America Trip

Well...we think we're all on our way to feeling better. Abigail lovingly passed on her stomach virus to Daddy and then to Mommy. We think we're all on the mend now though, and that's nice. Throwing that into getting over jet-lag though, has made it difficult to get onto the Slovene time zone, so we're still waking up in the middle of the night, tossing and turning and trying to fall back asleep. We'll get past it eventually!

We wanted to share some pictures and stories about our time in States with the 6 students that went. It was such a great time for everyone and we'd like to thank everyone who was a part of it, hosting the students in your homes, or Joel, Abigail and I or all of us at one time! We were all blessed and touched by the people who opened their homes and lives to us. Also, thank you to those of you who drove all of us places, picked us up, gave gifts to the students and prayed for our time. It was so wonderful for all of us to be touched by the Lord through your kindnesses.

Abigail and I flew to Oregon a week early to spend a week with my parents. It was such a special time for me to be just their "daughter" again and share our daughter with them. They took us to a county fair, bought us greasy, yummy, irreplaceable fair food, mom took me shopping many times, dad and I got to go out for breakfast like we used to...it was just so nice to relax at Mom & Dad's/Grandma's & Grandpa's.

My parents live over in Central Oregon now and had to drive over the mountain to pick us up at PDX. Unfortunately though, Abigail and I got stuck overnight in Denver and missed getting in touch with them before they'd already made it to Sandy! They drove back home and my dad made the long trip again the next day to get us! He said he'd do it 10 times if he had to. Then that afternoon my parents threw a birthday party for Abigirl. She was pretty sleepy, but endured the attention and gifts and even ate some of her birthday cake this time!

We met up with Joel and the students the day they flew in, went out to lunch and then visited Multnomah Falls. We had to keep them all awake till evening! That week we (they) spent time at the Oregon Coast, Mt. St. Helens, water skiing for the first time, enjoying Starbucks coffee and atmosphere, and hanging out with friends.


The next week Abigail and I flew down to California to get some special time with my Dad's side of the family down there. It was great to be with my dad's mom, two sisters, uncle and cousins. I haven't seen them in about 6 years, so it was great to be with them again and for Abigail to meet them. Joel and the students drove down. Their first stop was in Modesto to visit Mike & Michelle Ricklick and their kids. Then they drove to LA to visit Disneyland, Hollywood and the Californian coast. Then it was back up to Oregon! The day after that, they all went up to Seattle for the day. We have a missionary friend here, David Bordner, whose parents live there and took them all out on Puget Sound in their boat. It was a special way to spend time in Seattle.

We were able to meet Joel at Downtown Disney the day they were all at Disneyland. It was so good to see him again. It was way past Abigail's bedtime, but she loved all the music, watching the people and the fireworks! She even got sprinkled with pixie dust!

The last weekend was spent at Bob & Anita Bailey's house. It was restful for us all and we had a great last night together talking about what we'd all experienced and how it has changed us. One of the boys said, "I was impressed with the way the father of the family we were staying with was so gentle with his kids, it makes me want to be more gracious with my family." One of the girls said, "I got to see what a relationship with God looks like." Most everyone said if they could go back to one place to visit again it would be the Oregon Coast. They said it was just so peaceful there, they really enjoyed their time there.

Well, I thought this would turn out pretty long, there was so much to share and pictures to share! Good job if you've made it this far!