this week

(Beware... this is a long one!)

This week started off with a text message about one of Marian's dear classmate friends (her fellow angel in the pic back a few posts)... it would be her last day at preschool ever, play date at noon pickup.  

Most the foreign kiddos our kids' preschool.  This is the noon pick-up crowd :).

We didn't know what was happening but soon learned that the Mama was just diagnosed with breast cancer.  She told me how very much the Lord had provided for them....  "it just so happened" that they were scheduled to be at a conference in Hong Kong immediately after she found the lump and they had help to arrange lots of medical appointments while they were there.  6 days after they arrived back here, their whole home was packed up and all their good-byes said.  A big blow through the heart just to hear the news and especially, for our little girl grieving her friend moving away.  She's determined that our family needs to visit them soon... in England.  It's a good life lesson, another opportunity to wrestle with the fallenness of our world, exercise our weak faith and strengthen our weak knees as we commit to praying for this family through this journey...   

Another precious friend of mine was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and I feel like my own faith has been strengthened, invigorated, as I've read her posts of learning to trust in the Lord through this.  She recently shared an awesome hymn- lyrics well worth proclaiming to myself again and again.   Thank you, friend.  I love you dear Cari!

...at the Good-Bye dinner.  Here's the big sis we'll miss.  

Nearing 10 months now... Vivi Hope is pulling herself up to stand alongside furniture, covering way too much ground crawling like a speedster, and beginning to wave Bye Bye.  And is it possible she's trying to say "Hi"?  

Oh this precious beautiful girl....
such an incredible delight she is!

Oh, hello Sasafrass.  

I guess even the K Family Journal needs a fashion post maybe? 

At least I know this girl will be our fashion model and advisor if ever there is one.  

The braids are her new favorite do and a scarf is her latest must-have.  

Thank You for this sweet coat dear JJK!  

We LOVE you Marian Lynn!

And this big guy....  I'm so grateful for him.  I enjoy him so much.  I'm so proud of how he's growing to read and help and play and rollerblade...  And I love that even though he asks for a cuddle on his bed at bedtime maybe only once for every 4 dozen times it's begged for on the bunk below him, every time I ask him if I can cuddle him, he lights up with a smile and makes room for me to lay beside him for a minute.... and often I get to hear a story from him when I do.  I love this fantastic boy!

A few weeks ago Matt noticed that our bathroom sink was really wobbly.  The whole sink was only held up by 4 screws in the wall (nothing for it to stand on)... so we wedged a stool in there for the night and planned to take care of it in the morning.  But before any work got done on it and before I thought through what was happening... Isaiah yanked and pulled on that stool.... and the sink came down on his head, sent him flying to the back wall, and broke mama's heart along with leaving quite a little mark on the his forehead.  

We didn't expect our landlord to care at all... we fully expected to have to buy a few more wooden stools to screw in to the bottom of both bathroom sinks as support.  

But lo and behold, our landlord was shockingly generous!  She bought two brand-new nice sinks!  It's silly how we'd walk by the bathroom the first few days and just admire...  do a double take.  Is that Our New Sink!?  Such a cruise-ship feel!  (I imagine.)  It's silly I know... but still... What a blessing!  

The new sink even came with a built-in washing board for us to wash our clothes by hand.  

And our Christmas tree has been down for over a week now but still...  just wanted to post one pic of our tree from outside.  For what I could see, there were only 2 Christmas trees up in our complex (of approximately 4,000 neighbors.)   We've thought several times about how we miss the show of Christmas lights all around but it's also true that we are so glad to have our little lights 

shine in a dark place...