Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Catching up






On the last day of May, we said goodbye to our pink house with green doors and orange trim. The floors inside were painted red. The walls, we won’t talk about the walls. It is very sad, but the truth is, we may never get to stay in such a colorful house again. 



It seems Carrie planned her graduation on the same day we moved out.  Or, was it Thomas… or was it Heidi.



To celebrate Carrie’s graduation from high school we went on a trip to the beach with some friends of ours and had a great time except for the part where the waves were crashing into the boat on the way over.



One of Carrie’s friends was baptized while we were there so we provided a little music for the occasion.



This is a warning:  If you spend too much time on Facebook or if you have a teenager advising you on how to pose for the camera you end up doing this sort of thing.

Picture from Carl Stevens
All beach trips come to an end and you must go back to work.  After the beach we went north and worked with three Isnag ladies, our partner, Vicky, and my consultant, Ginny, to check the Isnag version of the book of Mark and two chapter of Luke.  The other day a five year old told me that she was not five, she was five and a half.  I feel like I’m being a bit like that when I mention the two chapters of Luke.  The check was six very taxing days, but we all survived and Ginny was pleased with the end product including the two chapters of Luke.


With the translation check complete it was time to say goodbye to the Philippines.  We are always happy if we arrive at the airport with all of our bags, tickets, passports, and plenty of time to pass all the security inspections.


We didn’t think we had signed up for first class, but when they passed out the airplane food we began to wonder.  They wouldn’t give Yakult to economy class passengers, would they?



When we landed in Portland, Charles, our oldest son surprised us by meeting us at the airport.  Thomas, our youngest, counter surprised him by being much taller than Charles expected.


We have enjoyed seeing all of our family members.  This is my Grandma and my recently arrived niece Sarah.  I have been a good uncle for many years, but Sarah has managed to make me a great uncle.  



We have also enjoyed many family times with Heidi’s side of the family.  This is Sara, Heidi’s sister and Heidi.



After the wedding we only had enough time to unpack our suitcases and repack for a trip to Georgia and points beyond. Carrie and Thomas are both anxious to get their driver’s licensees.  We thought that maybe starting the training by being the captain of a canoe would be a good place to start.

(These two pictures from Dawn Parker)

One of our first stops was Monroe Baptist church where we got to speak to the children and adults. 



The kids were a great audience.  The adults were pretty good too.  Heidi is passing out souvenirs from the Philippines.



A couple of days later we arrived at Ft. Jackson where James was due to graduate from Army basic training.  One of the first things we noticed is that everyone in this tribe dresses alike.  The chiefs are very bossy and there are a lot more men than women. It was interesting to note that when one guy started walking all of the other guys quietly followed him and the first guy never looked back or noticed that he was being followed. 



Everyone looked alike, but we finally found James and enjoyed family day and graduation day with him.



After graduation, we took James to Virginia where he started training for EOD (Bomb squad).



In mid September, James will finish his first phase of training and move to Florida to finish his EOD training. 
 

After dropping off James, we drove to S. Carolina and visited the Howard family and then flew home to Washington via Washington DC.  Two Washingtons in one day!  A couple weeks later, Heidi’s sister, Robin, and family came down from Alaska to spend two weeks with us.  During that time we had many reunions with family and friends. (The red type is the computer's way of saying I don't know English grammar.)



Heidi with her nephews and the Blackstad boys.



This is a picture of our new musical group, The Three Bamford Twins.  We are hoping to add a twin or two.



This is a picture of  my brothers, Tom, Mike, David w/ Sara, myself, and my father, John.
Thanks for having a look at our blog!