More pictures

We have been keeping busy here.  As it has been the rainy season we have had some interesting Internet connections.  On and Off all day long!  But we are SO SO SO thankful we have Internet some days!  SO huge.

Here are the links to our recent pictures.  Sorry I am not uploading them to blogger but it just takes too long to get them here and since I can post a link ... well ...

If you have ANY problems viewing the pictures Please let me know so I can fix any problems.

Addy turns 2!

What we have been up to in the last month

Back in Vanuatu

      Well, its almost been 3 weeks with our feet back on the green green Vanuatu ground.  Our bodies are starting to acclimate to the time difference, climate difference, and cultural differences.  I say time difference not because there is an actual difference between Port Vila time and Melbourne time but because we are waking up SO MUCH stinkin earlier and going to bed so much earlier as well!  :)  The sun is UP UP UP by 6 AM and down by 6:30 PM so it tends to change our daily time habits somewhat.  Addy is the first to rise (usually even before Houghton which is at 5:30 AM) and she mostly just sticks to herself for an hour playing quietly in her room.  Then she decides she has played long enough and will either come and wake up mom or wakes up her sister to THEN wake up mom. :)  Keeps me young... HA!  Si is usually the last to crawl out of bed by 7:00.  So our mornings happen really quickly (or is it slowly).
        Si does school in the AM for about 1 hour.  He is learning his alphabet and numbers (reading them). He LOVES his school so I am SO grateful for that!  It is relitivly fun ECEPT that I HATE HATE HATE whoever decided that "C" sounds like a "K" when put into most words... I mean REALLY!!!!!!! I have to say here that in Bislama there is NO "C" in their Alphabet.  I think they have the right idea!  However, if I ever want Si to go to school anywhere else... "C" it is.  Dumb. ;)
    The girls do pretty well while we "do school".  Gwen is very eager to "do school" as well so she participates in some of what we are doing.  She will catch on fast I think.  Addy would MUCH rather be outside eating some foreign object off the ground or tearing apart geckos.  Yep, she is NOT a girly girl. Ha ha.  Although she does enjoy coming and destroying some of Si's school work when he isn't looking.  So she does get involved. :)
    Houghton goes for a swim in the ocean every morning at 6:30 and has seen  Stone fish (deadly), and coral snakes ( also deadly) on his swims.  Yep, pretty sure you will NEVER catch ME out there! I am scared of TROUT in our rivers back home!  Too bad it is one of the best scuba diving and snorkling destinations in the world.  I will enjoy it all from the sand thank you very much!  Our teammate Jim saw a shark last month!! Can you say "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"?
    Well, all that nonsense aside (ha, yeah right), we have been pleasantly surprised at how much our brains held on to our Bislama.  Although it sometimes feels like my brain just oozed out of my ear and I cant remember ANY language for the most part, the right language comes out of my mouth when I need it to.  I have SO far to go in my language learning though.  And as some trips out into the bush are in our not so distant future, I definitely feel the pressure to get out and talk!
    We are living on the same property that we lived on last time we were in Vanuatu so that has again proven to be a blessing as we have friendships here that we can continue to develop and we are comfortable with how to get around in this neighborhood.
    Well, I think that sometime in the coming weeks we will get our tentitive schedule out so you can be knowing what we are up to and know how to pray for us as situations arise.
    Thanks for hanging in there with us!

Here are some links to our photo's on Facebook.  You can click on these and view the pics even if you do not have a Facebook account.

Back in Vanuatu

Camping trip to Wilsons Prom in Victoria, Australia

Houghton takes Gretchen to Sydney

Wish List

Wanting to let you know that I have updated our care package list on our website....

http://www.richardsroad.com/1.html


I hope to be updating our blog soon!  Sorry it has taken so long!

Well its about time! ;)

I am sitting at our local library enjoying some free internet! YIPEE. ;)  It has been about a month (if not more now!) since we last updated so I would like to let you all know what we are up to these days.
I will tell you this as I get you up to date with some pictures as well! ;)

Si and Gwen helped make these cookies for our Thanksgiving Day meal.  We invited all the Americans we knew and also some Australian friends to come and join us for the day.

Addy enjoying some appetizers

What Thanksgiving isn't complete without pumpkin pie?  Well we did it a bit different but equally good I have to say!  Pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting!  YUM!

Grace Kenner with Addy

Houghton and I were asked to help with a Christmas Banquet that a couple in our church put on every year.  It was a beautiful event with music, fantastic food, and a message. 

Here I am helping one of the pianists who performed with her page turning...its tough but somebodies gotta do it. :)

Marie-Clare and Emmanuel Azali are friends from church and are on their way to Thailand to work in an orphanage.  Sina and Merhnoosh are friends and met Houghton when Merhnoosh was helping Him learn Farsi for language learning class at SIL.

Some of the students that had Merhnoosh as a helper bought her a Bible in Farsi.  Here Emmanuel who speaks Farsi is talking with her and Sina about a story in the Bible.

Moving from Kangaroo Ground!  Si helping pack up our lives from the SIL housing to move into Joy's house outside of Melbourne.  Joy is a friend from church.  We will be staying at her house until we move to Vanuatu in the second week of Feb.

Gwen packing up her clothes.

Taking a trip to the dump.  Isn't it amazing at how much we acquire (and us only in a year!).  Enough to have to throw stuff out!  Well, it was mostly just boxes and garbage from cleaning the house out, but still!

Getting the kids settled into their room at Joys house.

Gwen and Grace Kenner

Si and Josh Kenner

Gotta give you a pic we took of a koala.  After all we ARE in Australia! ;)

Jim Kenner tickling Gwen. 

 What great friends and teammates we have!  The Kenners, Laura and us.

 

Joy putting Gwen's hair up.  Gwen and Joy have a fun bond.  Gwen will crawl up on Joy's lap and watch Philippino TV all day with her! :)  Joy is such a blessing to us.

Decorating our tree.  Some friends from church thought of us during Christmas and offered a tree complete with trimmings for us to use! I was SO thrilled as it is such a close tradition for me that I was thrilled to do it with my kids.  This was the first Christmas Tree we have all put up together!

 Our little family

 

Kangaroos in Montana??  This pic is taking out our front door at Joy's house.  We had to laugh because it totally looks like MONTANA!  Except with kangaroos! ;)

Houghton was able to go and help a friend work on this house.  It is built out of cement board.  With some alterations, this could be a possibility for us to use something like this in the bush.

Making Christmas cookies!

Si singing in the children's choir at our Christmas program

Gwen putting up a picture as a story is read for her part in the Christmas program.

As well as singing in the choir with Houghton, Laura and I played the hand chimes.  I had never played these before and found it pretty hard.  But SO fun!

Our Christmas Eve feast!  We made coconut battered shrimp and stuffed chicken breast wrapped in bacon.  We were pretty jazzed about how well it all turned out!

 Just before Christmas, Si turned 5!!!!!

 

Joy with Gwen

Opening gifts with Laura

 

We spent Christmas with some friends from church.  We had such a beautiful day with the Hughes-Gage family and felt like we were with family!  What a wonderful blessing.  We were also able to call back to the states to say an early (as it was only Christmas Eve in USA) Merry Christmas to our parents.

Si painting Gwen's nails!

 

For a couple weeks we are house sitting and we are able to also pet sit!  It has been great fun for us and also for the kids as they get to play with all new toys (the family we are house sitting for has four kids) in a new house! :) 

We hosted a New Years Eve party for our church at "our" house.

We visited the Alfred Nicholas Gardens in a nearby Mountain range that was just breath taking!

 

 

 

 I should explain this picutre! ;)  This was a hankerchif tree. And sure enough the leafs were SO SO soft.  So Si gave me a good sneeze so I could get a picture of the leaf in use!

 Enjoying some hot chocolate and scones at a shop.

 

Si got to go to a Cricket game with Houghton

Well that gets you pretty much up to date with us now!  We are housesitting for one more week and then we will be heading back to Joy's house until Feb 14th or so which is when we move to Vanuatu.

We still do not have housing in Vanuatu so please keep praying for this as with getting Visas to be able to stay in Vanuatu for the next 2 years!

Since we don't have internet our communication has been slow and for that we are SO sorry.  However, we try to check emails every week.  So shoot us one! We are so thankful for you all and would love to hear from you and hear what you have been up to these days!

Cheers!