Remember that I've forgotten

It's easy to forget all of the things that have transpired since we've arrived. It's easy to forget that we spent our first few nights awake, trying to reset our internal clocks. It's easy to forget that we spent that time awake crying, missing family, friends and the familiar. It's easy to forget that I was so grateful to have people driving me around the city, helping me to find things for our new apartment. It's easy to forget that we got off the plane with eight carry-on pieces of luggage and seventeen checked bags (no of which we had to pay for-Praise the L*rd!). It's easy to forget that, though we have moved so many thousands of miles from home (and even more kilometers) having gone through all of these emotions, it's much more difficult for the people back home (Yes, we still consider the States home. We're Americans and we refuse to forget that. (Why not, the locals don't forget it!)) It's easy to forget that last year we were inundated with candy having gone to a Fall celebration at ch*rch and this year the kids were thrilled to get together and get a few pieces of candy because they could gather with other Americans for a short time. It's easy to forget all of the pr*yer and financial support offered back home. (Thank you!) And, it's easy to forget how far the L*rd has brought us. (Just look at past posts to verify that claim.)

And, sometimes it just hits you just how far you've come. Just now, I was listening to Jonathan and Andrew talk (They're supposed to have fallen asleep by now.). Andrew complains that Jonathan just said hockey. Jonathan pleads his case, stating that he said meter haaki. ("turn on the meter"-what you tell the auto rickshaw driver to do so he doesn't swindle extra rupees out of you) They are little sponges, are they not?

Tomorrow, we'll enjoy a birthday celebration with friends. The girls will have a sleepover at their house. Thursday, we will go to the hospital where we plan to deliver the baby (The hospital's name is "The Cradle"...looks very nice!).

This weekend, we did have a Fall celebration with other company folk (See pictures, above.). We enjoyed pumpkin cake, chips with Rotel (sp?), homemade pig-in-a-blankets, chocolate chip cookies and other delights! During the celebration, our family won the prize for the best-carved pumpkin (the prize being a Symphony chocolate bar) and Abby won a jar of chocolate chips for having the closest guess. There were 589 chips and she guessed 580! Amazing!

Sunday, we traveled about 45min. to a house ch*rch and enjoyed a time of w*rship, gathering with other bel!evers and digging in the W*rd. It was wonderful! (See picture, above.) We followed that up with a lunch at Chili's! It wasn't exactly like the American version, but the food was good and the bill was about the same.

Also, today I had my first haircut...and a shave, by a national (much to Valerie's chagrin). The total of the two adding up to about....$1.30! No nicks and a little Old Spice for nostalgia's sake!

The most important thing...we're getting more and more out of our shells to tell people that we are followers of Je$u$. (ironic that we can say more in person than we can post) We're excited about relationships that are starting to form. G*d is good!