Greetings from the other side!

We are doing great. The kids did marvelous on the plane ride. They all slept most of the 11 hours and the 3 hour layover in Fiji went good as well. Seemed to not have any problems with thier ears because of the air pressure, Praise God!

It has almost been a week here in Port Vila (Vila town - Bislama) and we are starting to get into a good sleeping habit. For a while we were going to bed at 5:00 PM and getting up around 4:00...ahhhh...:) but we are now in a good routine. The kiddos have been SUPER. Thanks for your prayers!

We are learning Bislama surprisingly fast. I was at the market today while Hought did some internet work here at the Cafe and was able to talk with some ladies in Bislama. They are so helpful with words and it was good for me to practice a bit. Hought is doing AWESOME with Bislama. He talks with the gardner for a couple hours a day and works with him to help learn quickly. I am super proud of him because he thought he would be bad at learning a language. So Praise God He is helping us learn. All in 5 days anyway....we have a long ways to go!

Since a picture can speak a thousand words.....here you go!


Houghton looking off our porch with his macheteKids playing on the front porchAddy enjoying it all

On the steps of our front house (only temp house for now)

Went to the beach and collected hermit crabs and put them in a coconut shell. Gwenny and Si both loved to play with them.

Flying to Port Vila, Vanuatu from FijiFlying to Port Vila, Vanuatu from Fiji

Flying from Fiji to Port Vila

Flying from Fiji to Port Vila

A indescribable view from our temporary home
This looks out onto most of the island!!! We will be moving to our permanent house soon.

Take off!!!!!!!!

Well, if you are the type of person that checks out what time it was when the message was posted... you would see that it is entering the wee hours of the morning. I am waiting out our washing machine so I can throw the next load into the dryer. I find myself always waiting on the wash. I guess that is partly because of cloth diapers. But no complaints here!
We are almost officially packed. I would be able to say "officially" if only the wash was done. :)
It will take a miracle for us to get all of our luggage to Vanuatu! We seem to have a problem with only having two hands each...bummer. But our God has proven a thousand times over again that He is in the business of miracles...so off we go.

We get asked a lot if we are nervous....I think that as each minute passes it sets in a bit more. Tomorrow (or today I guess) we will be saying our good-byes to my mom and dad (Thulesens). This will probably start the chain of nervousness for me. It is bound to set in at that time. Thank God that good-byes are really not good-byes...ya know? But only "see you soon's". I know that our kiddos will not really totally get the good-bye time as we have said good-bye to grandpa and grandma hundreds of times. This is maybe a blessing.

We will be spending a couple days in CA with Houghton's family before our departure to Vanuatu (Aug 3rd) so it is also a blessing that we have seperate time with each family to say our good-byes. God has been so gracious to us in the little (big) things!

We will keep this blog rolling even from Vanuatu...so keep checking us out!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting ready...to pack that is...

We have decided to use the next couple days to practice pack. It should be interesting to see how and where we are going to fit everything...and who knows maybe we will be pleasantly surprised to find we have EXTRA space. I am not sure about that though. ;)

We have 4 suitcases, two large backpack/duffle bag things, and some carry ons that we will be using to pack the next 2 years into. Five words for you I LOVE SPACE SAVER BAGS. :) They will be super helpful. Ya know the little gadgets that are like a glorified zip-lock that you can suck the life out of with a vacuum and they shrink all your stuff. AWESOME. One problem being that although your stuff gets smaller...it doesn't get lighter! So we will be preparing by lifting weights! :)

We keep getting asked if we are ready. To which Houghton and I almost simultaniously say "NO". :) One day at a time we get more and more done. I am amazed at how much little things are floating around on our "to do" lists. Houghton said the other day that on his "to do" list was to organize his "to do" list. Craziness. ;) I think if we get to Vanuatu with most of our brains we will be doing GREAT. God is so good though. We are sleeping fairly well..perhaps that will change as the days get even closer. PLEASE PRAY for us in this regard. That our minds would be able to let us sleep so we can have energy to get through another hectic day.

A couple days ago we got these little handy guys at Wal-Mart. You cannot imagine (or maybe you can cause you have been there) navigating through the airports we will be going through with our kiddos. Not that they are not WONDERFULLY behaved kids, but I just always wecome a little peace of mind. So we plan on having our kids where these cute little backpacks while we are trecking through LAX (oh my what a mess) (thats the airport in LA, CA if you were wondering) and also in Fiji and Vanuatu. Jesiah and Gwen LOVE them. They have been wearing them around the house for fun and think they are just the best. So that is helpful.
I cannot wait to post a picture of what we will look like when we get all airport geared up. It will be an art now doubt. What a blessing to have another set of eyes along with us. Laura that is! She is such an awesome help.

Keep us in your prayers as these days pass! CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE (link on the right if you didn't know) so you can see more pics and also know our schedule and see more prayer requests!

Is it time to FREAK OUT yet?

We have been keeping busy these days. Getting our will prepared plus burial arrangements...wow isn't that crazy, and retirement info gathered and consolidated, bank accounts consolidated and closed, addresses changed, last minute Internet purchases for things we need before we take off.....and the list goes on and on.

We are so excited to be IN VANUATU and yet there is a lot of anxiety that goes along with it! I cannot imagine what our life is going to look like there. We have secured housing which is a HUGE blessing, praise God, and so that takes a lot of anxiety out of the move.

I, Gretchen, am anxious about flying over the Pacific...not because of flying but because it means 10ish hours of my kids needing to be good and SLEEP. I am also anxious about packing everything into our suitcases...I am sure it will all fit..but we may not have enough hands to carry it all through the airports! AHHH...I do freak out every once in a while when my mind begins to worry. Thankfully we have a God who promises to take the anxiety out of our lives when we cast it all on Him. THANK YOU SO MUCH LORD. I NEED that!

Please keep our family in prayer as we take this on full force very soon. We would LOVE to hear from you and also hear that you are praying for us! We are all in this together ya know! We are joyful to be going out for Christ's name and with your help.

Thank you to one of our supporters who sent me this verse, "Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rest between His shoulders." Deuteronomy 33:12

It is officially JULY

Can you believe that we have been blogging about Vanuatu for over a year now and we have now reached THE MONTH that we fly out? It is incredible. God has been speeding us right along. Now the only thing standing in our way is writing our wills...any attornies out there to help out???
We are mulling through the paper work now so we can be official overseas residents. Lots to sort through.

We just got home from a quick vacation to South Dakota. The kiddos had a blast and so did we! Check out the photos on our slide show to the right.

We would love to have pictures of our supporters so we can keep a little photo book in our computer of all those who we are partnered with! So if that is you...send us a pic!

The view from her eyes

WOW. As time ticks by, I get anxious and worried about how I will ever be able to live the life that God has lead us to. I am thrilled beyond words that He saw me fit to send me to Vanuatu. To give me the children that He has and to trust me with His message to a lost world. It is just proof that He is the One working through this frail, scared body!

I ask for prayer these days as our all time dream is now becoming reality in a matter of weeks. I can't believe how He has so graciously held my hand through it all and has comforted my weak and sometimes doubtful heart.

Pray for wisdom. Pray for me as a mom. Pray for me as a wife and helper to my wonderful, godly, husband. Pray for me as a witness.

Thanks!

~Gretch

NEEDS LIST

(PLEASE CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO ENLARGE THEM) :)




It is finally finalized (tentatively):). Just kidding. Above is the best we have to offer by way of "knowing" what we "need". We have checked it once and checked it twice. We have been very careful not to include "wants". As mentioned in the body of the needs list you can give via money or choose to buy a specific item. We hope to have the bulk of the items purchased prior to May 2009 due to possible 5% to 35% duty fees. We can be charged duty fees if we arrive in country with a container filled with items that have not been owned by us for over 12 months.

Hope that all makes sense. If not just contact us or go to our website for more details www.richardsroad.com and click the needs list / care package tab.

Thank you all for your many prayers and interest in Gods works.

Getting back into a groove?

Sorry for the long break in communication! We have been without Internet for a month. I think it is helping me get a realistic view of what our situation may be like in Vanuatu.

We are back in Montana getting adjusted a little and starting to get our house all packed up to move out at the end of the month. We plan on selling all that is in our house except our bed and some kitchen stuff that we can bring to Vanuatu.

We had an awesome time visiting the Jones family (our teammates) in MI and seeing other friends and family.

Click on our slide show pictures (to the right) to view what our days looked like these past few weeks!

Our trip to Michigan

We got back to Miles City with two days to unpack and repack before heading out to Michigan to visit our teammates and other great friends along the way. We will stay here just outside Lansing at a missions house until the end of next week. It has been such a blast to see Brad and Amber Jones, our teammates. I thought it best to just put in pictures of our trip thus far...ENJOY!

To set up the context of pictures...

We took family pics before leaving Boise.
We stayed at a kick butt hotel with an awesome pool in Fargo-ish, ND
Headed to MN to visit family (Fred and Betty Foulkes and grandma Benhardus)
While in MN got to see Bryan, Laura, Winter, Creden, and Jonas Faltynski and go to the
children's museum with them
Headed to WI to visit with Dave, Missy, Talia, Jaeden, and Olivia Schroeder. (missionaries with New Tribes Mission)
Then on to MI to see Jen Knip (friend from Bible college - who is getting married to Dave next week)
Visit with Jason, Alison, Samantha, Claudia, and Adaline Baustin (friends from Bible college).
Visit with Brad, Amber, Zoe, and Piper Jones...our teammates!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW...check it all out!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our final small groups for Boise, ID

God blessed our time in Boise and we are so grateful to all those who invited us into their home group to share about what God is doing in Vanuatu! Thank you to all!

Cloth Diaper Diaries

So there are a few new things that I have adopted as a mommy for the third time. In some ways it is like having my firstborn over again because I am doing these new things. One of these new things is cloth diapers and using a sling to hold Addy.

Cloth diapers are the best option for Vanuatu. They will not only save us money here in the states and Australia but also save us the headache of shipping enough over in our container for Vanuatu and then also figuring out what the best way of disposing of them would be while we are there. SO... we have moved to cloth. The good old fashion square "pre-folds" of old with some diaper covers that have been perfected and are awesome at actually doing their job. YAY. Addy has been in cloth ever since her belly button healed (about two weeks now) and I have not had to change any blow outs yet...(can you hear all the moms cheering?)


I have also been having Addy in a sling most of the day. She LOVES to sleep in it and it has been super helpful when we are out of the house (which seems to be a lot). I was able to get some help from Amber Jones (our teammate) and also online to be able to make some of my own. These were my first sewing experience and they actually work. Oh yeah!
In Vanuatu the women are constantly carrying their babies. We realized this when we went to visit last year. It will help protect Addy from all the hundreds of diseases that are rampant and usually picked up off the ground. SO, I am excited that Addy is getting used to it (and me too for that matter) before we are over in Vanuatu and faced with OTHER lifestyle changes!


I am stuffing envelopes to send out our newsletters...all the while holding a sleeping Addy.

This is Addy at her first movie. Houghton and I's last date night in Boise. :( sad... We could actually go to a movie for $2.50!

Boise home groups

God has still been faithful to fill our time up while here in Boise. Here are some pic's from a couple of the home groups that we were able to share at.

This group has committed to faithfully pray for us and have "adopted" us as their missionaries.
We thank God for His leading and gracious hand in this orchestration.

Home group from Calvary Chapel, Boise

Home group from Calvary Chapel, Boise

Week 1 with Addy

We have thoroughly been enjoying our new little girl! She has proven to be a quite little thing that enjoys to sleep and eat. :) No complaints here. ;)

God has blessed our family greatly. We are experiencing blessing after blessing from Him and feel a little crazed to be on the receiving end all so often. Thank you to all who have given us tremendous support through these months. Financial support, encouraging us through notes and phone calls even posting a comment! We LOVE hearing from you all to know that we are working side-by-side on this crazy journey God has placed us on.

Please check out the slide show to the right for more pics of Adalaya. Our new little baby girl and our other little kiddos.

Adalaya Ann

Adalaya was born this AM at 7:47. She weighed 7 lbs. 10 ounces. She is healthy and so is Gretch! Praise God for His wonderful blessing of this new gift!

Surprise shower

Top R to L : Jonie, Jenn, Melanie, and Laura

Bottom R to L: Rachael (5 months pregnant) , myself, and Suzanne (6 months pregnant)

God has a way of blessing His people when they least expect it. I am humbled by how His people care for each other and also humbled by being on the receiving end all too often these days!

Laura has a tremendous friends here in Boise who not only care deeply for her but have also reached out to Houghton and I's family as you have read in our previous posts. We are literally lacking nothing as we await the arrival of our baby because of the generosity of so many!

One group of Laura's friends invited us to a ladies tea in which they also had planned a surprise shower for me. I have been loved on in so many ways by "strangers" but sisters in Christ.

Thank you to all who have given to us in so many ways while we have been "sojourners" in Boise!

Waiting

Well, the time is rapidly approaching for our baby to be born. I have been feeling good and our appointments with our midwife have been going good as well. Now, all we can do is wait on the Lord for His perfect timing! We have small groups scheduled consistently until the 18th so Laura is just hoping that baby will prove to be considerate of those appointments and hold off. :)

Jesiah and Gwen are healthy and loving the warm weather and abundance of parks in our area! Our time here has looked a little different since Boise winter is over and it is about 50 degrees each day while back in Miles City I am told it is still a typical MT winter. :) So I am thankful for our warmth. Good thing we are going to Vanuatu and not Siberia eh? I guess I should be careful what I say though huh God...He has an interesting sense of humor. ;)

We will be getting our newsletter in the mail by the end of the week and we pray they find you all doing well. We LOVE hearing from you so drop us a line or an e-mail and let us know what God is doing in your life etc....

ALSO I am going to be putting new pictures of our family in the slideshow that you see on the right side of the blog instead of in the body. So check out what we have been up to through those pic's as well!

Feeling some showers of blessing!

Since we have decided to stay in Boise for several months longer, it means that we will be adding one more to our family while we are away from "home". We found that it would cost a huge amount for our parents to ship out all of our needed summer clothes and baby clothes and so we found ourselves in an interesting bind.
But AS ALWAYS God had this all thought out!
A friend of Laura's heard of our need and graciously went thru all of her children's old clothes and sent over three garbage bags full of clothing for our kids, new baby included! What an amazing thing to see God working in this way. We have been literally showered with blessing from our all-knowing and caring Lord!

These are pictures of Laura and the kids sorting through the clothing and taking out what we could use.

Small groups in Boise

Westside Baptist small group

Calvary Chapel Bible Study

Loving what God can do!

We have continuously been experiencing God's blessings through you all. We feel wrapped in prayer and encouragement and are humbled to be your teammate in this amazing work God has called us to! As each day passes, we are brought closer to our departure date for Vanuatu! Although that date is yet to be nailed down, we see God pulling things together to bring that date closer and it becomes more of a reality in our lives.
Jim Elliot stated so wisely, "Wherever you are, be all there." Houghton likes to add, "Whenever you are, be ever there" (meaning: being completely invested where you are knowing that the time allotted to us is precious, fleeting, and unpredictable).
God has given this time in Boise to us to be tools used by Him in ways beyond ourselves. We are grateful for every opportunity we have to share about the work in Vanuatu and for every opportunity we have to serve the Body of Christ here in Idaho. Whether it is MT, ID, or Vanuatu, we are to be all there in service and heart and this has been a challenge and a blessing to us! Pray with us as we seek out more worshipers who God is desiring to use in Vanuatu on our team of supporters!

Small groups

Westside Bible Church small group

Ustick Baptist Sunday small group

Calvary Chapel Boise Missions prayer group

Home groups in Boise

Small group from Columbia Heights Baptist Church

Small group from Kuna Nazarene Church

Some pictures

Claudia (a former co-worker of Laura) came over to help me learn how to sew from a pattern

Week two in Idaho

We have been enjoying our time here in Boise these past two weeks. We have been able to present at one church and meet with pastors and individuals throughout various churches in this area.
God has been supplying for our family in great ways. We are staying in a missionary home for the time we are here and the kids have enjoyed the new surrounding.
Our support has continued to rise and we are now at 76% of our needed monthly income. This has been a huge encouragement to us as we look to head out to Vanuatu by August.
Please continue to pray with us; as Gretchen's due date comes closer; as we continue to grow our team through supports and prayer warriors.

We value you and are thrilled that you are joining with us as we seek to serve in Vanuatu.

Looking from our kitchen into the dining room/living room

Houghton cooking up a storm

Gwenny's sweet smile

Getting to our new home in Boise, ID

We left for Boise on Friday and spent that night in Bozeman, MT with Lindsey Wilkerson to break our trip up a bit. God gave us safe roads and relatively clear mountain passes. We were a bit nervous about the weather but we made it to Boise in only 9 hours from Bozeman. The kids did fairly good. Despite the one episode of puke just after we left Bozeman Saturday morning provided by Gwenny. The poor thing. Thank you for your prayers for our saftey! We will post pics of our new home when we post here next time!!!

Gwenny peaking from under her blanket. We use this blanket to make her ride darker for nap time.

Gwenny getting spoiled by Daddy in the backseat

Enjoying her brief backseat drive

Our last small group visit for Miles City...for now!

Small group led by Herb and Pat Mackey