the Annual Faculty Retreat

PPBS Faculty Retreat Goal: 

To retreat from our normal duties as faculty at PPBS (and faculty family) in order to enjoy a short time of rest and fellowship together that we may better serve God together in achieving our PPBS mission.

Last weekend was the PPBS faculty retreat. We love that the PPBS leaders make this retreat a priority each year. 

It's a time to get to know each other so much better, connect on a personal level, and make wonderful memories together! English & Khmer, children & adults, we all have so much fun together! 

We chartered a bus, enjoyed snacks, visiting, & sleeping on Saturday morning.

 Wes was so excited to get another bus ride! This is him playing on his leap pad. One of the things he gets excited about when he thinks of traveling! :)

 and Briana sleeping. Our kids really are quite good travelers!

 Briana is learning to eat little treats! You know, the kind that don't require any chewing but dissolve almost instantly. She's eating some of the Graduates snacks here, and she also likes the "fluffies" from popcorn! The first time she tried it she looked at me with those big brown eyes as if to say, "oh, no! something in my mouth that shouldn't be there! Is this okay, mom? Oh...hmm...it actually tastes pretty good!" and her mouth opened again like a little birdie to eat another. haha...so cute. A great way to pass time while on the bus!

She can pick them up with her hands, but can't quite get it from the hand to the mouth yet. The snack gets lost somewhere in the hand! Love watching her learn!

Upon our arrival, we enjoyed going out for pizza together!

This is Samnug, the principal of PPBS, and his daughter & wife.

Briana makes friends wherever she goes!

This is Debra (holding Bri) and Shirley. They were both a huge help on the trip!

Wes with his balloon. He sure is growing up!

Daddy helping Wes with his balloon.

"Fix it! Fix it!"

He was excited to get on the bus again after lunch!

(not so good at lining up, though. What can I say? He was born in China! :P)

BIG NEWS:

Briana can sit up by herself!

She's been "sitting" for a little while now, but I would never dare leave her side, since you never know when she'd do a face plant. 

On this trip, she all of a sudden got the hang of it! 

I had her propped on pillows on the sofa in our hotel room, and she all of a sudden just sat up & looked at me! I was overcome by her cuteness...I had to snap a few picture! :D

and here she is on our hotel bed.
We are enjoying this brief stage where she can sit and entertain herself, without crawling and getting into everything! :)

Wes can really get Briana giggling (watching him jump up and down on the bed is one of her favorite things!), is always looking out for her (shoving strangers away from her), and is quick to find her a toy or shove a bottle or soother in her mouth whether or not she asks for it. :) I love watching them interact! It's hard to catch on film, though, since as soon as Wes sees the camera he has to try to grab it to watch what I'm recording!

Now that Briana can sit confidently on her own, she can sit in high chairs!

We love Sihanoukville! Wes now loves playing in the waves!

Dinner on the beach

The next day (Sunday), was spent hanging out with everyone on the beach! A glorious day of relaxation.

Wes is a blast to play with! This is him trying to bury himself (with a little help from mommy and a local girl)

Enjoying the view of the ocean from our lounge chairs

A yummy seafood lunch on the beach with the rest of the team!

Bri adores her daddy!

haha, some of the interesting things we see on our walk down the beach...

What fun to discover a swing! One of Wesley's favorite things these days!!

Sleeping to the sound of the waves...

An exciting game of UNO!

Wes sharing his toys. "Share Bu-ddy! Share Bu-ddy!"

Briana would sleep in my arms, but when I laid her in the hammock so she could sleep longer, she immediately woke up and started laughing! She wouldn't sleep in the hammock! Too much fun, I guess. ;)

We definitely left the retreat feeling refreshed, connected with our team, and ready to start the next term.
Thank you, PPBS, for a wonderful weekend get-away! Already looking forward to next year!

hugs from us to you!

Joe,  Nica, Wes, & Bri