Pretty Girl

Kylah next to one of her favorite fruits in the Honiara Market

Sunset

Sunset view from the Choate's verandah

These are the moments when I especially missed Tim.

He delights in beautiful sunsets.

This one is for you, Babe!

And, yes, you are still the Love of my Life! LOML

Birthday Hugs

Lucas sent along a Happy Birthday hug to Miss Joanna. I have enjoyed looking at "the hug" photos throughout the week as I miss my little buddy. Thought I would share these with you. Can't you just feel it?

Ice Cream

Woohoo! Real homemade ice cream! Aaron (and weren't the kids going to help???) made ice cream for Joanna's birthday the old-fashioned way. Unfortunately, it didn't set until the next day but it was worth the wait, especially after the freezer burnt, plastic tasting ice cream we often get in Alotau.

Memorial Day

The tomb of the Unknown Warrior

How fitting to spend Memorial Day at the American Memorial site of Guadalcanal. We didn't take much time to read the history on all the signs but it was a poignant reminder of the many who gave their lives in defense of the values of freedom and justice. It's an oddly humble feeling to be living in an area full of such rich, albeit tragic, history. What a fantastic setting for homeschooling as we learn about the events of WWII this year.

As the kids are staring out at large commercial fishing vessels, one can just imagine the warships on the waters during WWII.

We also visited the Japanese Memorial site and sadly, it has not been maintained throughout the years for various reasons. There are no plaques, the monument has been defaced, and a statue has been destroyed. We've heard that no one has received compensation for maintaining this property in many years and therefore no one has the right (honor) to maintain it.
Very sad.

Japanese Memorial Site

We don't always agree with or understand war, but we are thankful for those who have given their lives to protect ours and our sweet children. Thank you to all those who have so bravely and faithfully served our country. God Bless America!

Solomon Island Birthday

Aaron and Joanna Choate

Celebrating birthdays on this side of the globe usually require a bit a creativity. No bouncehouses, Boomers, or Sweet Art cakes available. Sometimes we can't even find balloons that will hold air. :) So, when I received an email with a rather unusual birthday celebration idea from our fellow-laborers and friends working in the Solomon Islands, I jumped at the opportunity. Aaron Choate invited me to come and celebrate the birthday of his lovely wife, Joanna . We met the Choate family during our Wycliffe Orientation in 2006 and they are now serving as translators in the Solomon Islands. With great pleasure, Kylah, Weston and I flew over to spend 6 fun-filled days with them and their beautiful children, Sarah, Benjamin, Olivia and Katherine. With great sadness we left Tim, Austin, and Lucas to be bachelors for a short while. We've decided since, that we do not like these kind of separations. The first night Kylah was in tears missing her brothers and Weston woke up in the night crying for his Daddy.

Austin was in tears the night before we left but handled himself well at the airport. Lucas kept saying that he was going to miss everybody too much.

Weston was thrilled beyond words to ride the big airplane at the "Hairport". I have a funny video of take-off where he went from really excited as we raced across the runway to really quiet, wide-eyed and unsure as we left the ground. If only I had high-speed internet I would upload the video. Rats.

Kylah was the most wonderful traveling companion and sweet sister to have on hand. She was so kind to offer the window seat to Weston on the first leg of our flight. She thrilled at the fact that she could touch the outside of the big jet. She kept asking the ever-popular child traveling question of how much longer? Our day of travel was perfect and made even better by the fact that I forgot Honiara is one hour ahead of PNG and the flight I thought was 3 hours and 20 minutes was only 2 hours and 20 minutes. I found this out about 10 minutes before we landed and 10 minutes after Weston fell asleep!

Our friends greeted us with waving signs from the rooftop of the Honiara airport. We felt very welcome and were honored to bring birthday greetings from not so far away. Funny how being away from all our Northern Hemisphere/Western world makes the distance from PNG to the Solomon Islands feel close.

Waiting in line at the Alotau airport

Sweet Cuddles as we layover in Port Moresby

Pretty Flyer

Approaching Solomon Islands

We made it!

Kylah on the Kwadima

Our water girl loves gracing the boat with her presence--but only on calm water days. :)

This particular day was beautiful as we rode to and from some of the nearby islands.

Bubbles, by Lucas

I'm not sure why this entry is showing all the text as a link but it's not the first of our technical difficulties and certainly won't be the last.

Lucas’s Bubble Blog

“I just love bubbles. I like to blow them at our dogs so they like them. I like doing lots of stuff with bubbles. I love, love, love, to blow them. I blow them on the table and make a bubble in a bubble, in a bubble. I get part of a plant and make soapy water and then I stick my plant stem in the water and then blow the bubbles and they’ll just be like a bubble. Every day I ask my mom to buy bubbles.”

*******************
Bubble blowing will never be the same for us again. I used to think when the plastic apparatus which comes in a bubble container goes missing, then that is the end of bubble blowing until another can be found. Thanks to our PNG friend Carol, bubble blowing has risen to a unique and entertaining dimension. We use the stems of lilies from our yard.

Enjoy!

P.S. After Lucas dictated his bubble blog, I have not been able to find a picture of him blowing bubbles! Too funny! I guess we'll have to do it again.

Island Trip

A few more shots from our April visit with Phil and Destin

During their visit, we were able to take Phil and Destin out on the Kwadima to do some scuba diving, snorkeling and enjoying the beauty of Milne Bay. Not only did the weather cooperate but so did the dolphins. They gave us quite a bow-riding show on our way out to the island.

Sister Lucy

One of my dear friends is a catholic nun named Sister Lucy. I took Phil and Destin to meet her and see the school and church where she works. We had a lovely time visiting her. She made friend sweet bananas (different than cuban cooked plantains) and avocado popsicles for us to enjoy. I was so proud of Lucas who is not a big fan of avocado. She handed the popsicle to him and then she told him what flavor it was. He very politely said "Sister Lucy, I don't really like avocado but it is STILL a lovely gift."

Sweet bananas soaked in corn starch, milk and self-rising flour and then friend in oil.

So yummy!

After sharing our time with her in her home, Sister Lucy then gave us a tour of the church and introduced us to the local bishop.

Local Food

After giving Phil and Destin the downtown tour, we enjoyed some local food from a "kai bar". Rice with various toppings is the staple here. We ordered lamb meatballs, curry chicken, beef stew, baked chicken, sausages, and greens and pumpkin cooked in coconut milk. Everyone enjoyed the food and no one got sick!

Village Visit

Phil and Destin only had a few days and we gave them a whirlwind tour. One of their first stops was a visit to the village compound behind our house. It is quite a trip back in time but "dim-dims" (a word for foreigners) are always received with a great welcome--especially by the children.

A short walk through the "bush" to the village

People gather to greet our family

This site is where the dishes, clothes, and people are all washed.

PNG kids love having their picture taken!

And so do the adults!

Our friend Napo entertains us with a dead sea snake he found.

Uncle Phil Skipping Rocks with the kids

Destin, Phil and our village friends

Market Visit with Destin and Phil

We took Phil and Destin to our local market on a busy Friday morning. It isn't quite the grocery store experience but it can be lovely shopping in this outdoor market. It can also be overwhelming if you are not used to it, but Phil and Destin were good sports. Phil was even up to trying local cooked prawns on a kebab--but there weren't any available that day.

Surprise!

In April, Tim's brother Phil let us know that he would be coming for a short visit. We were absolutely thrilled and couldn't wait to show him our place and just hug him. As he disembarked from the plane we waved in excitement and then walked around to greet him as he came through the airport doors. We were welcoming him and hugging him when all of a sudden another familiar face walks through those same doors. DESTIN!!! Our wonderful nephew! He was one of the last ones off the plane and a complete surprise to us! Tears were in my eyes as I hugged my now taller than me firstborn nephew!

Destin onboard before the Big surprise arrival

Welcome hugs

Happy Heli Birthday

Several of our translator teams live and work in helicopter allocations. Alotau is a refuel station/overnight stopping place for some of those teams enroute. We don’t often get teams in on the helicopter but when we do it is always so exciting. After all, it’s a unique event to have a helicopter land in one’s backyard. The day before my birthday translators Brad and Toni Guderian flew in for an overnight. Tim (in a rather Homer Simpson way) decided to arrange for a helicopter flight for me (?) as a birthday gift. Really….it was for me. I tease but I was thrilled at the idea!!!! I ran to tell the kids (except for Weston who had just gone down for a nap) who were equally ecstatic and then asked if we could squeeze in our house meri, Romela, for the ride of her life!

With great fervor we climbed into the helicopter and buckled up. Romela was excited, having never flown anything in her whole life; Austin, Kylah, and Lucas were giddy, and I was overjoyed with anticipation and the pleasure of just watching everyone’s enthusiasm.

When we took off there were shrieks of delight as our home grew smaller and the breath-taking view of Alotau opened up before our elated eyes. Our pilot gave us a thrill ride as he angled deep over the beautiful waters surrounding our home. He aroused gasps of glee and shrieks of fear as he followed the terrain up and seemingly straight down the mountains behind our town. Lucas’s eyes filled with tears at one point but he didn’t know if he wanted to be happy or sad. He said later that he was a “little bit scared when I felt like we were falling” but he “LOVED it”. Truth is, we all loved it and were disappointed when the ride ended. As I emerged from the body of the bird, I told Tim that I think we missed our calling. :)

View of our house(left corner)/center from the air

An overhead view of our center and some surrounding buildings from the neighborhood.

Heli in the yard

Center offices and apartments beyond the helicopter

Weston enjoys the helicopter most when it is on the ground and not making any noise!