the fun...and the not-so-fun (part 1)

We have been blessed with some pretty awesome experiences since coming to PNG, that is for sure!  But it's definitely not all fun and games :)  A new culture, a new climate and a new way of life--all of those things add up to CHANGE.  And change is not always easy!

So this post is about some of the fun experiences we have had!  Those times that cause us to thank the Lord and His amazing grace and love He shows us.  The next post (the sequel to this one)--will be about the "not-so-fun-things" we have here in PNG ;) 

A couple of weeks ago, we drove into town with our shopping "team".  Every other week, we go to town to get supplies.  Which means we are buying for two weeks' worth of meals/supplies--so it's a big shopping trip!  It's always a lot of fun, but a couple of weeks ago when we went to town to shop, it was REALLY neat--we ended up taking a ride in a Cessna!  We had to stop at the airport to pick someone up, and while we were there, the NTM pilot said he could take our family for a ride!  Crazy!  The pilot flew over the mission base where we live right now--it was so neat to see it from the air.  Safe to say it was my kids' most favorite grocery shopping trip EVER!!

Another fun thing.  Valentine's Day--even though we are so far away from the commercialized holiday, our leaders here (Bill and Kelley)--made it so fun for our kids!  Kelley was so sweet to hide candy around their yard for the kids to do a scavenger hunt...and then she made them pink cupcakes, and she gave me a heart cookie cutter WITH sugar cookie dough that she had made, so I could bake cookies with my kids!  Isn't that so thoughtful?  I was so thankful!

some of the candy was hidden way up in trees:)

Oh.  And speaking of Valentine's Day...Nathan and I were able to go on the best Valentine's Day date that we have ever gone on!  We took kayaks out behind out home, out into the bay--and went snorkeling at a little uninhabited island.  It was so cool.  We didn't see too many fish, but we did see some blue starfish!

There are a couple of "resorts" nearby, which our group visited on a couple of the weekends.  Lots of fun with our group!  And a fun thing to do with our kiddos :)

The first one was more calm and quiet...

This one was my favorite--calm, beautiful water that was perfect for swimming! 

And also...REALLY good food!! 

The other one had big crashing waves!  It was also very beautiful--a black sand beach, fun waves...our kids loved it!

We have some other families visiting here at the base right now.  Our kids have loved getting to play with some other missionary kids! 

One last fun thing--a ladies' day out!  We went secondhand shopping and out to lunch.  It was a great time with the ladies.  The only difference from a ladies' day out in America though--we had to have two men go with us!  Kind of like bodyguards, in a sense :)

This is me and the other ladies in our orientation program.  There are four of us ladies, plus our awesome PNG teacher, Amelia :)

We are so thankful for these good things--gifts from a good God, that's for sure!