Party Time!

 

My last days here have been so bittersweet! I will miss my dear friends here so much, but I've been blessed with wonderful fellowship with them and a lot of gracious generosity on their part in saying goodbye. Leading the way in that would be the Pittman family, who have gone above and beyond to celebrate the end of school and mark the end of my time here with some special memories. I'm so thankful for them!

 

Tonight we went to a beautiful restaurant: we ate in a beautiful pavilion that hung over the river. Hanging curtains and a beautiful willow tree shaded the spot and gave it wonderful privacy.

The perfect opportunity to get silly!

Also the perfect chance to talk and visit as friends. I've had such a wonderful year getting to spend time with Wendy: I've learned so much about contentment and joy in the Lord from her example! Plus we've had some pretty good laughs together...

Here they all are. The kids have grown up a lot in the 9 months I've been here!

But they're still happy to pass the time waiting for the food by thumb-wrestling.

This sweet gift from the Pittmans made me smile and smile. After all, God did give me the precious love of my fiancée even while I was a world away here! Although...I've never seen him dressed quite like that!

The view out of our balcony/pavilion. We enjoyed lemon tea, vegetable salads, and shashlik, deliciously flavored meat kabobs. It was a fun way to celebrate!