Holidays at home 2016

Everyone wants to have Thanksgiving and Christmas at home, and I think I should take that as a compliment.

But, I'm terrible at Thanksgiving. I'm the one-dish wonder when it comes to dinner menus. So, the traditional Thanksgiving menu is daunting. The solution is to order out, which we did.

While I cannot seem to handle the dinner menu, I can handle the gingerbread making supplies. We decided on the completely edible graham cracker "gingerbread" houses.

And, the best part about Thanksgiving - sweet friends.  Thanksgiving isn't a public holiday so Jeff works and the kids go to school and I meet friends who don't have a clue about American Thanksgiving celebrations. We have nine kids between us, so we do life well together.

Trying to be sporty

I think I've said this before, but I love the availability of playing on a team at international schools. Kids move often and are traveling between countries with varying interests in sports, so it makes perfect sense to allow kids to be on a team and learn the sport as the student goes along.

Forrest and Ellis both started playing rugby on a high school team, instead of only being allowed on the team after starting the sport at four years old. And, Ellis picked up ultimate frisbee recently, too.

Of course, I say that, but poor Taylor didn't make the middle school softball team this year😞  She said next year she would try for netball.  We know she can play rugby but she's seen too many injuries watching her brothers. We try to get encourage her swimming because she's a beautiful swimmer and swims with a group of adult women once per week, but she thinks she's not fast enough for a team - her perception, not a tested perception.

Claire, on the other hand, practices her violin for two hours per day (sometimes three) and we can't get her to try a sport. She says she might try girls' rugby or field hockey in sixth grade. She's not afraid of rugby because she doesn't really watch her brothers.

Ellis' ultimate frisbee team

I'm using the photo from the Hong Kong Sevens (because I didn't take one picture of Ellis playing rugby).  Jeff has taken the kids for the past three years, so I've probably already blogged about this. And, because I'm so far behind, I'm definitely placing this wrong chronologically.

Here's the official explanation: considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition. The Hong Kong Sevens is currently the seventh tournament on the World Series calendar (following the Canada Sevens), and is held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. The tournament spans three days, beginning on a Friday and concluding on Sunday. The tournament is organised each year by the Hong Kong Rugby Union (HKRU).

Because Forrest is a medic for the HK national team, he's the cheap date (he gets in free because he has to work, but clearly not the whole weekend).

Claire's sport is yet to be determined. 

Here's the latest strings concert. It's amazing what these guys can accomplish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN7_4IKC9zY


🏊  She's truly a beautiful swimmer, but she doesn't like me taking pictures of her while she swims.

Jeff would like to encourage sporty behavior for all by making weekend hikes mandatory for the family, but this is usually what happens - alone with Hank as his companion. I actually think Hank prefers to have Jeff all to himself.

Texas Yacht - 2016, almost 2017

It's good to have the right kind of friends who have the right kind of friends. We had lived in HK about four days when we met this couple, Brett and Shannon.

Before moving to HK we identified a church for our family (hoping we would like it once we got there), Island ECC. We arrived at there on our first weekend in HK and there was a free lunch for something that I can't remember. Anyway, we always sign up for free food. We got our sandwiches and sat on the front row when this beautiful blonde walked up to us and said, "Your family looks like our family." She turned her phone around and showed me her screensaver that revealed, YEP, her family looked like ours.

And, the rest is history.

Shannon and Brett are originally from Texas, but they have been in Hong Kong about 16 years, I think. They have great friends (boat owners) who are so very generous. And, we have great friends who like to share their share. 🙏  This boat is owned by someone in our church (wife from Texas and husband from mainland China) who love to share.

I'm not really sure where we anchored for this lunch but it was fun and the hiking was fabulous.

The best part was taking the boat through the Victoria Harbour on the way home.

I'm keeping this handsome photo to keep reminding Forrest how much better he looks clean shaven.

Stage 2 - GAP

Forrest spent the Christmas and New Year holidays with us, but he set off for the US in early January 2017.

Before heading to Legacy Discipleship Program in Birmingham, he made a surprise visit to his Nana on her 77th birthday.

Of course, he shows up woefully unprepared for real winters.

But, he definitely got the surprise for Nana right.

The Legacy Discipleship School (January to April) is associated with JH Ranch in California. Everyone in the program is from eighteen to thirty years old and taking the three months at Legacy to be fully immerse in studying God's word under the teaching of the very talented South African-American, Francois Fineberg.



A few weekends during his time at Legacy he has been able to visit old friends from his days at Caldwell Academy in North Carolina. These four have been friends a long time - I believe this is their 8th grade dance photo.



And, here's the recreation without the bowtie and bling.

Thank you, Cindy Lou

From the trip to Cambodia in June, another trip emerged. When Cindy helped the children in Kampot, she suggested that I talk with my HK church and mention a possible yearly trip to that same village.

I did mention this. Jeff and I sat with our pastor and his wife and told them all about the summer trip. They are not the type to sit on things for long. Of course, Charia, the person Cindy and I were with in Kampot, is partnered with our church, so most people in leadership know her and love what she is doing in Cambodia.

The next thing I knew there was a dental/medical trip on the schedule for November, only five months after Cindy and I went.  Again, our church GOES.

This is the village in Kampot. On the trip with Cindy, we only stayed one day and saw about 100 children, but it was mostly for wounds.

This trip we had two doctors and five dentists.

What I find most disturbing in this village is the diet. No, they don't have running water or toilets, so the area is definitely filthy, but the fact that someone goes into the town of Kampot and brings back sugars for these people to eat is horrible. They desperately need good nutrition and they just don't have it. They no longer grow their own food.

The dentists found massive decay in every mouth. They were disheartened because their first responsibility is to do no harm. We all had to ask, could we really help by going in once per year? They need a public health overhaul. The government of Cambodia just does not care about the people. It's a culture of survival of the fittest.

Black Rain - Oct 2016

If the HK Observatory (government site) issues a Black Rain warning, it means this: 

Very heavy rain has fallen or is expected to fall generally over Hong Kong, exceeding 70 millimetres in an hour, and is likely to continue.

There are three levels of warning: AMBER, RED and BLACK.

The AMBER signal gives alert about potential heavy rain that may develop into RED or BLACK signal situations. There will be flooding in some low-lying and poorly drained areas. Key Government departments and major transport and utility operators are put on alert.

The RED and BLACK signals warn the public of heavy rain which is likely to bring about serious road flooding and traffic congestion. They will trigger response actions by Government departments and major transport and utility operators. The public will be given clear advice on the appropriate actions to take.

It's a great system of weather warning. But, what I find most impressive is the massive amounts of rain that can fall and the relatively low rate of damage. This is absolutely due to the daily, and I mean daily, clearing of the drains. 

On this day in October, the rain started after lunch and the flooding started quickly. But, by the evening, the rain had stopped and the roads were clear. Again, the drains were prepped.

But, the problem was the timing of this rainstorm. School was letting out around the time the rain started.

Claire gets out of school at 2:50 but didn't get home until 7:30. She was on her school bus for about two hours and finally got back to the school to stay until it was safe to be on the roads.

Ellis was home with me because he happened to finish at noon this particular day.

Taylor, on the other hand, was in a car for three hours (very near this photo) trying to get home.

So, this is the kind of stuff we do on crazy rain days. We were attempting to make these dolls for a local hospital. I'm not sure who would want these, but we tried really hard to make them nice. If effort could make these pretty, they would have been princess quality.

Thankfully, we have Anna to teach the sewing skills.  I observed and documented.

Honestly, Claire sewed around the pin. She's a smart cookie, but her common sense needs honing.

Beach Living

It's hard to beat the combination of the city and beach living we have in Hong Kong. When you top if off with being one of the safest cities on the planet, it's easy to see why many people don't want to leave this place. Of course, going to the grocery store and paying for gasoline and rent can quickly check your Pollyanna ideas. 

I tend to like Pollyanna. 

It takes about 10 minutes to walk the heavy paddle board to the beach, which seems great until you actually haul that thing down there. 

This is Claire after church one day - no need to change your clothes. 

And, Taylor. I promise she can stand.

All children involved, even Hank. It's tough to manage the board with a 75 lb dog that's trembles with fear.

Jeff manages him the best (at all times, not just on the board).  I don't think Hank trusts the rest of us.