Quality Time with Family

We were blessed with some wonderful time with both our families here in Missouri. We were able to spend a couple nights at a nearby resort together, and the weather was beautiful for swimming and hiking. While the two weeks we spent in Missouri was incredibly busy with final preparations for our departure, we were also able to spend a lot of time just hanging out with our families - we praise God for this precious gift. We also praise Him for families who love us and are standing behind us as we go. It will be very difficult to be apart, but we know that God will give us the grace we each need.

We had fun with pumpkins too - we carved some very happy jack-o-lanterns, and the kids all painted their own pumpkin as well. Ben had fun painting, but he did make us a little nervous - a toddler with a paintbrush is a frightening thing to be certain.

We enacted an old Jackson tradition by getting the kids up from bed to make donuts together. We let Ben sleep through the craziness, but he got to enjoy the fruits of the adventure the next morning for breakfast.

We covet your prayers this Wednesday (October 26) as we say some incredibly difficult goodbyes. I think watching the grandparents say goodbye to their grandkids will be the most difficult part of it. My heart aches at the thought of the upcoming separation, but I know that God will be faithful to comfort us with His love. And I also know that the reason we are going is well worth the sacrifice it will cost us.

Our Final Fall

It will be many years before we are able to enjoy the beauty of fall again so we were thrilled to experience the peak of the foliage season in Missouri. It has been absolutely gorgeous, and we of course had to get some pictures to remember what fall looks like. Since there is no such season in the Philippines, the pictures will be particularly useful for showing the boys what fall looks like.

Mikayla and Zach continue to be quite the little monkeys, terrifying any adult who happens to be watching.

Ben's class

Ben's teacher gave us a few more pictures of him in his class, and I thought you may enjoy them as well. I love this pic of the boys taking care of each other at lunch time.
Story time! Their teachers were EXCELLENT!
Is he gonna be a climber like his brother?
Ni-night time in class. Ben and Zach both amazed us by taking excellent naps in class. As long as they had their puppies, they were all set.

Worship

Steve and I have been leaders of a small group during our time at orientation. One of the things that we did as a group is worship together daily. On Sundays, we usually went outside under this tree. We always had a wonderful time. Sometimes the kids worshipped with us; sometimes we let them play in the area. This time they were playing - notice Mikayla up in the tree.

A trip to DC

We all rode a bus up to Washinton DC one day to have some "cultural experiences" and to have a chance to witness to internationals. It was a family affair, and the kids did GREAT!

The kids with the reflecting pool, the WWII memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial in the background. We didn't actually get to go see all these things up close (the purpose of the trip was not sightseeing, and we had other things we needed to accomplish), but we did get to see them from a distance anyway. The Washington monument.
We got to ride the subway all over the city. It was quite an adventure with 3 little ones, but we are going to have many such adventures all over the world with our 3 little ones. This time we had the huge help of a quadmate, Eileen. She is Filipino-American and headed to Japan as a missionary; she was on our DC team, and we had a great time together.Ben fell asleep in the carrier just before lunch so Steve just took it off, and Ben napped while we ate. We actually met a man named Nick for lunch. We had connected with him through a Filipinos in DC website, and he agreed to have lunch with us. He grew up in the Philippines, and we met a Filipino restaurant - it was excellent food! The best part though was the chance that we had to share with him the Gospel message. He listened carefully and said that we had given him lots to think about. Please pray for Nick - that God would convict his heart of his sin and need for a Savior.

After school play time

We were in classes from 8am to 3pm on most days (we went until 5pm about once a week). After we picked the kids up from class, they had a snack in the "great room" before going out to play.
Ben loved to go back and forth across this bridge on the playground.
One of the MANY playgrounds on campus. This was the view from the front door of our quad.
Mikayla and Zach often terrified the other parents with their crazy antics on the playground. They climbed everything - whether or not it was intended for that. Both of them regularly climbed to the top of the swingset - I'll spare you the picture to avoid giving someone a heart attack... :)
After a busy day of playing, we all read a story together at bed time - often several stories. Ben has just started sitting still for story time so it is fun to have him join the family in this treasured time. In addition to the usual Bible stories, we have also been reading a lot of stories about children in other cultures or children who move to other cultures. They love these stories, and it hopefully will help them adjust to a new culture themselves.

SHOTS!

We had LOTS of SHOTS while we were at orientation. Between us, we had nearly 60 shots! While shot days were no fun, we are thankful for the protection against many diseases found in Asia.
Since the shot days were pretty tramautic for the entire community, they tried to make them less so by giving out fun bandaids (which everyone would compare afterwards) and appease the crying children with candy, facepainting, and balloon art. Our family did relatively well with all our shots, but those were certainly difficult days.

The kids in class

The first day of school! The kids had no idea how much fun they were going to have. They would learn about many new countries (the one they are going to - the Philippines - as well as the countries where all their classmates are going.) They would make lots of new friends and do lots of cool crafts. They also studied things like transportation, colors, America, and the seasons. Zach with his teacher, "Miss Cindy", and his friend Sterling. Zach did great in his class, and Miss Cindy commented on how well adjusted he seems. There were several in his class that had a difficult time, but thankfully Zach did great!
Ben with his teachers "Miss Marlene" and "Miss Cindy". We were amazed with how well Ben adjusted to being in class all day. He loved it!
Mikayla with her teacher, "Miss MaryLou" and her friend Caroline. Mikayla shined in her class, and MaryLou had nothing but glowing reports during our first-ever "parent-teacher conference". She seems to think Mikayla is a bit of a leader...

International Learning Center Campus

The campus here at the International Learning Center in Virginia is beautiful.

The cafeteria where we eat our meals with the group. It can get a little crazy when it gets full of families, but it can be a good time to connect.


The "great room" that we share with our quadmates.
We lived in a "Quad" with two other couples and three single girls. While we each have our own bedrooms, kitchenettes, bathrooms, and laundry facilities, we share a "great room" for hanging out.

We eat in a cafeteria as a group. While the food is good for cafeteria food, we are all quite tired of it and VERY anxious for some home-cooked meals.