How quickly they have learned....

To roller blade....
scooter....


and skateboard...


Awesome huh???

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SIERRA!!!!

Today is my only granddaughters 11th birthday.
I got to sing happy birthday to her on the phone.
She laughed...
I laughed because I got to sing to her. Normally she is half a world away.

We are on our way to Chicago and a visit to leave our vehicle with them for furlough.
This will give them a second car.
We will fly home.

Funny how so many of us take two cars for granted.
They were given a car to use by a ministry that specializes in giving missionaries vehicles while they are on furlough. What a wonderful blessing this is. We were all thankful for it.

I couldn't help but think about the differences in transportation here and in Vanuatu.

USA: most people have at least one car, and more often two
VANUATU: Very few own their own cars. They take cabs, buses or walk in the city, in the village
no one has cars, but the cab drivers, and a few missionaries have vehicles.

USA: Gas is around $3.00 a gallon.
VANUATU: Gas is around $10.00 a gallon.

USA: We have laws about speed and seat belts.
VANUATU:No posted speed limits, and no seat belt laws. Many a time we have piled the kids on top of boxes in the back of the truck to get back to the village.

USA:Cars are affordable
VANUATU: Both used and new are very expensive.

We have much to be thankful for. We will be arriving tomorrow (Lord Willing), I'm looking forward to this time together.

Time Goes On....

Time together is over....
They were loaded and ready to travel across country, and
I was doing just fine until.....
I was getting ready to shut the door, when Joel started to cry,
"Grandma, I love you and I will miss you. I don't want to leave."

It was pretty hard to let them go at this point, but I did much better when 3 hours later he called and said,
"Grandma, are you still sad?"
"Just a little, how about you? Are you sad?"
"No I better, I not sad anymore."

What a blessing our time was together.

What ? Are you sure its been 2 whole weeks?

It is hard to believe that my family has been home two whole weeks. What a blessing to have them here. We babysat this weekend and took the kids to a pizza buffet, watching them make choices and then eat tons of pizza, all I could say to Art was " Don't you love having them here?"
Smiling he patted my arm and kept eating his pizza.
I thought I might make a list of some other things we did this week, and give you a taste of our time together.

This week I:
1.Have been to the library 2 more times.
2. went to Hobby Lobby and bought patterns for Mamma Ellen , would you believe they have no shorts patterns in Vanuatu.
3. Drew with JohnMark.
4. Read to Joel before bed.
5. Went to the pool a few times.
6. Baked 4 more loaves of Banana Bread that makes 6 now.
7. Played at least 20 games of Monopoly card game, and won only a handful.
It is a fun game, but they run circles around me.
8. Bought More gallons of milk than I can count. They enjoy non powdered cold milk.
9. Took the kids to Dairy Queen, they had never been there.
They all ordered sundaes, but only ate half because they were to sweet :)
10. Helped nurse 3 boils, one swollen finger, and a sty, but all is well and healed.
11. Went to Uncle Joe's for dinner.
12. Watched National Treasure 2 before bed.
13. Took the kids to my sisters veterinarian school to see all the animals...they loved it.
14.Curled Sierra's hair and showed her how to use a curling iron.
15.Taught David how to use the games on my phone.
16.Took lots of pictures.
17. Had cousins Cole and Sage to spend the night.
18.Watched T.V. with E and M after the kids went asleep.


These are the things that matter, not the stacks of shoes or clothes in the corners, not the cluttered counters, not the chaos of having 6 extra people in the house.

Furlough is good for grandma;)

A week to Remember

A long awaited for remote control helicopter .....



We've had a busy week.
This was to be a week to rest and getting used to a new place.It has been great and we have had fun.
Jet lag has been a little bit of a problem, but everyone slept last night all the way through.
It has been go to bed around 9.. Hopefully fall asleep before midnight....
wake around 2 ....
get up....
go back to bed around 3 sleep until 6....

One night I heard Jon upstairs talking at 2:30 a.m. I rushed upstairs to quiet him thinking he had brought someone home, but when I got up here he was talking to his uncle who was on the computer, while Michele was sitting around the corner on the couch.
They couldn't sleep.

One day we went to catch up on shots.
1 for Michele
1 for David
3 for J.M.
4 for Sierra
and 4 for a very unhappy Joel

"I hope that you are up for a challenge," I said to the nurse. :)
"Oh, I love a challenge," she replied.
It took two of us to hold him down.
In his defense, he just had stitches two weeks ago for his dog bite, and he IS only 4.
He made it through and we assured him that he would not need stitches again for a very long time.

We had to check out McDonalds.
Burgers, Fries , and Shakes for all. Wouldn't you know the shake machine was broke.
So JM had apple pies...
Sierra a McFlurry
David a hot chocolate
Joel a cone....
Never seen a play area before.



The grocery store was a high point. I told them that each could pick out one fruit.
What excitement...
Cherries,Strawberries,Kiwi, Apples, Apricots all of which they can't get or afford in Vanuatu.
I wish that my American grand kids would get so excited over fruit.

They learned to roller blade with skates that Grandma and Grandpa in Georgia sent for birthdays.
Sierra doesn't like all those pads though.

We have been fishing, swimming,walking, to Nebraska and back with Grandpa, and church and dinner at Uncle Joes'.
A busy week for sure.

Tomorrow we start anew, but this week they need to see supporters.
Not to worry I still have a few new things up my sleeve.

Furlough...part one

Busy time for my kids right now....

They are packing up the house,
Selling the truck,
Saying goodbyes,
and trying to finish up the books of the Bible they have been working on.
Daunting tasks in the best of times, but with the continuous rain and the
short time left I would imagine they are stressed and running on
overload.

The reason for all this ruckus is furlough. They will be arriving in the USA
sometime in May.
This grandma is going to get to see her grandchildren SOON...
For me having the kids back in the states, and the grandchildren within
a short plane trip is pure joy, but for my son and his wife
it can be something other than just a joyous time. In many ways it is an
uprooting time for them.
They will be leaving their familiar home, and
working, traveling, sharing, visiting, studying, teaching, vacationing, and if possible resting in an unfamiliar place.

Furlough takes lots of preparation and prayer. So I begin the countdown, and I will share over the next few weeks some of those preparations and activities.

For anyone praying please check out the new prayer list.