Thursday, September 24, 2009

We arrived in Manila on Tuesday, Sept 22nd at 11 pm-- Yahoo! We are staying at the guesthome here and are enjoying seeing many of our friends. When we woke up on Wednesday morning Kevin commented that it feels like we're back home again... I guess we have spent a lot of time in the guesthouse!

Our trip back was great-- one of our best across the ocean. We flew with Asiana and were very impressed with their equipment and service. The boys enjoyed each having their own personal TV and video games during the flights and Kaleb actually enjoyed the food. We all did some sleeping during the 14-hr and subsequent 4-hour flights. The Seoul, Korea airport is lovely. And I wasn't in any restroom that didn't have TP-- which may not be amazing if you haven't' traveled overseas much, but it impressed me greatly!

For some reason jetlag has hit me the hardest, but I'm hoping it will pass soon now. Garry spent Wednesday getting his papers in order and headed to the clinic for some tests he needs for his flight medical on Thursday. Monday he plans to turn in his paperwork to the aviation department and hopefully get his pilot license and medical back. He also has a number of things he needs to check into while he's at that office.

We met our new co-workers Wednesday and are lookign forward to supper at the guesthouse togehter today. Both families have also invited us to their home for dinner next week, so we're looking forward to that.

But maybe I should back up to McNeal and our time there for a moment... we had a great time and really enjoyed connecting with many friends while we were there. We met a few new people there also, which was also a treat. Garry was also involved in quite a few meetings related to the Philippine flight program, which went well.

The photos on this post are from Arizona... Amy, who helped me get our prayer cards mailed and the boys doing "normal life" in Arizona.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Wow, how the time flies! Most of our friends have their kids back in school, and we are back to school also (as of this morning!).

Our packing and moving when exceptionally well, though I can't say it was without its moments. Moving is always a bit sad-- it's hard to say goodbye and tie up all the loose ends of a life you've enjoyed for a number of months. We were incredibly blessed by many of you who stopped by to pray for us, who took time to say goodbye, and for the many who have sent encouraging notes as we left.

During our last weeks in Manitoba we enjoyed a lot of good times with Garry's parents and sister-- meals together, good laughs, and great memory-makers. We also did some dirt-biking, coffee drinking, camp fires, and timbit eating with friends.

We arrived in Arizona on Wednesday afternoon and spent the afternoon and evening with some good friends in Green Valley. Thursday morning they took Garry back to the airport to pick up our rental car and we headed out for McNeal, our flight headquarters.

We are getting settled in our guest house here and even got some school done this morning. Garry has been busy at the hangar, meeting with people and getting things organized for our time here as well as things we need for our return to the Philippines the 21rst.

As we reflect on our months of home assignment we cannot believe how blessed we've been. Thank you to each of you who have been a part of that!

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Good morning! I just wanted to let you all know that we are out of our rental house! We are currently staying with great friends in Manitoba until September 9th when we head to Arizona. Thanks for your hospitality!

God has worked out the details of our move out amazingly well... from generous people who brought trucks to help return our furniture and other borrowed items to people who helped us clean, to the encouragement we needed to keep going.

Last week some friends generously sent us to Grand Forks for a couple of nights. It was a wonderful time with Garry's parents and together as our smaller family. It was really fun to just "play" for a while!

This week we're enjoying time with family. We also plan to take the boys for one more evening of badminton, finish some paperwork, sell our van, and do a number of other "last minute" things.

Thanks for being part of our journey. We are so thankful to be part of an amazing team!