A Most Difficult Announcement

It is with deep regret that we announce we have to leave China and head back to the States.  (We'll be leaving at the end of the school year in early June.) There have been many issues that have popped up since we adopted China and Mitike.  But two weeks ago a more serious occurrence happened.  Mitike needs consistent counseling which just is not available here.  It will be very helpful too to have more family support. 

We have LOVED serving overseas.  It has been a joy and a privilege.  Our twelve years in Asia have forever changed how we view the world, deepened our faith, and given us a clear view of the wonder of God.  We hope to return someday down the road when our family is healthier.

If you have questions, feel free to e-mail!  We hope to squeeze in a last trip to Singapore over Spring Break. 

Obviously there are a lot of changes coming and big decisions to be made.  We appreciate you remembering us!

Ana's Big Purchase

Ana wiped the table and swept for two days to earn the 1.60 (10 kuai) to buy this umbrella.  She took it out the other day to keep the sun our of her eyes :)

For Real??

McDonald's ALL NEW sandwich--someone called it a meat lovers--Yummy!

Ana's New Duds

 Ana is all girl when it comes to clothes and shoes.  She was thrilled with her new outfits.  (She's wearing the blue one to church on Sunday even though the temperatures are supposed to dip.)

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! (Her arm is in that weird Egyptian pose to show off her bracelet.)

Sorry...It's been that kind of week!

We started off our week with a major family crisis which has involved a lot of people and trying to communicate with the counselor in Thailand whose Internet has been down periodically throughout the week.  Need I say more?

 Then Ana brought home "poisonous" seeds she had to plant immediately or the world was going to end.  Her beautiful hat lost it's pom pom in the wash and I picked every single piece of that pile of yarn off all the other clothes in that load--YIKES!!

Ana, our resident mold finder found some more (you can't say she's not observant).  Unfortunately it was behind a rather heavy piece of furniture.  And finally the air quality has been really bad, so I've been hacking my way through life. 

If our father brings us to mind please  PR@Y!!  We have a meeting on Saturday with leaders in our company.  Hopefully, we can see clearly what we need to do next. 

Thanks parents for the package--it was a much needed bright spot in this week! 

"Look mom! NO...

jacket,"  Ana excitedly reported as she got off the bus.  Indeed when we went out to get on the bus it was exactly 0 degrees (32 F), but it turned out to be a glorious day.  I think this is our first true taste of Spring.  Ana enjoyed doing some trick riding with no hands and generally speeding down the boardwalk.  (I told her if she was that good we'd try it without training wheels.)  We also spotted a mammoth boat--it's hard to tell how big it was in the picture, BUT trust me I don't think I ever saw a bigger one in Singapore.  All this week the weather is supposed to be super nice--so we're looking forward to being outside more. 

So Busy!!

This weekend has been crazy busy.  We got to attend about half of a marriage conference put on by our fellowship.  They brought in two speakers from "A Weekend to Remember" conferences.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time and would have liked to attend all of it, but how to get a babysitter for the whole weekend???

On Saturday night Matt chaperoned the Spring Banquet.  ALL the high school students can attend.  They have a fabulous dinner at Le Meridien hotel, play games, and generally goof off.  Sadly, wives weren't allowed to attend.  It's OK!! I was so tired I went to bed at 7:30!!

I think these pictures tell a lot about the school.  The top one is the 10th grade girls (whom Matt teaches in Chemistry.)  There is often only three or four non Korean students in the whole class!  Maybe we should be learning to speak Korean too :)