First Snow!

Last Saturday afternoon it was raining hard here at our house. Not so up on Mt. Hood, 30 minutes away.

We piled the kids in the car and took them up the mountain where it was snowing hard! They had about two feet of new snow up there, and man was it cold.

The kids were so excited. This was the first time the twins have seen snow, and Hudson and Hannah don't remember seeing it before.

The twins only lasted about 30 seconds. Then they declared that they don't like snow. Joy never even made it out of the van. The other kids and I braved the driving snow for about 30 minutes, having found a drift that was about four feet deep. We were frozen solid by the time we left. Of course, it doesn't help that we only have tennis shoes, jeans and light sweatshirts and jackets. :) Good thing it was still raining and warmer down where we live.

It's hard to believe that six years ago we were living above the Arctic Circle, where temperatures like this would have seemed balmy! Guess we've acclimated to the tropics.

The Airman and the Headhunters

About two years ago I stumbled across a brand new book called, The Airman and the Headhunters. It was a riveting story that could hardly have been contrived in the wildest of imaginations. But the crazy thing is that it actually happened!! And the story unfolded near the end of WWII, right in the very area and among the very people that I serve through MAF in Kalimantan. It's really amazing! Anyway, a few months before we left for furlough, a documentary crew from the UK arrived in Tarakan. We flew them around as they filmed a documentary about this stranger-than-life story. This documentary is set to air on PBS this coming Wednesday, November 11 at 8:00 pm.

Please note that I have not seen the documentary, and therefore cannot specifically recommend it. Also, I'm sure there will be some images, story aspects, or reenactments that could be disturbing for young children and others. But if it's anything like the book, it'll be quite a story! To read more about it and see a preview, go here.

Thanks!

Thanks for all of the kind and thoughtful comments you left for us after the previous post. We sure appreciate all your prayers, and suggestions for things to look into related to Joy's health as well.

Yesterday we had the chance to squeeze some fresh apple cider from an antique cider press. Some of our friends from our sending church here in Oregon had us over to their place for an "educational field trip" for the kids. It was a lot of fun and tasted great!

Then the kids got to feed the fish in the pond. They were literally jumping out of the water all around the paddle boat.

After that little outing, Joy took off for a weekend retreat with some of her friends from the area. So that leaves me and the kids holding the fort down. We started on Friday night with a wonderful fall party at the cousin's house. Here's Grandma Hlavka w/ all the grand kids.

Heather had all kinds of fun and creative and tasty games and crafts for the kids. They had a blast! It's great to see the kids getting to know their cousins and grandparents a bit before we disappear for another nearly four years.

Today the kids and I went to the zoo. It was cold and rainy, a perfect day for the zoo. No one else was crazy enough to show up, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. And the animals were all out and about enjoying the cool weather.

Well, that's what's going on here. Thanks again for all of your prayers and encouragement. We really appreciate you guys.