Thursday 6-15-06 – I spent all day today cleaning house and getting ready for the fellowship. It is Eric and Shawnda’s week so Aaron and I volunteered to take it in their absence. The numbers were low again, unfortunately. Only Aaron and I, Mike, Ure, Patrick (Leisava’s husband) and one of his friends (John), and Fiona came. We had a good time though – sang some songs and played some cards.

At 4:30 today we went and picked Mike up from the airport. He has been on Espiritu Santo island for the last month. It is good to have him back home and I know he is SO glad to be back, as there isn’t much to do in Luganville once the sun goes down. On top of that he said his computer broke down for 5 days so once everything closed down at 6pm he couldn’t even listen to music on his computer or watch a movie. Kaela was SO happy to see him again --- she just kept hugging him and smiling at him while he held her and saying, “Uncle Mike, Uncle Mike” over and over.

Friday 6-16-06 – The kids did much better today in school. I think the lecture stuck with them as well as a little reminder at the beginning of class. I also got my first “teacher’s apple” today! Only it was a pineapple instead! One of my youngest kids, Willie, brought it to me. It really made me smile and made my day! I was exhausted today after school so as soon as kaela went down for her nap after lunch – I did too. I slept for an hour then got up and went to the market to buy some taro, avacados and a coconut.

Saturday 6-17-06 – This morning I woke up with the WORST muscular aches in my neck and back. Actually, I woke up with it during the night and couldn’t get back to sleep for about two hours. Every once in a while that happens to me. I guess I just sleep wrong and I wake with the worst pain ever in my back! I can hardly turn my head sometimes. After I put a load of laundry in the washer (even though today is cool, cloudy and rainy – again!), I took a long, hot shower and tried to stretch those muscles. I felt a lot better after my shower, but the pain is still there. I spent all morning like a zombie taking care of Kaela and trying to work around the house while Aaron was at Etas doing a Bible study. When Aaron got home he brought a friend, Tom, and a generator home and they worked on that all afternoon. After lunch, I tried to lay down catch up on some sleep. It was one of those dis-satisfying naps where you wake up and aren’t really sure if you slept or not. I guess I did because I don’t feel as tired as I did before.

Monday 6-19-06 – Last night I had something for dinner that DID NOT love me. I was sick all night and felt just horrible on into today all the way until dinner time this evening. I spent the day laying around, feeling sick and wishing I could feel better soon. I was supposed to go to the hospital with Fiona today, but I just wasn’t up to smelling those “hospital smells” that accompany the general admission waiting area. I felt really bad about that because I know she wanted me to go with her, but I just couldn’t do it. Even though I was feeling sick I pulled myself together during Kaela’s naptime and went to the grocery store. I didn’t really want to do that either, but we were very much in need of some food items. After I got back I took a good nap and woke up feeling much better and actually kind of hungry. Ure came over at 4pm to help me cook some tarro with coconut milk. She was supposed to come on Saturday, but forgot that she had a birthday party to cook for. So, we had rescheduled for today. I don’t have much experience in cooking tarro and coconut milk, but I had wanted to try it so she was happy to come help me learn how. It is fairly easy to make, although quite time-consuming. While we were cooking the tarro we were also making salu-salus for Eric and Shawnda. Aaron came in and told us that the Brandell’s arrival time changed from 6pm to 9am. So, after dinner, I sent Ure home with some of the leftover tarro and Kaela and I haeded over to the Brandell’s house to sweep and get everything in order for their arrival tomorrow morning. I had planned on doing all that tomorrow during the day, but instead settled for a quick-sprucing up tonight!

Tuesday 6-20-06 – Aaron and I got up early and got everything ready to go to pick up the Brandells at the airport this morning. Mike came over at 8:30 and then we picked Ure up on the way there and all waited for their flight to come in. I was SO EXCITED for them to get back! It was funny seeing them again – it felt like they had been gone so long and yet not long at all! Funny how time is that way. Kaela and I spent the entire day with Shawnda, watching her unpack and talking. I didn’t get a lick done at my house because I spent all day soaking up my Shawnda time! It is so good to have them back! Not only for their good friendship, but also to have someone to share the joys and frustrations of our work. Teammates are a great thing. Mike came over for dinner at 5:30 and we all ate together and then the boys all did reports on their three different trips away from home: the US, Ambae island, and Santo island.

Wednesday 6-21-06 – Shawnda and I went and got groceries this morning. We went to the market, Centerpoint supermarket and to Nambatu supermarket. It made for a full day as usual. I opted to stay home this evening instead of going to Etas with Aaron.

Thursday 6-22-06 – Today I worked around the house and got things together for school tomorrow. This afternoon Shawnda and I went over to Ure’s house and picked up her sewing machine. We have several projects we are wanting to work on. I am so glad Ure is always willing to let us use her machine! Tonight was mid-week fellowship night, and although it was Shem’s night to be in charge – word on the street is that he is sick and so that is why he didn’t come. We all met at Seafront Park anyway, and then walked back to our house (Patrick, Flexon and Fiona). We sang songs and had popcorn. Some of the peoples played games and went home about 8:30.

Friday 6-23-06 – I had school this morning and it went really well. I had about 9 kids that were absent, however, for various reasons: a wedding, one or 2 were sick and the other are unknowns. It went really well though and I was so proud of them for remembering their letters since I cancelled class on Tuesday due to Eric and Shawnda’s arrival. They did great! I also took some pictures which I am hoping to put on the website and in my report. As usual school leaves me exhausted so afterwards Kaela, Shawnda and I went to the market this afternoon I came home and took a good nap. We had team night again tonight…fajitas! Yummy! And then we watched one of the new movies that the Brandells brought home with them.

Okay: I guess it is official and the word is out. So, I will add it to my journal to make it even more “official”. Aaron and I found out recently that I am pregnant!!!! We are so excited and I am due on February 11. This accounts for all my recent exhaustion from school and afternoon naps! I feel like I am more tired with this pregnancy than I was with Kaela and I am not sure how much of that is due to the fact that I have an almost 2 year old now! Anyway, other than being tired I am feeling good and so far not battling morning sickness. Yea! I was blessed to not have morning sickness with Kaela either. Everyone wants to know where we are having the baby and although we haven’t made our furlough schedule yet – we will be having it in the States. I thought a lot about it and I just cannot do the 3rd world hospital situation. So, since we will be home about that time anyway, we are planning on scheduling the birth during our furlough…much to the happiness of the Grandparents! So, that is the big news for us!

Saturday 6-24-06 – This morning was our last ladies fellowship for the month of June and we all went to visit our Christian sisters at Eton village – about an hour away. On the Vila side we had a great turnout: Shawnda and I, Ure, Rose-Hanna, Mabel, Rema, Leisava, and even Alice and Leimawa from Etas joined us. However, the women’s group at Eton isn’t very strong right now in meeting together and we only had four of the local women there. It was a disappointment that their numbers were so low, but we had a nice time together anyway, even with the few of them that there were. I gave the devotional and got brave in my speaking. I don’t really “love” public speaking – it isn’t really my forte’. I always tell Aaron that I would rather write out what I want to say, pass it around and give people 10 or 15 minutes to read what I write! That would be SO MUCH easier!!! --- If only it worked that way! Ha! Anyway, it had really been on my heart to speak on the story of Mary and Martha with Jesus out of Luke 10. I compared the work of both Mary and Martha and talked about how while Martha’s actions were “good” – Mary’s were better because she put her spiritual needs ahead of the worries of the “house”. That is a big struggle here in Vanuatu and especially the villages – cooking, and visiting family members and friends drop by and spoil the Christian’s time for coming to worship. I don’t think I said that very clear because I am trying to translate my Bislama thoughts into English and it isn’t working very well. I talked a lot about how we HAVE to put Bible class, worship (especially) and Church fellowships before everything else in our lives. It HAS to be that way if we want to grow as Christians. I tried to encourage them to make the decision today – immediately – to come meet together with their Christian family rather than waiting until just before it is time to go to see if they “feel” like going. That was the gist of my devotional thought. I tried very hard to be pointed – because it’s when people feel uncomfortable that they are most likely to change – but, also loving and understanding in my speech. It went over pretty well – from what Shawnda said – it is hard to know when you are the speaker and easier to find out things like that second-hand.

We left at 9:15am for Eton and spent all morning there and didn’t get home until 2pm. Needless to say – I was completely bushed and worthless all evening --- normally, a trip to the village makes me tired, but being pregnant and spending all day in the bouncy truck and at the village wiped me out! It was a great day though! I spent quality time relaxing with Aaron and Kaela this evening! It was great to be home!

Sunday 6-25-06 – We had a really good turnout for Bible class and worship both this morning. And we actually go started at 9:30 instead of 10:15. That was so nice! Afterwards, the women met together to plan a day this week for us to meet and talk about next month’s women’s schedule. We are going to meet at Seafront Park on Wednesday at 11:30 am for lunch.

Monday 6-26-06 – Today Shawnda, Kaela and I headed out at about 10:30 to start our grocery shopping. First, however, it was a monumental day in that we went to Rates and Taxes so that Shawnda could get her driver’s license. She had let hers expire because she never felt comfortable driving a stick shift. But, when she was home in the US she rediscovered the joy and freedom of being able to drive yourself wherever you want, whenever you want and decided to force herself to get comfortable driving a standard. So, we went to R&T and she got her license renewed! After that we did our shopping at Centerpoint and then after lunch we went back out to Nambatu supermarket to finish up our grocery shopping.

Aaron and I had a fun evening this tonight playing with Kaela before bedtime. She loves it when I take her mattress out of her crib (usually when I have to change the sheets) and then I let her play on it. She thinks it is great fun to pretend to go to sleep and to roll around and let Aaron tickle her over and over and over! Sometimes I wonder who is having more fun at times like that – Aaron or Kaela!

Tuesday 6-27-06 – Today was school again. It went really well although I had several students absent. There are about 3 or 4 of them that I am pretty sure are not going to come back – one of them is one of my kids that really struggles and another of the boys is my trouble maker and if he doesn’t come back it is no skin off my back. It’s too bad really because he had the capacity for learning and was smart, however, he was constantly making trouble in class - picking on the little kids and all that. I spent all afternoon cleaning up the house and getting things ready for Antony’s arrival tomorrow.

Wednesday 6-28-06 – Today was quite a busy day. I spent this morning finishing up my cleaning and organizing before Antony comes in at 2:30pm. Did I say before that he is coming for the building project? Anyway, at 11:15 Shawnda, Kaela and I hopped in the truck and headed down to the park to go to our women’s meeting, stopping at the fish shop to pick up some fish sticks on the way. It was a good meeting and we made our plan for July, even though everyone wasn’t there. Afterwards, Shawnda dropped me off at the corner of our street (she was on her way to a Bible study and was trying not to be late). About the time I got to our front gate I realized that I didn’t have my house keys and I knew that no one else was home. The boys all went to the church land at 12:30pm and wouldn’t be back until after they picked Antony up at 2:30 from the airport. It was about 1:20 at that time. Thankfully, I had a water bottle with me and both Shawnda and my calicos (pieces of material that we used to sit on at the park). So, Kaela and I settled down on the front porch and before long she went to sleep on my lap. We were both tired and the day was cool and breezy even though the sun was shining. I figured I had about a 1.5 to 2 hour wait for someone to come home. Also, thankfully, Aaron had left his long sleeve shirt in Eric’s truck that morning so I was able to wear it to stay warm from the wind. Finally, Shawnda got home at almost 2pm. And not long after that the boys came home with Antony. So, it turned out all right. AND!!!! --- Antony brought us Dunkin’ Donuts!!!!! YUMMY!!! They were cold and so sweet and soft and they were SO GOOD!!! I haven’t had a treat like that in over a year so I was feeling quite happy about it! I ate 2 before Aaron and I left for Etas! Yikes!

At 3:30 Aaron, Harry (from Paonangisu) and I left for Etas. Keala stayed home with Eric, Shawnda and Antony. Right after we got there Abu Ruth told me that Leimawa was up at Alice’s house so I walked up the her house to see them. Leimawa met me on the way and when we got there I found out that she had finished making my island dress. A few weeks ago I asked Leimawa to make me an island dress – I told her exactly how I wanted it --- not TOO big and billowy, and very simple without ribbons or lace or anything on it. I bought the calico (material) and she made it for me just how I wanted it. I was so happy about it and Leimawa and Alice just kept laughing at me. There were also all kinds of kids around and they kept laughing at me too. I’m sure I look a little funny being a white woman wearing island wear! It was great though!!! As a thank you gift to Leimawa last week I took her a chicken. Aaron caught it trespassing in our front yard last Saturday for the second time so he threw a rock at it and then went and caught it. He kind of wanted to kill it and eat it that night, but I confiscated it to give to Leimawa where it will have a longer life and be a good thank you gift for her. Tonight I told her that I named the chicken Cindawa for Cindy and Leimawa. She thought that was just hysterical!

Friday 6-30-06 – The kids were quite antsy today in school and I was glad to let them out a little early since we finished up early. They are doing really good with remembering their letters, especially the older ones. After school I went to the Post Office to try and pick up a package waiting for Aaron and I from his Mom. The Custom’s guy told me I had to pay 6500vatu (about $65) to pick it up! He said that the value of the goods ($65) plus the shipping cost ($92) added together was too high and I would have to pay for it. I tried to argue with him and tell him that I shouldn’t have to pay on the shipping cost because that was already paid in the US and the value didn’t exceed $100. But, he didn’t agree with me. So, needless to say I went home without my package! I JUST KNOW he is doing something wrong because we have never had to pay on the shipping before. I came home and the boys and Antony had all gone to get some things done for the building project. Aaron had left Kaela at Shawnda’s house and she was watching Nemo so I hung out at their house with her until after lunchtime. At 1pm, Aaron came home from Etas (he had a Bible study) and Shawnda, Kaela and I left for town with the intentions of going to the grocery store and visiting Lissie and Yoland at their work places. However, not too far from home Kaela was walking and got going to fast and tripped over her little feet and took a digger on the asphalt. She banged her head and got a cut that was a gusher right away, but, didn’t take long to quit bleeding, thankfully. However, she was pretty upset and I hadn’t been feeling so great in the first place (really tired and a little nauseated). So, we turned around and headed back home. By the time we got there she had quit crying and was just resting her head on my shoulder. So, Aaron and I cleaned her up and put a Band-aid on her head and then I rocked her to sleep. I did check to make sure she was “coherent” – although I figured she was fine I wanted to be sure. So I asked her what movie she watched at Shawnda’s and she answered correctly so I knew she was going to be fine. Oh-yesterday I found lice in Kaela’s hair. The first case since we have been here. I wasn’t thrilled and I wasn’t at all surprised either. I just had to take the good advice that Robert Martin gave before we moved here: “Sometimes things will happen – don’t freak out, just do what you have to do to deal with it”. I know that in the States one kid with lice tends to make a small outbreak of panic among parents. However, in Vanuatu, lice is common and you just have to deal with it. So, I got out my lice removal kit and set to work.

Saturday 7-1-06 – I SO cannot believe it is July!!!! Where did June go? I guess I have been so busy with school that it just flew by! So…here we are. This morning I cleaned up around the house and did some computer work. Aaron had a bible study at Etas so he left about 8am and Antony left for town about 9am. Not long after, Kaela and I hopped in the shower and afterwards as I was getting ready to fix her hair I discovered the lice was still hanging around! Fabulous. So, I pulled out my lice treatment kit again and set Kaela up watching a Spot video while I treated her hair. While I was looking for more lice, I found the mother of them all in her hair! It was a huge ‘ol louse! Hopefully, killing that one will take care of the problem. After I treated her hair I had to put her back in the shower to wash the treatment stuff out again. That was a mistake because by the time I washed her hair twice my back was SCREAMING at me! I won’t do that again! From now on she can get those “impromptu” showers outside in her swimming tub!

This afternoon Shawnda and I had to go to the grocery store to get hamburger meat for dinner, so she and Kaela and I walked all the way to Nambatu and home again. I was exhausted by the time we got home, but I am glad we walked because I needed some exercise. Afterwards, I came home and worked on my journal and then the boys came home with John Shepherd, a man who came from New Zealand to help with the building project. Then, a little later, Antony decided that tonight would be a good night to go out to dinner so I put my hamburger meat in the freezer and he took us out to The Waterfront for dinner. I had veal and prawns in a cream sauce that was WAY yummy!!! It was a good night, but by the time I got home I was beat. We put Kaela to bed and I cleaned up the kitchen then crashed into bed myself somewhere near 9pm.

Sunday 7-2-06 – Today was quite the busy day right off. We are having the fellowship meal at our house after worship so I spent the morning before church getting us all ready, getting things set out for that and cooking rice. Aaron headed to Etas for worship this morning. However, since I teach the kids Bible class this month I stayed behind to worship in Vila. Unfortunately, I ended up not having any kids for my class since Alfonia and Tamata were in Eton village, Patrick and Leisava’s kids didn’t come today and Renette was home sick. The fellowship meal was great and we had a good time visiting with the Christians. Afterwards, the men got together to go over the plans for the church building with Antony. They spent quite a while doing that. About the time we were done eathing Aaron came home bringing Timothy (from Etas) with him. Timothy’s wife, Merina, just had a baby and is at the hospital. So, Aaron and Timothy took some food down to her. After Aaron got back and all of our guests were gone Shawnda and I got to together some baby clothes and related items and took them down to the hospital to Merina and the baby. We can never get enough donations of used infant clothes. People here need them so badly – especially the preamie type clothes since so many babies here are born with low birth weight. Many are only between 4 and 6 lbs.

The afternoon was spent with lots of comings and goings…Aaron went to his Bible study with Charlie in Malapoa –only he came back early because no one was home, for whatever reason. The men all went to do some clean up at the church ground to get ready for the work starting tomorrow, Eric and Shawnda went and visited some local Christians that didn’t make it to worship today, before dinner Aaron and I went back to hospital and took Merina a blanket (since the nights are cold and all she has is a sheet to cover with) and in the midst of all that I worked at the house on my Etas school stuff while Kaela took a nap. It has been a busy day. We are having hamburgers for dinner tonight and watching a movie. We are celebrating our last night of the men not being dead tired form working all day. Tomorrow the work at the land starts and they will be beat!

Monday 7-3-06 – Shawnda and I had a big agenda for the day and not enough time for it all. Today is grocery shopping day. And then on top of that we found out this morning from Mabel that we need to switch our Women’s fellowship from Saturday to Wednesday so Shawnda and I had to go spread the word. We are the only ones with transportation and most of the women don’t have phones so it was up to us to deliver the news. First, though, we had to take a bus to Ken’s Garage and pick up our truck that Flexon was working on. After that we went to the church ground to see the progress on the building and gave a message to Shem to give to Rose about the fellowship. Next, we went to see Joanna and Fiona and it was especially good to see Joanna since I haven’t seen her since she came back from Pentecost island. After that, it was getting close to lunch time and we STILL hadn’t done any grocery shopping so we squeezed in a trip to Centerpoint supermarket before lunch. Kaela was getting fussy by that time and ready to eat so we headed home and had lunch.

After lunch we ran to the Post Office to try to pick up a package waiting for me. The guy STILL wouldn’t give it to me and wanted me to pay $65 to pick it up! However, by stroke of luck Shawnda just happened to tell one of the other Post Office workers my problem and that girl said that the guy wasn’t doing it right. So, she gave us the name and phone number of their boss at the Custom’s Department and told us to contact him and ask him about it. We tried contacting him all afternoon but, were never able to reach him.

After the Post Office, we went to the market to get some fruit and veggies and then decided to also drop by and see Lissie at work. I haven’t seen Lissie for over a month now since she hasn’t been coming to church. We had a very good talk with her and found out that she is having problems with her SDA husband not letting her come to worship. So we tried to encourage her and it was good to see her again. I just love that girl! Finally, it was nearing 3pm and Kaela was REALLY ready for a nap so we went home and put her down. I was beat by that time and I took a nap too. Too much going on today and we still didn’t make it to Nambatu supermarket. I guess we will have to do that tomorrow.

Tuesday 7-4-06 – Happy Independence Day! Although, for the first time since I have been born I didn’t do anything to celebrate it. I didn’t remember what day it was until the middle of the day. When you are the only people recognizing the holiday and your day is filled with other activities, it is hard to remember that it’s July 4th! Today was school again. It went okay. I had a good turnout of kids – only one absent. However, I didn’t feel like they were catching on to my efforts in teaching them to read. I will have to keep working with them on that. Shawnda told me that their progress is fairly normal so I am trying not to get down about it and I will just plug away again on Friday.

After school, I went and picked up Shawnda and Kaela then we dropped Leimawa, Barbara and Sam’s Mother, Salomei (Saul-o-may) off at the market in Fresh Water area. Then we headed to town to try and track down the Custom’s boss man, Nicholas. We finally got to talk to him and found out that everything is just as we thought it was and the guy at the Post Office isn’t doing things right. So, they said to come back at 1:30 and one of the girls working in the Custom’s office would go with us to set him straight and make sure he would release our package to us without a problem. After all that, we then headed to Nambatu Supermarket to do our grocery shopping and FINALLY finished and got home – cranky and ready to eat lunch. It was only 12pm and already a long day. We had lunch together and then at 1:30 we headed out to pick up the girl from Custom’s, Gwini (she was SO NICE!), and went to the Post Office and FINALLY got our package!!! Yippee!!!!!! I was SO HAPPY about that! There were all kinds of fun goodies inside too! Yea! After that, we went to the market and then I left Shawnda there to meet Yoland and Kaela and I came home and took our naps. I am SO EXHAUSTED!!!!

Wednesday 7-5-06 – Today the women met at Seafront Park for our fellowship. In spite of the rain we had a pretty good turnout. Antony’s wife, Jeanette was able to come and that was a nice addition to our group. Today was so drizzly and cool it makes me wonder what the rest of the week will be like for working on the church building. I opted to not join Aaron at Etas this evening. I stayed home and helped with cooking dinner and took care of Kaela. Aaron made it home right about the time I was putting Kaela to bed so he was able to see her and kiss her goodnight before she went to sleep.

Saturday 7-8-06 – Today is a nice change of pace from all the chaos of this week. I am feeling like this has been the craziest week ever! It seems like I haven’t had time to really and truly relax this whole week! It has been just crazy! Instead of having his Bible study at Etas this morning, the guys went back out to the land to get in about a half days work. They got home earlier than expected (around 1pm) and then headed to Seaview Takeaway not long after to get something for their lunch. When they got home it was almost time for Kaela to go down for her nap so I left her with Aaron. Then, Trevor, John (both here for the building project from NZ), Shawnda and I walked to town to do some shopping. Kaela’s birthday is on Wednesday next week (the 12th) and my sister’s birthday is on the 17th. So, I wanted to get them some jewelry from the handicraft market in town. It was a successful trip! - And a relaxing one for me! I got Kaela an adorable little yellow necklace with pink flower-shaped beads on it and also a bracelet. And I got Jill a wooden bracelet and a turquiose necklace. Since tonight was the first night that the guys were home during the afternoon and evening we actually got to eat dinner early! We finished dinner about 6:30 (that’s usually what time we start during the work week!) and afterwards some of us played Cranium! It was so fun!

Sunday 7-9-06 – We had a great turnout for worship today! About 15 local Christians, plus us missionaries, plus kids and visitors! Antony and his family, John and Trevor all went to Eton village for worship, had lunch and swam at Eton beach and then went the rest of the way around the island. It made for a long day for them, but I guess they had a good time. Antony took his family out for a special dinner so the rest of us walked to town and had dinner at Olympic Burger, one of the local fast food joints.

Monday 7-10-06 – Yesterday was just another crazy Monday! I made plans to celebrate Kaela’s birthday today since Jeanette and the boys (Kevin and Jeremiah) are all heading back to New Zealand tomorrow afternoon. This morning right after breakfast Shawnda and I worked on our grocery list, then I made a cake for Kaela. Afterwards, I got showered and ready and we headed into town for our grocery shopping adventure. We went to the Post Office and Centerpoint supermarket before lunch. When we got home Jeanette and the boys were here at the house. Jeanette offered to stay at the house with Kaela so Shawnda and I could make a child-free shopping trip. That was a nice break! I put Kaela down for her nap and then we left and went to Nambatu supermarket. After the shopping trip and all that’s involved in that – I got busy in the kitchen and made the frosting for Kaela’s cake (had to do it from scratch since I can’t buy frosting here!) and I decorated it with some of her plastic Noah’s Ark animals! I felt oh-so-creative!

After the guys got home we ate dinner about 6:30pm, had our cake and ice cream (YUM!) and then Kaela got to open her presents. Which she did in such a flurry barely taking time to see what was in each one. She was more interested in tearing off the paper and looking in the bags that seeing what she got! She REALLY loved that cake and ice cream, though! She thought it was really something special since I don’t normally let her eat sweets like that!

Tuesday 7-11-06 – School went pretty well today. The kids were a little antsy because for the first time in about a week the sun is shining. For the last week it has been kind of rainy, cloudy and cool. Really, really cool! We keep talking about how we don’t remember it being this cool last year. I am sure of it! Even during the days when it is sunny, the wind is cool. I have no idea what the actual temperature is but it feels like it is about 65 to 70 with no humidity. In the evenings after the sun goes down I have been needing my socks to keep my toes warm and Aaron and I sleep every night in long pants and cover up with our quilt. I’m not complaining, though! I’ll take this over the heat and humidity of March any day! ----- ANYWAY!!!! ------ where was I? School. The kids are doing really well with their reading. I am proud of them and how they are catching on. Today we finished the last two letters of the alphabet so we are moving on in our work. Friday will bring some new things to do which means I have a lot more preparation to do for each class. Interestingly, I decided today to teach the kids the Alphabet song. But, first I asked them if any of them knew it. I didn’t want to be teaching them if they already knew it. It turned out that almost all of them knew the song. Only when we went to sing it – it was a different song! The tune is a slight variation from Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and I actually like it better! There isn’t that whole part at the end…”next time won’t you sing with me…” I never liked that part! I think it sounds corny unless you are about 4 years old. So, anyway, that was a nice surprise. I guess I will have to teach Kaela both versions so she can sing her ABC’s with her American grandparents and with her Ni-Van friends. Personally, I wish I could change the way we sing it in the States but, I don’t guess I will be changing the song that people have been singing for years and years!

Saturday 7-15-06 – I am extending my journal by a day this month for the reason that I have unfortunate news to share and don’t want to wait until the next installment for the news to reach all of you who read my journal. This week I started having complications with my pregnancy and my Doctor put me on bed rest. However, I had a miscarriage. An awful experience. Aaron and I are sad and disappointed as we had been looking forward to adding to our family. There isn’t always a lot you can say at times like this. We are doing okay though – I guess I was mentally preparing myself for such an occurance once I started having the complications….bracing myself. Please keep us in your prayers over the next few weeks. We are so dependant upon the love of our family and friends both in the States and also here in Vanuatu. And we are constantly blessed by the support of everyone in both places. There isn’t much else I can say, I guess. So…until next month…