Chronicles from the Fields...: Summer, Baby Update, Good-bye

I'm hoping to be more faithful on posting things about our plans and summer activities.

A couple days after the last day of school, I headed to Singapore so my good friend could have some medical checks done. It was fun to travel with her, and we have many funny stories and new sayings. All her tests came back clear, so we're praising the Lord for that. It was neat to watch the Lord bless her during this time too. The perk of eating great food and shopping helped a lot too. One of the blessings from that trip for me was an "easy" answer regarding my visa. My work visa through the school ended on the last day of June, so that means I would need to be out of the country by July 1. We had originally hoped to stay through the summer to help out at Yajasi, but didn't know how it would be possible. Yajasi and HIS were working together to try to extend the visa for 30 days while I was in country, but we wouldn't know if this worked until two weeks before my current visa expired... for some of you two weeks may be enough time to plan and prep for a move around the world, but for this girl it's not! So the trip to Singapore allowed me to leave on an exit permit and re-enter on a visa on arrival. It's good for 30 days, and we're told that there should be no problem extending it for 30 more days. That gives me 60 extra days in country and allows us to stay during the summer! We have tickets bought and we hope to leave Jakarta on July 26 and arrive in Seattle on July 26... yeah, how does that work??

Baby Update:
Our little one continues to grow. We hope to go for our first ultrasound next week. I'm so excited that it's finally "my turn". I know that sounds so selfish, but things are just different here. The equipment is older, so it's really best to wait longer to get good results. I have other friends who are not as far along as I am and have already had multiple ultrasounds. It's great for them, and I am so happy for them but I'm definitely ready to "see" our little one! I haven't noticed any movement, but I'm told that it will happen soon and continue for the next 30 years or so :)

The Dark Side of Summer:
Yes, there is a dark side of summer. Summer is the time when many people leave! Today our good friends Joel, Elaine, and Esther boarded a plane with no plans of returning. We have watched Esther grow through the last four years. We have welcomed their family like they were our own. Elaine's laughter and her ability to relate to me emotionally will be missed. We will miss cooking our food with the hopes that it meets Joel's cuisine critiques with passing marks. I'm thankful that we were able to go to the beach together, travel to Bali, pray together, celebrate birthdays together, and just share life with each other. We will miss you!