My morning began with a wake up call in the form of an earthquake.  Just before it was time to get up, the bed began shaking back and forth gently.  Thankfully, the kids didn't wake up, and Aaron and I shuffled into the living area and started the coffee brewing.  The sun was just coming up, and a nice breeze was blowing, so I decided that today would be a good day for washing all of the sheets from the village.  I got a load of sheets going, grabbed my Bible and cup of coffee, and plopped down on the couch.  I love early morning!

I heard the Angelus bells sing nine times down the hill, and the kids began to straggle into the living room a little before six o'clock, also grabbing their cups of coffee and Bibles.  Our day got off to a peaceful start of unpacking, and the sunshine and breeze held up all morning, enabling me to finish five loads of laundry and making me extra grateful for the washing machine (with water that comes in and out without any help from me!).  Benjamin made a birthday cake while I did a little bit of meal planning, found a new recipe for the slow cooker this weekend, and Sarah and I chopped up the veggies and grated cheese for yummy chillaquillas for supper.

After lunch, I headed out for a SITAG Children's Education (CHED) meeting.  We got lots of planning done, but most of all, we encouraged each other and shared stories, successes and failures, too.  I'm so thankful for these SITAG ladies!  When I returned home, Sarah had iced the birthday cake, my capable kitchen crew had finished preparing supper, and we ate early to have time to get everything cleaned up before we went next door with the birthday cake to celebrate.

It's been a full, productive, busy, tiring kind of day, but having a "normal" kind of day feels so good after our family has been in bits and pieces so much in the last few months. 

Honiara has quieted down, and we appreciate all of the prayers that have been offered up on behalf of the government in the Solomon Islands.