Thankful, addendum.

Hopefully, some pictures will convey the great Thanksgiving Day we had. Hosting a refugee family was really a treat for all of us. Kristin, thanks for asking us to do this; I think we all benefitted from getting to know this noble little family. The father is Dah Bue, the mother Pit Mu, 7 year old son, Say Nay and 3 year old daughter Alah. Bonds of friendship between Denver and Say Nay formed quickly and without words. They were out on the swingset in minutes of meeting though neither knew the other's language.

Pit Mu and Dah Bue immediately bonded to the twins as the universal language of cute babies. Since this family only arrived in the US Sept 22nd, the fact that we could communicate at all was amazing. Lots of charades, pantomine and pictures were the order of the day. Kristin had Pit Mu write their names and our names in their language. This was brilliant and certainly let us know how difficult it would be for us to learn another language, really a whole new culture..

As part of the addendum, I need to also express my thankfulnes for Kristin, a more wonderful daughter one could not ask for. Because she is so unassuming, she gets mixed into the shuffle of nuttyland around here. I totally missed recognizing Kristin's birthday on this blog last month. So here it is: Happy Birthday, Kristin. (FYI I did not miss her birthday however. She had a great trip to NYC and we called her there.)Another deal Kristin is up to is she is speaking at both large and small venues about the impact of suicide. In September she spoke at the Stauros Organization at a conference about suicide prevention. A few weeks ago she spoke at a local high school and last weekend, she ministered to her own house group in Barrington where many of the students were acquainted with the family of a 16 year old guy who had taken his life. Much lighter note, Kristin is going to be a dancer in the 12 Willow Creek's Christmas services titled "Imagine". The rehearsals will be demanding in the middle of the Christmas season but knowing Kristin she will sail through with her classic grace. Cool, Kristin. I am thankful for you.