Fiji!

We arrived in Suva very late Thursday evening. It was a good trip over but a bit strange to me to have the flight be shorter than the bus ride across the island since we were coming from NZ! And in true Fiji fashion one of the flight attendants and I recognized each other. She's the cousin of a good friend. Instead of the 'family tree' Steve calls the relationships here the 'family forest'!

We were greeted at our house by a long-time friend who had been watching the house and by a cat we had raised from a kitten who has been given away several times but keeps coming back. She was obviously very hungry and I waited about 24 hours saying, 'Go back home, go back home," to her yowls for food before I broke down and fed her. My rationale is that she's been fed here before so........! We'll have to find a home for her far enough away that she'll stay. The boys have absolutely loved having her here now to love on, however. Their pets were a huge part of memories here.

The water also went off about 30 minutes after our arrival. Just like old times!!!

It is really, really great to be here! Fiji still feels like home. Things have changed, though. In our neighborhood which has never been fancy to start with you can tell there hasn't been extra cash around the last few years. Things just look a little more 'tired.' A sign of the current times, I guess.

Being back in our old house is neat, too, although it looks quite different. If I had known we were still going to own it I would have just kept the old furniture and left pictures on the walls! The first night as I sat in the living room heaps and heaps of old memories of the kids growing up here flooded my mind. I can still see the little people they used to be running around the place. Very precious! It's also very special to have our present with Steve connect with our past this way.

We've seen a number of people that we know already and will go to our old fellowship tomorrow.

P.S. Just coming back to add that the first cat's mother showed up at our door as well a little while ago! The kids were thrilled to see her. I gave her a cuddle but was relieved when she seemed happy to leave later!