Alberta Bikers

 I found some more biking pictures from our time in Alberta.  So for fun here is the not so dangerous Dole clan biker gang.  Look out Merauke tidak lama lagi kami akan pindah ke sana.  (not long again we will move to there)

Settling In Once Again

   We are very thankful for all the prayers and support that keep us moving forward.  We've been back in Papua for a week now and are getting settled into our temporary place of residence.  It looks like the plan will be for  us to move sometime mid-late January to Merauke.  I just recently got back from a quick trip to Merauke, getting to see a bit of the town and our future home.

   I also logged my first flight in PK-MAO to meet an Indonesian requirement for validation of my FAA pilot certificate.  The flight went well, not that I don't have a lot yet to learn but I can say that I wasn't as overwhelmed as I thought I might have been flying PK-MAO.

  Kids are doing well enjoying base life again with lots of friends close at hand.  I think our neighbourhood in Merauke will be a good fit for the kids too as the street is quite enough that I think we will be able to let them ride their bikes freely around the neighbourhood.  I didn't see many other kids during my visit but I wasn't really looking either at the time,  Time will tell if there will be kids to play with.  If not in our neighbourhood there are lots of kids in the area.  Julie started school again today with the kids as all our bags have rejoined us here in Papua. It looks like we are only short some empty dvd cases as far as we can tell.  Sorry to the person who was hoping for some free videos, their excitement would have been short lived once they discovered we carried the dvds themselves separate from their respective cases.

Travelling Mercies Abound

Well this fresh Monday morning I find myself blurry eyed, and tried but very thankful for the journey mercies we have received.  Our travels back to Indonesia went well despite a couple tense and scary moments.  We left the house @ 6:00am Saturday morning and all went smoothly as we got to the airport, checked our luggage, and waited for our first of three flights.  The flight to Vancouver went well even though there was a few bumps and some strong head winds but nothing really to bring about anxiety or high blood pressure. Once arriving in Vancouver we had about 4 hours to relax find some food etc.  Julie, Franklin, & Jaclynn got their last Canadian Subway fix and Isaac, & I enjoyed a good hearty A&W breakfast.  The first 8ish hours of the 11 hour flight went well with the kids enjoying the movies and games provided. However, our Isaac started to became airsick and not realizing what was going on we didn't get him a sick sack soon enough. Unfortunately they had just served us food again so we found ourselves juggling trays, moving into different seats, and finding ways to clean up the floor and Isaac with the help of wonderful flight attendants.  However this was just the first round for Isaac.  For about 45 mins later while I was engrossed in a video on the TV Isaac had lost track of his sick sack and was using the floor again before I knew what was going on.  Once again I cleaned the floor best I could and got another sick sack into Isaac's hands and took better care that it didn't get dropped again.  Now with this behind us I was looking at the Seoul terminal map trying to figure out how the transfer to our next flight would be and was assured by the flight attendant that our next flight would wait for us if needed.  The two gates couldn't have been much further apart from each other.  There was also a security check point that was painfully slow at getting people through the line.  Finally after getting to our gate Isaac needed the bathroom so not thinking clearly I sent him off to find one. With the boarding line up gone and final boarding call made Isaac still had not returned.  I had already sent Julie and the the other two on through.  It would be an understatement to say I was a little anxious and the blood pressure was likely a little higher than normal too.  He did finally saunter back to the gate but not after Julie and I lost a couple years off our lives or at least a few more grey hairs.  Once boarded and seated the only thing of slight concern was if our baggage had enough time to make the transfer and this there was nothing we could do except wait for our arrival in Jakarta.  All the kids slept well for this flight and no more airsickness which we were very thankful for.  Arriving in Jakarta the immigration went really smoothly by simply passing the officer our passports, no questions no digging out other documentation. And all our bags arrived which was a special treat as well and we arrived safe and sound at the CMA guesthouse @ 12:00pm Sunday afternoon (MST Alberta time) or 2:00am Local time. So all in all we were 30 hours door to door which made for a nice shortish, smooth and successful trip around the globe.  We are very grateful for all those that were praying for us as we travelled, your prayers were indeed answered with a trip filled with His mercies and blessings.

Only took a couple pictures in Vancouver sorry.