Spring fun and another goodbye

We recently have had beautiful spring weather , which has made life much more fun all the way around. Until we lived overseas did I realize how much Americans value comfort and control of our environment. When it's too hot or too cold in America, you just change the thermostat of your house or car and voila - you've got just what you want! But over here, how hot or cold it is (more about the cold than the hot) can really make your life more difficult or more fun.

We are losing another teammate and we are really bummed about it. In our 5 years of being in Central Asia, we have had 17 different teammates, but this one has been with us the longest. Since he is leaving us to go to a much more secure country in the Middle East, I'm not going to post his name or picture. But we will miss him a ton! Especially Luke - he loves all his stand-in aunts and uncles. This teammate of ours hosted a big "deep fry" party for some of our expat friends here. He deep fried everything you could think of , including Snickers and Twix. Thankfully someone brought some salad too - made me feel a lot better about myself. After the party (which had some chicken nuggets like McD's -except real chicken) , Luke kept saying : "that was a GOOD party Mommy"! This boy loves a party.

Our teammates hosted this frying bash and all the kids were mezmorized by the water in the middle of their courtyard. A little water can keep them entertained for a long time. Notice Luke is holding a hockey stick - we are still Southerners, don't worry. He has some American/Canadian friends. He also loves to play with his plastic golf clubs , although he's a bit confused. Soon after Forrest was trying to through the football with him in our yard, he was inside the house with the golf club saying "HUT". And he also told Forrest that he wanted to kick the football instead of throw it. Forrest said that just broke his heart.

In our Sunday fellowship that I mentioned before, there are 3 babies all born in July! We are going to have a combined party for them all. It's so fun to watch them grow up and see how differently they are developing. This little guy is from New Zealond and is such a cute. And he is wearing Luke's clothes in this picture. Seeing him in Luke's clothes makes me so sentimental!

One more random funny thing....Luke and his little South African friend have a weekly playdate. Last week we were at their house and Luke asked her mother for a biscuit. I said, "what?" He said at that house they were called biscuits. Then her mother told me that when her daughter talks about being at my house, she calls them crackers. I think that's pretty funny and impressive that these little 2 1/2 year olds are clever enough to know when to speak American English and when to speak the Queen's English!