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.