Ferry Ride (Saying Goodbye to a Friend)

Our sweet friend, Catherine (the other ASL interpreter here), was leaving to go back to the states for a new job. We were so happy for her, but so sad for us. We went on a ferry ride for a final hooray! 

First Time Camping (Here)

We went camping for the first time with three other expat families. We went to a place that they had found that had trees (for shade), a river (for water), and flat places (for the tents). We all had a great time doing nothing for two days! It's a lot of work to go camping, but it is forced rest! You set up and then you sit and do nothing. The kids played a lot in the river even though it rained most of the time. We are all looking forward to going again. 

On our way

The green tent was ours. 

The restroom. :)  

First Local Wedding

We were invited to our first local wedding. A local friend from school was marrying a Norwegian man. Two of my local friends from school offered to come over to help us get ready. Weddings here are a big deal. You dress really nice and have big hair and makeup. John does not like loud noises and we were told weddings are loud, so we left him with some friends. We all had a good time dressing up. The wedding was beautiful, loud, and the food was delicious and plentiful. It was so fun to see the wedding through the girls' eyes. They had so much fun with their friends that came also.

Last Day for Teachers

And just like that, it was over. The last day for teachers was June 10th. We had to clean out our classrooms, help move furniture (and everything else that belonged to that grade), and make sure to take our things home. This year was full of lots of challenges, but we all grew a lot spiritually, physically, and emotionally. 

Guinea Pig Love

The story continues with the guinea pigs. We knew when the girl pig had her baby we needed to separate her from the male, but we didn't...So, our friend that we had given the mother to asked me to come look at the pig to see if she was pregnant. Ummm...yes, she most definitely was. She was as wide sideways as she was long. Poor pig! Five days later, she had three babies. Because our friend was going out of the country for two weeks and they had a smaller space, we traded the mommy and babies for our two male pigs for those two weeks. Her husband was staying and would take care of the two males. We had fun having the mommy and three babies for two weeks. Our friends have since sold the two boy pigs and kept the mommy and girl pig for themselves. It's been an adventure. 

Award Ceremony

The last day of school is always the awards ceremony for the kids. It was a sweet time to celebrate and award all of the students' hard work. Phil gave a speech for his graduating 6th graders and did a phenomenal job! 

Aqua Park

The day before the last day for students, the school always goes to a local water park. I left my phone in my purse and enjoyed the day with friends and the kids. The school does this every year and all of the families go. It is a time to relax and unwind from the past ten months! I didn't take any pictures, but a friend sent me one. I wanted to write about it to remember. Everyone had a great time and we stayed for five hours! John wore his goggles for the majority of the day. 

Package from Grandparents

It was so fun to get a package from Phil's parents. They sent games, gifts (for Christmas and birthdays), and candy!