i typed most of this in an email to a friend...decided i'd share it here, too (not so much on our family blog...just here...the inside scoop just for you "because he told me to" folks. feel special - because you are!)
texas, day one - a success!! kids woke up early (6:15 texas
time)....at one time or another they were all in bed with me and nick...it was
quite sweet (never all 5 of us at the same time though...that would be a bit
much for this double bed!). eli and caroline rode their bikes - not sure they've ever ridden bikes that early in the morning! - and we had our
breakfast outside - breakfast is sort of "continental" here in the dorm. there's
really a great selection - bagels, cereal, fruit, toast, boiled eggs...probably
more that i haven't noticed yet.
when we got here yesterday we were told about orientation today - at that
point i realized that we should have lined "the nanny" up to be here starting
today (we had it in our heads that we needed her to be here for monday morning) ...we made it through the day fine - but it did make me rather grateful that we do have "the nanny" (all 3 of them) lined up for the rest of our time here. the kids were just with us most of the day - they
played some of the icebreaker games (eli said "i got to meet a lot of boy
grown-ups today.") and listened to alot of the stories that were shared and instructions being given. for the most part they were FANTASTIC during the "quieter"
parts of the sessions. they did a good job of entertaining themselves with bendaroos, sharpies & clothespins, legos and play-doh...we had quite the "activity center" going on.
the sessions were alot of general information/meeting people/some team building exercises (including a really cool one that i need to pass on to kaci and leah - it's perfect for TAs and Velocity!!! and something we've never done before!!!)...everyone
shared a quick(ish) version of their story - of how they got to today/Mercy
Ships. it was INCREDIBLE to hear the stories -- to hear how God orchestrated
things for people...to hear how He was working in all of our lives....to know
that, just like we have a story of how God lead us to this point, every other
person in the room does, too.
there are about 34 people in the onboarding
program. there are 3 other families in the onboarding process - 2 of them aren't
here yet...and the one that is here doesn't have their kids with them.
one of the couples just decided 3 weeks ago that they were coming/doing this.
he's a dentist and was at a conference where a Mercy Ships person was recruiting
(and apparently doing a great job of it!!). makes our 4+ months seems like an
eternity to prepare and get ready!!!
for lunch we had chicken and pancakes (yup!). dinner was ham, scalloped potatoes & green peas. salad was available for both meals. eli and caroline rode their bikes to and from both meals. something is going on with the chain on his bike...he keeps coming off. here's hoping someone can fix it.
after dinner we went for a family swim. had lots of fun swimming and playing tag with mr. jj and frieda (not the frieda from the mercy box videos...another frieda from norway...or sweden...not sure which one).
we got to skype with yaya and grandaddy tonite....so glad that happened (if anyone else would like a skype date, let us know!!! we'll see what we can do!).
there's crushed ice here in the dorm kitchen....just discovered that
tonite!!! sweet little gift. nick is on a wal-mart run right now...with a
request to get a 12 pack of cherry coke :) (and big pretzels for caroline)(not
sure what made her think of that!). gonna enjoy it while i can!!!!
i think the plan is to go to an early church service in the morning and then
head to tyler to pick up mary...gotta figure out how to get there (to the
airport). thank goodness for google maps....
like my request for mail on facebook? i really want some!! :) i should say
something like "if you "like" this comment i'm expecting mail from you." would love for the kids to get lots of mail, too (hint, hint). i'm so grateful for friends who will send mail.
i've got to figure out a better system for the kids clothes..right now it's
just an explosion of clothes spilling out from the suitcase all over the floor
...and there's a little more organizing/straightening to do with our toiletries.
gonna go see what i can do...
thanks for continuing to share life with me....
let me know if you have specific questions you want answered in regards to our texas time/mercy ships...
