We Made It!

We made it! Here we are looking all fresh and perky just before going through security at Portland International on the beginning of our three and a half day journey back to Tarakan. Thanks you guys (you know who you are), that helped us get packed up and transported to the airport. That was no small task!

We managed to squeeze in one last quick trip to Chipotle as we were packing up in Oregon. For the next three and a half years, the only Mexican food we'll find here in Tarakan, will be that which Joy makes from scratch, with seasonings brought from America.

After a few months of dreary Oregon winter weather, the kids were getting a little wacky from cabin fever. :)

Joy took advantage of one last Diet Coke fountain drink before we left American Soil. She's proud to declare that since our arrival in Tarakan (five days now), she's been Diet Coke free! :)

After a looong flight to Tokyo, the kids all grabbed a quick "sink shower" to freshen up. Joy and I were shocked to see how happy and awake everyone looks in this photo. If ever a photo was misleading, this one is it! As an example, Hudson (far right), had just "lost his cookies" in the airplane not more than 30 minutes before the picture was taken, and although our body clocks said that it was around 2:00am, the kids hadn't slept more than an hour or two since the previous day. But really everyone did great on this trip. The twins were far less "work" than last time, and we made all of our flights...a big bonus!

All of our baggage made it to Tarakan as well! We had a rather long and interesting adventure with Customs, but that's a story for another day. The bottom line is, everything went just about as well as it could have. Thanks for praying.

We're thrilled to be back "home"! We've been visiting Indonesian friends and neighbors, re-connecting with our MAF team, and getting our house set up again. This week I'm scheduled to fly every day, and looking forward to it. Joy and the kids will be getting back into a home-school routine, and will need to make a trip to the immigration office as well. I'll let you know what's going on as we get a little more settled, and things get back to "normal."

Return to Indonesia!

In about 45 minutes I leave for the airport in Boise, Idaho. I can't wait to finally be back together with my family!

Back on January 6th I left them in Oregon, as I returned to Indonesia for several weeks of flying, before returning to MAF headquarters in Nampa, Idaho for several weeks of training. Here's the group picture of this year's IP's (Instructor Pilots) that went through the training seminar, along with the MAF training department's flight instructors that taught the course.

It was a very interesting seminar, and I was privileged to be a part of it. It was also a blessing to have the chance to interact with guys from other programs throughout the world. It's always encouraging to hear first hand what MAF is doing in some of the most remote places on earth.

And speaking of remote places, we're excited to be returning to Indonesia (as a family this time), this weekend. We'll be leaving Oregon this Sunday, February 21st, and arriving in Tarakan on Wednesday, February 24th. If you think about it, please pray for us during the travels. It will obviously be a looong trip, but we're looking forward to getting back "home". Hopefully no one will get sick this time, and we won't miss any flights!

As an added bonus, it would be sweet if all of our luggage shows up without incident in Tarakan, at the same time we do. :)