Tuesday, August 7, 2007

More ranch pics

The best way I know to keep Richard in line!!


Betty practicing for her future husband...


The trees were beautiful


The picture of Sally is of an elk bed. Several elk had spent the night in this field and there were "beds" all over.

Long time, no see







We are back in the USA and enjoying a cool summer in Colorado. We are experiencing rain and lots of it and are wishing we were back on the beach in PNG. We had such a great time there and look forward to visiting again. I have had a couple of people ask me to keep updating our blog so I'll do my best.




I thought I would post a couple of pictures of our really fun and too short weekend at a friends' ranch. The weather was beautiful and the company was even better.




Love,


Tracie

Thursday, March 15, 2007

The Table


In honor of my mother and mothers everywhere who have albums (or drawers) full of pictures like this. Pictures of "The Table". Pictures that represent all the time and effort they put into various functions. Pictures that show that, yes, at one time, there was order before the chaos began. Pictures that transcend generations: from tablecloths made of antique lace at Thanksgiving to avocado green polyester at that 70's fondue party. Here's to you, Mom!

Love,

Tracie

Chipotle Party




So, after many words, here are some pictures. This is the party I and a friend organized for the base in Madang. We had everyone over for our own version of Chipotle. Here's how it began: I was talking to Bekka about this restaurant I like in the States, Chipotle. I explained how it works and told her I did it last time we were in PNG when we had some college kids over for dinner. We decided to try it again, only this time for everyone. We sent out an e-mail and folks brought everything we needed: homemade tortillas, rice, beans, homemade salsa, cheese and marinated, grilled chicken. People signed up to bring stuff and the party was on. Folks came, ate and we had a great time!


Picture 1: Betty's art work, flowers from the base
Picture 2: The men talking
Picture 3: The women working
(Some things are international!)

When was the last time...continued

I realized after reading the last post that there is so much good, too, that I don't remember doing lately.

I can't remember the last time I...
... organized a party for 36 people in four days (when you don't have anywhere else to go, your schedule is pretty free; in fact, you'll take any social time you can get!)
...didn't run off to 4-H, gymnastics, school or drama
...walked to a friend's house and shared a can of Nescafe Latte
...walked to a friend's house at all
...I had a friend walk to my house
...was a boat ride away from beautiful snorkeling
...bought veggies straight out of the garden
...just sat and visited with a friend while the kids played outside (we have snow everywhere)
...didn't worry about where the girls were playing.

Now I guess I see why there were tears.

When was the last time...

I was thinking while in PNG about some things I do there that I can't remember the last time I did those things...how about you?

I can't remember the last time I...
...took malaria preventative
...treated my kids for malaria
...did an ant check of the shelves of clothes armed with a can of bug spray
...took a shower with only cold water turned on
...took a shower with the curtain open so the fan could blow on me in a desperate effort to cool off
...slept with no covers
...was glad to see a gecko on the wall (they eat bugs)
...knocked an ant off my toothbrush, rinsed it, and used it anyway
...took a box of vegetables as a carry-on on a plane
...made home made bread (thanks Bekka)
...made home made french fries (should do that more often)
...made my own sour cream from cream and vinegar (won't miss doing that)
...brought my own toilet paper on the air plane
...didn't pay a fortune for organic vegetables (they're all organic at the market)
...drank boxed milk
...took two showers a day because I was so filthy from the sweat.

And I cried like a baby when we left all this!

Tracie

Back in Colorado

After a long trip we safely arrived in Denver yesterday, March 14th, and made the trek home to Frisco. 1 1/2 hours later we pulled in the driveway to snow and slush. Spring has sprung in Frisco and the girls really enjoyed playing outside today without their noses freezing off! We may try and ski tomorrow just because we can and the snow is melting fast. There is still much unpacking to do on my part, the girls finished today, but that will be there on Saturday as well.

We miss PNG already. Especially the friends we were with. The base in Madang is a great size, not too big, so you really get to be friends with everyone. It felt like home quickly and still remains in our hearts. We look forward to returning as the Lord allows. All the girls complained at one time or another that it was too short of a trip this time. How, in this land of plenty, can a person long for a land that lacks so much? I told a friend in an e-mail today that sometimes it is nice to have needs so God can meet them. If I need something, I go to the store and buy it. In PNG, you may not be able to get what you need because it's not even in the country. But God provides often in ways you would not think of. Little blessings along the way from a very big God.

I'll post more pictures soon. For now, we must get in bed to recover from our jet lag. In our mind, it's in the afternoon but the sun has set here and the clock says otherwise.

Love,
Tracie

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Betty and Bethany and a PNG dryer


This is a PNG clothes dryer. Betty and Bethany love hanging laundry!
Tracie

Off we go

Today (our Sunday) we begin our journey home. We will spend two extra nights in Sydney to see the sights before going to LA then Denver. I initially thought it would be fun, as I am sure it will be, but now we wish we were staying here two more days. We had a root beer float party on Friday night and the folks on the base here presented us with beautiful bowl made by a gal here in Madang. It is blue and white. They wrote a sweet card that everyone signed. It was very special.

We ask again for your prayers as several of the other girls have come down with fever. We think it may be a virus that has gotten to us. We have lots of traveling to do so we would really appreciate your lifting us up. We now think this may be what Mary had, just more severe than the other girls. We are continuing to treat her for malaria and she is feeling much better today.

We have so enjoyed hearing from everyone since we've been here. It has gone very quickly by. We were able to spend our last full day yesterday diving and snorkeling and enjoying God's beautiful creation. The snorkeling was beautiful, different reef, with parrot fish, puffer fish and lots of clown fish. So much more that I don't know the name of but God does. He knows we need help with illness and He knows so much more!

Love,
Tracie

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Hoskins #3




Hoskins #2-Sleeping arrangements




Picture#1: Girls' room
Picture #2: Sal gal
Pictue #3: Guest suite (Richard and I, Mary and Sally on the floor)

Hoskins




I am finally able to get some pictures of our trip to Hoskins up for all to view. I'd do a few different posts as the pictures take a long time to upload. We had a great time visiting with Ned and Linn Beall and 6 of their 7 kids. We all stayed together in one apartment so it was a little crowded but we had some great southern hospitality, as Ned and Linn are from Texas. It is actually the Beall's fault we have come to PNG as Richard came in 1999 to help build their house in the bush.

Hoskins was nice, different from Madang. It has tons of oil palm trees which they harvest and process into palm oil. Richard and Ned were able to dive at a resort called Walindi. It was spectacular, according to Richard. The same day they went diving, Linn and I went to town and left the kids in charge of each other. We came home to a messy house, stinky diaper, tuna on the counter and not one dry towel in the house. Add a full day's grocery shopping to put away as well as dinner to prepare and you get two tired Mommies. But we sure had fun visiting that day without kids and will laugh about that for years to come!

***Mary is doing fine! We are continuing to treat her for malaria but we think it may have just been a little virus. Sally had a fever that same night that only lasted for a few hours and she was fine the next morning. Thank you to all who prayed! We really felt the prayers. Especially those who prayed for my peace. I was a little worried that night and spent the dinner prep time in silence, just praying for peace and comfort as well as God's hand on the girls. We had a good night's sleep and everyone woke up feeling healthy! God is good. I don't know where I'd be without Him.


Picture #1: Sally with her favorite flowers
Picture #2: Betty and Bethany with root beer floats
Picture #3: The base at Hoskins

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Update on Mary

Wanted to let you know that a little Tylenol has Mary on her feet again. She is still having aches so we went ahead and started her on the treatment for malaria. Better to be safe than sorry. If you can get it treated before it gets bad, it helps a lot! She is up and fighting with her sisters so she can't be feeling that bad...
Keep praying,
Tracie

Please pray


Just a quick note to ask you to pray for our Mary. She is complaining of sore legs and has a low fever. Aches are a symptom of malaria, as well is fever. We took our preventative last night so it could just be a reaction to that. We have e-mailed the doctor and told him of our situation. We ask that you'd pray for her. We can take her in town and get her checked very easily and begin treatment if it is actually malaria. The earlier you get it treated, the shorter the illness. Last time, you may remember, I got it and it was diagnosed and treated right away. I was only down for about a week but kids to recover much faster than adults.

I'll write more when we know more...

Tracie for our tribe

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Bonnie



As we looked at our blog today, Bonnie commented that there were no pictures of her. Since everything in our life is fair, I thought we'd have a blog post just for her!

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Laundry



So here we are halfway through our trip that already seems way too short. We received an invitation to visit in the bush (in a tribal work) that we had to decline due to lack of time. Very disappointing but it has us already thinking about when we can come again.

Something that takes 5 times as long here as in the U.S. is laundry. In case any of you are new to our travels or have forgotten my previous lesson, here is the low down on the twin tub washer. It has two tubs. One is for filling with wash or rinse water, depending on your stage of washing, the other, you spin your clothes in. The bummer is that the wash does not go by itself into the spinner and get new water to rinse in by itself. Here's a step by step view:
1. Manually turn on the spicket that runs the 10 pounds of water pressure into the wash tub
2. Go upstairs and do something else until it fills up (about 7-8 minutes)
3. Remember 15 minutes later that you are filling up the tub, run downstairs and see that it is now leaking out the top drains
4. Turn off water and add soap
5. Add your cleanest of the dirty clothes since you will use this wash water for at least two loads, maybe three
6. Turn on tub #1 for 15 minutes (the max on the timer) and go back upstairs to do something else
7. Remember 20 minutes later that you have laundry going, run downstairs and put the stuff in the spinner
8. Add another load to the wash tub and go back upstairs to do something else
9. This time, you actually remember you have stuff downstairs and head down to take care of it. The wash water is looking pretty bad so you decide to drain it and rinse the two washed loads
10. Put the washed load in the spinner and turn the dial to drain.
11. The water proceeds to drain out on the sidewalk into the grass where all kinds of little creatures love to bathe...as long as they do it on the sidewalk and not in my laundry room, they don't get the size 10 shoe
12. Fill tub number one with rinse water and proceed to rinse the previously washed and spun loads
13. After rinsing and spinning, put the clothes on the clothesline and start over, this time adding a little soap to the rinse water to make it wash water for loads 3 and 4.
Mind you, this is in the midst of school and dishes and sweeping and heat and power going out.

Thanks for reading and hopefully laughing with me. If that didn't bring a smile to your face, maybe these pictures will. We saw this beautiful big root ball and Betty, a gal here on the base, said, Tracie, you get up there and I'll take your picture. Well, I think she did that just to laugh at me getting down! It was quite a sight!
Love,
Tracie


Richard is actually working







Lest anyone percieve, based on the previous post, that we are on a diving vacation, here are some shots of Richard working. He can give more detail but may not make time to sit down and do it. Basically, he is building cabinet face frames, doors and drawer fronts for various houses here on the base.


Notice, please, picture number 1 and any previous reference to the "ugly".


Saturday, February 24, 2007

Sally's Birthday






Yesterday was Sally's 6th birthday and what a day we had. We went with some friends from the base here in Madang to a very small island about 10 minutes by boat from here. We packed a lunch and sunscreen and spent a great day on the beach. We arrived around 10:30 a.m. and the bugs were still having breakfast, on us, of course. So we sprayed on a little bug spray and headed for the water. The water is crystal clear which begged some snorkeling. Richard and Dave Wall, the chairman of the Madang region, along with 2 of Dave's kids headed out to do some diving. They went right off the island to a spot where there is a downed B-25 from WWII. The local resorts have it marked with a buoy, as they bring folks out there to dive as well. The story is that there was only 1 survivor from the American bomber and he came out here several years ago to find the plane where he lost 3 of his buddies. Richard said the plane was largely in tact and very interesting. I'll have him write some about his dive.


We stayed on the island and did lots of snorkeling. All four girls tried it and it went like this:


Betty "Take me back to the shore, I'm too scared."

Bonnie "Take me back to the shore, I'm scared...well, it is kind of neat...ok, just don't go too far out."

Mary "I don't want to go back to the shore. Teach me how to dive to the bottom and blow the water out of my snorkel like Dad so I can see the fish closer."

Sally "This is fun!"

Can't you just hear them? We saw Nemo and all his buddies including lots of big blue starfish and a huge sea cucumber!


We explored the island a little and have some good pictures from that. We had lunch of peanut butter and honey along with some Twisties (PNG Cheetos) and bananas. The bugs were done eating so it just got better. We did more water stuff while the divers did one more dive to a sunken fishing boat.


We headed home to nurse our sunburn and get cleaned up. We had such a relaxing afternoon followed by a dinner of fresh Mackerel caught last Sunday. We are so grateful for the folks out here for taking us out there. Sally had a great birthday and even lost a tooth out there. She was putting the snorkel in her mouth and knocked the already loose tooth out. She was coming to show it to me when she dropped it in the shells. We told her to write a note to the tooth fairy that she lost her tooth in the Baltic Sea. Now that's a story!


Tracie

PNG Umbrella


Our Mary, fitting right in!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

First pictures

These are just a few pictures to prove to everyone that we are not on an all inclusive Mexico vacation. Believe me, there is no complimentary 11 a.m. nacho run! We are heading to town so I must keep it short. If anyone wants to get our pictures as attachments, just e-mail us and we can send later. Short explanations...Me cooking tortillas (and sweating), the welcome sign at our house, me prewashing clothes, Sally and bananas... Tracie





Tuesday, February 20, 2007

The good, the bad and the ugly

The good:
The view out our front porch (still working on pics)
No TV
Family time
Fresh, homemade yogurt for snack
The voices of my kids happily playing with their friends (old and new)
Early bedtimes
Generator that keeps power to the base when the city power goes out
The market...best 75 cent pineapple in town
Richard working walking distance away from me

The bad:
Ants
The heat from 3-5 p.m.
Twin tub washing machine
Broken twin tub washing machine
Rain when I have laundry on the line
Ants
The kids' clothes at the end of the day
My clothes at the end of the day

The ugly:
Me going after the ants
Richard's clothes at the end of the day.

Tracie

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Sweat

There are a couple of uses for the word sweat that are especially relevant here in PNG. First is the obvious sweat which is presently rolling down my back and forehead. Second is the phenomenon that occurs on your glass when the beverage is cold and the air is hot. I guess our children are not well acquainted with either based on what happened at dinner last night. We went to a house on the base where they served us a delicious meal, including a nice cold drink. Sally looked rather alarmed when she whispered in my ear, "Mommy, when I took a drink of my grape drink, some water from the outside dripped on me. I think my cup is leaking just the water part of the drink." Not a lot of either kind of sweat in Frisco!

Sweating,
Tracie

P.S. Richard went to the airport and his bag was there! We were a little concerned as we pondered buying him clothes here. The natives are a bit smaller than him...would have been rather interesting to find an xl-tall.

Friday, February 16, 2007

We're back

We wanted to let everyone know that we have arrived safely here in Papua New Guinea. It is hot as we remember but beautiful at the same time. It is quite a change from snow white Colorado. The girls have played outside since we got off the van last night. We only lost 1 piece of luggage between Port Moresby and Madang (both in PNG) but we will check the airport this afternoon. Evidently, the flight being full caused them to leave a few passengers' luggage in Port Moresby. Since we had 10 checked bags, we are glad it was only one. There is a 7 a.m. flight and a 4:40 p.m. flight. Evidently, after everyone leaves after the early flight, the airport employees head home until 4:00 p.m. when they return to prepare for the next flight. So Richard will return later to see if our bag made it.

Things have changed a little since last time...a few more houses on the base as well as full time internet access. They have a satellite now that affords much more internet reliability. Mind you, it's 3rd world reliability. Also, the power has already gone out twice today but they now have a generator on site. So the power only stays out until someone runs over and flicks on the generator. That is such a relief! I hate it when the power goes out and the air goes off. Actually, the air is just the ceiling fans that work overtime for us!

It is early afternoon on full day one and the couch is calling me. We have a very nice house and the girls are enjoying friends. It is so hot, I think the only place one should be at this hour is on the east side of the house laying very still!

I'll try to send a picture soon. My computer is not working and I can't get Richard's computer to read my camera. Please pray for our continued good health and that Richard's suitcase would come through.

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Tracie

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Expired passports






Monday night was a restless one for me (Tracie). It seems I have a hard time turning off the voices in my head. Before you call the doctor, there is actually only one voice usually, my own. This voice rarely sleeps and keeps a running tally of all my to do tasks. Those tasks have been multiplied as we have gotten closer to our leave time so, subsequently, the voice has gotten a little more chatty at all hours of the night. Since I couldn't sleep with all that talking, I got up around 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning and started my day. Actually, that is probably the quietest times of day at my house so I sat at the computer ready to work.


My first task was to apply for our electronic visas for Australia. For a fee, of course, but at least I could do it on line. Filling out form number 4, for Betty, I realized, to my horror, that her passport expired on February 3rd, 2007. Yes, expired! It was with fear and trembling that I examined the remaining passports of Bonnie and Mary only to discover that they, too, were no longer valid. The voice in my head was now yelling at me for being such an idiot as to not verify these dates sooner than one week before travel time.


After Googling (is that really a word?) expedited passports, I realized that I am not the only irresponsible person in the United States and that it was possible to fix my major mistake. Richard and I headed to the post office in Breckenridge only to be told we'd need to go to Denver. Considering our plethora of free time this sounded great. We called the automated number to make an appointment for the first available time which would be Friday at 9:30 a.m.


Here's a slight run-down of Friday:


6 a.m. Rise (don't shine)


6:30 a.m. Pancakes


7-7:30 a.m. Yell at kids to hurry up and eat and get dressed


7:35 a.m. Load up the gang and head to Kinko's to get pictures (for a fee, of course)


7:40 a.m. Richard fill up the car while we do pictures


7:50 a.m. On the road to Denver


9:15 a.m. Arrive at the passport agency (thanks to our handy dandy navigation system...thanks again Tim!)


9:30 a.m. Stand in line to get a number then sit and wait until...


10:15 a.m. Number 23 is called and we go to the window. All our papers are in order, yea, and we sign this and that. We give her payment, including special fees for idiots like me who need the passport fast, and are told to return at 2:30 p.m. for the goods.


10:30-2:30 p.m. Do stuff we can't do in Frisco (see pictures) like Lowe's and Chipotle. We also went to a Target looking for bug spray. Evidently it is a seasonal item here in Colorado. In Texas, it is a year-round necessity, kind of like food.


2:15 p.m. Sally christens the new van by throwing up while we are pulled over on I-225 North. Thanks, Betty, for letting us know or it would have been much worse.


2:45 p.m. Get our hot little hands on the passports and head to the hills.




Probably too much information for some of you, but the family will get a laugh, I hope. Although it was inconvenient to go through all of this, I see God working in the timing of this minor trauma. Tuesday morning, after discovering my passport mistake, I went to the ladies' Bible study at our church. The ladies prayed for me and my passport issues as well as for my sleep problems. Well, the passport thing worked out (for a fee, of course) and I have slept all night every night since then. When asked today at church by several ladies from Bible study how I have been sleeping, we praised God together for His answer to prayer.




Thank you so much for your comments! I already have tears reading the sweet remarks. The fact that you'd take the time to read this and be interested in our lives means a lot!




Two more days until lift off,


Tracie


Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Messing Around with Pictures



I am trying to figure out how to add pictures so here it goes. Enjoy some random shots!

Introduction

Ok...here we go into the 21st century whether I like it or not. Yes, I am getting very close to the age where my kids know more than I do about electronics. Kind of scary but a little freeing at the same time. No more obligations to know the latest and greatest. Just ask my girls.

If you are reading this, you know that we are heading to Papua New Guinea next week. You also are kind enough to take the time to check out what is going on here. We are packing today...shorts and t-shirts! Yea! Considering we have about 8 inches of snow in our yard, that will be a welcome change.

I will try to use this in the right way to keep you posted on our happenings. There is more right now, even, but time is short. If you are the praying type, we would really appreciate them on our behalf. We are excited and stressed all at the same time. I'll update more tonight!

Tracie