Isaac's Strawberry Feast

Our little friend Isaac decided that his "Uncle Paul" needed to eat somestrawberries.

Heidi's Morning Smoothie

1 cup frozen strawberries
1 ripe banana
3 scoops homemade yogurt
1/4 cup milk
Blend well in blender/food processor
Serve immediately and enjoy!

Merry Christmas

We want to wish you all a very merry and blessed Christmas. While we are nearing the end of Christmas Day here in PNG, all of you back home are sleeping after a lovely Christmas Eve, and will wake up in a few hours to enjoy Christmas morning. We wish you all a lovely Christmas Day, spent with family and loved ones.
Last night, Christmas Eve, we enjoyed a quiet evening meal of appetizers and sparkling grape juice, which is becoming a tradition with us. *Please see above photo of us in our living room, in front of our banana tree "Christmas Tree" (Paul's ingenious idea). We then enjoyed a Christmas Eve service with all the residents of Ukarumpa in the Meeting House (where church services and big events are held here in Uka). After church, a big group of young people had a bonfire, we sang carols, and then went to a house to enjoy Christmas treats and hot apple cider.
This morning, we opened presents together, just the 2 of us. Heidi got a set of mugs and a coffee pot from Paul made by a local potter. Paul got a set of arrows from Heidi. After presents and relaxing, we headed over to the Campbells for a delicious brunch, complete with crepes and delicious fillings.
With our stomachs already full, we proceded to Gavin & Carrie Jones' house (friends of ours from POC) where we had a delicious meal, with chicken (in lieu of turkey), mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing - the works!
Now we are completely stuffed and badly in need of a nap. In a few minutes we will be heading out again to spend more time with the big group of young people that are affectionately know around Ukarumpa as "The Crowd". More food, games, and good cheer.
We are keeping busy, which is good because it is keeping us from getting too lonely and homesick. But of course, we cannot forget our family and friends, who we are missing, especially during these days when families are so often together. We wish we could celebrate with you all.






May you be blessed as you celebrate the birth of the Saviour...

Hiking on a Saturday

Last Saturday a group of about 20 decided to go for a hike up Lone Tree Hill, a big hill just outside Ukarumpa. We were eager to go, as we have not hiked much since getting here to Ukarumpa. We started by crossing a river about 30 ft wide and up to our knees in some places, we were surprised how cold it was. The hike up the hill took us about an hour and a half, and provided stunning views of the Aiyura Valley and Ukarumpa. We ate a snack in a grove of pine trees at the top of the hill and then descended. On the way down we walked through a few coffee plantations, it is grown as a cashcrop in the valley here. A beautiful hike on a beautiful Saturday -perfect!






a view of
Ukarumpa













because there
are no rock faces
around here...

Shopping in Kainantu

So where do you go when you need to buy something, and it can't be found in the small store in Ukarumpa? You go to Kainantu on a shopping trip!Kainantu is a town about 30 minutes drive from Ukarumpa, depending on the condition of the gravel road (recently graded) and whether you run into "rascals" on the road or not. These rascals are known to hold up cars and steal money and belongings. Our trip to Kainantu on Saturday was not so eventful and we had a safe drive into town. Kainantu has several grocery stores and also is popular among Ukarumpans for its used clothing stores. We went with 2 other couples and had fun looking through racks and racks of clothing, mostly imported from Australia.

Irony

Rainy season has started here. It has been raining almost every afternoon since we arrived. I was thankful, knowing that our water tank, which provides our drinking water, was filling up. On Sunday the water pressure was dwindling but the pump was still pumping hard. It was then we discovered that our large water tank was empty. The screen on top of the tank was clogged and was preventing not only debris but also water from entering our tank. It hasn't rained since Sunday, so much for rainy season.
(For those who are concerned, we get drinking water from our neighbors and river water is pumped in for all our other needs.)