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!