late night

i really should be in bed.
I'm not.
I'm at the computer checking emails and generally procrastinating.
Paul is still in London and is going back to the embassy tomorrow. We are expecting the visas to be ready on Thursday, but you never know, with a little encouragement tomorrow is possible.
I've been packing. 20kg is practically nothing when you are taking your whole life with you. Please pray that either the airline is generous or the scales are faulty when we get there!
please also pray for stamina to get through the next week or so - even once we land, we will be hitting the ground sprinting!
Thanks y'all - your support is helping us keep it together
Em x

countdown....

Paul travels to London to visit the embassy today. He will camp out until the visas are in his hand. If this is before Thursday (pray people, pray!) we will confirm flights for Sunday 5th Aug, if it is not, we have another flight lined up for next week.

We are eager to get there, and it seems the finish line
(or start line, depending on how you look at it) is finally in view.

Please pray for:
The visa process to be smooth, quick and hiccup free
The boys - they are doing ok, but they are stressed and very clingy
My (Emily) parents - who are looking after us as we are staying with them
Our families and friends - as we say difficult goodbyes
Our sanity, endurance, a sense of the big picture, patience and wisdom in packing
That the airline will allow us some free excess baggage

There will be an update as soon as there is news.
Em

visas visas everywhere!

Well, our papers arrived by email this morning which is very exciting. The next thing is to get the relevant stamps in the passport from the embassey in London which will hopefully happen early next week.
Watch this space...we're nearly off...
Em

What a Wedding

Saturday just gone our friends Luke and Laura were married. It was a fantastic day and we were so glad to be there, if our visas had arrived at the beginning of the month we'd have missed it (there are some blessings to being delayed). They romantically memorized and recited their vows, something they'd been waiting to do for a while and were married by Luke's father (a proud moment for him).
We had a great time, I'm sure they enjoyed it more and we look forward to being able to catch up with them in a few years time; who knows there might be little feet running about by then!

Luke and Laura if you're reading this then know that we love you guys and will pray for you as you begin living as one.

Paul.

If only it was this simple

If only it was as simple as having one of these in your back pocket, that would be nice, we'd be of in a jiffy, until then we'll keep waiting. Paul.

visas part 2...

well... we had an email today which said that our paperwork in unlikley to arrive before wednesday as the man who needs to sign them is not in the office until Monday. Interesting. We need to confirm our flights by Tuesday or we will lose them. Please pray that we will know clearly whether to confirm these flights or not. With these flights we will miss a couple of days of orientation - we don't want to lose even more by delaying further. There should be enought time, but these things are impossible to predict - it will be an expensive leap of faith!
on your knees...
Emily

visas

hi people, still no news on the visa front...still waiting, still praying.
We have new provisional flights, but we still need to move quickly.
don't get off your knees just yet!
I had a fab birthday yesterday (despite the gift of anti wrinkle cream...you know who you are!) and it was truely great to still be at home. We'll also make it to an important wedding on Saturday which was not expected either.
em x

visas

Ok people, on your knees. Let's see some prayer and fasting action.
We had an email this morning from the school saying that our visas are likely to take another week or two. We will lose our provisional flight booking if this is the case.
On your marks, get set, go...

the final countdown

Today Luke, Isaac and I had our second lot of japanese encephalitus (sic). They boys weren't quite as brave as last week, but they both did well and we celebrated everyone's bravery with a special tea chosen by Luke (the bravest!) of chicken fajitas (yummy)and smarite cookies.
We recieved an email saying that our visa at the Indonesian end has cleared it's final hurdle so we are awaiting the paperwork imminently. This means that we are trying to make provisional bookings for flights etc. It seems to be going ok and we have a possible flight. I'm not going to tell you what the date is though, because it's not confirmed yet!...it is towards the end of this month though!
It feels a bit limbo ish at the moment - I'm trying to keep structure for the boys by keeping up with "school work" (in the library) and normal stuff. This is getting tricky the more things i think about that need doing!
We had a fantastic party weekend - thank you to all of you who came and made it great and sorry to miss those of you who didn't (you were missed). It was 30 family at my parents on Saturday followed by our goodbye service at church on Sunday and lunch for 60! It felt a bit like a wedding in that i wanted to talk with everyone but really got to speak to noone at satisfactory length - and it was actually our wedding anniversary (7).
Praise God - we are pretty much funded!
Pray - visas and flights
- Luke and Isaac's final injections next wednesday
- for wisdom in packing and strength for goodbyes.
Emily, for the family x

Home at Last

Hi all, we arrived home safely yesterday after an uneventful journey from the States. Heightened security in the UK meant it was slow through customs, but apart from that it was fine. Luke and Isaac slept well on the plane and are adjusting to the time difference (It's 9:50pm now and Luke is still pottering around in his PJs - after all his body thinks it's only 5pm.)
We had our first lot of Japanese Encephalitis immunisations today. I was quite stressed (inwardly) as they boys have been so frightened - like literally screaming and hiding and having to be held down. Really dreadful . Thank you all for your prayers. Today was amazing - Isaac shed maybe 2 tears and Luke cried for maybe 10 seconds. Amen. They were calm, sat on my knee. No screaming or resistance. I read a book as the nurse was doing her thing and they both chose a wrapped bravery prize. We also had a competition to see who could be the bravest - the prize being choosingwhat to have for tea. This worked marvelously as I said that if i won i would choose very spicy curry and fennel salad (the boys worst nightmare) and seemed to motivate them to be brave. They were both seriously brave so Isaac chose fish and chips and Luke chose fruit salad and mint choc ice cream.
A winner. Amen people. Still no sign of the visas - on your knees folks...
For now, glad to be home and anticipating the coming parties, Emily