So Long Ordinary

I'm sitting here in our MAF apartment bathroom, giving my urchin babies a much-needed bath. And washing (yes, already) a load of clothes. Traveling with youngun's - not for the faint of heart. We were planning on flying up to Nampa in a borrowed Bonanza but the weather is terrible. So at around noon yesterday, Sean made the decision to drive instead. That was a good decision! We've seen gale-force winds (upwards of 50 miles an hour), rain, sleet, snow...and the tiniest bit of sunshine. In fact, according to weather reports we wouldn't have been able to get out of Alamosa if we'd tried to fly. I'm just glad I'm not up there in a small airplane - we got nauseous enough just driving through that wind. Whew! So, yesterday we threw things into high gear and were on the road by 2 p.m. We drove to Price, Utah and spent the night in an over-priced Best Western hotel room. This morning we were up and on the road again by 8 o'clock. We stopped once for l...

How do I begin to tell you what is going on around here? Things are so busy my head is spinning - or am I just off-balance because of these stuffed up sinuses?! I've been fighting a cold the past couple of days. Thankfully, today I feel much better. I don't like being sick. I realize that I am not particularly unique in that sentiment, but, well, I said it anyway..... Did you know that, God-willing, we'll be heading to Indonesia in just three months? I'm trying very hard not to panic. There is a LOT of work to do. And whenever there is a lot to do, I freak out and become utterly useless. I'd rather just read a book. Or sit at the piano and learn to play new songs. Or watch the Discovery Channel. Or sit on the porch and watch the dirt blow by on it's way to The Great Sand Dunes. So, LOTS to do. It'll happen. Experience tells me that things somehow fall together. Even when it looks nigh impossible! (Which, it does right now.) We're getting ...

My Best Friend is celebrating a birthday today. Seems like a proper time to tell the world one more time just how much he means to me...here are some of my favorite things about Sean: His sense of humor His ability to laugh as much at himself as he does at me His passion for the things of God His desire to "not waste his life" His nifty flying skills His willingness to do anything that needs done - even if it means changing diapers! How seriously he takes his role as priest in this family His can-do attitude His determination to live life to the fullest His friendliness His outgoing personality He's not afraid to ask for directions, though he still leaves the toilet seat up. The way he encourages me That he loves me - it still surprises me! That he values my input on all things large and small He's a good kisser! That almost every day, he makes me stop what I'm doing so he can give me a big hug. That we have so much history and adventure together! His adventurous ...

We had an impromptu photo shoot before church yesterday. Out of many, many shots, Sean got these few that turned out pretty good. Daddy, get your gun.

Okay so...missionaries do dress weird. Especially pilot missionaries. We spoke at the church we grew up in yesterday. Such a flood of memories come back every time we visit this church! It was a great place to grow up and it is because of the dedication and support of many of the people in that church that Sean and I are saved and answering this call to missions. Sunday school teachers, childrens church workers, youth pastors....if you ever wonder if you're wasting your time, I assure you, you are not . As we prepared to head to Latin America, the kids Sunday School classes worked hard to raise the money needed to buy Sean's helmet. Four years ago, they presented it to him...and he just wanted to show them, yet again, how useful that helmet is ;-) He painted it recently...what do you think of that paint job?!

People ask us all the time exactly where in Indonesia we'll be serving. And our response is always the same - "we don't know!" We do know we're going to the island of Java first, to a town called Salatiga for language study. But after that, we weren't sure. MAF has three programs on three different islands in Indonesia - Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Papua. Because our actual arrival on any island is still a long way off, it's taken some time to really nail down where we'll be headed after language school. It's been a process of growth for me, the waiting to know where we're headed. We researched all the possibilities of where we might go and we have friends on every island that we'd be thrilled to serve with. I'm a "got-to-know-now-so-I-can-plan" sort of person so these past several months have been a long lesson in patience for me. I can honestly say, that although I was anxious to know where we were going, I did come to ...

(Sorry for the interruption in my story, here. We got busy last week! So here's what happened on the last two days of our trip to Moab....better late than never, right?) So on Resurrection Sunday, we woke up and had our own little mini-Church service at our campsite. Then it was time for Easter baskets and an Easter egg hunt! The girls had fun and Sean and I enjoyed watching them all work together to locate 32 eggs :-) Paige even got in on the fun...though she just kept "finding" the same egg and carefully placing it back in her basket over and over again. We went into Moab and did some quick souvenir shopping. Everybody got a shirt to remember Moab by. We found some great deals on sale racks! But after less than two hours of shopping in town we were ready to enjoy some nature again. After a quick picnic lunch on the side of the road in Arches National Park, we went for another hike! This time we saw several different arches and the girls did great hiking another ...

So, we woke up Saturday ready to go and explore some more! I was a bit sore...I slept in the back of our Suburban with Paige while Sean and the older girls slept in the tent. My first night in the Suburban wasn't very comfortable and Paige kept waking up - luckily by our last night in Moab we were all sleeping comfortably (we must have been tired enough). Sean and the girls did great in the tent. We had a little time around the campfire eating breakfast burritos Sean had made ahead and wrapped in foil. Yummy! At this point, I'm pretty sure Paige was questioning whether her parents really loved her or not. Poor thing. Nothing was as she liked it. That purple blankie saved our skin on many occasions! Paige was also still very cuddly in the morning! By the time we got ourselves organized enough to head out, she was ready for her morning nap. We made a quick run into the town of Moab for some more hot dog buns, marshmallows, and the all-important coffee. It was crazy busy ...

We had a most wonderful time in Moab, Utah over the Easter weekend. We left on Friday morning early and traveled six hours West to Moab. The girls all traveled pretty good, though Paige was DONE with her car seat by the end of the day! After finding our perfect camping spot along the Colorado River (the last one available, by the way) we did some driving - to Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse State Park (where the last scene of Thelma and Louise was filmed, if you care). Here we are looking out over the canyon and the LaSal mountains at Dead Horse. Breathtaking! And here is Sean with his girls overlooking the canyon at Canyonlands. Again...breathtaking. We headed back to camp, finished setting up and started the fire. Hot dogs and s'mores! This was pretty much the scene every evening around our camp over the weekend (only we were each a little dirtier every night!).... So that was Friday. We have so many pictures that I'll have to do this in parts...so stay tuned ...

We enjoyed a couple of mild Spring-like days. Sadly, the warm snap is already gone...it's cold and SUPERWINDY today, not a good day to play outside. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that the littler people might just blow away if we took them outside to play today! And, as much as we don't like it, the windy weather does mean that it's SPRING in the San Luis Valley! Madison will do anything for a laugh. "Cooking" together. Brooklyn even sticks out her tongue while she works...just like her mommy!

An early Easter Egg Hunt! Look what I found, Mom! Black Mary Janes go with anything!