Life just keeps going...

After three weeks of silence I suppose it's about time I write on here again! We have now been home almost a month...kind of hard to believe! Where has the time gone!?

The first week home the three older kids had the SBA testing required by the homeschool program we are signed up with. We did a day of practice testing at home, and then they spent the rest of the week with other students in their grade and a teacher giving the tests. They all seemed to enjoy the break from regular school! It also gave me a chance to finish getting things put away at the house and get myself organized again for school and life!

The next week we were off and running with school every day, speech therapy for Adams, piano lessons, writing class, and a few doctor appointments thrown in there just for fun! Adams had an ear infection that wasn't really bothering him a whole lot, but it was affecting his hearing. So we got him on antibiotics and it cleared up...he seems to be able to hear so much better now! Ann Marie and I both got hit hard last weekend with a nasty virus...she ended up with strep throat and I had a bad cold with lots of congestion. We ran her to the doctor as well and got her started on meds. Her throat was so painfully sore for many days, but she is doing much better now. I had a tiring week of fighting my cold and I still haven't kicked it completely...it just seems to want to keep hanging on. Maybe a little more rest might help, but I always seem to come up short on that! Amidst Ann Marie and I getting sick we also discovered that we had brought lice home with us! Such nice little friends they are to make their homes on several heads! So began our week of shampooing and picking lice out of the hair...fun, fun, and not like I had anything better to do with my time! But I believe we won this battle and hopefully the lice are gone for good! I think they were enjoying our company more than we were enjoying theirs! :)

Spring finally feels like it is in the air, and maybe summer might be not too far away. The last several weeks we were wondering if winter would ever leave us as we watched the snow continue to fall and such cold frosty mornings! We were bundled up with sweaters and wool socks just to stay warm as we did our school work each day! The kids are so glad for the warm sunshine, the longer days, and the melting snow. With the melting snow brings LOTS of mud which inturn brings muddy boots, coats, pants, and kids! Oh well...summer will soon be here, right?!?

Home again...

We are back in Alaska as of Friday morning! Our flight back was rather uneventful aside from an initial confusion over our e-ticket in Manila and then in Taipei our boarding passes were not printed correctly, but that's just all part of the adventure! My parents, Allen and Linda, and my sister, Kristen and husband Charlie met us at the airport in Anchorage...the sun was shining, but oh, was it ever cold outside! We made a quick stop at Costco and grabbed a bite to eat before we hit the road. We didn't make it too far before we decided we needed to pull over to sleep. Steve and I both reclined our seats and had the same thought, "I will never be able to fall asleep!"...an hour and a half later we awoke to the sun making our vehicle very warm! The rest felt good and we were able to continue our drive home.

We have had a harder time adjusting back to the time...we have all had various nights of being wide awake! The cold has been a little shocking to all of us...since when has it been this cold in Homer! We will all adjust in time...it's just part of returning from overseas. The kids have made various funny comments..."Look at all the white people!", "These light switches are really low and I can reach them easily", "Can I drink the water out of the faucet?". Steve and I have noticed how eerily quiet it is outside...no honking of horns, roosters crowing, dogs barking, and just city noise. We also miss all the garlic and rice that accompanied most meals! Funny the things you can get used to in a short amount of time.

We spent the weekend unpacking and moving back in our house. Our friends, Kevin and Sherry Cooley, who held down the fort while were gone, did an amazing job of cleaning the house for our return! It was great to be able to walk in and relax! They were a great blessing to us during our time away as they took care of our house and pets as well as some business bookkeeping so that everything could keep rolling.

This week Ann Marie, Ethan, and Tyler have SAT testing, so yesterday we spent the day going over the practice tests so that they were ready for today. Kailee, Alyssum, and Adams have had fun rediscovering all their things and are content to just play and play. Next week we will begin our regular school work and hit the books hard so that we can finish before summer is upon us!

It has been good to catch up with some of you and look forward to sharing more of our adventures with all of you. Thanks for praying for our travels back to Alaska. Several of us have gotten colds and other sicknesses upon returning, but otherwise are doing well.