Sunset Jun16

Sunset

GOD, brilliant Lord, Your name echoes around the world! ~psalm 8:9 (The Message) We fly to Tennessee...

Hospitality 102 Jun09

Hospitality 102

I used to think of myself as a pretty hospitable person. But that was before I met the Samuels… and the Stonemans… and the Carlsons… and the Bultemas….. and the Chaveses… and the Pughs… and the Eubanks… The list of guest presenters in my Hospitality...

Our Recommendations Jun06

Our Recommendations

While planning for our year, both in advance and on-the-go, TripAdvisor became our sixth family member. We poured over reviews and suggestions of restaurants, apartments, hikes, hotels, trains, and self-guided tours. As a school writing assignment, we even studied what makes a good review and...

Writing Writing? Jun05

Writing Writing?

“Writing writing prompts”???? Sheesh, I sure am glad J is teaching them writing instead of...

Have Math, Will Travel Jun05

Have Math, Will Trav...

W is practicing for his Algebra End-of-Course exam in a park in Seoul. H and E are back at the apartment with J working on writing writing prompts. Tomorrow is our last day of...

Something for Everyone Jun04

Something for Everyo...

The perfect place for a date excursion here in Seoul later this week: I plan on cake and wine, he plans on bread and cheese. Happy...

ColorFull May31

ColorFull

I had the most beautiful ice cream cone the other day. The rain was just stopping, and the Kyoto street colors were accentuated by the wet. Red lanterns, dark wood, carefully arranged potted plants, flocks of bright umbrellas. As I savored both the green tea color AND flavor, I remembered...

Universal Language May26

Universal Language

Ah, the joys of the universal language of….. Adele?? Last July, during the first week of our adventure, our family cozied up for pizza around a tiny wooden table in one of only two restaurants in a little coastal town of southern Iceland.  We were giddy with anticipation of our year...

Necessary May15

Necessary

J has a cool app on his phone that will speak Chinese for us. It has helped us out on several occasions, ordering tea, sorting out larger numbers, settling a time when a driver would pick us up. It is not super sophisticated — it is more of a phrasebook than a translator — and has...

Progress Report May10

Progress Report

Usually when people ask us where we are heading next, the reply is a long and somewhat vague list of countries, sights, plans. But this week in China, our answer is…. um, Korea. And then home. This answer is shockingly short to me. How can it be that there is just one more country? Did...

Happy Birthday, Gigi May09

Happy Birthday, Gigi

My Mom has filled many roles over her 71 years. In our family, she has been Wife, Mom, Grandmother (Gigi!), Chef, Dog Trainer, House Painter, Project Manager, Temperature Taker, Party Planner, Exercise Leader, Math Tutor, Chauffeur, Furniture Repairer, Book Keeper, Landscaper, List Creator,...

Rhymes with Wowza May01

Rhymes with Wowza

Jiaozi. Unintentionally, we landed at a foster home facility in China at the beginning of a five-day weekend.  Thus, we have enjoyed the slow pace of the national holiday and have savored the opportunity to spend time with the incredible, multinational families of this “instant...

Soft Seat Air-Con Apr17

Soft Seat Air-Con

April 17, 3:07pm A minty, antiseptic smell has just overtaken the sour cigarette odor in our Vietnamese train car (we splurged for the Soft Seat Air-Con tickets).  The mounted TV serenades us with Vietnamese soft-rock favorites sung by 20-something darlings in sparkly evening gowns in front...

Hospitality Defined Apr09

Hospitality Defined

  What is the saying about fish and visitors? That they both stink after three days? Somehow Mark and Melinda missed out on that message — try hosting a family of five for nearly three weeks! We had the extreme pleasure and privilege of being welcomed into their Chiang Mai home,...

Hosannah in the Highest Mar24

Hosannah in the High...

Hosannah is one our new friends that we greatly admire (true story). On the day we met, one of the first things we learned about her is that she killed a snake while out on her morning run, which made me want to sign up immediately to be on her team. Despite being lethal to snakes, to people...

Birthday Love Mar15

Birthday Love

Big J turned 42 yesterday in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  The boys planned a full day for him of running, eating, swimming, dancing, playing, and — special treat — napping.  We had Big Birthday Dinner with Mark and Melinda’s awesome family, stuffed ourselves with Lacy’s...

Tooth Update Mar08

Tooth Update

The results are in, and the winner is…..Malaysia, by about 48 hours. A Malaysian Ringgit, though worth only about 30 cents, comes as a beautiful, periwinkle blue paper bill with a delicate, transparent window and a tropical hibiscus. But H mainly sees a 3-ringgit pack of gum at the...

Tooth Fairy Economics Mar05

Tooth Fairy Economic...

The tooth hangs by a thread, flicking back and forth almost as easily and mindlessly as breathing in and out. If you ask him why he doesn’t just pull it out, the answer is quick and firm: “NO. I DON’T WANT TO.” H is on the verge of losing his second tooth of the trip....

Malaysia Feb28

Malaysia

Another day, another continent…. It seems too soon to leave Africa behind, but here we are in Kuala Lumpur, with all of our luggage AND all of our children. The first food stand I saw in the airport was for “corny fish”. Is this for bad fish jokes or a fishy corn dog? Too...

Recent HomeLife Feb23

Recent HomeLife

On the homefront, we have been digging in hard to school these two weeks, trying to make extra progress in math and also putting many of our experiences here into the context of geopolitical East African life.  We are so thankful to Sam and Lynn for loaning us their home while they are away,...