Building sandcastles in chapel!

Yesterday the staff told me in all their years of serving here in Cincel, they have never seen students build a sand castle, much less in chapel!

The study is on Luke 7. The person who builds their house on sand or on the rock.
Since I am a visual learner, I asked Denny if we could go to the beach last week just to get some sand!
What a funny picture that was. These 2 old people carting buckets of sand off the beach. and that's all we did! buckets and buckets and buckets! I didn't want to run short!  We didnt even have time to sit and take in the therapy! haha

I found sticks, rocks, coconuts, anything to add to the lesson on sand castle building!
It was fun
Of course I had to have a prize for the winner! We have a new Starbucks by the school. So Starbucks cards motivate! haha!

AND THE WINNERS ARE.....the Castro's!

Michele who never made a sand castle in her life!

Celebrating a Grammar Exercise Book!

How strange is that!!
Did you ever know someone celebrating grammar!

Last trimester the student body population was low, so we wouldn't lose our teaching staff Denny asked them to begin the project for Cincel's own material. Up to this point we were ordering Spanish textbooks from the states and carting them in every time we came back.

They jumped on the idea and at graduation in April we were able to dedicate the new curriculum.
When the new students arrived in May, they are the first class to use it. Naturally I needed to take photos of celebration! I mean... that is my job!

The new students probably wondered, "what's the big deal"!!! oh if they only knew the back story!

Her second home!

Since 2008 we have used public storage in Phoenixville. It actually became Ryan and Renée's closet! Every season they would go to change out their wardrobe! Our last job in Phoenixville was to go to storage to be sure she had everything to move on to her new location.

One last bike ride
Letting her fiesta baloons go
Making sure it was in order for the next time Daddy saw the storage :)

Hard day. Good day. Life is made up of hundreds of emotions. Isn't it amazing how many of those hundreds one can experience in a 24 hour period?

 

another farewell

Daddy leaving to go back to Costa Rica was a really hard day. We took him to the airport with tears and came back to Phoenixville to pack up for the next leg of the journey. Little did I realize it would turn out to be a whole day of tears. We came back on campus. That was a bad move. After graduation we took in so many activities that Renée didn't have time to grieve her departure, her home for four years. Then the magical time in Florida consumed her emotions. We arrived back and the tears flooded over her. We managed to get some photos but man.....that was hard.

OLAF!

For the last year of Renée's college she worked at Starbucks. She was loved and cared for. She was personable and friendly to her colleagues and customers. She is a gem. When she gave her notice, they were sad to see her go. On her last day they presented her with a charm bracelet with each person on her shift picking out the specific charm to describe them self. What a gift. She cried. She had to facetime us that night, she was so moved and felt so sad.

Another colleague at Starbucks gave her a new friend! OLAF! We were to pick it up in Orlando! Never did we dream her new friend was 39 inches tall and 13 pounds!

How do we get this fella home!! Another plane seat? UPS?  Mail?  It was quickly to be
determined! On the last day of our stay we took Olaf to the UPS. It was going to be $300. wait what!!!
We then went to the post office. That gentleman said "oh that UPS, they can charge what they want because they are not regulated by the government". He said $30. oh good that's much better! our last option would be to put him underneath in the airplane.

We mailed him the snail way and prayed that he would not suffocate!

The Gift!

Daddy asked Renée a year ago what she would like as a gift for her graduation. For her high school graduation she asked for a camera. I think when Denny asked her he expected a response like that. Something electronic. What a surprise when she responded "Disney"! Because we are a family that has traveled around the globe so much, we expect the kids to want to stay "home" wherever home is!

Not our little adventurer! Ryan likes home. Renée likes to keep on the move! The planning for our vacation to Disney was really fun. It was good that we had a year to do it. Graduation day was awesome. Her little fiesta was terrific. We put her dorm room stuff in storage and then made our way to Florida! What a great week we had. It was so much fun! A trip never to forget!

It's funny how missionary kids respond and react to different times in their life. They are usually so confident (they have itinerated with Mom and Dad so they have learned to interact with lots of people, been in tons of situations where they are called upon to think on their feet) They are usually mature (living in another country, learning a new language and culture, they can't rely on what the other kids are doing or saying because of the different culture, they learn to grow into who they are quicker) They are usually so grateful (they have learned what it takes to live away from America and to do without many times).

A couple of months before graduation, Renée said to her daddy by phone. We don't have to go to Disney. I know how expensive it is for you and mom to get to graduation and all. We don't have to go. She is so sensitive and caring. This would be a trip of a lifetime for us so we were sure not to go with her assessment! It was a good thing we had a while to prepare though!

We were able to fly to Orlando, stay in an actual home with a pool, and take in three different parks. What a trip! To be honest, it was magical! We didn't want to return to "real" life! well maybe daddy did! haha!