Our Vacation

Our pictures from vacation have been downloaded to a new program, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to download them onto this blog! Until then, I must apologize to those of you reading this blog, but you'll have to endure nothing but words this time as I give my report, sans photos. :o(

We left on July 20 and first stopped off to see dear friends of mine from seminary, Charley and Marianne, and their adorable son, Joshua! Joshua was adopted from China, and it was such a joy to keep up with their "Journey to Joshua," and then it was absolutely wonderful to meet him in person! Seeing Charley and Marianne again felt just like old times. We had lots of fun back in the day, didn't we ya'll??? And it was just the same. To top it off, we had Mexican food - yay!

We got to my parents' house later that day and then had family pictures made on the 21st. That was fun! My BFF Elizabeth's hubby, Johnny, takes pictures. We all color-coordinated our outfits and went out in the back yard and had a blast of a photo shoot. Later that night, My brother, his girlfriend, and I went to the River Market in Little Rock and met up with some other friends from Matt's and my growing-up years. It was fun being back and seeing some home-folks.

We went to church the next morning, and again it was good seeing old friends; after lunch (thanks, Mom and Dad!), we headed up to the Ozarks to visit my Aunt Nancy. It was so nice and relaxing. The kids had fun playing out in the back yard, catching fireflies, and crawling through the doggie door (sorry, Aunt Nancy!). BW and I had fun visiting with N, kicking back for awhile, and enjoying all the yummy stuff N made to eat! Especially the potato salad, some of which magically made it into our cooler for us to enjoy on the way to Iowa! N and I made a post-card run Sunday night, but came back with no post-cards, but had fun driving around together anyway! I love Aunt Nancy!

On Monday morning, we packed up from Nany's and headed to Knoxville, Iowa! Yippee!!!! We arrived at the home of our friends M&J M, their three kids, and their pets (my kids were thrilled! Animals!). We had a fun five days in Knoxville. Highlights were: daily visits with BW's grandparents, a day in Pella with our kids and M&J's two younger kids, visits with other friends that BW grew up with, and taking a ride with J and her daughter, K, and Chicken Nugget and me - in their VW BUG!!!!!! It is fabulous and yellow and we got ice cream at Sonic!!!! Also while in Knoxville, we took a jaunt over to Winterset to visit dear friends J&S S, with whom I stayed during my summer mission work in Winterset, summer of 2002. We also met up with Jenifer B and her parents. It was great to see them all, and praise be to God, Jenifer has experienced healing! After tests at Mayo, there is no indication of any illness whatsoever, so Jenifer is undergoing intense physical therapy and can expect a long, healthy, and happy life!

We left Knoxville on Friday and headed to LeMars, Iowa, ice-cream capitol of the world! Blue Bunny ice cream is made in LeMars. Also, we have wonderful friends that live there! M&J J, to be exact, as well as their two kids, J&M! We had fun visiting with the family, going to the water park, going to the regular park, and attending their church with them on Sunday morning (M is pastor of the Methodist church in LeMars).

We left LeMars on Sunday afternoon and headed to Britt, Iowa, to the home of our friends M&K S, and their kids, T&S. We had a marvelous dinner of stuffed canaloni (thank you, sweet K!) and then had double-chocolate brownies for dessert! YUM! The kids had a great time playing in the downstairs basement playroom (I miss basements, ya'll!) as well as outside riding backs. We grown-ups enjoyed talking and eating some great Iowa food (like the REAL DEAL sweet corn!!!). K and I had much fun on our Wal-Mart run on Monday!

On Tuesday, we left the S's house and headed to Chicago! But on the way we stopped and had lunch with W&C W and their four cuties - C, A, L, and brand-new baby J! We hadn't yet met L and J, so that was fun. It was also fun to be on a real farm with pigs and cows and a huge garden and a creek and everything! We didn't get to stay long, but still it was great to see the W family!

Chicago was a great time! We had fun swimming in the hotel pool (Chicken Nugget's favorite activity for the whole vacation!), going to Shedd Aquarium, trying to navigate the public transportation system (not easy, or else we are just idiots!), going to the Art Institute (my very favorite!), seeing a friend of BW's from college who works at the Art Institute and got is in free (thanks, A!), eating at California Pizza Kitchen at Water Tower Place, and seeing friends who have a great ministry in Chicago - K&B D, and their eight children! They have a great old house with a huge yard, and the kids played outside for hours.

From Chicago, we journed to Algoma, Wisconsin, with a stop in Sheboygan to see another college friend of BW's. In Algoma, we stayed in an amazing little motel that was right on the beach of Lake Michigan. It was beautiful and the weather was cool. The kids and I walked the beach that Saturday morning - with our jackets on! We spent the day Saturday with friends that Scott knows from college - R&T S, and their three little ones, E, A, and J. There was also another couple, visiting from Iowa with their three kids, also friends of Scott's from college. R&T have planted a church in Algoma, and it's been amazing to see the work that God has done through them. The other couple from Iowa are planting a church, and it was fun to hear the conversations between them and R&T. It was also fun going to the beach so that the kids could play in the lake, and driving around Algoma, which is a quaint and lovely fishing town.

We left Algoma on Sunday and headed down to Nauvoo, Illinois. It was from Nauvoo that the members of the Mormon Church fled to cross the country to Utah, back in the late 1800's. I wish I were more up on my history - anyone wishing to add more information, please do so. On Monday, we walked and drove around the town, saw where Joseph Smith had lived, where he and his brother and wife are buried, saw the beautiful temple (rebuilt to look like the original temple, which had been destroyed), and many other historic sites there. Everyone in the town was wonderful and friendly to us, and besides the historical significance of the town, it is just such a lovely area. It is right on the banks of the Mississippi river, and as we drove down a few roads, we saw creeks and small cliffs and caves and camping areas. We definitely want to go back when we can spend more time.

We left Nauvoo on Monday afternoon and drove all the way down to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, to my alma mater, Williams Baptist College. We snagged a guest room there for the night for $8.00! Can you believe it???? We enjoyed visiting with many of my old friends there, including the President of the school and the VP for Student affairs, as well as the Dean. It was fun to see them all again, and many others. There have been many changes at WBC, including a new administration building (it is beautiful), a new bookstore and campus post office, and the student center has been remodled. It was impressive.

We left WBC on Tuesday afternoon, after touring and visiting, and drove back down to my folks' house in Benton, AR, for the night. We got to see the proofs of our family pics, visit with CBB (yay! I love you CBB), clean out our car and repack it, and hit the hay for the night. We were beat. We made it home to Texas the next day and really are still recouperating!

Much love to all of you. If we didn't see you on this trip, well, we'll make it on the next one!