Bill's birthday with the Ladies

Today was the big day! Bill celebrated his one and only 4th birthday with 4 cute (and single) chicks. Jester is lucky enough to be Bill's little brother and got to join in on the fun. A 2 to 4 ratio ain't bad. I arranged for all the kids to get horse rides. It was a big hit!

For more birthday fun check out our picasa album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lisandrewvb/WillS4thBirthdayWithTheLadies

also check out the new post below - 'she left'

Bill's Brush

This is my guess - Bill will be the artsy type and Jester will be the athletic type. We had a big downpour this afternoon so we got out the paints.

she left

Despite the popular vote that she would stay - she didn't. Auntie Arlene left on Monday. I keep wanting to set the table for 5....



We ended off our time with Arlene in Madang. Drew and I attended a conference with our organization for the first 5 days (all expense paid at the hotel!!!). Arlene watched the boys for us while we were in meetings. After the conference was over and the free stay at the hotel was over we moved to the 'guest house' flat for a few nights (I can't mention the names of our organization on my blog). Arlene got to experience a night in Sarang (our POC village). Her and I slept at our wasfamili's house and Andrew went back to Madang with the boys and picked us up the next day. It's about a 45min drive from Madang. We had a great time catching up with our dear wasfamili. Arlene was presented with a beautiful Madang bilum which was a pretty big deal! They treated her like a guest of honor - if she's our sister than she's family to them too.



One memorable moment.....we took a boat taxi to a secluded island for a morning. I had the unforgettable experience of getting stung by a jellyfish. It was really scary because we were pretty isolated and I was in a whole lot of pain. To make a long story short we found a boat ride back to Madang and I went right to the doctor where I got two injections - one penicillan shot and one anti-histamine shot. I would say that the pain was different than childbirth, but definitately on the same scale. I hope that never happens to me again!



Check out these pics from our time in Madang:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lisandrewvb/Madang0109

sweet 16

here's my 16.....

1. I love taking pictures and wish I had more time and money to spend on my hobby.

2. I have a sweet tooth like you wouldn't believe. I don't understand it when someone says they're too full for dessert.

3. I think Crystal has the most beautiful skin and eyes. I'm kinda jealous. (You go girl!)

4. I never ever get tired of hearing Jesse's raspy, gravelly voice. It makes my insides smile.

5. I love playing Lego and hope and pray my boys will be big into it....especially castles. I'm always up for playing Lego....or 'Legos' as we call it.

6. I've recently discovered that scuba diving is way more fun than anything else you can do in the water. It's really hard to drown....which is a fear of mine.

7. I had a major crush on McGuyver once.

8. My least favorite chore used to be emptying the dishwasher.....now I wish I had a dishwasher to empty.

9. I want to be like Elf one day.

10. I have this amazing ability that I look like I'm listening and following along, but really I'm not. It runs in the family.....right Chris?

11. I'm scared to call to make appointments. I wish my mommy would still do it for me. Drew refuses.

12. I want to learn how to make bagels and black bean sauce. Anyone have a good recipe?

13. All I want is a big slab of farmer sausage.

14. I need to lighten up more. Life shouldn't be so serious. Laughing feels so darn good.

15. I wish I could be more opinionated on stuff.....I'm on the fence a lot.

16. I've discovered that homesickness is an incurable disease. I could use a little Winkler lovin' right about now.

my day off.

My day off means two things.....I got off the centre - WOO HOO! And I had a day off from the regular routine - WOO HOO!!! On Tuesday we travelled to Goroka with Arlene, Nato, and Ryan & Crystal. Goroka is a big town about a 2 hour drive from Uka. We definitely pray for safety when we travel because rascals are unfortunately a part of life here. We had no glitches...only came close to hitting a few pigs and one goat....oh yeah - and a car veered into our side of the road, but missed us by a hair. Thank the Lord for his protection!

The scenery on the way to Goroka is absolutely breathtaking and we were fortunate enough to have a clear day so we could see the mountains. Goroka is known for it's coffee, bilums, and woven baskets...and you better believe I bought some coffee to send home to my coffee lovin' friends. That was practically the reason for the trip!

This is 'Blue Mountain Coffee' - we actually watched them package the coffee I'm sending home for everyone! It doesn't get much fresher than this. The smell in the place was intoxicatingly wonderful. I wish I could put in a bottle and wear it as a perfume.

Here are Ryan & Crystal - having a hoot in the back of the Land Cruiser. No Ryan, we're not there yet.
This was probaby my favorite part of the day - eating out! We rarely get the chance to eat out so I enjoyed every bite! And sharing a milkshake with my honey just topped it off.

Here's the group! Cheers to great day!

Oh yeah - and I'm still eating my words....I'm sharing this to keep me humble.

1. I said my kids could NEVER drink pop until they were 18 years old. Being in a developing country changes that.....they're averaging about one a week. Gotta keep hydrated, ya know?

2. I've never been a big vitamin/supplement person....I thought I'd never get into it. Just eat your veggies! But now I've got about 3 different vitamins/supplements I take with my breakfast....it's practically like a breakfast in itself!

don't leave us Auntie Arlene

The boys are having a hoot with their auntie. Arlink is thinking of extending her stay......we think that's a grand idea.

To check out all the fun we've been having click on the link below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lisandrewvb/AuntieArleneIsHere

slip 'n slide

We've loved having Auntie Arlink around. She's full of brilliant, fresh ideas. She set up this slip 'n slide on a very steep down slope on our yard. Turns out we hardly needed the plastic. When the grass got soapy enough it worked as well as the plastic.....actually, better.

artsy flartsy

when i get bored.......i take pictures.