Breaking News!

The last time I used "Breaking News" as a title of a blog post, it was because I was SO EXCITED that my child slept through the night.  I was chided that, though exciting (for me!), it wasn't news enough to elicit such a post/title.. (sorry, Geniene.).  But this time, it is big, life-changing news. 

So... without further delay...

We are moving!.. from the heart of Seoul to the Heartlands of the USA...  Orange City, Iowa to be exact.  

So much has happened the past few months, so let me review:

In May, Jarrod graduated from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and began an intense job search. 

In June, we ended our 5th year in Seoul and work at YISS.  We packed up 11 suitcases and made our last (for now?) international flight from Seoul to Virginia on June 24th.  

Since then, we stayed at Grandaddy's and Grandmomma's house while continuing the job search. Jarrod interviewed with Maurice 1st Reformed Church in Maurice, Iowa (pronounced "Morris") for their Sr. High Youth Pastor vacancy.  On August 5th, right after Jarrod's second interview with the church, they emailed and said that they wanted to fly us out for the weekend.  We decided to go check it out (but leave Marc and Emmalyn behind with Grammy and Grandpa Puff); so in anticipation of that trip, we went ahead and moved all of our family over to Jarrod's parents house to get the kids settled before we left them for 5(!) days.  Then, on Thursday, August 14th, Jarrod and I (along with Alaina) said goodbye to our kids (who couldn't care less.. they were having fun playing with cousins) and tearfully drove to the airport.  (Don't judge, we have never -both- left them before!!)  Soon we were off - and after two really quick flights (compared to the long, international ones that we were used to) we found ourselves in Northwest Iowa with smiling faces waiting there to greet us.   

The head of the church's search committee arranged for us to meet a lot of different groups of people over the next few days for informal.. and more formal.. interviews (plus sight-seeing, house hunting, etc).  We were all getting to know each other, and having a great time. We were encouraged to see what God is doing at the church and in the community and excited about how we could join that work.  We found the area to be safe, friendly, and family-oriented.  The church is very active and growing.  It has a large children's ministry, with three different pastors over the children, jr. high, and sr. high groups.   Each of those pastors has a large team of people volunteering their time to share ideas, plan events, and love on kids throughout the year.   Jarrod and I were excited to think about the ways we could fit in with this ministry, and how our children could be involved at the church, too!

On Sunday night, after the last interview with the church consistory (the church's governing body made up of 9 elders and 9 deacons), Jarrod officially received the call from Maurice 1st Reformed church to be their Sr. High Youth Pastor.  On Monday, he signed the contract.. and we looked more seriously at houses.  Then we flew home to Virginia to be reunited with our kids on Tuesday morning.  What a whirlwind it was.  But so good.  

Since then, we bought a house (yes, you read that correctly) in Orange City (about 7 miles away from Maurice) that is just down the street from the high school where most of the church youth attend... complete with a guest room for all the visitors we will have.  You know you want to come visit Iowa!.. 

Random Iowa facts that may (or may not) entice you to visit:

• Mealtimes are... different.  We were told that people routinely eat:  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Lunch, Supper, Lunch.  Which translates as: Breakfast is in the A.M., Lunch is a snack.. not at a meal time, Dinner is the noon-time meal, and Supper is in the evening.  So..  that could be confusing if I invite someone over for our lunch or dinner... :)
• Orange City has a large Dutch population that is evidenced in the "Dutch village" style shopping on their main street, parks, foods, annual Tulip festival, and souvenirs.. even the high-school mascot is the Dutchmen.
• Le Mars, Iowa (close to where we live) is known as the "ice cream capital of the world" (I knew I liked Iowa!).  Blue Bunny ice cream is made there.. and it is delicious! :)  

We are excited about this new chapter of our lives.  We will be moving to Iowa once we close on the house we are buying.. tentatively the beginning of October.  The Lord has clearly opened this door for us and we are excited to step out in faith and see how He is continuing to work in us, around us, and through us - specifically with the people in Sioux County, Iowa.  

Please keep our family in your prayers as we move and seek to serve the Lord in this new place!

keeping in touch

This summer Marc and Emmalyn had so much fun getting to know and play with their cousins more.  They look at their pictures frequently - and some times we even get to chat on Skype!  It is definitely not the same as being in person, but we SO appreciate the effort that our family and friends put in to keep in touch with our family as we are far away!

Hawaii Vacation 2013

I have been waiting to do a post about our Hawaii trip this summer before I start back with life in Korea.. but was overwhelmed by the amount of pictures I have - and realized that if I wanted to really be thorough about it - I would probably need to write 10 posts.  So - here is the abbreviated version.

Hawaii was definitely a highlight of the summer.. of the year.. of our marriage.. really, of my life. ;)   Ok, there are some things I can think of that were better... like getting married, having babies, graduating high school.. and college... and grad school.., but THIS was probably the best vacation I have been on. Ever.

Why?  Because I can't think of any thing about it that was bad or went wrong... it was relaxing, refreshing, great family memories, and full of new experiences, learning about our nation's history, and sunshine.  This kind of vacation doesn't come around very often (our wallets couldn't handle it!) but we were so glad to be able to celebrate our 5 years of marriage/30th Birthdays/3rd baby "babymoon" in Oahu.

So the details: 

We arrived on Oahu early in the morning on June 8 and left late in the evening on June 18th.  Our rental condo at Beach Villas at Ko Olina was fantastic and let us check in as soon as we arrived (instead of the normal 4 o'clock) which was really nice since we were traveling with jet-lagged kids, and they let us check out late (instead of the normal 10am) so that we just went straight to the airport in the evening and Emmalyn could have one last afternoon nap there.  We highly recommend our condo for families with young kids!

 (click pictures to enlarge!)

 We spent a lot of time - at least some part of every day- at the (semi-salt water) pools and at the beach lagoons just outside our resort gates.

 One day we took a tour around the island, hitting up Turtle Bay at the North Shore, and back down the   Eastern "rainy" coast.  We are glad to have seen that side of the island, but were thankful for our relentless sunny days on the Western side of Oahu.

After our tour of the island, we headed to the airport to pick up Jarrod's parents to enjoy the rest our Hawaiian vacation.

We went to the Dole Plantation, Pearl Harbor, and Waikiki:

We were able to visit with some of our friends, Nick and Naomi, from our small group in Korea that moved to Oahu.  Nick works as a helicopter mechanic and test pilot, so one day we went up to Wheeler  Army Airbase to get a tour of the Blackhawks that he works on.  It was great to see them both at the base and at our resort!

We celebrated Jarrod's actual 30th birthday (and my 30th to come..) with a gift from Jarrod's parents: a Luau at Paradise Cove.

Jarrod's parents went the night before us so that they could babysit for us. We were thankful!

Our beach villa was next to the Disney Resort, so - of course - we headed over there to check it out and meet some of Marc's favorite characters. :)

 Did I already say that we went swimming?
A lot?

 And snorkling??  Jarrod got us all to go out with him!.. He even took Marc in a floaty with his goggles so that he could look down into the water. :)

 And then.. just like that.. it was time to leave. 

So long, sweet Hawaii...

...until next time???    ;)