Random!

• We're gearing up for what will be a very, very busy month in July.  Lots of guests, lots of big projects, lots of fun, too, I'm sure!   
• I'm so sad to hear about the fires happening in my home area of Southern Colorado. Some of my very favorite places to play in the mountains are in or near the fire zone.  So, selfishly, I'm praying for rain! 
• We are continuing on with homeschool.  It is going very well.  I love Sonlight - I'm sold.  I know the girls are enjoying it too.  Sure makes it easier to work through the summer, when you don't so much mind cracking open your books!
• Sean's sister's wedding is next week.  Sigh.  We're all just really sad we can't be there.  I never imagined we'd have to miss this special day when it came, but we're hoping to "be there" through Skype.  Missing these important days - graduations, weddings (even just birthdays) - gets harder and harder.  Big sigh.
• We'll also miss my uncle's wedding.  Good grief.  I hate it.  Absolutely hate it.  What I wouldn't give to be able to teleport our whole family to Colorado for the next month or so.  I guess it is a good thing we'll be so crazy-busy for the next several weeks....
• When I get down about all these events we're missing and the fact I haven't seen my family for 1.5 years, I cheer myself up with the fact that we're due a furlough in just over 7 months!  No, no dates set yet but we're getting close enough to actually start planning our furlough and that is exciting.  :-)  I miss my family!  As soon as we get some dates nailed down, we'll tell you all about it.
• It has been especially hot around here lately.  Think we're getting into dry season....which can become smoke season....which is not my favorite time of year.  We're hoping the extra rain we had last month will help keep things less smokey. It sure is plenty humid right now!  But the hot weather has made our jasmine bushes bloom like crazy and they smell amazing...so there's that!
• The girls have their friends over and they are having LOUD fun!  They've been doing treasure hunts and chasing each other around.  I'm so thankful for friends for our kids - both Indonesian and American.  This morning it was our neighbor and a friend she had over that the girls played with for hours, now it is our teammates' sons.  We're so blessed!
• A few weeks ago, I gave the girls all my seed packets that I'd brought from the States 3 years ago.  I was pretty sure the seeds were done for since I'd tried to plant them and nothing grew, so I let the girls "plant" them wherever and however they wanted to.  Would  you believe we now have cilantro, basil, oregano, squash, and some kind of peas or beans growing?  All in a tiny, itty bitty, rocky space?!  Now to figure out how to replant them so they can keep growing!
• Jerry Jr., the baby sugar glider is wonderful fun.  He's much more tame than his parents, and doesn't get all freaked out when we try to pet him.  Maddie brings him out several times a day and plays with him.  Sean and I are a little dubious about these stinky, admittedly cute, creatures but I have to say we've had such fun with them.  This definitely counts as one of those experiences our kids could only have in Borneo!