a whirlwind month...

Well, a LOT has happened lately!  So much in fact, that it is difficult to know how to blog about all of it.  I'll just do what comes naturally to me...lots of pictures :)  Here are some recent events, in order...

1.  My parents came to visit!  This deserves it's own blog post, but unfortunately I dropped the ball on that.  It was an absolute gift to have them come...it was an amazing two weeks!  Very helpful, too, because Nathan was gone for pretty much all of their visit...if they hadn't come, I think I would have gone crazy during that three week housebuilding trip!

As you can see by those pictures, we had a really fun and very packed couple of weeks!  Then, Nathan returned from Maliyali two days before my parents had to go back to America.  We were so thankful that he got to spend some time with them, too!

Reunited...sigh.  It's the best feeling!

This was their last night...when they said goodbye to our kids.  So sad, but we were very thankful for the time we got to spend with them.  Dad and Mom, thank you SO MUCH for coming.  You blessed us so much!  We love you and we miss you!

2.  We had about one week to spend with Nathan before he headed back into Maliyali!  I'll admit, it felt a little too fast.  But at the same time, it's so good just to get all the distance over with, so that we can be together, stay together, and move in to Maliyali together!  Jesus is worth it.

 3.  Nathan and David returned back to Maliyali for their LAST housebuilding trip (thank you Lord!) A few days after Nathan and David returned to Maliyali this last time, I prepared to go to Australia! I was going to help Emily with some doctor's appointments (for her daughter Louise).

How it all happened...David wasn't going to be able to leave Maliyali in time for Louise's appointment.  And looking ahead, we felt as a team that it would be good for me to just go along with Emily for those first few days, and David would come and switch with me!  So that's what we did, and it all worked out great.  Daisy came along with me too, because she's my littlest and the one who wouldn't do as well with being left at home.

We took the other three kids up to stay with the Greenlaw family.  This family is such an amazing blessing to all of us here...we are so thankful they could keep our three older kids!  Kaine, Halle and Layla didn't even care that they couldn't go to Australia with me...they were just excited to stay at Uncle Greg and Aunt Heidi's house :)

We headed up to their house last Monday evening...(they live on our base, but it's like another section of the base that we have to walk to...)

They got settled...here's Layla showing off where she would be sleeping :)  

And early the next morning (4:30 am!) me and Daisy went to the airport, along with Em and her two kiddos!

It was a long day of traveling, which made me and Emily thankful for ipads lol :)

And in-flight movies, of course!

It was a crazy day.  The kids were troopers.  When we went to pick up our rental car, they couldn't give it to us because it was "after hours" (it was only like 5:00 or something...what??  Australia is different than America!)  So anyway, we had to rent another car just for that first day (from another agency)...but when Em went to get it, her CA license was expired!  Craziness!  Talk about some stressful situations!  Thankfully I was there, because if Em would have been by herself, she would have just had to get taxis.  Yikes.  So...I was the driver!  In a BIG city, in a NEW country.  Definitely out of my comfort zone, and definitely a stretching experience for me!  But we all survived, lol!

Our first stop was McDonald's, because we haven't had fast food for a year and a half!  And...it was Daisy's birthday :)

I was so excited to eat McDonald's french fries!

We had about a day and a half to spend before the doctor's appointments...It was fun to experience Australia with Daisy.  And Em, of course!

On Friday morning, Lou had her appointment for a minor surgery...So I dropped Em and Lou off at the hospital and took these two crazy kids around town (talk about a tiring day, haha!)

Traffic in Brisbane is no joke.  Again, thankful for those ipads...and the GPS! 

 One more time at McDonalds...

That evening, David arrived and I packed up my stuff!  So thankful for my friendship with Emily...it was a joy to be able to help her out in this time.

Love you, Em! 

Yesterday, Daisy and I made the journey back to Wewak.  Whew!  Another long traveling day... 

You might wonder how the other kids did during my absence...they did great!  Greg and Heidi have an amazing family and we feel very blessed that our kids got to be a part of it for the week.  Seriously, it was a gift from the Lord.  Greg and Heidi (and Noah, Lily, Bram and Annie)...THANK YOU so much for keeping our kids!  We love you guys so much!

Here are a few pics that Heidi texted me throughout the week...

Greg and Heidi live right in the middle of all the action on our base.  Our kids LOVED staying with them...and Kaine got to play so much soccer! 

 Heidi is a rockstar mom, including my kids in with her homeschooling...Here is Halle and Annie, doing their math side by side while sharing headphones.  I love it :) 

Okay, there's the update on us!  And what's coming up next:

1. Nathan comes back tomorrow!  I cannot even tell you how excited I am to get him home!

2.  Rimestads will return next week from Australia...they have follow up doctors appointments, etc.

3. Maliyali, here we come!  Our houses in Maliyali are now livable, so the plan is for us to move in sometime soon.  Probably around three weeks from now...oh my goodness.  I am seriously pinching myself and trying to wrap my mind around this.  Moving into the remote jungle is definitely going to be an adjustment.  But at the same time, we are all SO READY to be there.  And to be settled.   I'll try to update you more in the next couple of weeks!

housebuilding progress!

Most of you already know that we are in the middle of a busy housebuilding season.  Nathan has been in Maliyali for the past three weeks, working so hard to build our tribal home!  I haven't really shared any about housebuilding yet on my blog, so I'll try to get you up to date...

If you remember, Nathan and David (and two other guys) spent two weeks milling lumber in February.  They worked SO hard for those two weeks, and God blessed the work and gave them the wood they needed!  We were all so thankful that they were able to find such good trees close to Maliyali.  Otherwise, they would have had to hike to a spot far away, mill the lumber there, and then helicopter it to Maliyali.  Praise God they didn't need to do that.

When they got done with the milling trip, they came back here to Wewak for our area conference, and just to spend time with us.  We were very grateful for that time!  Because too soon, it was time for them to go back in to Maliyali, this time for more than three weeks.  That is a LONG time to be away.  

We were so excited that some friends from home could come over here to help!  So about three weeks ago, we got ready to welcome Nick, Clint and Aaron here to Wewak... 

waiting for their airplane...

and...they made it!

We brought them back to our house--and they were loaded down with luggage.  We were so excited and thankful for the many people who sent us things we needed (or wanted, lol!)  What a humbling thing.  

Clint teaching Kaine how to do a rubix cube...which is a huge craze among boys in our home church.  We SO appreciate our friends and how they make such an effort to keep our kids included with the kids back home, even though it's not easy from this distance!

It was so much fun and such a gift to have uncle Aaron come!

We love our friends and how they invest in our kids.  Kaine had fun playing Risk with the guys :) 

We also had the opportunity to introduce them to our town of Wewak.  These kids sure got a kick out of watching Nick and Aaron wrestle in the ocean!  They drew quite a crowd :) 

The guys had a day to rest and overcome jet lag, and then it was time to helicopter into Maliyali.  Here was the first group to go in:

(from left):  David, Nathan, Aaron, Ben and Bill (two New Tribes missionaries who went in to help out--Bill led the guys as the "foreman"), Clint and Nick.

We had a tearful goodbye--saying goodbye for three weeks was not easy.  Especially for this girl.  She has shed many tears over her daddy these past few weeks!

Nick, Aaron and Clint spent about 9 days in Maliyali, and then it was time for them to fly out.  They came back to Wewak (Nathan and the other guys stayed in there though), and I was SO excited to see pictures of our house for the first time!  Here are some of the pictures they took and showed me:

the beginning stages...

 working on the floor...

Setting the very heavy bush pole... 

 The Maliyali guys worked right alongside our guys!

putting on our metal roof!  I can't wait to have rainy nights on that roof :)  

 This is a picture of our house while standing in the loft.  As you look over the edge (there will be a railing there)...to the left is the kitchen, and to the right is the living/dining room (where Aaron is standing)

 What a privilege that our friends were able to see and experience living in Maliyali.  The guys had a great time and Nathan said the Maliyali people absolutely LOVED them!  

Thanks for coming over guys!  And thanks to Jess, Amy and Jill for being excited to send them! We love you guys!

Then, a few days ago, Ben (see him from the picture of the men who went in to work) came out of the tribe and emailed me a few more pictures.  It was fun to see the progress!

Standing at the front door...

  Can't wait to start cooking in our kitchen!

Looking into the loft...we will use it for storage and also our kids' playing area (aka legos) :) 

I love our house and I cannot wait to live in it.  It will be small but wonderful because Nathan and so many friends are pouring their energy, sweat, tears, and probably some blood into it :) 

So, there's the first housebuilding update.  It was been almost three weeks since I saw Nathan, and I haven't been able to talk to him either, except for short texts about once a day (I'm thankful at least we have that communication.)  He texted me last night and said that he's been working from 5:30 am until 8 pm...and he's feeling overwhelmed that there is still SO MUCH to do.  Emily and I are so beyond proud of our husbands and their hard work.  Building a house in the remote jungle is hard enough, but when they are also away from their families for this long, it has got to be wearing on them!  Please pray for them if you think about it.  The good thing is...tomorrow morning they will begin the long hike (10 hours) out--and they'll be home on Wednesday!  Can't even describe the happiness that we all feel over that!  I'll post another update after Nathan comes out:)