David woke up on Oct 1 at 5:30 in order to make his flight. He walked through the door at around 1:30 a.m. on Oct 2nd. And really, we are NOT that far from Vietnam. Delays kept him in the provincial capital well past his expected departure time. And the torrential downpour in our city made me hope that he would just stay put (I
hate landing in the rain). But they flew. And he made it home. And the next day was a tired but joyous reunion...
Our girls are early risers, they were ready to see daddy, and his gifts...
which were Beautiful Vietnamese outfits. These were a hit.
I drank my tea out of my mug (don't worry he got me some really nice perfume and a wonderful throw blanket/shawl that I LOVE, and some other things, not to mention almost everything on the list I gave him)
these were adorable little bamboo handbags
the Coker train
my new table runner, and as seen previously, tea set, now used for decoration.
In the afternoon we went on a picnic and played!
Tobin, who would not lift his head for the camera. This was his first picnic.
the little speck of pink is Bella running her lap around the track. David challenged the girls and they did really well.
Sophia is running back to cheer on Bella. We don't consistently do 'PE' class, but have been motivated since hearing that their cousins run a mile a day, and exercise a total 6 days/week. Wowzers. Can't keep up with that. But Sophia does like to run, and when I told her about P.E. and what it meant she was super keen.
Tobin just wondering what is going on.
The sit and reach is hard with a two-year-old on your lap, but more fun
love this swing.
feigning sleep, though she probably was tired after running a few laps.
This girl.
Always wanting to do
everything on her own. Except sleep at night. She is a tough girl, high tolerance for pain, but in other areas super-scared. "It is thundering, momma."
"Bianpaos (fireworks) are going to get me, momma..."
"I'm scared" ...
"there's a big bad wolf"
and so on and so forth, then later, after allaying all her fears she will say: 'there's no bears, or bad guys, or big bad wolves momma'
We came to this school 2x/week during the summer, and then I would run the track here 3x/week so I would always see this lady. She told me again that I need to have one more child. This is a consistent consensus by local friends, which is interesting since they are only allowed to have one. But most people think I need to have one more boy. Here are various comments we get on a weekly basis:
''all three are yours?" (background noise is always: ooohhh so white, so pretty)
"aahhh, you are so blessed"
"ahhh, you must be so tired"
"you don't get fined???"
"how many are you allowed to have?"
"do you want another?" (I found myself surprised by this question, but I get it in every conversation that has to do with our children)
"you should have one more"
Anyway, We are so thankful for David's return. Next post will be a few more pics from his trip.
I can honestly say the time while he was gone went great, filled with grace and patience, and joy. Yes, we had ups and downs daily, but the overall time was one huge answer to prayer. And that was the difference, I soaked it all in prayer, as much as I could, and so many people were doing the same. Thank you, thank you. His Grace abounded to me (and still does, thankfully)!
