A fun way to say goodbye

We've been so blessed to have made a few good friends here. And it's even more fun when those friends have family come into town and we can gain a couple more friends. Our kids love M, and when her sister (M also) came into town it didn't take long for them to think she was pretty awesome too. M was here for six weeks and we had fun hanging out with her at the zoo, the elephant camp and other fun places. She also babysat for us a couple of times which was not only brave of her, but a special treat for us. The night she was leaving to go back to the US we had them all over for dinner and desert. And afterwords they sent up a lantern. It was special for us to get to be a part of it.

Lighting those things can be a lot of work!

The kids like to name our lanterns. This one they named "hoop." But then about 5 minutes later they started calling it what sounded like "whore." Um, we tried to convince them that they named it "hoop" but it was no use. I asked them where the heard that name and they said the made it up.

Letting it get nice and hot and fill up with air.

The kids really enjoy it...from a distance. They like to help but get so nervous when the they get near fire (which I happen to think it's a nice fear to have) :)

R has found a spot in Sora's heart (and that's not easy to do!)

About to let it go...

And it's off!

You can still see the tiny speck far away.