Mom and Dad

As many of you know, my parents were able to fly all the way to Papua New Guinea to see us. They were here for about 10 days that just flew by! We had a great time. The highlights of their time here were probably watching/making/eating a mumu (food cooked in a hole in the ground), hiking up a mountain to go to a bush church, touring Hagen, and going golfing! They were amazing...by the end of the 10 days, mom could dispose of cockroaches like you wouldn't believe and dad was pretty close to fluent in Melanesian Pidgin. I feel so blessed to have parent who are willing to fly thousands of miles to come visit us AND who were so eager to embrace the culture and the people here! :)
(Pictures aren't posting...hopefully more to come when the internet decides not to hate me!)

Spaghetti Bridges

This blog is really really late BUT it’s about one of my favorite things I’ve done with the kids since I’ve been here so I thought I’d share anyway. At the end of last school year we had a “Math and Science Celebration.” The high schoolers (plus, Allie and Lydia) had to construct bridges out of a package of spaghetti noodles and a bottle of glue. At the party we had a contest to see whose bridge could hold the most weight. In the end, Quinton and Cilla were victorious with their “Chinese foot-bridge.”

Harvest Party

Every year around Halloween, the missionaries have a Harvest Party. We have all sorts of fall treats and hobo-dinners on the fire. It’s great fun! Especially when people dress up!! In the pics we have Becky Wallace dressed up as a clown…Jordan came as a security guard (notice their unfortunate acronym!)…I came in some 80’s gear…my favorite was Judy, who came as a bride late to her own wedding…and Bill came as himself! J

School so far...

School has officially started…well, actually we’ve been going for about the past 4 weeks. I thought it’s about time that I introduce you to my students this year (as of now…we’ll be having a few more join us later on in the year).

On the far left, we have Jessica Myers. She is a 10^th grader this year and is a wonderful student! Her hobbies include reading, emailing friends, working out in the fitness center, and making tortillas!

To the right of me, we have Ethan Myers, younger brother of Jessica. Ethan is a 7^th grader this year and is great at making us laugh! He enjoys hanging out in the maintenance workshop, playing basketball, tubing down the river, and reading Frank Peretti books!

On the far left, we have Allison Dooley. Allison is also a 7^th grader this year and is probably the sweetest person I’ve ever met. In her free time she likes to read, go tubing, play Settlers, and eat Chinese food!

So far, we’ve had a fabulous time together! How blessed am I that I get to teach such great kids!?!

They made it!!

Jim and Jane/Dad and Mom Thompson have finally arrived in Papua New Guinea! After some very long plane flights and a week in New Zealand they made it to our little corner of the world which we have called home for the past year. So far, they have gotten a tour of the station, met TONS of people, visited the local market, played basketball with the Nationals, grilled out on Jordan’s homemade grill, and eatin Rachel’s home cooking (and they haven’t even gotten sick yet!). :)

We can't praise God enough for allowing us to come and learn from the people in this beautiful place AND then get the opportunity to share all of this with our parents! God is amazing!

l

The Saw Cake

The head of maintenance recently resigned, so on his last day of work we had a little get-together for him and his family. I was asked to make a cake and since Ruben started as a carpenter, I decided to make my first AND last “saw” cake (hopefully you could already tell what it was!). I was told that it tasted pretty good, which was such a relief since it was the first cake I’ve ever made from scratch and the last cake that I’ll ever decorate with so many little jagged edges! :)

The Gari Family

John Gari is a national friend of ours. Jordan met John while he was working on a construction project and John was hired as a day laborer. John, and his wife Acada have, four boys…the youngest boy (who is about 1 month old) is one of Jordan’s many namesakes (ok, he only has two, but sure seems like a lot when you only have a half of a namesake!). I, however, find comfort in the fact that had baby Jordan been a girl, her name would have been Rachel…*sigh* so close!!

We recently had the whole family over for pizza (which they either loved OR did a great job pretending like they loved it!) and then visited them at their place just across the river. They are such a sweet family. They live in a bush house and eat whatever they can grow in their garden…like most Papua New Guineans. John often comes to visit, and frequently tells me that he is so sorry he can’t bring me any food from the garden because it’s dry season and things aren’t growing well. It’s so humbling to be told they feel bad that they (who have so little!) don’t have more to give us (who have so much!!).