We had many activities this last summer; I am going to use pictures to give the highlights.
Fun in Grandpa's yard with some of our old toys.
Selah even had a few driving lessons around the farm.
My three Astronauts in training at the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson. We had a fun day here on our way back to Sabetha after visiting family and friends in Kiowa, KS.
Selah with a new friend, Eden Beyer.
Kaleb & Angie Beyer were our neighbors in Sabetha for about 10 years before they moved and then we moved. They are in Morton, IL now and we spent a weekend with them. Our older kids remember being neighbors and playmates, but these two little girls were just getting acquainted and had great time!
Mara participating in a Wednesday "Lunch in the Park" program at the Sabetha Library. This was part of the Summer Reading Program. We spent a lot of time at the Library this last summer and did bunches of reading! Mara read 1800+ pages, Krae read 54 books and Mommy read 54+ books to Selah! So thankful for access to a library!!
This picture is of the Fire Engine Rides at the Bern Kansas 4th of July celebration. I took this picture because it reminded me of how the Haitian people will ride on vehicles. Here's proof that Americans do it too!!
We enjoyed the old tradition of the 4th in Bern. Once again, the Fireworks Show was amazing for such a small community. It was good to be home for the 4th this year!
We had lots of ice cream cones while we were in the states as they are not readily available in Haiti. This one with chocolate coating was almost more than Selah could handle. It was a yummy mess!
A huge highlight of our time at home was 3 days and 2 nights at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. We had a ball at the water park and did most of our clothes shopping at The Legends Shopping Center. Here are some fun photos:
The end of July found us on the road and traveling to Chicago, IL, then on to Bluffton, IN. Fortunately, the kids slept alot in the back seat of the truck and the trip went well.
We spent a few days in the Bluffton and Ft. Wayne area doing our shopping for the year. The ten tubs of supplies will be loaded onto a sea container later this month; we hope to receive the container in October. The containers are mostly filled with supplies for the hospital and construction projects, but we are able to take a bit of room to send down household and food supplies. We are so very thankful for this benefit!!
While Rick and I were shopping, our kids got to spend some time with old and new friends!
Krae playing Legos with the Pfister boys. The Pfister family lived in Bonne Fin for several years. We were here with them for about 3 months before they returned home in November.
One of my good friends while I was growing up was my second cousin, Missy Frieden. We spent time together often when she came to Kiowa to visit family. Now, she is married to Travis Bussel and they live in the Bluffton area. Our kids spent an afternoon with their family and then we all went out for pizza. The kids were enjoying lollipops after supper!
A special thank you to Sam and Dar Habeggar who hosted us in their home while we were in Bluffton. We enjoyed our time with them very much! We also had the opportunity to spend a weekend in South Bend, IN with Bob and Sue Beebe. We were treated like royalty while with them as well.
From South Bend, we headed back to central Illinois for a few days in Bradford for a Missionary Orientation/Retreat. En route, we stopped for a few hours at Tanner's Orchard where we met up with Aunt Katie Martin, her daughter Debbie and all of her grandchildren. It was a great play stop after many hours in the truck.
Just down the road from Tanner's, we spent 3.5 days at Shallowbrook Farms Conference Center for a missionary orientation / retreat. This event was organized by Kirk & Keri Plattner and Frank & Kathy Sauder for new missionaries preparing to enter the field and for a few that have already been in the field. We were unable to attend last year, so we made a point of staying in the US until the end of July to be able to participate.
It was a wonderful few days, even if very fast-paced with lots of information. In many ways, it was good to attend after being in the field for a year. We found that we could relate to most of the content and found areas that we need to work on. We were there with 8 other Apostolic Christian couples and families and the fellowship was wonderful. I have to mention that Kathy Sauder's food was amazing!
The final weekend in July, we were back in Sabetha packing up for the trip back to Haiti. We enjoyed the last weekend with our home church attending Sunday services and having a potluck in the evening. We do have the opportunity to fellowship with many people in Haiti, but it is special to be in the United States and fellowship with our brethren. We are thankful for the time we had at home.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. I John 1:7
No comments:
Post a Comment