What Happened to November?

I'm not sure where November went.  It seemed to fly by and I am grateful for this post that gives me the opportunity to reflect on what just happened.

The month started out with hosting our first  Young Life event...a nerf gun war/cookout/club for about 30 kids plus leaders.  It was a blast.  Granted it was heavy on the guy side, only about 5 girls braved the competitive nerf gun war...but in the end, it was Emma who found the flag and brought it back to her team in the final game.

The following week was Grace's Soccer Championships.  Her team was undefeated going into the final four.  They played Chinese International School, which they played last year in the semis and won. Although Grace's team dominated, they could not find the back of the net...enough.  They ended up losing 3-2, with a shot differential of about 15-4. They were very disappointed, but pulled it together for the 3rd place game, in which they were playing a team they had already beat earlier in the year.  This game wasn't even close, and I'm afraid both teams knew what the outcome was going to be before the whistle even blew.  We are very proud of Grace, who had a great season and was just named most valuable attacking player.

One thing that did take away the sting of losing is leaving on an international school missions trip two days later.  Grace left that Sunday very early for Indonesia with 35 other students and 6 teachers.  I could tell you second hand about her trip, but she blogged about it so here is the link... http://graacce23.weebly.com/my-blog/my-www-experience

The day after Grace left, Andy took off for a two week business trip, starting in Japan and following in the US.  Its hard to believe, but this was Andy's first business trip back to the US since we moved to Hong Kong, not counting the work that he has done while on vacation. This was actually ideal timing since Christmas was right around the corner...so Andy did a little extra on his trip, which was very helpful:)

The elementary school held their field day that following Friday.  My kids enjoy this day and all three of them made the finals...with Miss Abigail getting third place in her race.  I volunteered for her group, but I always love seeing the other two having a good time showing their athletic side:)

While Andy was away, I played a little tennis...Our club's annual championships occur in November, so I played with my friend, Jackie.  She plays in division 4, but just started this year.  We played in the open division, which is division four or lower. Three other teams ranging from non-league players, to another team from division 4 were on our schedule.  We started out very slow against our most inexperienced opponent (and good friends) We were very behind, but were able to scratch ourselves back to overtime, before winning.  We played better the second match, winning by a decent margin.  By the time we got to the third match, we knew that we would be playing this last team twice.  They were also undefeated, and they were our strongest opponent. We started off strong, getting a good lead, before they came back to tie it up.  Then it was back and forth before we pulled away.  To be honest, I didn't think there was any way we were beating that team twice...and I'm still not sure how we did.  But the important thing was that Jackie and I felt good about our play...and we laughed A LOT!!! but playing from 11am to 5pm is exhausting!!!

Finally, as we got back into the routine of two parents in the house:) we prepared for our first Thanksgiving in HK as a family.  Hitting these moments always make us remember what we have done in the past...this was no exception.  Now that we are in our third year, memories of our first two Thanksgivings certainly came to mind.  Our first Thanksgiving was unique.  Abby, Sarah and I had been in HK for about 8 weeks.  Andy took the older three kids to the Philippines on a missions trip.  I stayed home and had nachos with Abby.  They weren't even that good since Abby was only 4yrs old and didn't have the palate that she has now. The following day, Friday, Marina came to us!!  That was a bit surreal.  I'll never forget opening the door to this sweet woman who we had been skyping with since August.  She had one suitcase and a small bag, and she was ready to get going.

Last year, we were all in the Philippines for missions...serving alongside a few ICS teachers and friends that we brought along.  These friends are another expat family with the same company who happen to live around the corner from us.  They came over this year and we had an amazing meal of a typical American Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately, what kept going in my head was that I hadn't had this meal in three years, which caused a significant amount of overeating...but, it was delicious and we had a great time with our friends...and it definitely beat nachos on the floor by  myself (and two sweet little girls)

Staying At The Top

Hmmm...trying to stay at the top can be a challenging thing, no matter what you are talking about. Whether its staying in peak physical fitness, keeping a high average in academia, or even reaching a state of peace that all is right with the world.  Its easiest for me to relate this to athletics.  I still remember my coach saying it takes two months to get into shape, but only two weeks to slip out of it.  Yes, its so easy to fall... staying at the top is hard.

Our family has theoretically reached that pinnacle in our stay abroad.  Given that the Lord doesn't have different plans, we have reached that mid-point and are now on the other side of the mountain, going down.  There is part of me that is eager to get back to what I still in my heart feel is normal...normal seasons, normal population, normal transportation, normal shopping, normal life.  But a larger part of me aches to think about leaving this place, that for us has largely become normal.  So, the challenge that  I am faced with is to stay in the moment...stay at the top...and stop looking too far ahead.  I think we all struggle with this challenge, wherever we are in life.  This can be especially difficult when  you are a planner.  This characteristic does not come naturally for me, I usually leave it for my Type A husband.  But being a mother of five has forced me to do a little more than I used to do. It's funny because I am torn between really wanting to know what is next for us...and not wanting to know.  It kind of nice to be oblivious...ignorance is bliss? But I do realize this will not last forever. And I assure you (family) that as the time come closer, we will do some planning.  But for now, and as long as I can, I will enjoy this time that God has gifted us here.  A place that I wouldn't have even dreamed of us being in a million years.  It has afforded us countless blessings and difficult challenges, neither of which I would change.

Speaking of change, which if I'm honest, is probably what scares me the most, I was reminded this past Sunday of a very important truth that my husband and I hold dear to. It was found in a song we sang in church called "One Thing Remains" If I was at all tech savvy I would leave a link here...but alas I am not, so here are some of the lyrics that captured my heart...

"Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant through the trial and the change
One thing remains
One thing remains

Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me (x3)

On and on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never ever have to be afraid
One thing remains

In death, in life, I'm confident and covered by the power of your great love
My debt is paid, there's nothing that can separate my heart from your great love"

Yes, that pink line grabbed my heart and reminded me that He is constant and He has a plan...

Here are some photos from our October Happenings...

We've enjoyed some beautiful skies and recently cooler weather

Everyone took part of carving the pumpkins...just before they went trick or treating

Calling Dr. Puffenberger

We hosted a big Young Life event/club...which was so fun, even our kids enjoyed it!

Singapore! Part 2

Fun Jerry living in the State of Fun!

After the long previous days, we decided to take day 4 a little lighter.  We had a later morning and went to Sentosa Island.  This place could be a vacation in itself.  It is home to Universal Studios, Water World  Park, and lots of beaches and resorts.  After doing some research, we focused on two different activities: the luge and the zip-line.

Our trusty taxi driver, Mark, dropped us off at a perfect spot and we walked on over to the luge.  This was a fun, relatively inexpensive activity that all of us could do.  The only change I would have made is had Abby go with an adult.  But she was a trooper, nonetheless.  For the luge, you get helmets and some instructions on how to break and guide your car.  These were very simple...to break you pull back hard on the handlebars, and to glide, you don't:) After the instructions, you simply glide down the hill, past a couple obstacles, around some sharp turns, until you get to the bottom.  Somehow, I got to go with the older kids.  I let them start off strong before I showed them who was the king (or queen) of the luge:)  Poor Abby's arms and hands were very tired, pulling and pushing, so Andy and Sarah, Jerry and Abby were a bit behind us.  After our first trial downhill, we got on a ski lift to the top and went down again.  This time, I took Sarah and stayed in the back with Abby:)

Ready to luge

One luge ride down, one more to go

After the luge, we walked a bit to find the zip-line through the trees. This was what I was most excited to do...maybe in all of Singapore.  As we were walking up, Andy, Jerry and I were concocting a plan that made the most sense for all adults to go and for someone to stay with Sarah...since we assumed she was too little (she is two...easy assumption!)  It would take a lot more time, but they did have little golf carts to take people back up to the top of the zip-line (for a small fee).  So Andy, Jerry and the other kids would go down first, while I waited with Sarah.  Then Andy would come up in a golf cart while Jerry stayed with the other kids, and when Andy arrived at the top, I would go down...whew...a lot of thought into that plan.  So...when we got up to buy the tickets for the zip-line, and it was suggested that we measure Sarah to see if she was tall enough to go...I had an inner conflict in my head. It went something like, "She is only TWO! Am I really thinking about taking her on a zip-line?" "But this would save us time and  money.  And we are not in China...Singapore is safe...isn't it?" "Besides, I'm sending the rest of my family down...and she is going in tandem with me...so I will hold her tight!" "But she is only TWO!!!"  Well, you know which side won... And, she didn't cry the whole way down.  I'm not really sure what her face looked like since I couldn't see it...but there was no crying...maybe shock, but no crying!

She was more bothered by the new paper bracelet than the ropes

All geared up!

Getting ready to fly

Grace and Emma

Sarah and Beth

Josh and Jerry

Andy and Abby

The rest of us had a blast! The hardest part was waiting and anticipating, as we watched others go before us.  But the kids did great...and Jerry, Andy and I had fun, too.

When we had gotten our equipment turned in, we were headed to lunch. To our great surprise, we found a Chili's!!!  This was SO exciting...we were all so hungry, it was well air-conditioned (it was in the 90's with high humidity) and we could eat Western food!!!  We enjoyed lunch, played in some fun water display to cool off, then got back to our hotel in plenty of time...gearing up for the Night Safari!

Yes, Chocolate World in Singapore...who knew?

Such fun in the water

Attached to the Singapore Zoo is a Night Safari.  It's a separate zoo specifically open at night and shows the animals after dusk.  There were many feedings, a show, a tram ride, and lots of walking to see animals you couldn't see from the tram.  We ended up watching the first show because the tram had an hour and a half wait. Then we walked around the safari, checking out lions and tigers and bears (oh, my!) Finally, when we had walked as much as we could, the tram line had shrunk to a five minute wait, so we ended our evening with a nice ride, which we all appreciated. Although we got back late, the kids were troopers and really had a good time.

Getting ready for the show

Our last full day was in Singapore.  This seemed like the longest day because of weather changes and lots of running around. We started with the Botanical Gardens, but by the time we reached it, it was pouring down rain.  After perusing the gift shop trying to wait it out, we drove back to the Flyer (large ferris wheel) and enjoyed a 4D movie that Andy had gotten tickets before we left (a good rainy day activity). We then decided that we would go to the top of the Marina Sands Hotel to see the view.  But when we got there, it was much more expensive than anticipated, so we decided to go back to the Gardens.  That's when Mark, our awesome driver, told us he could get a large discount on Flyer tickets.  By then it had cleared up enough to make a Flyer ride worth it, so we went to pick up tix, and went on the Flyer...SO FUN! And there was no line...BONUS!  After going on the Flyer, we went back to the Botanical Gardens where there was so much green and lots of space...it was gorgeous and reminded us a bit of our Longwood Gardens that we miss! We also went to the Orchid Garden within the Gardens, which was breathtaking. From there, we traveled closer to our hotel where we enjoyed a dinner by the sea and ate Singapore's famous chili crab.  THEN, we went back into the city to do some shopping and watch the light show.  Finally, we decided to take a closer look at one of the famous lions.  Unfotunately for me and Sarah, she got sick ALL OVER ME just before getting out of the van,  so everyone else walked to the Lion, and I cleaned myself, Sarah and as much of the van as I could.  Again, our driver, Mark, was a champ.  He kept saying, "Being a parent is so hard," and told me not to worry about the cleanup...so gracious.

Fish spa, anyone? We did not participate...just watched

The Singapore Flyer

Loved the Botanical Gardens...the second time we visited:)

Love the silliness

Run and be free!!!!

We woke poor Sarah up from her nap for this picture

Beautiful orchids...beautiful children

Yum yum...chili crab, pepper crab and lobster

Some serious picking going on

We finally got back to the hotel around 10...and were up and out by 4am to catch our 6am flight. We had packed it in and saw as much of Singapore as we possibly could (as a party of 8).  Although we were tired, we really had a great time!!!