Thank You

Five years ago we moved to China.  We landed on Sept 1.

We left a few weeks earlier from North Dakota, stopping to see a few more dear friends on the way west.  But it's pictures and scents of that scene,  that good-bye in North Dakota, that surge emotion like a flood and send my heart throbbing up into my throat.

I remember all to clearly standing around that dinky Minot airport, all the luggage just checked on, waiting for when we would have to proceed through security.  I remember Mary deciding that the waiting was too much pain:  you stood up, gave Isaiah one last hug, gave him back to us and left with very few words and very many tears.  And those tears were precious to us then and we shared them with you.  Those tears are still precious to us and are still met with more tears here so often as we think of you so far away these five years later.

Thank you Mom and Dad K for your incredible support sending us half the world away, with your only grandchild at the time.  Thank you for sending us with your blessing.

Isaiah was the first grandchild and the first great-grand on both sides of our ND family.  I have more delicious pictures of him with family than I could possibly post, but here are just a few...

 four generations of K men

 can you see that he was just a little bit doted on?

I've thought lots about this recently because Vivi is exactly the same age now as Isaiah was when we left and when we landed.  They were born 2 days apart in mid March.  Thank you guys once again, now actually four times over, for giving us your blessing to be here.  Your support and encouragement, and sacrificial cheer for us to come and live and work here, is of unspeakable value to us, a true blessing on our work, and we know it is a gift to the Lord too.

And... just a quickie...  a little proof that Vivi really does resemble Isaiah as a baby.  I know the pictures of him are harder to see very clearly and it's hard to see similarities in them now, but I think Vivi most resembles this guy of her three elder siblings.  (I might have to look for more- better pics to compare soon...)

Here she is a few days ago with her little big brother John.  And yep, that's her first fountain-do up on top.   They both have eyes that seem, at this point, a little too big for their faces...  (see the little creases below?)