We're back in Indonesia!

We arrived back to our home in PalangkaRaya, Indonesia at  the end of September.  Unfortunately we arrived during smoke season.  We know that every year usually during September and October we are going to have to deal with smoke.  The majority of the smoke is from the forest being cleared and burned to make way for palm oil plantations.

With the smoke this bad day in and day out, we have not been able to fly.  I'm really excited to get back to flying, but on a positive note, it has eased my transition back into the managers seat while I get caught up on all of the happenings that have occurred over the last 8+ months.  To make things easier, we have canceled all flights through the end of October.  Hopefully, prayerfully, rainy season is just around the corner and things will get back to normal next month.  Thanks for your prayers for us and those we live and serve with.  This is always a tough time of year for the people where we live.

Grandma Jean

Thankfully, just a few weeks before we returned to Indonesia at the end of September, we were able to make one more trip to see Grandma Jean.  It was a fun time to be able to "have her to ourselves" as well as enjoy other members of Becca's family while in Kansas.  We always enjoy our time with that sweet woman and now that I'm typing this now from Indonesia, she can't even hit me when I say "we love and miss you Alberta!"

After all of the traveling that we made virtually from every corner of Colorado over the course of 8 months, we finally pulled off the side of the road and took a picture of us coming back to our home state.  Ironically, there are other border crossings that are much more "Coloradoesque" with mountains and hills, but the high plains have their own beauty also.

Taos Pueblo, New Mexico

 In early September, we finally made a trip to the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico; something we had been talking about since arriving Stateside in February.  It is one of the oldest inhabited places in the USA with history dating back more than 1000 years.  It was really neat.

 This structure has been continually inhabited in one form or another for over 1000 years.  As we learned about the building techniques and social practices, it made us all ponder all of the history that has occurred at the Taos Pueblo.

 What's more iconic than blue sky and adobe for the American Southwest?  We love traveling in the Southwest and we feel grateful to have grown up there with those BIG BLUE skies.

 Some of the locals were selling little wares and food stuffs.  Our girls all made it home with a few necklaces and bracelets all made from dyed corn.  They were pretty excited.

The impetus for our trip was Grandmas birthday.  She wanted to take us to the pueblo for her birthday.  Cool!  We had a great time together and really enjoyed learning the history of a culture that is far older than mine and just a little ways down the road.