Coming to America, Part II

The time in the US came and went like a whirlwind. We always look forward to the time in which we can see friends and family, and once we are there, it seems that we somehow get busier than ever and not get to see all the folks we would've loved to spend time with. Here are a couple of things we did get to do.

See and enjoy family. This is a true treat for us. We had not been able to see a lot of our family for a long time. In past years, we had been able to go to the beach with most of Roy's family in the summers, but as both our family has grown, and the rest of his family grows and gets busier (three college kids!), plus the fact that I couldn't travel this past summer because my visa had expired, had just made it impossible to see everyone. Well, we got to have Christmas over and over again, seeing all of our US immediate family. The boys had a blast hanging out with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. We got to spend a couple of days with Roy's older sister and her family who had come into town to spend Christmas. After that, we got to go to Charleston and spend a few days there, mainly visiting Roy's brother and his family. Also, we got to see my aunt and my cousin and her family, who also live there. Time with grandma and grandpa every day was a fun adventure for the boys. We got to see grandpa in action at the Y-Sail project he leads.

We all enjoyed seeing the boats grandpa builds with kids

See and enjoy friends. We got to see a lot of friends. It always feels as if we didn't have time to see everybody we wanted to see, and we are always grateful for the chances we get to catch up with friends who make room in their busy schedules for seeing us. We had the chance to have an evening dessert get-together, and we truly enjoyed the time to meet people who make it possible for us to do our ministries. Our plans to travel and visit friends in Raleigh were hindered by the snow storm that hit the East coast toward the end of our trip. It is always a challenge to keep in touch and strengthen friendships when being far away, and we wish we could be closer more often, but we are also excited to be part of what the Lord is doing in other countries that are not 'home'.

Looking forward to the next time we get to come back! We'll see what it's like to travel with 3 under 4 next time...