Stop #3: Tokyo, Japan!

Well, we made it to Tokyo, Japan! 

After 9 hours of flying we are here, sitting in yet another airport, but it is sooo nice to get a break from airplane seats. The flight however went great! The airlines gave us a plane bigger then needed, so literally the plane was maybe not even half way full. So needless to say most everyone got an extra 2 - 3 seats each, which made for a great bed to lay out on! 

The interesting thing is, to you right now at home as i write this it is 10:41 pm, so most of you are probably in bed, but for mark and i it is 2:30pm on friday Aug. 1 and when it was the usual time for us to be eating dinner, they were serving us breakfast... and one of the choices was fried rice and teriaki chicken, and it was delicious, never thought id eat that for breakfast... 

In about 4 hours we will begin to load our next flight to nagoya, japan, where we will then fly to Saipan, so i think this will be the last time i blog until we get alittle settled in saipan and get some sleep. 

We are so excited to finally arrive there... only about 10 hours more and we are home. Well, i payed $10 for this internet while we are here in the narita airport, so if anything else interesting happens ill get back on and let you know. But, until then, Adios (mark and i will soon learn how to say goodbye in Japanese, korean, Chumaro, and Phillipeano). 

Love,

B. 

I apologize, the internet is being weird, and spell check in obviously not working. =)

Stop #2: Seattle, WA

Well we have made it through one flight... from Spokane to Seattle. I wish the next few flights we are going to be on would go so quickly... only 45 minutes. But I don't think that is actually going to happen... 16 hours of flying 1 down. We now have 15 hours of total flying left. That is not including layovers, etc. Tomorrow morning we jump on our next flight and it is our longest... Seattle to Tokyo - 11 hours of flying. But we are soooo ready.

Yesterday in Spokane we said goodbye to my parents, my little brother and Marks sister Suzanne. I think the hardest goodbye for mark was actually DICKS... For those of you who don't know what Dicks is, it is a quick stop burger shop... the cheapest burgers in town, and by far the best. Mark looked very depressed leaving his glimpse of "heaven", but i think it was all a show. =)

But we are now in Seattle with Marks sister Julie and her husband Rob, and the very patient niece of ours who refuses to make an appearance. =). That's okay though, just as long as she comes sometime soon for the parents sake. We will still love her, and spoil her.

After saying 90% of our goodbyes i think Mark and I have finally hit a tired streak. We are feeling great today, but last night when we got into Seattle we went to sleep at 11pm and slept until 11am... it was amazing. Now we are rested and ready to go. Mark is planning on pulling an all nighter tonight so that he can sleep on the flight tomorrow... I however am not joining him in that venture. I can sleep anywhere, and sleeping is one of my favorite hobbies =).

Well, that is all for now. Hopefully my next writing stop will be in Tokyo, or the Seattle airport. So until then...

Stop #1!

Well we are (well I am) at stop number one of our travels to our new home in Saipan! Today was my last day out on the family farm in Potlatch, Idaho. Mark is still down there until tomorrow enjoying a day of blue grass harvest and driving the combine before taking off. Then tomorrow evening he will join me in Spokane (where i am now). We fly out of Spokane on Tuesday evening to Seattle where will will spend a day with Marks sister Julie and her husband Rob, and crossing our fingers, our niece. Julie is about 5 days past her due date.... All in Gods time though.

Please be praying as we say our goodbyes. They began today with Marks family, and to be perfectly honest, it sucked =). I miss you guys already. I love you.

Also - this last week i found out about some medical problems that i have, and will hopefully get it figured out once we arrive on the island. Until then, i am going to keep it low, but just please be praying for peace for both mark and i about the situation. Nothing life threatening =).


Until next time....

B.

Almost there...

Kara & I. Oh I love you.

Mark0 & I Boating.

Nicolle & I boating on the lake.

Shakespear in the Park... It was awesome!

Sara & I.

13 days and counting... Thats how many days until we begin our traveling journey to our new home. We fly out to Seattle July 29th from Spokane and will be visiting Marks sister Julie and her husband Rob for a day and then from there we fly out of seattle to Saipan. We are hoping to meet our new little niece (Julie and Rob are expecting any day now). Hopefully she will be around so we can meet her.

Our time is running short in this part of the world and it is now just beginning to feel real. Until now it felt like a dream. But lately, not so much. I have begun to get butterflies in the tummy. Last weekend was my first real realization of us moving. Mark and I got the chance to take a road trip back down to Boise and play with friends... Most of all spend some time with my best friend Kara. We had a weekend full of fun; boating, shakespear in the park, dinners out, and just being together. It wasnt until we were about ready to drive away and saying good bye to Kara that it hit. I am not going to see her for a year, unless she comes and visits (hint hint). But as we drove away the tears started flowing. I am going to miss you Kara Marie.

But for those of you who werent there to see the tears, we only have about 13 days left, and we are hoping to see as many friends and family as possible.

Beyond the realization that this is actually happening, we are getting very excited! Quite Jealous i may add. Jake and Jackie, a couple from Iowa and who will be also teaching with us on the island as first timers are on their way, last we saw they were sitting in the Tokyo airport, and we were wishing it were us. We have been waiting for this for 6 months, and it is almost here! Wahooooo.

Please be praying for us as our time with family and friends shortens. Please be praying that moving preparations work out, and that we can just enjoy this time left.

This time is definatly bitter sweet. We are so excited to land on the Island of Saipan, but sad to be saying so many goodbyes.

We will keep you updated through the next few weeks as to where we are. Also, be checking back with us, because once we arrive in Saipan, we will have lots of blog posts coming! Oh- and if you have a blog, please let us know so we can check them out!

Love,
M & B.

Summer has begun!

The Mid-Columbia Group! 49 students, 5 leaders, 7 high-school!
Our Club (Connell/Kahlotus/Washtucna High School)
Mark & I - Formal Dinner - Mark had to pull out his Levi's suit.

Some of My girls on the giant swing. 30 - 35 feet high!
My Pink gang. Not planned at all. Some of my girls and a staff's daughter Taylor.
Pool Party! In your Clothes! At Night! Mark with some of our kids!
One of our kids on the Ridge Runners (Go Carts).
Marks and my kids, at the rock pile. Each rock in the pile represents every student who has accepted christ or re-dedicated their lives to Christ at Camp... this piles represent the past 10 years at WildHorse.

Well Summer definatly has begun, and hasn't slowed down since. Since school got out on June 7th for both Mark and I, we have packed up our home in Kahlotus, WA, said some goodbyes, and moved back to the farm in Idaho for the summer. But since moving there we have only spent two nights there. On June 14th, Mark and I and three other Young Life leaders packed up a tour bus and Marks pickup with luggage and 49 high school students from 7 high schools in the central Washington area!

After a 6 hour drive and one stop at McDonalds, we arrived to the beautiful land of Central Oregon and Antelope, OR which the home of Wildhorse Canyon - a Young life Resort! We spent a week with these students along with 650 other students and leaders from around the U.S. building relationships and hillarious memories! We couldnt have asked for a better week! The weather was perfect, 80's all week (it is usually in the high 90's to 100's). But besides the fact that we did go carting, ropes courses, zip lines, good food, mountain biking, and a large swing, we had some amazing talks with these students and many lives were changed, not only students, but leaders.

At the end of the week, James, the weeks speaker did an alter call at 7:30 in the morning. And that is early for high school students, especially in the summer, and on a lack of sleep. But to Marks and My surprise 9 of our students (we brought a total of 14 from our club) either accepted Christ or re-commited their lives to Christ! It was an amazing time! What a week well spent!

After getting home on Friday the 20th, Mark and I headed to Spokane, where we did loads of laundary, packed up again, got a good nights sleep, had lunch celebrating my brother Andy's 22nd birthday, and headed to Ross Point Baptist Camp. The Camp where we actually met in the 7th grade and started dating my senior year of high school. Mark and two of his close friends, along with his sister Suzanne, and I are leading Jr. High Camp. Suz is the director, i am the computer tech and Mark and his buddies are leading music. It is only Tuesday, so we have 3 days to go. But since we are dealing with jr. highers we are getting sleep, so this has been a good week =).

Only 37 days until we fly out to Saipan. We are actually flying to Seattle on July 29th and spending two days with mark sister, Julie. Hopefully our new niece will arrive on time so we can spend some time with her also (Julie and Rob are expecting their first little one on July 23rd).We then fly out of Seattle on July 31st to our new home.

Time is running short and we would love to see as many friends and family before we take off, so please get ahold of us if you can hang out! BBQ at the Sawyer farm is possibly a go for the 3rd weekend of July, but we will keep you posted!

Love you all!

Counting Down the Days... Literally.

Our Guest Room.. Can you see the Toilet? We cant, yet.

Life has been getting busier and busier since we accepted our positions at Saipan Community School. We are now 64 days away from flying out (July 31) of Seattle. Our 10th Box went out today, our house looks like a bomb has exploded due to the packing, sorting and shipping. Our guest bathroom is unrecognizable due to all the empty boxes needing a place to be stored...

Along with moving in 64 days, school is out in 6.5 days... FINALLY. We are sooo burned out right now because of the end of the year activities, trying to move, spending time with family and friends and winding down our last 2 weeks here in Kahlotus. We are hoping to be moved out by June 12th. And then 2 days later headed to Wildhorse Canyon a long life resort with 14 of our club kids for a week long camp. Please be praying for funds to come in to get all of these kids to camp.

Last weekend in the process of moving a bed to my parents, getting things out of their garage and moving them to farm to put in a storage shed Mark built we did get to have some R & R with family. On Saturday afternoon, in Spokane, we were able to go see the Spokane falls that are over filling with water, flooding some places. It was amazing to see though. Then we headed to the Bowl and Pitcher where we played on the swinging bridge with higher waters then usual.

Then on Monday we had a little BBQ with the Sawyer side of the family on the farm.

Now we are back at work, Awards Banquets tonight, Ballet Recitals tomorrow, then graduation on Saturday, along with packing... We are sooooo ready for June 13th to be here!

Bowl & Pitcher...

Spokane Falls...

Chicago and 99 Days and counting until Saipan!

Why hello there!

Hope all is going well with those of you who read this! We just wanted to share some photos with you of our weekend to Chicago. Just like last year, this year we joined 11 young life staff/volunteers from our area on a 3 day quick trip to Chicago for a Young Life conferance. It was a blast of a weekend except for the 2 hour delay home and driving over snowqualmie pass at 10pm through a white out of snow and getting home at 1:30 am, and then teaching the next morning!

Besides that is was a ton of fun. The speakers we wonderful and the shopping was great! We spent Saturday afternoon touring the magnificant mile and visiting one of my favorite stores, H & M.

Other then that we are busy with the last month or so of school and now getting ready to move. Only 99 day to go until we are "Leavin on a jet plane..." We are now in the process of deciding what we want down there and deciding when we should send it. We are having to start shipping things in the next few weeks if we want it to be there when we arrive... yikes...

Still looking for a home for border our kitty, for the year if you know of a good and lovin home!

Hope to see you sometime soon. And we pray that warm weather will come all of our ways!