It’s CRAZY to think that more than 5 months have passed since I last wrote an update from PNG. As I sit here in the office at my computer it feels almost surreal that we were really and truly there in the USA spending time with all of you. The memories are fresh and the pictures real; I guess it’s just that everything is so “normal” here that it hardly seems like we were gone…and certainly not for 5 months!!

Of course the reality sets in when I look at our suitcases (which just came up from Port Moresby today) and realize all the unpacking I have yet to do. We have been busy airing out the house, looking for any mildew that needs taken care of, transferring all our clothes from our closets out to the clotheslines and back into our closets (to hopefully be rid of the musty smell), setting up our kitchen again, putting away that big box of all the stuff that we weren’t able to bring with us that we left at the airstrip and had brought back to our house (boy was that a LONG time ago!). As I go through the girls clothes I can hardly believe how much they have grown!

Even considering how many months we were away, it is amazing how quickly Mikayla and Laurel settled right back in here. “Aunt” Mandy met us at the airstrip along with “Uncle” Steve whom we hadn’t met yet (they got married in December). Mikayla remembered “Aunt” Mandy and walked right up to give her a big hug. Laurel was content to stay in my arms, but Timothy was more than happy for Mandy to hold him. :-) All of use were relieved to be up in the highlands and out of the ridiculously hot/humid sweatzone of Port Moresby. (Side note: When we were sitting in the 10 seater airplane in Port Moresby before taking off to come up to Ukarumpa, the inside cabin temperature was 102 F and boy were we all sweating!! Once we were airborne it slowly dropped to something more reasonable).

When we first got to our house the girls were of course elated to see Riley (though they were a bit nervous to greet him up close, they enjoyed watching from a distance as he ran back and forth on his chain). We didn’t have a key to our house with us so the girls and I hung out on the porch swing with Steve and Mandy while James went over to the neighbor’s house for a key.

Mikayla had to take Laurel on a tour of “her” house pointing out each room and explaining to Laurel as she went…”This is Mommy and Daddy’s room…and here is the bathroom…and this is my potty, and my stool (an upside down 5 gallon bucket), and here is my fireplace, and my piano, and my horsey” (tour stops while both girls take a turn riding the horsey), “okay Laurel, wanna see my bedroom?” (opens the door to bedroom) *squeal* “here’s Curious George, and my moose, and”…on and on it went.

Steve and Mandy had to be on there way, but it wasn’t long before Anna, the 5 y/o PNG girl from across the road came up. She and her siblings had been calling out “Mikayla! Mikayla!” ever since they noticed we were home (which was about 5 minutes after we pulled in). Anna said that she and her siblings had watched our airplane coming in and waved and called out “Mikayla!” as we were flying over. Her dad works at aviation so I’m guessing he knew we would be arriving that day and told his family. Anyway, Mikayla gave Anna the tour of the house and this time she included the basement (which has basically NOTHING in it because stuff would really mold down there while we were gone). Once they came back up from the basement, Mikayla and Laurel sat down with the family calendar to introduce Anna to some of the family members they had gotten to know while we were in the USA. “And this is Judah, and here’s great Grandma, and this is Grandpa Charlie and Grandma Peggy, and this is Aunt Mariya, and my cousins, etc. etc.” (Sorry Post side, it was the Farnell Family calendar that they were looking at).

We didn’t have too long before we had to be on our way to dinner at some friends’ house about 4 blocks away. The wheels on our double stroller were kinda flat after not being used for a while, so we just all walked…it wasn’t too far, and it was a good “breaking in” walk as it was mostly flat (they live at the top of the hill too, just on the other side). It was such a blessing to have food prepared for us and it was really fun to see friends after being apart for so long, but we couldn’t stay late because we were still recovering from jet-lag.

The next day (Tuesday) we really got our workout because we walked down to the store and back and then went to dinner at friends’ house who live basically right across from the store. Two trips down and up the hill with all three kids was good conditioning for getting back into life here. I have yet to do the hill by myself, carrying Timothy in the Ergo and pushing the girls in the double stroller…not sure I’ll ever actually do that…I think I’ll leave the stroller home and make the girls walk (and just allow plenty of time to get wherever I’m going). Or better yet, have Timothy and Laurel ride in the stroller and Mikayla walk at least most of the time (I have been known to let her ride on top of the stroller…so if we had to, the double stroller can handle all three).

I’ll end here…Mikayla just woke up from nap (yes, all three were napping at the same time this afternoon!).