US Citizen

We arrived in California 5 weeks ago, and here I am on our final day taking a glance back and wanting to record some precious and unforgetable moments during our visit.  It has been an amazing time and I will share more over the course of the next few posts of what God has done in the life of our family.  There have just been some MAJOR events that I feel deserve their own spotlight.  Here is the first highlight...

We arrived on June 25th and felt yet another wave of jetlag hit us.  We had one day to attempt recovery before caravaning down to Los Angeles to witness the swearing in of over 2,000 new US Citizens.  Of course, we were there for ONE very special man, Miguel, my brother-in-law.  He is from the Dominican Republic and has been working on his US papers since he and Jennie were enaged in 2006.  After years of waiting, mounds of paperwork, passing of his oral exam, and much much more, you could not find a more happy couple to have this process finally behind them.

The day was one to remember.  The reuniting of the cousins.  Nearly missing the ceremony.  Waiting.  People watching for hours and wondering what their stories were.  Did I mention waiting?  The drive home...let's just say nothing compares to LA traffic.

Miguel, we are so proud to call you an American and our brother!  So glad we were able to share in this very special day with you guys.

Week 2: Ohio

I will NOT be doing a week-by-week recap of our summer.  However, we do have 3 major locations that we call "home base" anytime we are stateside.  Michigan--home of Jonathan's parents.  California--home of Noella's parents. And Ohio--home of our sending church and to us prior to moving overseas.  Therefore, I will highlight our second week stateside since it was spent in Cedarville, Ohio.

This was a brief period of time in which we were able to recooperate a bit as a family.  Our amazing church family provided the use of one of their newly remodeled missionary houses.  What a retreat for us!  We enjoyed the slower pace of Cedarville living and were able to see a few people during the week.  Most of our closest friends were on vacation or at camp during the week, so we look forward to catching up with many more on our return trip in August. 

The side of the house and the van, also given to us to use for furlough by our church

One morning we took the kids to the US Air Force Museum.  They absolutely loved that and the price was just right for our family--FREE!  

 

We had several dinner invites and enjoyed the hospitality of retired missionaries from Alaska, the special treat to the Cheesecake Factory and time spent together with two of the church's secretaries... 

Thanks Debra for a very fun evening at The Greene!

...And Amy too!

The splash pad at The Greene was a blast for the kids

...and a fun summer night spent at the Wallis home.  

Love the Midwest's wide open spaces to play.

We received a gift certificate to Mom and Dad's Dairy Bar and the kids enjoyed ice cream a couple of times.  I did take note of the penny candy jumping up in price since our college days, but other than that I can't say anything has changed in the past 16 years.  We took numerous trips to the library and maxed out our limit in checking out materials over the course of the week.

Oh, and the kids had a fun visit with their cousins' cousins and my sister-in-law's sister.  Close enough to call them family.  Good to see you, Reid family!

Sunday was another insane marathon day for Jonathan.  He preached both morning services at Grace.  We literally felt like we flew in and out of the church doors because we had to be on the road headed to West Virginia by 1:30 that afternoon.  A dear family hosted us for lunch and we scarfed down food while enjoying our one-hour conversation.  We hate that rushed feeling and are thankful for their gracious spirit and understanding of our tight schedule.  The drive to West Virginia was close to 3.5 hours and we made it in time to grab some dinner with the pastor and missions chairman before the service.  The service was small and intimate and Samuel greatly enjoyed the request from the pastor for an inpromtu piano performance.  Back we went on the road, returning close to midnight for a brief sleep before an all-day traveling day to California.  Whew...