Back to America...for six months

Well folks, we have left Papua New Guinea and are heading your way. We left on July 1st and have spent a few days in Hawaii for vacation. I have never been here before so it's really a treat! Alan came to Hawaii as a teenager with his family but spent most of his time on the Big Island.

We decided to rent a condo in the Makaha Valley, West Oahu, for the seven days we are here. It was a GREAT idea! We highly recommend it. Coming from Ukarumpa where we have one store and have to create our own entertainment (which is fine with us), living in the middle of the city would have been too overwhelming.

In the past few days we have seen the sights and museums at Pearl Harbor. We've gone to the North Shore to a place called Wiamea Valley Gardens and Waterfall. There we saw beautiful flowers and plants and were able to swim under a waterfall. Last night we sat on the beach at night (yeah, AT NIGHT) and watched  a few firework to celebrate the Fourth of July. And today we swam at the beach and went to Buzz's Original Steak House to celebrating our 1st anniversary (which is today!).

Our vacation to Hawaii, I am sure, looks much different from that of an American tourist. We have missed many pleasures someone who lives in a first world country enjoy on a daily basis such as: large containers of delicious milk, real orange juice, yogurt (that I didn't have to make myself), sandwiches and sandwich meat, BACON, crunchy wheat thins, hot, plentiful, and powerful showers, dryers, dish wasters, foamy dish soap, clean feet, carpeted floors, air-con, 24 hour pharmacy, to list a few. :)

Here are some pictures of our travel and time here. I will do my best to update a little more.

We also want to let you know our PLAN while we are in the states.
                          Most of the time: Between Alabama and North Carolina
                          We will be traveling to:  Virginia, Texas and possible other places

We would love to visit with you! Once we get back to Alabama we will get our phone up and running. The month of July is CRAZY. We'll be spending lots of time with both of our families as well as traveling to Florida for a week of Wycliffe Courses.  Our main job for the six months in the states is to:
                          Reconnect with family
                          Reconnect with prayer and financial supporters
                          Attain additional prayer and financial supporters
                          Rest and regroup
                          Encourage others to join us on the mission field

Looking forward to seeing and hearing from you!