We're Back!

It is so nice to be back to normal. We are home from our team retreat and more importantly, Shane is home from Australia.

He had a really great time in Melbourne. His medical checks were all great. Praise the Lord. The engineering conference was awesome, and his experience at the forum was invaluable. His plan for our work has even been published in their journal. I can brag about Shane right? I'm just so proud of him, and it is great to see God working in him and really seeing him do what he has always wanted to do....with the work here and his engineering. The Lord is just so faithful to us! Shane had a great time with our teammate as well. Mark came from Sydney to spend the weekend with him. Yay for Mark and Gab...their support is going great, and they have now started the visa process with our language school.

I look back on my week without Shane, and I do feel it went pretty well overall. We all stayed healthy, which is so much better than February when Shane was gone. We still have no dead rat, but my friend who stayed to watch the house while we were gone (*Cultural note-foreigners never leave their house unattended) said that she killed 7 in our little play grassy area out back!

We left Tuesday for the retreat wtih our teammates and man did I get motion sick in the car. I use to struggle with motion sickness as a kid, but never had too many problems as an adult. I never got sick in Vietnam in a taxi or anything like that, but I am really struggling this time around. If Shane is driving, I dont normally get sick (shocking I know). On Tuesday, I was in the back of the car with the 3 kids. The drive ended up taking 4 hours (not 2) and it was rough. We ended up stopping at the KFC m*sque so that I could get something to eat. All I wanted was some chips (french fries), but I forgot what country I was in and all I could get was chicken and rice. No chips...only rice. I ate a little bit, and we kept going. However, I didnt make it long before I started vomiting. I had nothing else to use except for Dave's lunch bag!!!! At first the boys were laughing, but then when they realized I wasnt playing around they were helpful. I had Maggie in my lap so that was interesting as well. I did better on the way home, but Shane sat in the back with the kids, and I sat up front with the driver (not culturally appropriate at all). I was still pretty sick, but no vomiting.

Our time with Dave and Ruth (and their 3 boys....David 5, Lucas 3, and Gideon 8 months) was great. We havent spent much time with them, and it was good to have much time to pray together and just get to know each other better. I hope we were able to encourage them somewhat. I know that I was truely encouraged by them. Our kids got along great! Boys Boys and more Boys! They are our only teammates onsite at the moment, and actually, they are one of the only Western families on our island. So, please remember them. We will join them in 6 months! Cant wait!

Shane passed his language exam! YAY! He is onto book 3 this week. This is Noah's last week in 1st Grade (we are on the American system). Friday, is his last day of school, and then he will be on holidays until August. Shane said to me that it felt weird to have school end in May, but to me, it feels so normal. I feel a bit like I'm in the States! It's beautiful weather here...almost like Spring/May weather in the states. Rainy season is finishing up, and it is nice to have a bit of dry weather. This afternoon, Shane and I head to Noah's school. I had to prepare a presentation on Australia for Noah's class while Shane was gone...so we are going to go and share about Australia. She brought back some money for them, some cadbury's chocolate, and some Aussie tatoos! It should be fun.

Me....I'm thankful to be back at school! I love my 4 hours in class...especially after trying to study at home for a week in between nap times! We are looking at increasing my hours, and having a cousin teacher come to our house 2 mornings a week for about an hour (from our school) so that I can have more conversation practice and learn more about cousin culture. It is hard for me to get out and talk (which Dave having so much cultural stress), but I think I can manage the kids enough to sit down with a friend over a cup of tea while I watch my kids do work or play. It will work I think as long as I'm organized.

I think this post is long enough so I'll go. I was going to post photos of the kids from the hotel, but I will have to wait till tomorrow. I'm having trouble with the photos uploading.

Thanks for praying for us everyone. We love you heaps!