Family news

I thought while we all wait for some tidbit of news about Ren, I would update everyone on family news.

Mark has been busy this year with his new job at the Guard Bureau. He has been busy learning and getting settled in while traveling a lot for business. For his birthday this month he decided he wanted to fulfill a lifelong dream and go skydiving (gulp, not my idea of a good time). I was OK with this as long as I didn't have go watch him hurtle out of the sky or hear about it till it was over. He was instructed by me to call when his feet hit the ground. In true "Mark" fashion he decided to go AFF and not tandem. For those of you like me who don't know the difference, Tandem is where you are safely strapped on to another person and AFF (accelerated free fall) is where you jump out of the plane with 2 certified licensed instructors but once you pull your chute you are on your own. :-O !! Needless to say he did great and said "it was the rush of a lifetime". Here are some pictures of his jump, Mark is the person in the light blue helmet (click to enlarge).

Caleb is a junior at Georgia State University in Atlanta and is majoring in English and minoring in Japanese. He is currently engaged to the beautiful Natalie Huggins and plans to get married after they graduate. Natalie is an artist, and she and Caleb enjoy cooking together. Besides studying a lot Caleb is on the Georgia State Crew team, 4 man novice boat. So far this year they have gold and silver medaled in different regattas. This winter Caleb was accepted into the prestigious Waseda study abroad program at Waseda University in Japan. Only 50 students from around the world are accepted for their summer program. He will be traveling there in July for their intensive Japanese language program for 6 weeks. Caleb is 2nd from left.

Rachel is a sophomore at the University of Georgia in Athens (GO DAWGS!) and is majoring in Biomedical Engineering, with a minor in Cognitive Science. She is very active in campus Christian ministries, promoting racial reconciliation and attending ALL kinds of various events. Rachel's new hobbies include trapeze lessons and learning to cook different ethnic foods! She lives on Campus in a house she shares with 7 other girls and is enjoying the whole college experience.

Eden is in Preschool and has been learning how to read. Mark and I used to spell out words so she wouldn't know what we were talking about, ha ha, no more!! She will be starting kindergarten this fall. Wow, I'm having a hard time with the thought of putting her on a school bus in the morning by herself!! She is a very busy little person and keeps me busy. She has also been learning Ballet, Tap, and tumbling. I think she likes the tumbling the best. She loves singing and anything art. She is very excited about getting her little brother Ren.