering.  It is a fun and fulfilling thing to do with your child.