And He's Gone...

 As I type, Dad should be approaching Chicago...

His visit went by so quickly... from meetings to get Planters registration updated, to attending a language session with us on Thursday, and class with us on Friday followed by church in the village on Friday night... here's an assortment of photos from his visit.  And as a disclaimer, my mind is so fatigued, I have no business blogging...

Friday night church in Vlashaj

Jetlag kept him from staying up through 'youth group' afterwards but we pressed on (what's youth group without teaching kids lessons on faith without exercises like 'trust falls'?)

And when the big kids couldn't get over their fear, a certain 8 year old volunteered herself before we could say "you're too young for youth group!" 

She looks a little too much like a crowd surfer to me here...

Then we needed handkerchiefs for another activity, but all Nathan could find at Jumbo were these lovely leopard sleeping masks in the Valentine's seasonal section...

Dad tried to see as many friends as he could in the short period of time he had... I was a lousy journalist, but here he is with the Konis...

Sunday we had fun hosting Fredi for lunch after church.  Ellie thinks 1.) that everyone should find her bird adorable and 2.) this pose is irresistably charming and begs me to take her photo like this with her bird all the time.  Warning: if you come visit us, you may be expected to hold the bird and proffer generous compliments on his beauty and intelligence.  Fredi was a good sport, as you can see.

Monday while the rest of us went to school, Dad was blessed with a rare day of sunshine for his trip over the mountain to Darshen.  

I won't steal his photos with cute babies in case he plans to use those somewhere else... thanks, Mandi, for being journalist!  You did well!

And with that it was time for him to leave!

We have this tradition that started around the time I was leaving for college.  Before one of us would leave to go back to Asbury, then later, back to wherever was home away from Mom and Dad, we took photos in the driveway with Dad.

Here's my photo with Dad as he leaves.

See that giant tear-shaped water stain on the side of the building over my head?  I wish I could say that's from the tears we shed saying goodbye.  That's actually our upstairs neighbor's bathroom leak.  We discovered a few weeks ago that we had evidence of water damage on our bathroom ceiling and on the kids' bedroom wall.  Given how long it takes to get problems addressed here, I'm not looking forward to seeing how long it takes to get this resolved...

And before we knew it, he was off!  We told the kids to say goodbye, but after school, they were asking if he was joining us for supper.  I think it was short, even for them!

mirupafshim!

P.S.  THANK YOU to everyone who bought a scarf or shared about the sale.  We sold every single scarf but one!  WOW!