We are two months shy of finishing the school year and ending this chapter of our lives.  On July 1st we will be moving our family to the southwest to start a new work.  Steve will be enrolling in a Mandarin language school to study full time for a year.  The rest of us will be homeschooling and setting up shop in a new city.   Steve will also be stepping in to teach a Sunday morning "class".  A friend has been hosting a "class" in her home and the "teacher" is moving back to the states. 

Abishai's first day swimming!  It is already pretty hot here in southeast China, and all of the pools are opening this month.  We are "hoping" to hire a new ayi in our home when we move.  We like having a chinese speaker in our home.  We want our children to be bilingual, and daily practice is the key!

 Ruthee has hit a growth spirt this spring.  She is taller and heavier and losing more teeth!  She is "hoping" for her own room in our new apartment.  She is having an increasing problem with people messing with her stuff!?!?

Dayuma has been skating to school when it isn't raining.  We are having a rainy season and she is also aquiring the skill of walking in heavy rains while carrying her own umbrella! Such progress :)  She will probably do some pre-k work with mama at home next year.

Recently we attended a benefit barbeque for a local orphan foster home.  Vaylah had her face painted.  We call this one "the toothless butterfly".  We are "hoping" to find a national school when we move for her and Ruthee to attend for a couple of hours each day.  We heard a rumor that some schools will put foreign syblings in the same grade/same class so ease their transition.  They will be the stars of the English class and improve their Mandarin the hard way! ;)

We have many "requests" as we begin this transition.  Some of them are included in the text, but others including finding a moving company, and arranging the travel on July1st.  We also ask for peace to rule in our hearts as leaving is always sad and moving is always difficult.  Carissa will be traveling with Abishai in June to secure an apartment; so we are "asking" for safety and wisdom. 
We are both excited and sad at the same time. We are thrilled to be stepping out into a new work, (for those interested in details, we cannot share specifics here. you can contact our guy Carlos from cc philly to get filled in), which has been the longtime desire of our hearts.  However, it will also be sad to move from the friends we have made here, and to leave behind the ministries we have been involved with. Please talk to the Father concerning these transition times, especially for Steve's Saturday class. He has been teaching the same group for almost two years now, and has grown close with many of them. He needs guidance moving forward, especially concerning the leadership of the group when he leaves. He feels like it has been planted firmly enough to stand on its own.  He also has been seperately training four guys who potentially could share in the load when we move. This has always been the goal for this group - for them to be able to function without the need for constant "outside" assistance. But their well-being is a cause of great concern.