Colton Turns Six

We celebrated Colton's birthday a couple days early this year to fit it in between all of the packing, sorting, and goodbyes.  It was important to us to hit pause for a day, even though we are super stressed out and busy getting ready for the move back to Idaho, to make Colton feel special for a day.

Mike asked Colton what he wanted for his birthday dinner and Colton requested fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and juice.

You'll never guess what type of cake he requested.  Yes, he wanted an aircraft carrier birthday cake again, making this the 4th runway-themed cake in a row.  He placed a fleet of aircraft on it all by himself.

Colton is growing up so fast, he was actually able to read his birthday cards by himself (not the fancy cursive writing though, he skipped over that).

Colton added some more Legos and airplanes to his collection.  Everybody did a very good job buying SMALL presents for him so that they will fit in his suitcase.

Cousins hanging out one last time, oh how we will miss cousin Riley!  One of the hardest goodbyes is going to be with our dear, sweet cousin Riley.

Gateway Church Sendoff

This coming Sunday March 30th is the last weekend we will be attending Gateway, our home church in Washougal, WA before we move.  Mike will be sharing for a few minutes during each of the three services (Sat 6:00 Sun 9:15, 11:00).  The church is hosting a potluck to send us off on Sunday after the second service.  Please stop by between 12:30 and 2:00 to see us one last time before we move on Monday.  We would LOVE to see you!  It is a potluck so bring a tasty dish along if you are able.

Here is the address to Gateway: 
1235 E street Washougal WA 98671

Idaho it is

Decision day has arrived and it is official, we are moving back to Idaho for a few weeks.  Mike will be working in the MAF hanger at headquarters helping out with the aircraft maintenance.  

We have been informed that things are starting to move in Indonesia and we feel confident we will be able to depart for language school in early May.  There is an end in sight to all of our waiting.  :)  We will be moving directly from Idaho to Indonesia, so we will be saying our final goodbyes to our friends in WA before we move on March 31st.

I don't know why God is directing our paths to Idaho again before we move to Indonesia, but we are faithfully following his leading step by step.   

We are excited to have some answers and we are thrilled to be able to see our friends in Idaho one last time before we leave.  We are also excited to eat at Chick-fil-A again!    

Moving Date

I am breaking one of my own rules right now and I am writing a post with no pictures.  Gasp!  Don't worry I'll keep it short.  

Mike and I had a meeting today over the phone with our MP Coach (supervisor) at MAF to look at some options for us because of our current visa situation.  The "situation" being not having them yet.  We still have no idea when they will be approved.  In years past the visa process usually took 3-4 months, this year has been different.  Our paperwork has been filed for 7 months now.  We are praying and resting in God's perfect timing in this situation (we aren't perfect, we do have our moments of unrest aka: "freaking out").

Meanwhile we have put in place a plan "B".  On March 31st we will be saying goodbye to Washington.  We will either be on a plane to Indonesia, or driving a car to Idaho.  MAF has found a fully furnished house that we can live in close to headquarters and Mike will be working in the hanger doing maintenance on the MAF aircraft.  

In conclusion.  Our family is moving on March 31st.  We need to hang out as much as possible right now Washington friends!