Our Trip Part 2: Sydney

On our trip back to the U.S., we had quite a few overnights as that's just how it worked out for the best ticket prices.  We flew Ukarumpa to Port Moresby, where we spent the night.  The next day, we flew to Brisbane and then on to Sydney, where we had over a full day layover.  We used our day to explore downtown Sydney.  For our kids, who have rarely been in a city (and those who had were too young to have any memories of it), there were all sorts of fun things to do and see.

my sleeping buddies for the night... notice how much space E left me!

We took the train from near our hotel into downtown and walked around a bit.  We walked through the huge cathedral and (very quickly, as we were going at the pace of the kids' interest level) gazed at its beauty.

Then it was on to the Botanical Gardens.  We spent quite a while walking around there and eventually we ended up on the steps of the Opera House.  It was definitely the popular place to be.  I managed to get a picture with mostly just the family in it, but in reality, there were swarms of tourists and school groups everywhere!

a neat drinking fountain

Nathan and his trusty lion with the vanquished Justin

on the Opera House steps

We had bought a family pass for the public transport, and that included the ferries, so the next stop was to ride a ferry out in the harbour.  It was a fun experience for most of the kids who hadn't been on the water.  We just rode across the way to the zoo exit, got off, went on a very short hike along the shore and rushed back with barely enough time to make the next ferry back.  Then it was time for a late lunch and we were off to the airport for our next leg of the journey!

Our Trip Back to the U.S. Part 1: The Goodbyes

Well, once again I've let life get busy and haven't managed to keep up to date with my blog.  So I'll be doing a bit of catch-up now.  There will be a few blogs in this series with our travels and some of the stuff we've been doing since we first landed back.

As always, the trip back (or to!) PNG is one that when it's over I always think, "Whew!  I'm SO glad we don't have to do that again for a while!"  It's just looooooooooong, with lots of very early mornings, and lots of hours of sitting on a plane with 5 kids, trying to keep them occupied, and constantly being on the alert: scanning and counting 5 heads, scanning and keeping an eye on all the baggage, while trying to maneuver through busy, unfamiliar and airports. Other than those usual aspects of traveling with 5 kids half-way around the world, our actual travel went smoothly.

It was hard to say goodbyes to good friends.  We are still so thankful for all the times we were able to share together and the wonderful memories we have!  It's been fun to see Nathan starting to spend more time on the computer as he keeps up a great, hilarious email conversation with one of his best friends.

Here are a few pictures from our leaving PNG:

exhausted in the airport

In the Brisbane Airport

 

Our kids were fascinated by the baggage carousels

Another Week Flew By

This week has been crazy busy.  In fact, it's hard to believe it's already a week since some of these pictures were taken.  Life is just flying by.  There's a ton going on.  But it's easier to show than tell, so here are a ton of pictures of our past week.

Last weekend we got to enjoy the annual Sports Day (well, technically it's a 2 day event).  It's great fun to go sit and watch the Track and Field competitions at the Secondary Campus on Friday and Saturday.  It had been a couple of years since we were last in Ukarumpa over a Sports Day (and not in the village).

A special and rare treat of Cotton Candy!

The aftermath!

Julianne pretty much knows all the High School girls and loves them.  We can never go anywhere without her stopping to hug everyone walking by!  Here she is with some of her friends....

I ran a 4x100m race with these awesome ladies!

Matt's 4x100m team.  And yes, they did run barefoot-- and they creamed the other team!

That afternoon, Justin's shoes just up and completely disentigrated!  Thankfully, I did have one more spare pair that I was just going to bring back to the US with us, but they are now being put to good use!

Then on Sunday, Kaitlyn's 6th grade class was in charge of leading worship during the Sunday morning service.  It's so neat to see her growing up!

On Tuesday, Kaitlyn got to come to Julianne's preschool class and talk to them about her pet guinea pig.  The theme for their week at Preschool was "Pet Week", so it was great fun to have Kaitlyn actually bring in one of her pets to show the preschoolers.  They loved it!

Wednesday was Julianne's last day of preschool.  The rest of the kids have about 2 more weeks of school, but due to the lack of a teacher to finish out the year, they finished early.

Friday evening was the annual Banquet here.  It is our equivalent of the Jr./Sr. Prom.  The parents of the 11th and 12th graders work insanely hard in the week beforehand to transform our large, non-descript all-purpose building (the Teen Centre) into a magnificant themed place.  On Friday evening, the community turns out to watch as the teens arrive dressed beautifully, to their Banquet (which goes to the wee hours of the morning).  The theme of each year is kept a strict secret and no one finds out till they arrive what the theme will be.  This year it was "Treasure Island".  They are treated to dinner and booths which are hand built by the parents.  There was even a mini bowling alley built this year!

Hanging out and waiting for the Banquet arrivals

My kids two most favorite babysitters ever!  We're so blessed to have these two amazing, beautiful young ladies in our kid's lives!

the Teen Centre transformed!

Finally, here are a few more random pictures from this weekend:

Julianne loves to rollerblade up and down our hallway.  With no sidewalks or paved driveways, this is the best flat place available!

Justin lost 3 teeth this month!  I think that sets the Taylor family record.

So, that's our week in a nutshell.  In the in-between times, Matt has been working on translation with our 3 Nukna guys who are here for about 4 more days.  And I'm attempting to pack up the house, in the midst of 7 people living in it and all the normal, busy day-to-day activities.  I'd say we're definitely keeping busy!

Grieving and Growing

Why is it that the things that help us grow the most often cause us to grieve the most in the process?  Without challenges and hardships, we would stagnate and not grow into the people God has for us to be.  But, boy!  Can it be so painful and un-fun.

Right now, we're going through a lot of grieving in our house.  And let's just say that our house is often very unpleasant to be in.  I have a nearly 10 year old who is struggling the worst.  As his mom, it is my job to teach him that it's ok to grieve, and how to do it appropriately.  And I'm really not the world's best teacher.  It's much easier for me to just stuff the feelings and not deal with them, and try not to feel them, rather than burst into tears.  So I'm working on that.  But my heart breaks as I watch him (in particular) sort out his feelings.  I seriously feel like I have two tantrum-throwing toddlers in the house.  The 2 1/2 year old one, and the 9 11/12 year one.   Miserable.

How do you teach an almost 10 year old to grow through his grief?  We are less than 4 weeks away from going on furlough, and in his young mind, he has less than 4 weeks to spend with some of his dearest and best friends.  Boys he's gone through all of his life with.  Played in the dirt as toddlers with.  Started school with.  Ran around the neighborhood playing games with.  Talked and laughed and dreamed with.  And in less than 4 weeks when we leave for our furlough, he is going to have to say goodbye to them.  Possibly forever.

One of his friends is leaving around the same time.  "Going finish" we call it.  Going back to the U.S. to live.  The other will still be here for the year we are gone, but will be leaving just weeks before we arrive back, also 'going finish.'  So he has to say goodbye forever now.  How do you help a child grieve through that?!?

It's not easy.  Just this weekend, I had tears in my eyes as, at the end of Sports Day (the annual 2-day track and field meet for the Secondary Campus), the students and the crowds of parents stood and applauded for minute upon minute for the PE teacher.  He has been their PE teacher for all the years they have been in the secondary school, and for all their older siblings as well.  But their family is 'going finish' this year.  Consequently, his daughter is one of Kaitlyn's oldest friends. 

There is no easy way to say goodbye.  And this year in particular, we have a lot of people we will be saying goodbye to.  There's nothing like saying goodbye to someone, not knowing if you will ever see them again.  Especially when you have gone through so much together.  Hiking through the jungles, learning about how to live in PNG.  Raising our children together from newborns to toddlers to starting school, to growing into young men and women.  Sharing holiday traditions together in the absence of family.  Sharing our tears and our laughter.

So, I have a feeling the tantrums and other issues will continue for a while yet.  But hopefully, slowly but surely, we will all come to a place where we can grieve, but also grow through our grief.  And be thankful for all the special memories that we have through the years.

Fun Furlough Fact Nights

Sorry for the months of blog silence on my part.  I guess life has just been really busy, and well, for the most part, nothing really blog-worthy has been happening.  Just lots of trying to get the normal, day-to-day chores done, and attempt to pack up the house for a year at the same time.  Not too exciting.

But we had so much fun around the dinner table this evening that I thought I would share.

Tonight we started what will hopefully be a weekly series around the dinner table.  As we are now less than 5 weeks away from boarding the first of 7 planes that will carry us across the Pacific and back to California, we wanted to start dialoguing with the kids about things they need to be aware of and know about furlough.  So tonight we had a "Furlough True or False Quiz."

Over the past couple of weeks, Matt and I have been compiling a list of things we need to discuss with the kids, or things they need to be aware of as we get ready to spend a year in a country that really is foreign to them.  While Matt and I may feel like we are 'coming home', for the five children who accompany us, everything will be new/weird/strange/foreign.  They will be leaving their home.  Everything they know.  All their friends, and venturing to a strange, foreign land where Matt and I will be their only constants.

So we began our furlough series by a fun quiz which brought up various topics.  Things like wearing shoes.  Here, kids are used to going barefoot.  They take off their shoes to go into their school classrooms.  Kids often don't wear shoes to church.  They can be seen anywhere around the Center (store, roads, etc) barefoot.  So we had to have a discussion about how shoes must be worn pretty much anywhere we go in America.  And, how the strange people there do the unthinkable and 'wear shoes inside the house!' (gasp!  astonishment!!!)

Or take riding in a car.  We don't own a car here.  Riding in a car is a rare and special treat for us.  And when we do, there are no carseats, or seatbelts.  The kids just pile in (sometimes it can be like a clown car-- it's amazing how many people can fit in a vehicle if you don't have to worry about seatbelts!) or even ride sitting or standing in the back.  That will sure be a change for them once we hit American soil and they have to be in their legal car or booster seat, and always strapped in tight.  Just another thing we wanted them to be aware of before we get into that car for the first time.

We have lots more things to discuss with them:  safety, the fact that in the summer it will be light out until bedtime (or beyond!) and that during the winter it will be dark by well before dinner, and countless other things.

It was fun to have this discussion with kids who are finally old enough to understand and participate.  (And a couple who weren't quite there yet.)  Hopefully these sessions will help our kids to calm some fears and be better equipped to handle the upcoming transitions.