Oil Clean-up

Yesterday morning, Dad and Gabe left the house at 6:30 a.m. to go help with the clean-up work on an oil spill near Mokpo.They went along with several bus loads of volunteers from Global Mission Church. On December 4th (a stormy day), a Korean barge broke loose from its tugboat and slammed into the side of a Hong Kong supertanker that was carrying 260,000 tons of crude oil. Tens of thousands of Koreans have volunteered to help with the clean-up effort, but it is estimated to take 3-5 years until complete recovery.

Dad and Gabe (along with a father and son from our co-op) spent the day scrubbing the rocks by hand. Before setting out, they all donned white jump suits, several pairs of gloves, and rubber boots. Gabe said it was freezing cold, and the work was tedious as each individual rock had to be scrubbed and wiped.

Here are some of the pictures Gabe took.

Hundreds of volunteers prepare to head for the beaches.


The oil has covered the rocks here; other places it washed into the sand.
Equipment for clean-up

Dad and Mr. Cho hand-scrub the rocks

Korean National Homeschool Conference

This weekend, Dad was asked to be the main speaker for the Korean National Homeschool Conference. He spent many hours preparing for his two 2 hour lectures. We hope that God is able to work through all the families represented at the conference who are seeking to honor God by discipling their families in a way completely unheard of in Korea.

We stopped to have a supper of duck with Brad and Joo-Young (the heads of Family Mission International) before the conference began. I'd never had duck before; it was fun to get to roast it right at your table.
When we drove up to this country restaurant, we could hear hundreds of ducks squawking in the barnyard. Gabe commented, "I bet those ducks sure hate hearing the sounds of tires on the driveway!"


Looking at the books that have been translated into Korean for homeschooling

Which way?

Evangeline and Julianna love playing in the snow - Evangeline especially enjoys getting to throw as many snowballs as possible at Gabriel!



These girls have an uncomfortable knack for getting their snowballs down the very small gap between your hood, jacket, and sweater - freezing!

Gabe checks out the facilities...let's just say the privacy is a little, umm, lacking?

Good Byes (I hate them!)

We will really miss having Darrell, Christa, Judah, and Jared here. Darrell and Christa left on Friday; Judah and Jared left today and are currently crossing the Pacific Ocean. It is hard to have your family divided up on opposite sides of the ocean.
Love you, sister!


Saying good bye at the airport


Trying to get a picture while the boys rush out the door - not easy!



One quick announcement: Dad and Mom have decided to remain in Korea for one more semester so, officially, I will be returning to the States in May, and the rest of the family will return sometime near the end of July/beginning of August. I miss you all!