Friday, August 29, 2008

Last weekend

I know there's been a shortage of posts here. The last few days have been non-stop for me. Today is no exception, but I was missing my blogging. I was also up at 6am with a wide-awake baby, so what else am I supposed to do?

So you heard the story about the surprise on Thursday afternoon. Friday was spent driving back from Auckland, and then we (Mel, Cate, her boyfriend Drew, Matt, and I) all stopped at my parents rented-out home to look through the storage for a box of photo albums. When we moved we took only what we needed and everything else got stuffed (and I mean s.t.u.f.f.e.d) into a big garage on the back of the property. We had forgotten the key, but since it was old, we went to the hardware store and bought five of the set I thought it was and went to try those. Turned out it wasn't right, but after a few more ideas and a trip back to the hardware store we got it out. Then we had to climb in and over all the stuff, the boxes were all in the back. It took three girls (the smaller, more agile of the group) were in there searching through boxes. Mel finally found all the photo albums, including my mom and dad's wedding album.

At that point Matt and I ran to the car with Oceana who had long since peed through her last diaper and was now wearing a t-shirt of mine in a diaper-like-fashion. We were late getting back, and we had an 45 minutes to make the 45 minute drive back and pick up the big BBQ we had rented. I was freaking out. And of course we were behind a dozen slow drivers. One guy was even fiddling with Matt, slowing down on purpose, and not letting Matt pass him. That's when I get road rage - when people think it's funny, or think they're teaching us a lesson. Grrr.

When we got there to pick it up, our car wasn't big enough, so the guy said we could come back for it in the morning. The rest of the evening included chinese takeaways/takeout, Matt going to youth group to help drive, me taking Oceana, Drew, and Cate grocery shopping, and then me collapsing on the couch before 10pm.


Saturday, the ship arrived into Tauranga, and I was the event coordinator for that one too. See the windows on the top of the building? That's where we met. It wasn't nearly big enough, but it was larger than the ship's lounge.

And yes, he throws her this high. And yes it makes me nervous. But he never drops her. And she LOVES it.

*I love that I can get action shots like this to come out clearly)


This is the singing group we found through a friend who came to sing the ship in. It was really neat.


And there's the m/v Pacific Link being :nudged: into place along side the dock. We're too little to "tug", but we can use some nudging. :) She needs some pain and chippping - it's such a pretty color rust, huh?


Oceana did a good job making Nana feel welcome too.

Saturday was very busy for me, but it didn't let me forget that it was August 23rd. I had a few "flashes" throughout the day.

August 23, 2007 was the day we discovered Joshua had a problem. It was the same weekend my parents ship came in. We found out on Thursday, and the ship pulled in Saturday. I stood on that dock, next to a friend who'd just lost a pregnancy, and me who had just found out we might lose our baby. We both looked pale and tired, our eyes were puffy.

This year was different. This ship was coming back from the Joshua Outreach. I'd been there, I'd helped. I had been in Samoa and thought to myself, "I couldn't have done this with a new baby." It's a lot of emotion, and I can't say what I liked and didn't like, or how it felt. It's just a lot to think through.

It's probably good I was busy, but it was a hard day for me. It's up there with December 6th, January 7th, and March 15th.





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6 comments:

  1. You are amazing Susie!! What a wonderful surprise for your parents and I am sure a job well done on the ship's arrival. I hope that you will have some quiet time soon to be able to reflect on everything. :) And the picture of Matt throwing Oceana is awesome. I have one of my husband and daughter like that too. I love how it highlights just how tiny our little ones are :)

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  2. You are such a good person. I am so happy to read your blog and I check in every day hoping for a new entry.

    If you could keep me in your prayers for a little bit, I would appreciate it. I am missing my sister so badly and my heart hurts. The story is on my blog.

    Thanks in advance...
    Dawn

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  3. I've been thinking the same thing. Your mother told me she found out a couple days before they were going to get back last year and how hard it was for her. I'm glad that this year's homecoming was so different. Just wanted you to know you're not alone with the feelings. Love you sweetie!

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  4. April/May I am not quite myself. I totally get what you are saying although my baby was able to stay w/ us here.

    You're never alone @ those times. Not just a loving Father in Heaven but also the world wide family is there for you!

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  5. You are in our prayers as you work through this. It is a complicated bunch of emotions. These days will never be forgotten but your emotions will change as time goes on. It will be a little less painful and raw as every year passes. You will always remember, but one day it might not be with tears. I hope that day comes soon for you, Matt and Oce.

    Much Love!
    Jennifer Bray, Spokane,WA, USA

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  6. This keeps coming back to me and I must comment on it...the picture of Matt and Oceana in the air waiting for him to catch her. She looks totally carefree, totally trusting that her daddy will catch her...he has not failed to catch her before, so you said. What a picture of us as children of God, totally carefree, trusting that He will always catch us. That's how he desires us to be...like a little child.

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