The First and the Last

by Amy

I figure since I posted on the first day of July, I should post on the last day of July as well. Sorry there was nothing in-between!

Our time in Hong Kong was really great! One unexpected blessing was running into some friends. They were also in Hong Kong waiting to get a new visa. This family has a 7 year old daughter and a 4 year old son. So, needless to say, our kids had a BLAST playing with them. We also hit the beach and pool 3 times each. That was super fun. All three of my kids love to swim! And, Alex and Savannah LOVED jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side by themselves. Peter didn't want to do it, but he still had a great times splashing around and "swimming". We did hit Disneyland one day. It was fun, but it was SOOO hot! And, Savannah was a little disappointed that we couldn't find all the princesses this time. We saw them in the parade, but that's all.

Since we came home we've hit the ground running! We got home on a Monday night and Brad taught at an English Camp for 4th-6th grade kids the following Tuesday - Friday. Then, we had two American friends come visit us! Sarah came all the way from Colorado!! Oh, it was so great to see her. She was visiting a friend from college who teaches here. So, as they toured the country, the came to visit us for 3 days. What a sweet blessing to connect with Sarah again and meet Megan. They both have such precious hearts. It was exciting to hear what our Father's been doing in and through them both! Amazing....

Then, this past week, we've been getting back into the home schooling routine. Savannah continues to amaze me with how well she's doing in school. Sometimes I forget she's only in first grade. She has read over 850 pages - only 150 left until she gets her BIG prize! (I'm so excited!) Peter and Alex are truckin' right along in their reading lessons. Alex has really surprised me with how well he's doing. I expected it to be more difficult for him than it has been. I'm thankful! Peter had a rough week of reading lessons, but by the end of the week, I was thankful to see an improvement in his attitude resulting in an improvement in his reading. They've each completed 50 lessons - we're half way there!

Well, I'm sure more things have happened over the last month, but that's all I can remember at this very moment. The other stories will have to wait until a later day!

Here we go again....

by Amy


Brad got a job!! We have a friend who recently opened an English school and he was looking for an "Expert Engineer" to help things run more smoothly. So, after serious consideration, he offered the job to my Expert Engineering husband! So, what exactly does that mean? I don't know. Brad's going to help John with his company, maybe teach a few classes, and offer his expertise when needed.


But, in order for us to change from a student visa to a visa that will allow Brad to have a job, we have to leave the country. The government doesn't allow anyone to apply to change visas from here. So, it means.....






I knew my kids would be SOOO excited! Hong Kong = Disney Land, boats, YUMMY food, swimming, subways and airplanes, Toys R Us, double-decker buses, and so much more! As all the arrangements were being made, we didn't dare tell our kids. As Brad and John went through the process of applying for a work permit, Brad could have been rejected at any stage. So, we made our plans (reserved our housing, did extra school lessons, etc.) but didn't tell our kids that we would probably be going to HK. If Brad did get turned down for some reason, our kids would have been super disappointed. So, on Monday, when we got the final word that we could definitely apply for new visas, we decided to tell them the good news by playing hang man. Originally, we planned on letting them each guess one letter a day. But, I was so excited that it was not difficult for them to talk me into letting them guess two letters each on Monday, and three on Tuesday. Then, Wednesday morning, they finally completed it!

So, on Tuesday, July 7, we'll fly to HK. We're not sure how long the whole process will take, probably somewhere between 10 and 14 days. While we're there we definitely plan on doing a lot of playing. But, we also have developed a schedule that will help me keep teaching the boys their reading lessons, Savannah can keep reading and working towards her goal of 1000 pages, and Brad and I can study the language together. We praise the Lord for working out all the details thus far. Brad getting this visa is definitely an answered prayer! We hope to use the time out of country well.