Showing posts with label Trekking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trekking. Show all posts

Sunday, September 28, 2008

So special...

Ryan got home from his trek on Friday (one day early) and I was so excited and happy to see him. Once he got a (much needed) shower and spent some time playing with the babies we sat down and looked through all of his pictures as he told me all about their trip and the things they had seen and done. The guys had a great time together. It was fun to hear all of his stories and hear his feelings about it as soon as he returned home. He also showed me this picture that he took at the Throngla Pass (17,500 feet) on the Annapurna Circuit. It was so sweet and made me smile and feel so special and loved. I am so blessed to have Ryan in my life.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

I miss my husband...but God is GOOD!

I thought I would take a minute and update you on life without Ryan being here. First of all, I have heard from him twice and he and all of the guys are doing really well except for the fact that it has been raining A LOT! But they said aside from that and being sore they are really enjoying their time and are right on schedule so far!
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God has been so gracious to me. As I mentioned in an earlier post this is very new territory for our family to be apart for so long but by God's amazing grace I am doing really well. Of course I miss my husband and I wish he were here BUT I am so excited for him and all that he is being able to experience and so thankful for the opportunities God has given me so far being here in Kathmandu in my home. To be honest, I haven't left my home (except for one hour to take a walk with a friend) in 4 whole days (which is a big deal for me. Usually at minimum I go to the market or to the gym each day) but God has given me amazing opportunities to serve Him and fellowship with friends from my home while taking care of the babies. I actually have been alone very little since Ryan has been gone. I have had American friends come to visit, Tibetan friends come to visit, my house helper is here almost everyday (What a BLESSING...I plan to post more about this topic later), had the sleep-over with the girls (previous post) and spent some time with a few neighbors. I am blessed to have friends who are coming to spend time with me and people I am able to serve straight from my home. I am very grateful. I was especially worried about being alone at night and God has also answered my prayers regarding that. It is certainly not my favorite thing to be alone with the babies at night but it has not been bad at all. I know God has been with me.
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The main challenge and learning has been from taking care of two babies without Ryan. Things have gone very smoothly and each day I am learning tricks from the previous day which help the next day go even smoother. The hardest part was the first evening getting them ready for bed. They are so used to eating at the same time and getting their bottle right after their bath not to mention the fact that about an hour before bedtime they start to get SOOOOOO ready for bed and I failed to prepare for all of this the first night so I unfortunately had two screaming babies all through baths and up until bottle time because they both were hungry and had to wait while the other was taking a bath and by the time I was ready to give them their bottles they were both screaming their heads off (poor things!) I usually just tend to the one who is crying harder first but in this instance I think they were both crying as hard as they could so I did what any mother of twins would probably do in that situation...I left...NO of course not! I picked up both of them one in each arm and fed them both at the exact same time. They were so hungry that it worked well but definitely is not the way I would choose to do it for each feeding. The next night I learned from my mistakes and started baths early and was able to bathe and give Gracie a bottle before Keane even realized that it was his turn for bath and bottle. Learning from mistakes (ignorant or otherwise) is so wonderful. Not my favorite way to learn but sometimes it is the only way!
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Just 6 more days until Ryan comes home. Tomorrow I don't have much planned except trying to get on a lot of stuff done on the computer. I need to do it so I am looking forward to having the time. I am so thankful that God is always with us so that we are truly never alone.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

New Territory...

My husband is leaving tomorrow for a 10 or so day trek in the Himalayan mountains. He is going with 4 of his great friends and is going to be able to serve God in some of the remotest and most difficult to reach places in the world. I am excited for him and SO happy that he has this opportunity and is taking it. I can't wait to hear about all that God does and to see pictures and hear about all of their crazy adventures BUT I am also sad. I am sad that we will be apart for 10 days. We have been married for 5 years and dated for 3 before that. In our married life we have only been apart for two nights (and they weren't consecutive) and both times I was staying with family or friends. I will miss him. I know God is with me and will give me the strength I need to take care of Gracie and Keane each day and I am SO grateful that I have Lhakpa (the girl who helps me around the house) coming each day and good friends (American, Tibetan and Nepali) to help me whenever I need it. I am confident that we all will be fine and do fine BUT I will miss him. Ryan is my best friend and we do practically everything (or as much as we can do now with two little ones) together. We love being together and so it will be strange not having him around. I do have some fun things planned while he is away that I am really looking forward to such as hanging out with girl friends that are in town because their husbands are also on the trek and having a sleep-over with my good friend here and 6 of the Tibetan teenage girls from the children's home she runs. There are also some errand type things to do and of course there is always email and blogging and my never ending list of stuff to-do on the computer and then add that to taking care of my amazing babies and I am sure the 10 days will fly by. We are entering new territory here in the Parker family and it will be interesting to see how it all goes...I should be updating the blogs regularly (except that Ryan is taking the camera so pictures will be limited, I am supposed to be borrowing one from a friend though) so stay tuned....