The Roberts in Korea

11th Grade (Junior Year)

Here is Sarah on her first day of school.  She is a Junior this year.  This is the beginning of her seventh year at TCIS and this year she is starting school at a brand new campus site.  Sarah has spent the past two weeks helping teachers move into the new school and prepare for the new school year. 

The new TCIS campus is just a short walk (or bike ride) from our apartment.  Sarah and her good friend, Gentry made a grand entrance on the first day school as they rode up to the front of the building on a tandem bicycle.

It was a fun way to start the year.  We are proud of Sarah--11th grade!?!  Wow.

the night before the first day of school

With the first day of school just around the corner, Sarah and a group of her friends decided to start the year off with a time of worship, thanksgiving to God and prayer.

Sarah pulled out her guitar and the group of students gathered in a small ampitheater just outside the front gate of the new TCIS campus and spent the evening singing praise songs and praying about the upcoming school year.

It was a great thing to do on the night before the first day of school.  We are proud of Sarah.

in college with friends

Becca packed her bags and boarded a plane bound for college (NNU).  She is all moved into her dorm room and has already attended her first  class.  She is making new friends and enjoying some old friendships too.

Levi and Zack both went to TCIS with Becca in South Korea and they are both attending NNU.  There is a quite a "Korean," and TCIS presence at NNU this year.

We are excited for Becca as she embarks on this new adventure with new friends, old friends and Jesus, the ever faithful friend.

Breaking up the band

We kicked off our new school year at TCIS with an all staff convocation.  This is a special time where the staff come together after their summer break, share their stories, worship together, gather around the Lord's table and spend some time in prayer.

It was the privilege of the Roberts family + George Zickefoose to serve as the worship band for this gathering.  Our Family Band is made up of Dina on the piano, Sarah singing, Becca on the bass guitar, George on the drums and Ryan (me) playing guitar and leading.  We have been playing together as a band for over six years.

We took a picture of our band this time because one of the members is leaving the band...at least for a little while.  Becca is headed off to college.  She will be missed.  We suspect that Becca will be involved in a new band soon and we wish her the best.

With a few adjustments, we will press on.  Sarah plays a mean guitar and will cover the bass in Becca's absence and our Family Band will continue.  Bands come and go, but the wonderful memories of our Family Band will last forever.

the countdown to college

In just a matter of hours Becca will be boarding a plane bound for the USA...and college!  Her last few days here in South Korea have been full of packing, friends and saying goodbye.

Our friend Jaeyoung and his wife own the Ajuma Kimbap restaurant and they prepared a special meal for Becca before she left Korea and headed for college.  They cooked some of her favorite dishes so she could carry the memory of delicious Korean food with her back to the USA.  It was a special gift and a treasured time with precious friends.

Later in the evening we all went out for some cheesecake with Lee and Callie--some more precious friends--at a coffee shop that is located near the notorius "Wonder Girls," establishment...silliness.  The evening was filled with stories, teasing, reminiscings of our trip to India together and lots of laughter. The countdown to college continues!

getting older

How does an old, gray geezer like that get to hang out with that beautiful young lady?  The other day I (Ryan) celebrated my 46th birthday.  I felt like a blessed man all day.  I enjoyed my day at work serving with some great people.  I enjoyed a dinner out with my lovely ladies--Dina, Becca and Sarah, and then I finished the day at home enjoying a delicious gluten free carrot cake that Sarah made for me.  I am thankful.

a trip to Busan

A couple of weeks ago we jumped on the KTX Bullet Train and took a trip to Busan, located in the Southern tip of South Korea.  Busan is the second largest city in South Korea teeming with nearly 4 million people.  It seemed that at least one fourth of those people were on the beach during our visit.

Busan is famous for many things, one of those being Haeundae Beach.  That is where our hotel was located.  We stayed at the Novotel Ambassador and were fortunate to have a view of the beach from our hotel room window.

We spent three days at the beach and the only way to describe it is-- HOT.  The heat and the humidity were intense.  We spent a couple of hours each day lounging on the beach--if you can call it that.  The density of people on the beach was beyond description.  There were so many umbrellas on the beach that you couldn't see the sand.  To get to the water to cool off you had to take a number (not really).  It was a unique experience.

In addition to our fun on the beach our time in Busan included cooling off in coffee shops, eating some great food and hanging out with some old friends.  We enjoyed connecting with John and Peter in Busan (TCIS graduates).

When the crowds got to be too much we retreated to our hotel room and watched the Olympics.  We had a great time hanging out together as a family in Busan.

Rainy Day Fun

A rainy day in Daejeon, South Korea didn't keep Becca, Sarah, Anna, Emily and Michael from having some good, clean fun.  They planned, practiced, brainstormed, performed, laughed, edited and created their way to a music video to add to the "Call Me Maybe," video rage.  Here it is.  Enjoy!