End of Summer 2014

Well, it's Labor Day - the end of summer.  Where did it go?  June, July, and August were a blur!  So I decided to catch everyone up on some of our other activities as we shut the door on summer and say "hello" to September and a new school year.

Andrii (center) spent 2 weeks in Cambodia!

A missions trip is a family requirement for our teens.  Wayne Jr., Curtis, and Sierra have all been to Cambodia at least once, and Missy went to Ukraine and India.  Andrii enjoyed his trip even though he got sick for a day.  And I'm grateful that he made it home just in time to see my mom before she passed.  Andrii actually graduated high school by the end of the summer and will be working and taking online college courses until Fall 2015 when he will enter Hudson Valley Community College's electrical program to pursue his goal of becoming an electrician.  

 Sierra's new wheels!

 Last week we took Sierra to college.  I now understand what the word "bittersweet" means.  Although Wayne Jr. & Curtis both attended college, neither of them went away.  This is our first experience leaving a kid on campus.  But Sierra is so ready to spread her wings and fly!  We know God has amazing plans for her, so it makes it a little easier to leaver her there - a little easier.

Sierra's Dorm

 God showed her much favor too.  She got assigned to a brandy-new dorm.  They had just finished painting and moving in the new furniture the day before we arrived.

Family photo in front of the chapel.

After Sierra was all settled in we took the rest of the kids to Gloucester, Ma., for a seafood dinner and a stroll along the ocean.

Slava with Jordan the photo-bomber!

Andrii & Anna at the fishermen's memorial.

We spent Sunday in Boston visiting all the historic sites.  Here we're at the site of the Boston Massacre.  It was a great "educational" day for us home schoolers!

Once we returned home from Boston it was time to start gearing up for our new school year.  This will be a very different school year for us.  For the first time in 13 years of home schooling, I will only have 3 students!  Sounds like a piece cake, except for the fact that our youngest two have special needs and learning disabilities.  Let the games begin!

Anna & Avalon cooling off after a ride!

One of the best things about home schooling is the freedom to focus on the kids' interests and strengths while also helping them in weak areas.  This year we're going to focus on a lot of life skill lessons, hands-on activities, and behavior.  I'm actually looking forward to this new year!

We spent our Labor Day enjoying a low-key day with my dad, Wayne Jr., Kerri, Iona, and Kerri's family at our house for a picnic.

Of course I had to include at least one pic of this baby!

Well, I guess I'd better head to bed.  Tomorrow we will begin doing school "lite" for the week.  Next week we'll jump in all the way.  That basically translates into, "I'm not quite ready yet"!  

Flach's Fall Frenzy!

Fall has been a flurry of activity for our family!  We're home schooling, running kids to activities, Slava to services, and this is the busiest time of year for orphan ministry!

Happy 8th Birthday, Slava!

 It amazes me that 3 years ago at this time we were in Ukraine for Slava's adoption!  He turned 8 this week too!  He's growing and making great progress.

Slava & Jordan playing in the leaves.

 We love this time of year!  Apple picking, crunchy leaves, and pumpkins.  

Sierra testing for a green belt.

Orphans No More radio show guests!

 Mary Slager, Eric Hanson, Ginny Hanson, and me!

Mary and I had the opportunity to interview Eric & Ginny Hanson of In His Steps International.  They have a tremendous ministry to the poor, widowed, orphaned and trafficked people of Cambodia.  The show will air on 11/29 on The New Light WDCD 96.7fm.  See http://justicefororphansny.org/  to learn more.

Andrii & Sierra volunteering at Life-A-Thon!

 We are so excited about our partnership with The Sound of Life radio network.  Locally we can pick them up on their Hudson, NY channel 91.1fm, but soon they will have transmitter coverage with an Albany channel.  Sierra, Andrii, and I had a great time answering phones for their annual fund raiser.

Andrii with Tom Michaels Zahradnik, CEO of Sound of Life.

 Tom had Andrii share his story about how he knows the love of God because he was adopted.  Tom had heard the story when SoL came and broadcasted live from our house last year.  It touched him and he wanted Andrii to share it live on the air again. Justice For Orphans will have a presence on SoL  throughout the month of November, to celebrate Orphan Sunday on 11/3 and National Adoption Awareness Month.  I will be with Tom at Goodwill Church in Montgomery, NY on Orphan Sunday when we will be broadcasting live from 8am-11am.  Tune in or listen live at http://soundoflife.org/
We are also in full swing for preparations for our 2nd Annual Orphan Conference on Saturday, Oct. 26th from 10am-2pm in Coxsackie, NY.  To find out more visit our Justice For Orphans website link above.

Anna & Slava on the USS Slater docked in Albany.

 Last week we enjoyed 2 field trips with our home school group.  The first was to the USS Slater, the only surviving US Navy Destroyer from World War II.  Then we visited the historical Ten Broeck mansion in downtown Albany.

Anna & I in the gardens at Ten Broeck.

So that explains why it's been almost a month since my last blog post!  If you think that's crazy, you should see the pile of clothes in the laundry room and the size of the dust bunnies in the hall way!  I'm trying to keep up with it all, but I've discovered that I'm not wonder woman!  I'm still hoping for a Rosie (the Jetson's) or an Alice (Brady Bunch) to pick up the slack...or at least the gunk all over the kitchen cabinets!

Another Cambodia Post - week 2

I just couldn't resist posting for a 2nd time today! These pics just came up on facebook via Eric again. They had 300 children come to VBS out in Saang province!

Sierra in her banana suit

Some of the kids at VBS

They might just be having too much fun!

front l to r: Liz, Katie, Jocelyn, Sierra, Abby

back l to r: Kerri & Sue

If only I could bring this one home...

Shhhhh...don't tell my Mom, but I'm thinking Wayne and I should go on the mission field in Cambodia. We could build a big house out in the province and take in a hundred orphans and raise them up for the Lord. Just sayin'.

Cambodia - Week 2

Oh how I am missing my girls! This last week in Cambodia is going by fast for them. They are busy doing VBS out in Saang province and helping the girls in the Sak Saum ministry. Sak Saum means "dignity" in the Khmer language and the ministry rescues girls at risk for human trafficking (or who have been formerly victims of this horrendous act). Ginny ministers to these girls, builds relationships with them, and teaches them a trade (sewing absolutely gorgeous hand bags). Not to boast, but I only use Sak Saum bags.

Here my beautiful daughter-in-law Kerri holds up a bag.

The team with the Sak Saum family.

In the bottom row on the left first is Emily (from our church now full time with IHSI) with Sierra next to her.

Here the team is in the mix helping with some sewing. Sierra is standing far right. Ginny is standing far left.

Sierra sent me another email which I will post below. It made me laugh out loud! They are all doing well and I can't wait to see them late Monday night.

Sierra:

Flach Industries Blue??? Hmmmmmm. We'll have to see. I'm really confused with the time change but I think it's thurs. morning there so you should get this before you leave. Is the flooring done..and if so how does it look? I find myself missing the Cole Sla and all the Kids....So tell them I Love them with the heat of a million burning suns. I haven't seen any pictures yet because facebook is slow so I hope they make me look good. English class is super hilarious because the guy I teach with, Sokra, doesn't talk very much and were like complete opposites....so it's hilarious. And I think i'm a little taller than him. He remembers Curtis and Sokra and Sopheak wear there 'Flach Industries' hats almost everyday. When we were playing Dutch Blitz with some of the kids one girl told me I looked like Curtis...so. I have Like twenty nicknames...I have all my stuff in a pile in this little closet like place and Kerri and Shannon (whom I room with) call it my "Rat Hole", when I play Volleyball I tend to his the ceiling of the pavilion or hit it out into the Sugarcane fields so Jocelyn calls me 'Destructo", and no one can say 'Sierra' because in Khmer it phonetically doesn't exist so I began to announce myself as CC which, in Khmer, is a not nice way of saying 'Eat' so all the little kids love saying, "Hi, CC" then run away laughing. They love the Banana suit as well so...have fun at camp tell everyone I said hi....love you guys To translate a bit "flach industries blue" is what the color we painted her walls looks like. "Cole Sla" is a nickname we have for Slava. Curtis and Wayne Jr. brought over some Flach Industries baseball caps a couple years ago...and it sounds like Curtis is well known over there? Sierra does look like him. "Rat Hole" & "Destructo" are totally accurate adjectives to describe her. We got her a banana suit to wear for the VBS as they are teaching the fruit of the Spirit. The LORD is so faithful. I can't wait to hear all the stories and testimonies when they return! Wayne Jr. is finishing up her room today. I can't wait to move all her furniture out of my school room and back into her room. Then it will be time to begin deep cleaning and organizing our school room. School starts in a few weeks after all!

GCCC Cambodia Team 2011

Liz, Katie, Sierra, Kerri, Shannon, Abby, Jocelyn, Victoria, and Sue.

We've survived the first week with Sierra away in Cambodia. Though we haven't heard from her much because they're very busy and don't get much opportunity to visit the internet cafe. She has left some little notes on facebook, and Eric has put up some pics so I decided to share this one with you. Today I got this email from her:

Hey, sorry I haven't emailed....I've had really bad luck with the internet cafe computers shutting down on me. So it's 8:10 PM here and we just got back from an amusement park with the kids and staff from the foundation center. Were going out to Saang tomorrow for a staff meeting and hanging with the Sak Saum girls i believe then.....my favorite thing in the world...English Class. It's simply the best. The food is actually really good. The Pork and Rice in the market I could eat every day....the Pork and Rice in the Province, however, is not quite so good. Wed. Thur. and Fri. were doing VBS and English Class every day then Saturday we go to the market and the Love Feast. Sund. we leave. I don't want to tell you any stories just yet but I will say I have not thrown up or had Diahrrea once. What's the progress on my room and what's been going on???? Anyway See you soon,

Love,

Sierra

I know she'd love teaching English. It's her favorite subject: reading, writing, etc. I can't wait to hear all the stories too. She's alot like her mom, very detail oriented! The first Sunday back (Aug 21st) the whole team will share about their experience during church at GCCC. If anyone is interested church starts at 10:30am!

We've been keeping busy while she's gone. Anna and I have split up Sierra's chores, and Wayne Jr. came today to begin painting her room and putting in the new floor. I'll post again in the next few days with more pics and goings on from around here.

Cambodia Bound

This morning Sierra and I were up at 2:30am (yes, a.m. as in morning) and we were greeted by my dad in our kitchen with his cup of coffee already in hand. We had to be at our church at 3am for the beginning of their amazing adventure to Cambodia.

GCCC Cambodia Team 2011

The Team from l to r: Victoria, Kerri, Liz, Sue, Katie, Jocelyn, Abby, and Shannon & Sierra in front.

Sierra & Kerri at Albany Intl Airport 4:30a.m.

What do you expect? It's 4:30am!

The plane left Albany at 6am headed for Atlanta where they have a 4 hour layover. They leave Atlanta at 1pm (8/1) flying on Korean Air flight KE036 and arrive in Seoul, Korea Incheon Intl at 4:40pm. Don't let the arrival time fool you. They will be in the air over 15 hours! They depart Korea at 6:40pm on Tuesday 8/2 on Korean Air flight KE689 and arrive in Phnom Penh, Cambodia at 10:05pm. I included the flight details in case you'd like to track their flights on Flightaware.com. I will be glued to my computer!

I am excited for the whole team and a bit jealous too. About 6 years ago Wayne and Wayne Jr. went to Cambodia with a team from our church. Three years ago Curtis and my dad went with a team and 2 years ago Wayne Jr. and Curtis both went again. This year Sierra felt like it was time for her to make the trip. My daughter-in-law Kerri and her sister Shannon are making the trip for the first time too. Their fearless leader, Jocelyn, will be making it her 10th trip there!

The team will be working with In His Steps International which was founded and is led by a family from our church, Eric & Ginny Hanson. The Hansons began going to Cambodia part-time in 1996 and moved there full time in 2004. A young woman, Emily Sok, also from our church is there full time as well. Emily married a young man, Solomon, who is part of IHSI as well and now they are expecting their first baby. IHSI is passionate about transforming lives spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, economically, and socially through Jesus Christ. To learn more about exactly what they do and to see some awesome pictures of their ministry in Cambodia you can visit them on facebook at "In His Steps International" and/or check out their awesome website: http://www.ihsionline.org

Sierra just called to say they arrived safely in Atlanta. I'll keep the blog updated. Please keep Sierra, Kerri, and the whole team in prayer. They will be there for 2 weeks arriving home on 8/15.