Well folks, we are finally back in Hong Kong… arrived last night after the 12.5 hour flight from Vancouver. Kids were generally okay on the plane. We had a total of 14 pieces of checked luggage and seven or nine carry-ons (roughly, can’t really remember anymore) including car seats for the triplets. Had a few snags getting everything home but eventually we all settled in. We ran the kids at full speed as much as possible until we put them to bed at 12:30 AM. Believe it or not, that bedtime was their first in "big beds" with Sebastian on the top bunk of new bunk beds for the first time! Stand by Tess’ or this blog to hear more about that exercise. Triplets were irritable during the night, waking and eventually getting coaxed back to sleep every hour or so. We finally had to get them out of bed at 6 AM. When I left for work at 7:45 AM, Sebastian was still sound asleep. (Tess & I at left prior to a class reunion… more details in a future blog to follow.)

We arrive into Hong Kong with mixed feelings about what the future holds. Jasper’s breathing was immediately a problem. By the time breakfast was over this morning he was wheezing quite badly and needed ventolin therapy. We will give JJ a few days to rest and settle before assessing the situation. In addition, each summer I always return from Fintry with some sort of "resolve" for the year ahead. Call it a form of a New Year’s resolution. Well, none this year came to be. While the holiday was great, it was also not so great. Work encroached more than ever before. (For example, last Friday morning I was up at 5:45 AM preparing for two, one-hour conference calls that finally finished at about 10:10 AM). There were also logistical activities made things a lot more tiring than usual. Getting the gang from Okanagan to Vancouver and then Hong Kong was quite an operation and effort. (But WOW – are DVD players in cars ever a good idea!) Therefore, it was hard to disengage, to let go and give the resolve a chance to emerge. Close friends will ask, "Did Chuck get his groove back?" Answer: no… but we did do a time capsule and contained within mine are two committments. Watch this space for more details because to be truthful, I wonder if maybe God is intentionally holding back any resolve to test me. (At left… Anne Fox, Sebastian and I make the annual jump from the Fintry Lighthouse… see the glee on Seb’s face?)

But don’t get all gloomy by the above… we have loads of fantastic pictures, lots and lots of fun stories, (some of which may go down in family history), and all sorts of interesting tidbits to be shared (will tell you all about the time capsule but not the contents!) in the coming days and weeks. For now it is full speed ahead but I have to ask… did we ever slow down? (Left: Lake Okanagan as seen from Fintry at dawn.)

How about you… have you got your groove back… did you ever lose it?