Yukie, Wakana and all of our new Friends!! What a great end to the summer!

Ok... so I'm exhausted... went to bed at 1:45 am and got up at 3:30 to take our Yukie and Wakana to their drop off to the airport, but I just had to do a quick post. What a wonderful experience this has been.

Some of our highlights:

• The Hiroshima Peace Festival Concert


• The Bees Game and Picnic -- so much fun watching these girls in a bouncy house and inflatable slide.


• Closing Concert -- how cool was it watching 3 completely different styles of Japanese choirs, a Kenyan choir, an Indian dancing group, a Japanese marching band and orchestra, Japanese modern and traditional dance groups ... what a great night. And to top it off, watching all 300 + kids singing and playing together on stage... it didn't matter the language, the skin color or age. (I could just image a little glimpse of heaven as I watched it.)


• Late nights (every night not to be until at least 1:00 am) playing volleyball, learning to do origami, trying to explain how to turn on a shower, dancing to the Flower Song or Japanese Regaae.


• Eating a traditional Japanese breakfast of noodle, sauce, Miso Soup (kelp). It was actually really good and so much fun watching them cook and having fun watching us enjoy it!


• Watching and listening in amazement as I learned about the Kenyan orphanage and the mud huts they live in... and yet seeing their faith in God and love for life!


• The friendships!!!!

I'm amazed that in just 7 days (and that is with the girls gone 7:30 am - 10:00 pm on a couple of days) we could grow to love and get to know these two sweet girls so much... and we really can't understand a word we are saying to each other. When we dropped them off at the bus this morning and said goodbye Yukie just starting crying and crying. It is hard when you know you will likely never seen a person again... and yet somehow in such a short period of time they have touched your heart forever!