down on the farm

The farm is the best playground for the amazing number of boys on the VB
side. I love all these boys!!

good ol' Canadian boys.

Back on familiar turf. Gramps and Nana took Bill and Snax Beef to the
cabin for a few days. I'll admit I was a little jealous. The cabin is
one of my favorite places to be. On the way they stopped to check out
the windmills at St. Leon's. Snax Beef also took up fox hunting just
like he said he would. No luck this time.

winks town.

We've been back in Winkler for a week and a half now. I feel like my
thoughts are still very scattered and I'm not sure how to write about
it. Lists are an easy way to get thoughts down....so here's my 'back in
Winks' list:

1) My friends all look so beautiful. I love them all.

2) I have to write down my schedule now.

3) One morning I found Bill in his room getting dressed. He had on a
pair of shorts and he was pulling up his socks as high as they went. I
told him that it wasn't warm enough to wear shorts in Canada yet and he
said, "Don't worry Mom. I was just seeing if my socks went up to my
shorts." He thought that would pass as wearing long pants.

4) The peanut butter jar is as big as my head. When Drew pulled it out
of the cupboard he said, "Whoa. This is blowing my mind right now."

5) People have been so nice to us and very understanding.

6) Anything I could ever want or need is right at my fingertips.

7) I'm behind in the times, but that's okay. What's Twitter?

8) People here are very punctual and I like that. We need to be more
punctual. No more 'island time'.

9) I love watching Bill and Snax play with their cousins. They fit
right in. Why was I worried?

10) People are very busy.

11) I can hug my mom every day.

12) Snax Beef loves yogurt a whole lot and calls them 'milkshakes'.
Snax Beef (the person) hasn't missed Snax Beef (the food) yet.

13) Snax Beef didn't let Uncle Chris pull a worm in half. He had to
remind Uncle Chris that worms are God's creatures too.

14) I love dishwashers as much as I thought I would.

15) Food I missed and didn't disappoint: fresh milk, squeaky cheese,
Burwalde honey, sour cream, Dad's steak dinner with Mom's fixin's,
wiener roasts, DQ Blizzard.......

16) I feel so loved because I was missed.

17) I drove down 15th street on the wrong side of the road in my parents
new car! I cannot be trusted.

18) Meine Steele went wokabaut already. Keep your friends close and
your enemies even closer.

19) I wouldn't trade our 2 years in PNG for anything.

20) I think I could go camping now and enjoy myself. It would blow a
Papua New Guinean's mind if they saw what we did recreation!

21) There are lots of cars and not very many pedestrians. In PNG it was
the other way around.

22) There are so many things that haven't changed in the last two years
that it's almost eerie. But at the same time there are things that have
changed and we're still trying to get caught up! Life does go on
without you.

a day at Rempi

We took a much needed day of R&R today with our good friends Paul and Heidi.
Rempi is a village outside of Madang town that has some incredible
snorkeling. There is a rustic bush house right on the water for missionary
families to use, so we took advantage of it. We had a great time swimming,
snorkeling, eating, and squishing SEA CUCUMBERS!!! Those are those black,
icky looking things that Snax and Bill are playing with. We even had a
little visit from the village pet - a noisy, colorful bird that had a little
too much personality. All in all it was an awesome, memorable day. We'll
definitely miss those Hursts!

How excited are we?

Craaaaazzzzzzyy excited.

card sharks

Bill taught Mama Opa how to play Go Fish. Bill, being a good sport was
thrilled when Mama Opa beat the pants off of him!

Our dear Highlands Mama, affectionately known as Mama Opa came to spend 5
days with us before we head home. Being the good mama that she is she left
the house completely spotless. There was never a dirty dish in my sink or a
crumb on my floor while she was here. She's the most generous, loving Papua
New Guinean I know. We love her and miss her!

our pets.

More hard good byes for Snax Beef are on the horizon. This weekend he found
this monstrosity of a bug. The thing scared me and it hissed whenever you
touched it. My oh my, did Snax Beef ever have fun. The bug's name was
Whiskers because of his abnormally large antennas. Snax even let Whiskers
go free on Saturday night after much peer pressure. Whiskers took off, but
somehow found his way back to Snax the next morning. Unfortunately Whiskers
life ended fatally. We found him lying on his back in the pile of Lego
being eaten by hundreds of ants.

The gecko picture above in the fire truck didn't stick around long enough to
be named, but he sure had fun pretending to be a fire fighter. He even got
to drive the fire truck, which was definitely a highlight for him. Bill
released him after much peer pressure.

Snax Beef says good bye

Snax Beef is a lover and collector of all things creepy and crawly. I'm
trying to prepare the guy for Canada. I broke the bad news to him a few
days ago, "Man, sorry tru, but there are no geckos or lizards in Canada".
Being his optimistic self he replied, "yeah, but there are OWLS!". In
another conversation following this one he said that he was going to hike
through the forest in Canada and kill a fox. Phewf. He took the news
pretty well. He'll just exhange PNG creatures for Canadian ones. No sweat
in the Arctic, eh?

Just for laughs.

I need to laugh more.  My Dad sent William these jokes today and I’m still laughing.  Am I the only one who thinks these are funny?! I know, I know.  I don’t get out much. 

 

Q. What time is it when you have to go to the dentist? 

A. Tooth-hurty

 

Q. Where do kings keep their armies? 

A. In their sleevies.

 

Q. What do you call cheese that’s not yours?

A. Nacho cheese.

 

Q. What do you do if an elephant swallows you? 

A. Run around in circles ‘til you’re all pooped out.

 

Q. What’s invisible and smells like carrots?

A. Bunny farts.

 

Q. What do you call a cow with no legs?

A. Ground beef.

 

And my personal favorites......

 

Q. What did the Lego pirate say when he lost his leg?

A. Where’d my Lego leg go?

 

Q. Where do sheep get their hair cut? 

A. At the baa-baa shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My To-Do List.

I have my own To-Do list.

 

1. Use 'LYMTYKD' as much as possible before we leave.

 

2. Get Drew and myself ready physically and mentally to say hello to Mr. Buttered Popcorn, Mrs. Coffee Bean, and Ms. Chocolate.  (And I'll practice saying hello to Mr. Peanut Butter just in case).

 

3. Get a new coming home outfit...again.

 

4. Hide all pocket knives and bush knives to be sure they stay in PNG.  I AM concerned for the safety of my relatives.  Don't worry guys, I got it covered.

 

5. Go to the Madang Resort, establish a half decent internet connection, and check out Siren's spring collection online and possibly pre-order. (weeee ooooo weeee oooo)

 

6. Stuff as much pineapple, papaya, and mango into my mouth as physically possible.

 

7. Make sure to pack 'Meine Seele' and make sure to remind Chris that I still have it.  Crystal, tell Chris that I still have it.

 

8. Fill every little crack and crevice in our suitcases with Snax Beef...as in the FOOD Snax Beef.  Not the person.

 

9. Drill Bill and Snax Beef on names of all our relatives.

 

10. Drill Andrew on names of all our relatives.

 

11. Get my vocal chords warmed up for church.

 

12. Call the Winnipeg airport to ensure they will not allow any bullhorns, personal PA systems, and noisemakers on April 8th.

 

13. Get the boys to practice wearing shoes and put a ban on peeing outside in the yard.

 

14. Get Crystal to call those brown apartments on Pembina to check for vacancy ONE more time.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed! 

 

 

Life is more fun with Twisties....and Kaupa

This little cutie came for a sleepover at our house with our village
Mama last week. His name is Kaupa. It was fun watching him watch us and
how we live. One of the highlights was his first shower experience. He's
only bathed in a river his whole life, so the shower was a lot of fun for
him. He stayed up long after Snax Beef and Bill were in bed and had the
Lego all to himself. He thoroughly enjoyed himself. I hope he comes again
soon!

Jane

We had the pleasure of hosting Jane and her family for the weekend. Jane is
deliciously chubby and so much fun to hold. Gotta love those cheeks.
Here's to good friends and great memories! We had so much fun and it was
over too quickly.

Miniafia, Oro Province, PNG

This was my final photography excursion which makes me very sad. I heard
there are twelve NT dedications in the next year that I could've gone to.

This dedication was definitely a good note to end on. I didn't have to
rough it in the village, but I was put up in a place called the 'Tufi Dive
Resort'. I think its fun to 'rough it' in the village, but this was just a
real treat! I even had a free afternoon to do some snorkling. Tufi claims
to have some of the best in the world and although I haven't done a lot of
snorkeling I'd agree that it was pretty amazing. I hope I never forget what
I saw.

On the day of the dedication we were taken out by boat to the village. It
was only about a 20 minute ride. We had the boxes of bibles on our boat,
which was pretty neat. A boat full of men from the village were dancing,
shouting, and pounding their drums while they came out to meet us out on the
water. We had a little ceremony out there while we handed them a Bible.
They wrapped it up in a 'tapa' cloth, and then put it in a special
ornamental canoe. We followed them the rest of the way to the village.
Before we reached the shore 8 large dugout canoes came and met us. Each
canoe was filled with about 12 men rowing their hearts out. They circled
us, weaving in and out, and shouting as they went. It was a spectacular
sight! It was quite the escort. When we got to shore the Bibles were
unloaded from our boat and a large processional began.

The translators who started the translation project were there from America.
For various reasons they didn't finish the translation themselves, but
handed it over to two national men many years ago. One of my favorite
moments was watching the American couple meet up with the men who finished
the translation. It was an emotional and exciting time for the four of them
and you could see the emotion on their faces. The excitement was thick in
the air - the people were celebrating and cheering. It was incredible.

I really loved the traditional dress of this people group. Their headdress
was elaborate and colorful. It was amusing to see how some people
incorporated Christmas garland and other Christmas decorations into their
dress. It is in this area that the 'tapa' cloth is used. A tapa cloth is a
cloth made from tree material and then is painted in a reddish brown
traditional pattern. You can see many of the people wearing them around
their waists in the pictures. I was presented with a tapa cloth and I will
always cherish it!

They distributed the Bibles very differently at this dedication. Each
family line (from surrounding villages) pre paid for their Bibles, so they
divided the Bibles out into piles for each village and then had each village
group come forward to pick up their Bibles. Each time a new group came
forward they were danced in by the traditional dancers. The last group to
receive the Bibles was the place where the translation was actually done.
They saved the best for last! Several young boys, all dressed up
traditionally came up to receive a Bible and they did this heart felt dance
with the Bibles in their hands. It was very moving.

When a translation is finished we hope that it is the younger generation who
will hold on to their 'tok ples' (their heart language) and learn to read
it. Tok Pidgin is taking over in many places in PNG and languages are dying
out.

Uvol, East New Britain

Here are some of my favorite photos from the NT Dedication I went to in
Uvol, East New Britain. Mama V accompanied me on this one.