Wisconsin (Part 2)

Forgot to mention, that after we finished up at the children's play place on Monday, we headed to the Humphreys place, they are with GoodSeed and it was great to get to know them better.  Such incredible examples and they encouraged us in more ways than one. So much wisdom.  We stayed at their house 6 whole nights, that's a lot, but we were in and out a ton. This was our busiest week by far, but it was good!

Day Tuesday (12-3-13):

Burritos with Renee for lunch, then Frozen, they had a special discount on Tuesday and free popcorn!

Renee has a bunny!!!

Olaf, he was hilarious!

Day Wednesday (12-4-13):

I'm getting a little foggy on details, I think Wednesday,  we went to the Morrison's place for breakfast, went to the bible school to have lunch, with Ernie and Karen. Then met Thomas and Jennifer in the evening at McDonald's.   It was nuts, but so good!  I didn't get pictures and I'm kicking myself for that, but oh well, I still have great memories.  Each visit was special, and a blessing to my heart.  The resounding theme: God is so good, HE always makes a way!

Kees wanted juice, we were only back at Humphrey's place for maybe an hour and a half, and I had JUST sat down. I told him I'd get his juice at 5:00. He was watching the clock.

Day Thursday (12-5-13):

Doug met with Dave for breakfast. I *think* we went to lunch with the Humphreys to "La Estacion", the Mexican place we loved going to when we lived in Waukesha.  After lunch, we picked up some Sprecher sodas.  Went back to Humphrey's place for a little while, the met the Sunilas for dinner.  It's a tradition, we always to to the same place with the Sunila's, Pepinos. It's usually for Friday night fish fry, this was the first time we'd gone on a Thursday, and the first time George and Jean weren't there. George and Jean are also missionaries, George passed away while we were still in Thailand. It was sad to be there without him, and Jean was going to come, but fell on the ice!  Double sad! Glad I got to see her earlier in the week, at least.  Their church, Freedom Fellowship had been hosting quite a few missionaries, so she was busy!

Mmmmm, Sprecher!

These are my kids FAVORITE pajamas.  They would wear them every night if they were clean.

Day Friday (12-6-13):

We met my friend Jessy at the Steaming Cup.  Back in the day, when we lived in Waukesha, our friend Cody worked at the Steaming Cup and would always bring me cinnamon rolls. He's still my favorite!  I missed him so much when we were in there!  Anyway, we met Jessy, she is a teacher in Thailand and was home for the holidays. We were able to catch up over this yummy drink. It was Doug's and I can't remember exactly what it was, but I think it was a caramel cappuccino or something.

After we saw Jessy, we headed to see the Longs.  It was a bit of a drive, but we actually really like that. It's quiet, the kids usually sleep, and we don't feel like we're imposing on anyone.  Ahhhh, nice!

You know, I think my kids are so cute, but their kids are so cute too!

I know I keep saying that every part of our trip is my favorite or it was a highlight....blah, blah, blah. But I always, always look forward to hanging out with the Longs and it always goes by WAY too fast. Doug knew Jared back in bible school. Jared grew up in Thailand as an MK. They were able to speak Thai this time, FUN! And Jared's wife Erin would totally be my best friend if we ever lived near each other. We have a lot in common and she's so easy to talk to, not that I really struggle in the talking department, but you know what  I mean.


Day Saturday (12-7-13):

A day with nothing scheduled, expect cleaning and packing in preparation for leaving...again.  So much traveling.

Also, OU played and the Humphreys not only let us watch the game, but watched it with us!  They were fabulous hosts!

We always wear OU stuff on Saturday, game or not.

Paul was fixing their dryer. I don't think I broke it, but you never know, I'm a terrible house guest, NEVER have me over.

Curious George

I met Renee, well got lost, and she had to come to me. It was SO cold! We went to Trader Joe's to look around for stuff she can take with her to Thailand in February to give to our mutual friend, Jill.  Not gonna lie, I got so homesick for Thailand talking about it.

Day Sunday (12-8-13):

As if the previous night wasn't hard enough, talking about Thailand and feeling sad (at Trader Joe's), we went to the Laos church on Sunday morning and I basically fought back tears the WHOLE time.  It was so emotional.  When I walked in they were singing a familiar song, one we sang at church in Thailand.  There was so much cultural nuance that was the same, there was Asian food smell coming from the kitchen, and the looks on their faces at seeing my kids was all too familiar.  Again, all these things are hard, missing Thailand, but at the same time, it reminds me of what God did, to get us there, to keep us there, and to lead us home.  It's ALWAYS been HIS plan and it's ALWAYS been good, even when it hasn't necessarily felt like it.  I just have to hang on and trust.  I felt so encouraged and blessed to be with these believers and I hope when we get to Idaho we'll be able to find some Thai folks, maybe in Spokane, to hang out with.  I'm so thankful for the many people and blessings God has put in our life.  We felt very encouraged!

Look familiar?

We had one copy of "By This Name" in Thai. We gave it to the church, the Laos translation hasn't been completed yet. Thai and Laos are similar. Anyway, this man is Thai, he sat with us at lunch and explained to Doug that he struggles when reading the bible and relies on helps to understand it.  After lunch, I saw him reading the book, he stayed like this for the next 30 minutes.  So exciting! God is just so, so good!

When we left church, it had started snowing, a lot.  After my emotional previous evening and then morning, I had several more hours of his stress to endure, but we made it!

After church we drove from Milwaukee back to Waukesha, where we'd been staying with the Humphreys, I had left the ipad on accident. Whoops.  Then we drove back over by Jackson way, to get some Christmas gifts for the kids that the church, Freedom Fellowship had put together for us. They were wrapped and everything! So nice!  Just those two stops, should have taken 45 minutes, but they took over 2 hours. Our next destination, our friend Jerry's place, where we had dinner plans, should have taken 2 hours, but ended up taking more like 6.  We found out later, that there were quite a few wrecks, so we were VERY thankful that we made it safe and sound, albeit after 8 pm...way too late for dinner. Not to mention Jerry's wife is pregnant, and I'm sure she ain't got time for THAT!  We were only planning on being there for dinner, but we ended up staying the night. We headed to my friend Alicia's place the next morning.

Jerry and Kristen made the best chocolate chip cookies and seemed so laid back and happy to have us. Just what we needed after our crazy day of driving. Again, it went by too fast. Was great to see them. Can't wait to hear more about their birth story!!!