Life Update

Things are really heating up for us in Hong Kong (literally and figuratively). Here is a little window into what we have cookin'

Summer Schedule:
June 11- Jason's last day at school
June 13- 30- Christine runs Writing Clinics tutoring all morning long
June 30- move out of our house and into a friend's place for July
June 4- 17-Christine teaches Summer School at ICS
June 18- 29 Jason teaches ICS summer school and coaches soccer camp in the afternoon
June 4- 29- Josiah attends pre- school summer school (:
August 1- Fly to the Philippines

*Oh, I guess I should update you that we will be spending August serving in the Philippines with ICM. In September we will then be flying to South Africa. I am SO excited about this change and can't wait to hug those beautiful children!!!*

Here is a picture of Josiah recovering from his first round of vaccines


It feels like there are a million things to do. Fortunately I am a detail person so I have hit my stride. I much prefer prefer longs lists to ambiguity.

To- Do List: (more for me than you)
HEALTH
-vaccinate (2 rounds) and get malaria pills
- test children's blood type
- stock up on Josiah's asthma medicine
- order vitamins for kids
- get supplies of antibiotics and various other medicines/ first aid
- choose and purchase the right health insurance for our family

HOME
- Sell, loan, store or pack all possessions (this is the biggie!)- to save money we actually are not getting a storage unit which means we have AMAZING friends who are sacrificing space in their tiny flats for our stuff. Can you believe that!?!
- get rid of Josiah's toys without devastating him
- Cancel our utilities and cell phones
- Re- paint parts of our flat and do minor repair work

SHOPPING
- Purchase travel items like pack 'n play sheets, travel booster seat etc.
- Select and order water filtration system
- Buy gifts for people we meet along the way
- Keep our luggage under 40 kg.
- research and buy best mosquito nets and repellent
- buy travel nebulizer in case of a severe asthma attack

LOGISTICS
- Book accommodations for Philippines
- Buy plane tickets (we have some already) and apply for visas at Philippines and Mozambique consulates
- Confirm stay at IRIS South Africa
- Have a follow- up meeting with ICM coordinator

PAPERWORK
- Gather reference letters
- Apply to Harvest School of Mission in Mozambique (applications accepted tomorrow!)
- Synthesize and prepare teacher- training materials for working in schools
-Create budget for the year and hope it works (:
- Copy and organize all important travel documents and emergency information

TECHNOLOGY
- Back up everything onto two external hard drives
- Determine whether to bring laptop
- Create new blog and newsletters to communicate with friends and family

SPIRITUAL
- meet with Pastors for counseling and wisdom
- be prayed for and "sent off" by our church
- seek the Father's heart, stay humble, dependent and willing
- take captive fear and walk in faith

At the moment I am reading A Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, which is challenging me to embrace beauty in the ordinary. This is especially easy for me since I know after June my "ordinary" life will be a bit upside down. Here is my list of ten "gifts" from the last week:

1. air conditioning box turned architectural wonder

2. clean diapers

3. smiles on wheels

4. pudgy fingers in paint

5. big guitar, small boy

6. "fire trees" ablaze

7. welcoming the first storm of the season

8. car collections

9. crabs under rocks

10. nap time

May Moments

Well I'm not sure what happened to March and April's Moments, but here are some video clips from this month. A big shout out to Grandpa Paine for the amazing airplane ("baby bluebird") he made for Josiah's birthday. Our living room is now a tarmac.
I also apologize for the camera- mom's obnoxious voice. I try to drown it out with the music (:

Still Got It

This past Sunday Jason entered the first track meet he has competed in for 13 years. He was a bit nervous and didn't have the time to train like he wanted to, but he proved that he's still got it!

Jason was the only competitor without a Chinese name and by far the oldest in the race, with most of the runners born in the mid- 90s. Ai- ya!

Jason's biggest fans

Jason ran the 1500 (almost a mile) and kept to the middle of the pack for most of the race. He took the lead the last lap and held it for a strong finish. His time was 4:25!! Although Jason didn't win the overall race, he won his heat- which was so exciting to watch
This is what it looks like to leave everything on the track. We are proud of you babe!

Zeros Don't Count

Me: Josiah, today is mommy's birthday. I'm 30.
Josiah: I'm three too! (showing me his 3 fingers)

Josiah Turns 3!

Josiah's birthday was actually last Sunday sandwiched between the wedding and skyjump. For reasons of sanity we decided to postpone his celebration to the following weekend. We had a small, low- key gathering with friends which was just perfect. Josiah is so proud to be three and loves to show perfect strangers his three fingers and say "I'm this many"
We walked to this beach near our house and met up with Josiah's buds Malcolm and Jack along with their families
Guess who forgot to bring swimsuits. . . not a problem!

After playing at the beach we walked over to a BBQ site (pronounced Be- be-Q in HK) and they have a bounce house for kids- fun!
Annette practiced her walking with Jamila (she CAN walk now, but prefers to crawl)

The guys and the meat

For dessert we baked chocolate cake over the fire inside of hollowed out oranges. It turned out soo yummy and moist especially with buttercream frosting on top.

It was such a fun, relaxed birthday. We love you Josiah and are so thankful for three wonderful years with you!!

Facing Fears II: The Jump

Who: My friend of 5 years Emily and I. We watched our husbands sky- dive together in New Zealand and since we both turned 30 within a few weeks of each other, we decided it was our turn to do something crazy! We had four children under 3 waiting for us at the bottom!

What: SkyJump from the Macau Tower- about 75 floors high. They boast the tallest bungy jump in the world. We didn't bungy jump, we had a controlled fall, feet first.

Where: China's special administrative region Macau (China's Las Vegas)

Why: I am the world's biggest chicken (really) so I need to be intentional to do things to get out of my comfort zone. I want my life to be driven by love, not bullied by fear (1 John 4:18)





glass bottom floor- look how small the ground is!!

We are HIGH!!

This is my nervous/ excited smile (can you tell?) We were so hyper and silly at the top waiting our turn!

Getting harnessed nice and tight

We had to walk to the edge, hold hands, wait for the count down and at the same time step off into thin air- so exhilarating and intense!

down- part was SO fun, like flying. Yes, Mom and Dad, I screamed (:


Big hug at the bottom!!

We celebrated afterwards with a great lunch at the famous Portugese resturant Fernando's


You may remember a blog I wrote a while back about facing fears. I have now "conquered" 2/3 (Lasik and SkyJump) that means the next big adventure is Africa. We are preparing our bodies, minds, bank account, and hearts for the next big adventure. Everything is not completely in order, which is where faith comes in. I guess the Christian life is sometimes about stepping out even when you can't see the ground in front of you.