A long, newsy update - get some coffee and relax!

I'm awake at 5am today but we slept through the night without having to get up in the night with the boys as we have before. The last two nights it was12:30 or 1am and they were both up for at least an hour. Last night, now that we have a place to ourselves and Jack has his own room, he woke but we didn't have to get up with him. He cried out a bit but then went right back to sleep. He did wake at 4 am today here, in Sulawesi (where we will be for just a week doing paperwork) but in Papua that will only be 5 so… I let him wake alone and play in his room rather than having to get up too. Owen just woke, ate, and went back to sleep with no problem at 2am. I feel much more rested today.

So… going back. We had a pretty easy day the first day in Jakarta. The morning was just Jack playing and us keeping the boys happy.We all napped and then had dinner and went to bed. Saturday, we got up and got Jack going and after Owen's nap, we all went out to run some errands. Photos for the gov't, diapers, bug repellant, some snacks, and to let Jack play at an A&W in the mall, where there is a play land type thing. He ran around in circles for an hour – happy as can be!! It was good for him to get the energy out, scream if he wanted, whatever. No shushing him, just let him be 2! We put the boys down for naps and then watched a movie for the afternoon. It was nice and we tried not to nap that day so as to sleep better at ngiht.

Then yesterday we woke at 5am, or at least I did b/c the boys did. We all got going early though as we had to leave for the airport at 7. No problems on our flights and no overweight either as they allowed some baggage for Owen. Go figure that Indonesians understand that a baby requires some luggage but American's cannot. They don't really even use much here but we still got more allowance for him here than in the US!

Our flight got in just after 1pm. The boys slept great on the flight so they were pretty happy when we arrived. Another missionary family had lunch, sandwiches, waiting at "our house" for us to eat all by ourselves – a huge blessing to not have to socialize right away – note to self, do that for newly arriving families in Papua at the guest house. The boys went down for naps and I unpacked. Joel set up the computer stuff and then we had dinner with another family. Again, very sensitive folks. They fed us and sent us home to sleep. Joel was falling asleep on their couch after dinner, maybe that was their cue! BTW we have been going to bed at around 8:30 each night, completely exhausted.

Ok so here I am today, Monday morning. Coffee in hand, quiet house. Jack is playing on the other side of the wall, Owen and Joel are still asleep and I'm a happy woman with no responsibilities for the moment. Happy? No, joyful! Emotional. Missing you all! Thanks for all the emails, comments on the blog and prayers!

Mom has been sending me photos of all she is doing around the house to get it back to normal after 2 small kids took up residence. So fun to see that she is doing so well. Great to see she doesn't "need" me anymore. You know what I mean. I needed her to need me for awhile and now she is a big girl all on her own. I feel like the parent sending her off to school for the first time. Funny how life reverses sometimes.

On another note re: Jack. He got bitten by something and reacted like he is allergic on Saturday. Huge welts on his arms and legs and face and neck. Maybe 20 bites. They are hard as can be and red and have a tiny opening in the middle. One under his right eye swelled so badly he looks like he has a black eye. They all swelled but that one looks the worst. He is itching them like crazy and looks as though he got beaten up on his face. All the Indonesian's at the airport asked what happened. Which tells me they don't recognize the bites. Usually they'll say soemthing like, "Oh, he got bit by mosquitoes, or ants", or whatever they think it is but no one said that, which means I'm stuck guessing what got him. We've been washing them and using Caladryl on them, which seems to help. Joel got antibacterial soap for him to use in his bath yesterday so they don't get infected by the water. A smart husband I have!

The house helper here is Mini – funny that's what my best friend's daughter, Kallie calls her minnie mouse doll she carries everywhere! Sounds like Meenie. Jack is a bit confused as this Mini isn't a small pink mouse! She is sweet and helpful. She'll cook lunch for us each day and do laundry but I told her she doesn't have to come into the house till 10am. We like our mornings alone. She has an apt. at the back of the house. Being so tired, it's nice to have someone who knows how to cook here! We will have dinner tonight with the Palmers. The family from the Taliabo tribe who many of you have seen in the NTM video we often show. Nice to meet them finally and to be co-workers with them now! Kaila Palmer came over yesterday after Joel had been with Owen at another families house. She had Owen in her arms and was loving it! So was he! So was I. Funny thing, I have felt very trapped with him lately. He's not letting Joel comfort him, only me which means I'm tied to him all day long. I am ready for someone else to have a turn. Jack too has not left our sides. He won't let me literally take a step away from him in this new house. He has to say, "I comin too Mommy!' A little closterphobic for me. I know he'll adjust but … Don't get me wrong, I love my boys but when they are super clingy, I can tend to go crazy! Next week when we get to Papua and to our own house, hopefully it won't take long for him to feel at home.

Another funny thing. Some of you may remember how Jack was when we first came home. Wouldn't look at Americans or go to them? Well not here with the Indonesians. He actually ran up to the security lady at the airport yesterday, wrapped his arms around her legs, looked up and with the cheeziest grin, and smiled at her, jabbering away. As we walked down the isles of the planes, he said hi to every single person. But when we meet a white person, he freezes. I guess we could say, he feels at home here! Hmmm, funny how God does that with our kids so we don't' worry about them. Maybe I can learn to be that way too!

Thanks for praying about my language adjustment. It seems I'm getting it back! No problems of major significance so far. I've actually surprised myself at how much I remember. Joel, of course is having no problems there. He's a sponge when it comes to language. Funny though, because when we were tested for language ability in language school, neither of us scored too high. I guess, tests can't tell you everything!

Jack is in the other room screeming, my turn, my turn!! Who he's saying it too? Maybe his Dr. Suess sneeches doll!! He's big into "sharing" right now. Funny kid.

Ok, so that's a glimpse into our lives the past few days. I hope you enjoyed reading my little journal! Ok, I don't write little journals and we all know it, so let's just call it what it is, my long, drawn out, wordy update. Sorry Dave M. I just can't write short updates! I hope that's ok! Another one will surely be coming after we get to Papua next week but in the meantime, I'll post some small updates as the days go by.

Bethany