Reflections

This young bald eagle greeted us to the states from a large fir tree outside Kristina's parent's house.

Well, we're back in the US now, enjoying family and getting accustomed to the cold weather.  The fall leaves held on just a bit longer than usual this year in Ridgefield, which was a special gift for Kristina from God.  We had a safe, uneventful trip back to the US, and the kids were really well-behaved.  We've been blessed by family and friends here in Ridgefield, who have welcomed us with open arms.  We're especially thankful to Kristina's parents, who've opened up their home to live until we find a place of our own, and we'll be spending most of December enjoying the hospitality of my parents in Idaho.

Stopping outside Papa and Grandma's house to shoot a picture of the fall leaves.

 It will take us awhile to fully reflect on our time in Shell.  Please be praying for us as we adjust to life back in our home country and look for a place to live.  In many ways, it will be very challenging for us to be living in the US.  Of course we already miss all of our good friends in Shell.  It was a true blessing and honor to live and work with those missionaries for a couple of years.

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about Baby D, a precious little 1-month-old baby who had suffered bleeding in her brain.  I wanted to give an update about her status.  After spending about a week in intensive care in Quito, she made a full recovery.  She was seen by Dr. Tacheny in clinic last weekend and appeared to be completely normal!  We thank God for the miracle of this little baby's life.  This was an especially critical case, but in our prayer times as a family, we felt a peace, as though God was telling us that she was going to be alright.

We thank God for a great time in Shell, and we're looking forward to this next chapter in our lives.  It's scary but exciting, and we're content to be in His will.  Thanks go out to all of you who have been alongside us the whole way!

Dan didn't wait 24 hours to go out fishing on the Lewis River and brought home some wonderful chinook salmon for dinner.