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We had a great month of June in South Carolina. It was great to be in the same town as Josh’s parents. We enjoyed all our extra time with them, going on outings, eating together, and just hanging out. The last week in June we went to Jones Gap for a picnic lunch and hike.

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The kids enjoyed a trip to the Roper Mountain Science Center with Grandma Jensen. The butterflies and animals were a big hit. That evening we went to a planetarium showing. I was very proud that Becca was picked to list the planet in order.

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We took a short trip to visit Josh’s oldest sister Caroline and her family. The men went shooting while the kids all enjoyed playing.

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Our kids also enjoyed playing with their cousins in Greenville, when they came up for a visit.

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We also saw the Crowleys (our Team Leaders in Cambodia), which was a big hit for our kids. One night we went to Uncle Nat’s soccer game. The kids were excited about cheering him on. Clara wanted to make her sign for Aunt Kim.

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Our last Sunday in SC, Josh preached the PM service at our home church. We’re thankful for the time we had to spend with the church, friends, and all our family in SC this year.

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In July, Josh made an overnight trip to visit his parents again. Josh’s second sister Charity, flew in from China for a surprise visit. All three Jensen kids got to be with their parents.

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A huge thank you to Mom J and Caroline who took most of these pictures. With 5 kids to juggle, taking pictures is about the last thing on my mind. I’m thankful for all the pictures people took for us.

August 13th was Ezra’s 1st birthday. So far he’s spent half of his life in Asia and half in the States. The day after his birthday we flew back to Cambodia (it was a very expensive birthday present!).

Ezra continues to be a sweet, pleasant boy. He always got a glowing report from the nursery workers in the churches we visited and many people wanted to keep him. He’s such a joy.

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At the end of June, Ezra started crawling. He quickly became a speedy crawler and we’re so thankful he waited until we were near the end of all our visiting. He also learned to pull up on his pack-n-play, which made him less content to be put down for naps or in the night.

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Ezra loves eating. He has three teeth – two on the bottom, one on the top. He loves watermelon and all kinds of fruit. He loves drinking. He loves swimming, as long as the water is warm. He loves bubbles. He loves his rabbit – Malone, and loves to suck his pointer finger. Ezra says a few words: Mama – which refers to me or means more, bubbles, buhbuh – maybe this means Becca, Dada, and dtickadticka – which means tickle-tickle. The funniest thing is when he tickles himself. He loves to be tickled and often moves my hand to tickle him more. (The picture below shows him tickling himself.)

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A lot of people think Ezra looks like Isaiah – here’s a 1-year picture for comparison. Isaiah had more teeth, more hair, and more weight!

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The day before Ezra’s birthday we had a party for him. He loved eating his ice cream cake.

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On Ezra’s actual birthday we drove to NJ. He got to see his Great Grandma Sutter, Great Uncle John, and Uncle Joey.

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We’re looking forward to an exciting year with Ezra. I have the feeling he’s going to be into everything. He’s going to be a challenge during home schooling, but fun. He’s struggling with the time change, but I’m hoping he’ll be adjusted in another week. At least he’s really cute when he wants to play at 1am and 3 am. 🙂

Ezra has gotten into the habit of getting rocked to sleep. He’s still nursing every three hours at night – I’m hoping once we’re settled back in our own home we can break him of this habit. All and all he’s done a great job with six months of traveling, being in many different sleeping environments, and being with so many people, without a normal routine. We’re thankful for our boy and I can’t imagine life without him.

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The journey has started and might be over by the time you read this. Tuesday afternoon we loaded our stuff into a van and drove to NJ. Wednesday morning we drove to the JFKennedy airport in NY. Our flight leaves at 2pm. We have a 13-hour flight to Korea, a 2-hour layover, then a 5 hour flight to Phnom Penh. Lord willing we will arrive in Cambodia around 11pm on Thursday (Eastern time: Thursday 12pm). We will spend a few days in Phnom Penh before making the days drive to our home in Ratanakiri.

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Today we rode the Strasburg Rail Road. It’s something we’ve been planning to do since we came back to the States. Glad we fit it in!

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We rode the train and got off at a picnic stop for an hour.

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A fun day for us all!

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One of the highlights of our time in SC was the time Becca got to spend with her best friend, Amaris. Becca and Amaris met when they were roughly 6 and 9 months old at our church in Texas. Right before we left Texas, Amaris’ family moved to Josh’s hometown to teach at our sending church’s Christian school. We’re thankful the girls have continued their friendship over 9 years.

While in SC, we lived in a house a block from Amaris’ home. We all enjoyed the times our families spent together. I’m very thankful for Yani’s friendship. All our kids enjoyed playing together.

The girls had two sleep-overs and played at each others’ home several times.

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As a mama, I’m very thankful for good friends of our children, even more so as we’re halfway across the world. It was a delight to see Becca and Amaris hit it off so well after our being away 5 years. Thankful.

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