Hannah's Promotion

FCS doesn't have an 8th grade graduation because they have a high school. Instead they have an 8th grade promotion ceremony.

It was a beautiful ceremony honoring and celebrating the students' achievements.

It has been an incredible two years at FCS. She adjusted quite well to her new school and made some great friendships.

Dr. Tricia Meyer handing Hannah her promotion certificate.

We had many come to witness this momentous occasion for Hannah.

We made some great big heads to make sure she can find us in the audience!

The Sams (Uncle Kenny, Auntie Matthea and cousins Marissa and Timothy)

Goong Goong and Popo

Mah Mah and Yeh Yeh

The Okazaki Family (Auntie Calina, Uncle Ken and cousins Daniel, Joshua and Zachy)

Auntie Hilda and Uncle Park

The Ngs (Auntie Carolyn, Priscilla and Cory)

Danika Park

Mr. Michael and Rachel Yee

I sent a special invitation to Hannah's former teachers from KHA because they played an important part of her academic life. These four teachers also taught Hannah's KHA classmates who came with her to FCS.
From KHA: Mrs. Elaine Choy (Kindergarten & 1st Grade); Mrs. Allender (2nd grade); Mrs. Hinton (4th Grade & 5th Grade); Mrs. Hansen (6th Grade)

Jadon, Mrs. Hinton, Isaac, Mrs. Allender, Mrs. Hansen, Michelle and Mrs. Choy

Hannah thrived at FCS so instead of joining her sister at WHS for high school, she wanted to stay at FCS to continue her high school education. So we will have 2 kids at two different high schools.

Hannah also received the President's Education Gold Award - maintain an average 3.5 GPA or higher and score in the 85 percentile or greater in English or math on a nationally recognized test

Sound Of Music FCS Style

I'm a little behind on recapping school highlights. Hannah was in her first high school musical production as a junior higher.

She played a nun novice or a postulant, in FCS's production of The Sound of Music.

There were five performances and we went to every single one bringing many supporting friends and family.

Stephanie Louie and Letitia Chinn

The Santos Family already attend FCS.

The Lee Family

Uncle Don & Auntie Cheryl

Grandpa & Grandma Ow along with the Okazakis and Ngs

Grandma Ma and the Sams

Mrs Raboca (with her daughter Daniel portraying Louisa von Trapp) and teacher extraordinaire, Elaine Choy

The Wong Gals

Hannah loved the experience especially being with her besties: Michelle, Olivia and Janet.

Even though her role was very very small, we were thankful she enjoyed being in a musical and that so many loved ones came to see it. It was an excellent production and we look forward to 2020 for the next one!

The Big Apple

Our 7 day trip ended in the Big Apple.

The weather was so opposite of DC. It was drizzly-cold and overcast.

The kids saw Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre.

It was a beautiful performance. We had great seats!

All but 4 of their class went on this trip.

The kids got dressed up twice on the trip... once to see Phantom and the second was on a Dinner Cruise on the Potomac River

It was a beautiful day and the food was delicious.

After dinner there was dancing and all the kids joined in.. even some of the parents.

This definitely a trip to remember!

Devastatingly Horrific

We had the honor of visiting the Holocaust Museum in DC AND the one in Israel. I'll share about both of them here, giving you a sneak peek of our Holy Land trip that we went to this summer.

We entered the museum through this elevator. It was made to let us experience the Jews cramming into the trains to the concentration camps.

Official entrance sign underground

This is a memorial to the over six million who died during the Nazi regime during WWII. It presents a narrative history of the Holocaust: the annihilation of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany from 1933-1945.

A two stories tall memorial pictorial of those who lost their lives

A map depicting the immense growth of Hitler's movement (in red)

This is hair collected from the victims. Nazis collected and sold the hair of the dead to make slippers, pillows and mattresses.

Clay models of how the Jews were transported to the concentration camps and what happened afterwards.

The got off the trains, were separated by gender and  led underground...

... to a large room here they were instructed to removal all their clothing...

.. a deadly gas, hydrogen cyanide was used to exterminate them. The bodies would then be brought up to the floor above for cremation.

This museum was one of our sobering highlights because my daughter loves to read historical fiction and stories that are set in war times.  She wanted to see very piece of this museum but was unable to due to time. She only had 5 minutes in the bookstore which she hated because it did not give her enough time to peruse the biographical and autobiographical books of survivors.

In Israel, the Holocaust History Museum is above ground on a beautifully manicured area housing various memorials in honor of the people who died:

entrance to the museum

These name placards honored those who secretly helped the Jews during this horrific time. Many were from Poland, Austria, some even from Germany like Oskar Schindler.

Memorial Building: 1st floor rock from Galilee unsculpted and uncut just like how the holy temple was built; 2nd floor sharp lines inspired by gas chamber; 3rd floor- shape like a tent; on the floor are names of some of the concentration camps

Children’s Memorial- pillars of the children by age

1.5 million children died

Never again...

It's Really White

 Our tour of Washington DC wouldn't be complete if we didn't see the Capitol and White House.

The Capitol Building was under renovation.  The dome was all covered with scaffolding. Not a very awe-inspiring sight. This building is home of the Congress of the US with the left wing housing the Senate (North side) and the right wing housing the House of Representatives (South side). The building is marked by its central dome above a rotunda; 11 presidents have lain in state here for public viewing.

Underground tunnels and a private subway connect the main Capitol building with each of the Congressional office buildings in the surrounding complex. Under the rotunda is a crypt designed to be the final resting place for Washington but he did not want to be moved from his Mount Vernon home.

This room encompasses some beautifully painted scenes from integral moments in US history.

 We took the 'official' group picture here.

Isn't Photoshop amazing?

On the day we visited the White House, there was a marathon scheduled so many of the streets were blocked off to traffic.

This is the view on the South Side of the building. The North side is the 'famous' side but it was blocked off at the time so we could not get to it.