A lot has happened in the last few weeks. While the island is difficult to get to for civilians, military and retired military have it easier as the weekly rotator is an option for the flight here. Josh's parents scheduled months ago to catch the rotator here and spend three weeks. They made it on by the skin of their teeth. Really, just barely! It took some gracious influence from the base commander, who was also catching the flight, to prompt a phone call to request 2 more seats be released so they could come. We were all relieved and grateful that it worked out. Rob and Lyn arrived at the very end of May on a Saturday night and then were up with little to no jet lag at 8:30 that Sunday morning. They did church with our little home church up here that morning and it was such a delight to have them around! We were excited about the week ahead which was full with a bullfight, a hike, delicious food, beach time, moving prep, and just good old fashion together time.
We weren't able to go to Sao Miguel as we'd planned with Josh's parents. They had arrived here at the end of May and stayed a week and then ventured to two other islands for their second week of vacation. The plan was to meet up with them and ferry over to spend the weekend in Sao Miguel. We would come home that next Monday and they had tickets to arrive back on Terceira on Friday, which left them only 1 day before them loaded up to head back to the states. While we are very bummed about how the ticket booking went, we were excited to get the time with them off island. Both ferries broke. One hit a whale, which washed up on the shore of our big beach here in the next town over, and the other had something else screwy going on with it. Rob and Lyn waited at the port for the entirety of Friday, gave up on a boat arriving, found a hotel to stay then night and then caught an 11am flight here the next day. We were initially all really bummed about not being able to make it to Sao Miguel and tried to find ways around it, but it just wasn't happening.
The Lord knew.
I'd seen a post by a local facebook friend about "canyoning" a few weeks prior to all this and had mentioned to Josh that it was something I really wanted to try before leaving the island. We scheduled a trip for 3:00 that Saturday afternoon. Rob and Lyn flew in, we came home and fed the boys lunch and laid down for a quick nap. Manuela got here and us adults were out the door to our adventure, not having a clue what to expect. Let me tell you, it.was.incredible! It's repelling, and "taboggoning" down a canyon river. Seriously amazing!
Here's some pics to make you super jealous. They are obviously taken by a really high res professional grade water proof camera. :)
So that was our Saturday afternoon. It was a riot!
Sunday morning Lyn and I both thought it was father's day and felt awful about not having anything planned. I'd planned on taking pictures of the boys like I do every year, but my precious friend Shelby had been over every morning the previous week because she was leaving on that Friday for Israel, and it was the last time we'd have time to hang out before we move to Turkey. She'll be back on the 8th, just before we fly out. So the pictures didn't get done, and it took us half the day to realize it wasn't father's day. We took back all our apologies and "happy father's day"s and felt much better that we hadn't missed it. ha! We went to the agricultural fair in Praia after spending some time on the beach there after naps. It was a beautiful day to be out for a stroll.
Monday was Josh's birthday and since he had already taken leave because we'd planned on being in Sao Miguel, he had the day off. We had planned on taking the boys back up to the river park where we'd spend the afternoon "canyoning", and was a delightful time with delicious food, climbing, wading and enjoying the sound of a river - something we hadn't done....well.....for years.
It was a blessing in disguise not making it Sao Miguel. Rob and Lyn cancelled their plans to go to Sao Miguel all together, so we were able to get that whole week with them. The amount of help they gave us in prepping for the movers that came on the 22nd was priceless. It took my mother-in-law helping my focus on ONE project at a time for me to be able to accomplish as much as I did that week. The Lord knew.
Part of moving prep was saying goodbye to our pets. All of them. We feel so blessed that we found someone who truly wants the cats (and they are doing wonderfully at his house!). We also took the chickens back to their owner and I had a rough, tear filled goodbye with her. Her life is pain filled right now and we'd connected deeply through conversations about the circumstances she's in, as she shared her heart with me. She is just one example of a few relationships that I made here that I wish I had more time to cultivate. I continue to be baffled by God's timing, but I know he's sovereign.
On Friday night we had Manuela come stay with the boys while the four of us adults ventured over to Angra to eat at a favorite restaurant of mine and Josh's. Angra fest was in it's opening night, so all restaurant were serving only "tapas". We weren't able to gave them try the delicious dishes we were so excited about ordering, but the evening was so fun and a good break from the work we'd been doing all week.
We headed home on Friday night feeling refreshed and ready for a day of hard moving prep work on Saturday, and Saturday was FULL of hard moving prep work, for sure!
Rob and Lyn left to catch the rotator on Sunday morning as we were here with our home church body, but returned shortly after as they didn't make it on the rotator. They knew this would be a possibility after it was so difficult to get on the rotator coming here, so they'd booked commercial tickets for just a few hours later. They were around for another hour and half and then took off for their flight.
What a blessing it was to have them here! They are refreshing, encouraging, gracious and so SO eager to help in any way possible.
Rob and Lyn, thank you for being who you are in our lives! Thank you for gently speaking truth and help to us about so many areas of our lives. We love you dearly and miss you greatly and were so blessed by your visit!
