The Seven Puffs...Trying To Live By Faith: August 2016

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Our KK Getaway

Each year that we have been summer expats visiting the U.S., we have learned something new. We try to refine our preparation so that our six weeks aren't a complete disaster. One of the things we have learned is that we need to be on the same page before take-off. We decided that this would take an extended getaway, and so, with the help of our dear friend, Ben, Andy and I were able to spend three days and nights in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. It was a great destination...a short direct three hour flight...and a beautiful beach. It may have been our most relaxing vacation ever. We are usually the type that don't just sit around, but because it was so short, we didn't feel the need to do much exploring...just sitting in the sun, or in the pool.

Of course, if you know my husband at all, you know that there must be some sport activity planned...and exercise is something we both enjoy, so our first morning we played tennis. We had booked times for both Friday and Saturday mornings, but after making it through the heat on the first morning, we decided that it wasn't worth it:)

Most of our time was spent with books in hand, laying in the sun, or under an umbrella, and just enjoying the scenery. The ocean was incredibly blue and clear, and we thoroughly enjoyed just being together and being able to sleep without the worry of what the little ones were getting into. One late afternoon, I went to the spa for a 50 minute message...and it was the best message that I have ever had (not that I have had that many...but) It was everything you want a message to be...the perfect amount of pressure, quiet with some soft background music, the sound of the ocean, a wonderful relaxing scent, and I was able to stay awake (because if you fall asleep, doesn't that waste the experience?) It was such a gift from a very supportive husband.

We had some wonderful meals...from Western hamburgers to authentic Malaysian. But, what we loved most was eating at the open-air bar at the point of the resort that sticks out into the water. Gorgeous!!! One night, we reserved the farthest out lounge couch and sat there for three hours as we enjoyed the sunset and then the moon with a sky-full of stars. And one of the best parts of the whole thing was accomplishing what we set out to do...getting on the same page. We literally went through every day of our summer so that we each knew what to expect. It sounds extreme...but since I am writing this on the other side of summer I can honestly say...it was so worth it! It also proved to us, yet again, how important it is for the two of us to get away. Did we miss our kids...absolutely. But when we take the time to reconnect without distraction, I think we are stronger for it, and we can be better parents. I hope that we will continue to make this a priority, even when it gets more difficult.

My favorite part...the sunsets

We did come home to some very well-cared for kiddos and a very tired Uncle Ben. Then it was a short few days before our travels home.

Wrapping up HK Year #4

The end of the year is always crazy…and this year did not disappoint. I do appreciate that the school starts the concerts and field trips the end of April, so it is not too jam packed and manageable.

The end of the school year also means saying goodbye for the summer, or in some cases, for good, as there are always people who are moving away. This makes the end of the year even more stressed, trying to fit in that "one last visit".

Fun night out

Dear friends, Amy and Jen

Lunch Bunch in Mong Kok

Bible Study Brunch

Now I will warn you, much of this post will be bragging about my children. I don't usually like to do this, but their year needs to be documented...it was epic. I can only give praise to the Lord who has been with them every step of the way on this journey, and allowed my children to finish strong on an otherwise challenging year.

I'll start with the oldest. Grace's first year in high school was a year of freedom, responsibility and lots of lessons in self-discipline and time management. There was a much higher degree of work associated with high school courses, and on top of that, she was one of three freshman in show choir, which begins prepping for the school year the summer before. While it was a year of learning balance, Grace finished her year strong. She also went to the Philippines for her Week Without Walls trip and had the best time yet. We weren't sure if going back to KIMS for her fourth time would be challenging, but God used it in amazing ways. We are so proud of how much she has grown and the young lady she is becoming.

Getting ready to leave for the Philippines with Hannah, Joanna and Grace

Emma also began a new adventure, starting middle school in 6th grade. We already knew that the middle school team was strong, and our expectations were met...we love those teachers!! Emma really went way beyond our expectations and blew us away. She excelled in her academics, had a big role in the fall musical, and played basketball and soccer. Her soccer team played a great championship, winning their age group for the second year in a row. This past month she received awards for excellent student in band, defensive player of the year in soccer, the academic award for her Chinese class, and the character award for identifying and developing God-given abilities...being the only 6th grader to receive two awards.

What a backdrop...tallest building in HK...the ICC building

Orange break between games

Receiving the medals

Champions again!

Josh finished an awesome 4th grade year in Mrs. Sidhu's class (one of my all-time favorite teachers). He turned the corner with work at home, and continued to be diligent in the classroom. We were so proud of the way he handled the added work load, made good choices with friends, and even played on the ICS basketball and soccer teams. This past month, his character award was Friendly, which was not surprising, and he also received defensive player of the year for his soccer team. Next year he will be top dog in elementary and we're excited to see how he grows.

Electrical circuit making at the Science Museum

Mrs. Sidhu's 4A class

Abby had a fantastic year in 1st grade where she grew in her love for learning. She loves reading and continues to be self-motivated, usually finishing her homework on the 45 minute bus ride home. This past semester she went outside of her comfort zone and started taking gymnastics...and loved it! She received the character award for Joy, and she made some great friendships. We have seen some amazing growth in Abby's maturity and academics, and we have enjoyed watching her be such a good big sister to Sarah.

Abby learning to make dumplings

Taking notes on a field trip

Balance beam practice

Miss Joyful with Ms. Hawkins

Next year will be a crazy year in so many ways. Not only will it be our last year living in Hong Kong, but we will have a child in every part of ICS...high school, middle school, upper elementary, lower elementary and the kindergarten. If I haven't lost my mind keeping up with schedules, I will be adjusting to not having a little one at home for the first time in 15 years...although next year it is only half day:)

We are so incredibly grateful for this past year...so many joys and challenges along the way. And while we are excited about a summer in the States and all that it means, we look forward to HK Year # 5.

A Visitor-filled Month of May

We have been so blessed to have many family and friends come and visit us...and May was filled with lots of visiting, touring, swimming, picture-taking and laughing.

Our first visitors of the month are dear friends from Delaware that we have known for over twenty years. Jeff and Katy Geshay have been instrumental in our lives our entire marriage. We got to know them through Young Life connections before we were married and Jeff has been formally mentoring And pretty much ever since. We have leaned on them many times as our family has grown and as big decisions have come down the road...including Hong Kong. We were so pleasantly surprised when they told us that they wanted to come and see us. It was an amazing visit...right from the start! Andy picked them up from the airport and drove them straight to the school, where Grace's choir concert was taking place. They walked in just as her show choir was taking the stage...good timing. And somehow, they were able to stay awake for the rest of the show.

One of the sweetest parts of their visit was the amount of time they got to spend with our children. Usually, it's only Andy meeting with Jeff, or sometimes we will go out to eat as couples or we started to establish a "pizza night" at their house with the family when home for the summer, but our children don't know them as well as we would like. It was an intensive time of reading books, playing games, and showing us why they are such great grandparents to their own eleven grandchildren. By weeks end, they were Grandpa Jeff...and Katy:)

Checking out the Peak tour

Of course, it was also great to have some adult time. One day towards the end of their week, Andy took the day off and we went to Lo Ping and the Big Buddha. Andy had never done it before and we had great weather. We even made it up the 200+ stairs, and had a great gyro at Ebeneezers.

Just after the Geshays left (I literally took them to the airport and came home to our new guests) the Cannelongos arrived for their second visit to HK. Two years ago we had the privelege of hosting their entire family as they had just journeyed to Beijing to pick up their daughter, Gianna. This time, just the boys (Brian, Ethan, Ashton and Jo's dad, Dave) came to pick up their son, Hudson. What an amazing thing to witness. Our entire family has been so blessed to walk alongside them, following their story, and then getting to meet their children in such early stages of transition. It has been inspirational and, I can't help but think, impactful on our own children's future. They did a little sightseeing (the Peak) but mostly hung here for the few days, getting a little rest time before their last leg of the journey home. We did lots of swimming, lots of laughing...and our older children got to practice their Mandarin since that was the only language six year old Hudson spoke.

Enjoying the pool

Sarah and Hudson made fast friends

McD's after church

Piggy back rides are the best

Last leg...at the airport!

Finally, the end of the month brought our friends, the Gehrmann Family, to our house. They are in the mission field in Thailand and needed to be out of the country for their visas. They hosted us in the fall when we went to Chiang Mai, and we were so excited to be able to repay the favor. They were pretty independent, which was a good thing because of the crazy time of year, but we were able to show them some of HK ourselves, which was fun. One day we took them to Sai Kung so Miles could see the big fish. It also worked out that Mr. Softee was there, so Miles and Sarah got to have an ice cream cone, too:)

Yummy ice cream in Sai Kung

It has been a year full of visitors...and we marvel at the sacrifice people have made to come and see us in this home. We already have some visits on the calendar set for this fall...but we are always open to more:)

Soccer Trip to Guam

Over the years, as we have supported Grace in her soccer, I have had the opportunity to help coach here and there. It's been a wonderful way to engage in the community and get to know her friends, as well as spend time with our daughter. So, when I was asked if I wanted to be an assistant on the high school girl's soccer trip that would be going to Guam, I was surprised and excited. Our school, ICS, is part of a Christian School Conference in Asia. Each season, and for each sport, one of the schools hosts a conference that invites all of the schools to attend. There are schools from Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Philippines, Guam and Hong Kong. This was the first year that Guam was hosting the girl's soccer tournament, and the first time ICS would be attending. Grace and her friends were very excited to go, as well. Never did I think that I would be visiting Guam!

We left on a Monday evening and took the red-eye. It is about a six hour flight from Hong Kong, but it is direct. We arrived at 5am, and because the hotel knew that we would be arriving that early, we were able to get in our rooms and sleep that morning. That first day was laid back and relaxing, getting over a little jet lag and exhaustion from a red eye, and enjoying our beautiful surroundings. That evening was the opening banquet, where all the teams came together over a meal. It was at the hotel we were staying, so it was nice that we didn't have to go anywhere. Especially since our first game the next day was at 8am, agains St. Paul's, the host team.

Our girls were the youngest team entered. We had one junior, two sophomores, two eighth graders and the rest were freshman. The other unfortunate problem was that our only goalie broke her arm the week before. She still came on the trip to play on the field, but that meant that other girls had to step up and fill in.

The teams were very even. The field was horrible…a red dust bowl…and I think we were disadvantaged by that since passing is our game and we weren't all that speedy in the backfield. They were obviously used to playing on their field, and they were very physical.

We were able to score in the first half to go up 1-0. But early in the second half, they got an equalizer to tie the game. Then the craziest thing happened. Our girls was running back to get a ball rolling toward our goal, a step ahead of St. Paul's attacker. Our defender tripped and fell, and then their attacker fell and a foul was called. Both girls were hurt so play had stalled. The ref did not signal, but both teams started walking towards the St Paul's goal, indicating that everyone thought the foul was on them. When the ref placed the ball down he pointed towards our goal, giving them the ball. Luckily for them, they had one girl standing there who did not hesitate. She had a one on one with our goalie and put the ball in the back of the net. Obviously our girls were shell-shocked and we as a coaching staff were livid. There was definitely some yelling involved, but to no avail…the referee didn't think he did anything wrong…making it even more frustrating. This also put our girls in a funk, and we let up another goal to lose the game 3-1. The next two opponents were weaker, and we were able to win those games 3-0 and 2-0 against Grace and Morrison. Then we played the perennial favorites from the Philippines, Faith Academy, and lost 3-0. This game was closer than it sounds…giving up a penalty shot and a banana from a corner kick, and a shot that looped over our goalie's head from 30 yards out. Even though that was not the result we wanted, we felt pretty good going into day 3 with a 2-2 record and in the hunt.

Day 3 games would decide our fate…where we would fall in the standings for the playoffs. Both teams had winning records and were stronger. We started with Dalat from Malaysia. It was a battle and our girls played so tough. We were able to get two goals, Grace scoring one of them, to win the game 2-0. I'm not sure we were the better team, but we came out on top. Then we played the team from South Korea who had tied Dalat earlier in the week. If we won that game, we would secure at least third place and playing for bronze. We didn't feel like they were as strong, but we could not put the ball in the goal. Eventually our lack of depth showed through and we were tired. We ended up losing 1-0 in a close game. And because Dalat upset Faith, they pushed us down to fifth, missing out on that bronze medal match. We ended up playing Morrison again, and this time we had no more gas in the tank. We ended up losing 4-1. It was a shame that we ended the tournament on a down turn, but overall we were thrilled with the girl's performance.

This trip was a blast…we enjoyed the down time and getting to know the girls better…I got to use my taping skills for a few ankles along the way, and I even contributed in coaching…even though Grace didn't appreciate that as much:) It was also so interesting to be in Guam, an American Territory. We loved the U.S. restaurant chains and even spent some time at a rather large K Mart. Of course, most of the girls we were with had never experienced much of this since they had never been to the U.S. So all in all, the trip was a lot more than soccer. Yes, there was a lot of soccer (7 games in 4 days) but it was also about experiencing something new and most importantly, relationship building. So thankful that I could be a part of it.