A Year in the Life: April, 2018

April begins with my birthday, which also happens to be Easter Sunday this year! We go to church at Pisulí, then have lunch at an Indian restaurant in Quito. In the evening, we celebrate Easter with a special "brinner," complete with resurrection rolls, an Easter object lesson and treat that the kids like to help make.

I share my birthday with my sister, and we enjoy celebrating together. This year, we plan a spa date in mid-April. This was actually her Christmas present to me, but we have waited so long to actually plan it that it feels like a birthday gift, too! We enjoy a hot tub, massages, and facials at a spa in Quito, followed by lunch out, and then manicures and pedicures. It is fun to pamper ourselves occasionally!

Representatives from the Shawnee Trail Church of Christ in Frisco, which has recently begun supporting our family, as well as the Bible college in Quito, come to Ecuador the first week in April. We drive into Quito to have dinner with them and the Marcum family at Pim's, a nice restaurant with views over the city. The following day, they come out to see the camp and have lunch at our home. Then, they leave with Rusty and Josh for a one-night trip to Loja to visit the church planting team there.

Stephen turns nine on April 6th. He is sick on his actual birthday, so we postpone our plans for an outing with his cousins. By the next day, he is feeling better, so I make his requested birthday dessert -- Oreo Cheesecake Brownie Trifle, and we celebrate at home. Later, we reschedule a visit to the arcade with his cousins.

Syndi has her baby (born on Stephen's birthday!), so after church the following Sunday, we pay them a visit at the hospital. Baby Isabella is super cute!

Our fridge is still not working properly, so while we wait for the technician to figure out what the problem is, Rusty has a small fridge that belongs to the camp brought up to the house. We squeeze it into our laundry room. It's not ideal, but it's better than nothing. And waiting a few weeks for a repair is certainly better than buying another fridge! Meanwhile, the closets for the boys' new bedroom are finally finished, so I spend several days unpacking, sorting and organizing their clothes into their new space.

A small group from the Sunset Church of Christ in Springfield, MO visits Ecuador in mid-April. They are visiting the church-planting team in Manta, which is sponsored by Sunset. Rusty travels with the group to Manta to help as a translator and is gone for several days. On the way back from Manta, the group misses their connecting flight in Quito, so Rusty brings them out to the camp for the night. They are re-booked on a flight leaving the next evening, so we get to enjoy a day with them at the camp. We take them to town, to the Equator monument just south of Cayambe, and to have lunch at the Vaca Loca. We have dinner at our house that evening before Rusty takes them back to the airport.

The third weekend in April, we have a group at the camp. It is a girls' retreat, at the camp for two nights. I stay busy in the kitchen all weekend. Rusty takes the kids to Enoch's birthday party on Saturday and to church on Sunday.

The end of April finds me planning, shopping for, and prepping another big batch of crock-pot freezer meals, this time for Syndi, who has been staying in Quito with her mom, but will be coming back home to the camp soon with her new baby. We have a 4-day holiday weekend at the end of April / first of May, perfect for this project and also beginning work on getting everything ready to file our taxes.

April moments (clockwise from top left):

1. Birthday girls!
2. Stephen is 9!
3. The kids are enjoying listening to Joe Bright, from the Sunset Church, tell a story.
4. School is in session

Furlough 2014-15: The Great Road Trip (Detroit to Nashville to Seattle)

From Nashville, we had planned to travel south to Florida to visit a church there that sponsors a youth camp each summer at Camp Bellevue, and then take the southern route west across the United States, through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and then north through California and Oregon before ending up back in Seattle. We planned to visit churches, friends, and family along the way, and also the Grand Canyon (which the kids and I have never seen). Everyone getting so sick changed all that, though, and in the end, we decided to cancel most of our remaining appointments and just head back to Seattle by the most direct route.

Like the first segment of The Great Road Trip (Seattle to Detroit), I will document this portion of our trip day by day below, with pictures and commentary interspersed.

Day 10 (Dec. 27, 2014) -- Livonia, MI to Nashville, TN -- We then stayed about 10 days in Nashville (see previous post).

Day 11 (Jan. 8, 2015) -- Nashville to Memphis, TN -- Thank you to our friends at the Park Avenue Church of Christ for the gift of a hotel room on this night. By this time, I was feeling much worse, while everyone else in the family was finally doing some better.

Day 12 (Jan. 9, 2015) -- Memphis, TN to Oklahoma City, OK -- We stayed three nights at the missionary house here, right next door to our friends, the Lj's, and just across the street from Oklahoma Christian University. We got to see so many dear friends from our Japan days, spend some time with Rusty's nephew Robbie, then a student at OC, and his then-girlfriend (now-wife) Cat, attend church at The Springs, do laundry, and rest. By the time we left, we were all finally on the mend! Read my post here about how much this unexpected and serendipitous time meant to me.

Elizabeth meets her cousin Robbie

Cousins

Chai and Dominion with Cat and Robbie

Day 13 (Jan. 12, 2015) -- Oklahoma City, OK to Limon, CO -- We drove all day and got a hotel in Limon for the night.

Day 14 (Jan. 13, 2015) -- Limon, CO to Ogden, UT -- After another long day of driving, we got a hotel in Ogden. The boys were well enough at this point to go swimming in the hotel pool, which they were super excited about.

Amazing how sitting all day in a car can wear you out!

Day 15 (Jan. 14, 2015) -- Ogden, UT to Portland, OR -- After our third long day in the car, we finally made it back to the Pacific Northwest! We stayed two nights with Rusty's sister before driving the final leg back to Seattle.

At the former Cascade College in Portland, our alma mater

Day 16 (Jan. 16, 2015) -- Portland, OR to Seattle, WA -- We completed our crazy circle around the United States, arriving back in Seattle with a few days to get ourselves packed up before our return to Ecuador the following week.

Coming up: fun furlough stats!

Furlough 2014-15: Livonia, MI

We spent Christmas, 2014 in Michigan with my parents. Our time there didn't feel long enough (it never does), but we were able to pack in quite a few special experiences and make some fun memories, including:

Helping Nyanya decorate her tree

Decorating Christmas cookies

Playing board games

Putting together the gingerbread house

Watching the Christmas train go around the tree

Lamb dinner with the Burtons (aka Grandma and Grandpa "B"). This picture is so special to me now because Grandpa "B" is no longer with us.

Visiting the Hands-On Museum in Ann Arbor

Story-time -- including lots of time looking at Nyanya's "bird book"

Visiting Great Nyanya (my dad's mom)

And Great Grandmother (my mom's mom). Both of my grandmothers have also since passed away.

Watching the model trains at the Henry Ford Museum

Taking a picture with Santa (the best Santa, in my opinion -- his beard is even real!)

Crafts, including our homemade ornament project for 2014, plus several crafts Nyanya had for the boys to do

This was Elizabeth's first Christmas, and she received her very special hand-dmade stocking from Nyanya

Joyous Christmas Day!

Christmas Day feast -- turkey dinner and all the trimmings!

Thank you, Nyanya and Babu, for making this Christmas such a fun and special time! We love you!

Furlough 2014-15: The Great Road Trip (Seattle to Detroit)

On the first day of December, 2014, we left Seattle after nearly a month in the Pacific Northwest and headed East on our Great Road Trip. I will document the Seattle to Detroit portion of our trip day by day below, with commentary and photos interspersed.

Day 1 (Dec. 1, 2014) -- Seattle, WA to Coeur d'Alene, ID -- We stayed the night in a Holiday Inn, then got up and started driving again the next day.

Road trip!

Open road

Day 2 (Dec. 2, 2014) -- Coeur d'Alene, ID to Billings, MT -- We stayed 2 nights with our friends Craig and Jeri Ford in Billings, and enjoyed our visit with them and their church.

Lookout Pass (Idaho)

6 of the 7 Ford and Campbell children

We spent a morning at Scheels. The kids had so much fun taking all these silly pictures.

It's gonna eat you!

Be vewy, vewy quiet.

There was even a ferris wheel inside the store! How fun!

Day 3 (Dec. 4, 2014) -- Billings, MT to Moosomin, Saskatchewan -- We stayed 3 nights with Rusty's Uncle Ken and Aunt Rae. On Sunday morning, Dec. 7th, we met with the church in Manson, which supports us, and gave a report on our work. We enjoyed a potluck lunch with the members after the service.

Elizabeth and Uncle Ken

Elizabeth and Aunt Rae

One day, while we were there, the Christmas train came to town.

The boys got to see Santa.

They got to play in the snow.

Benjie thought the snow was too cold!

Watching the train go by.

With Uncle Ken and Aunt Rae outside the community center where the Manson Church meets.

Day 4 (Dec. 7, 2014) -- Moosomin, SK to Winnipeg, Manitoba -- We gave a presentation to the Central Church of Christ in Winnipeg about our work, enjoyed a soup supper afterwards, and stayed the night with a family from the church.

We had breakfast with Rusty's cousin Kemmy and her family the next morning.

Day 5 (Dec. 8, 2014) -- Winnipeg, MB to Hudson, WI -- We stayed the night with Dale and Vicky Hawley and enjoyed a brief visit with them.

Day 6 (Dec. 9, 2014) -- Hudson, WI to Bolingbrook, IL -- We stayed two nights with our friends Adam and Christina Mearse and got to meet with folks at the Naperville Church of Christ about our work.

On our way to Illinois, we passed through Wisconsin Dells, where we had lunch and spent some time playing at one of the indoor amusement parks.

Day 7 (Dec. 11, 2014) -- Bolingbrook, IL to Livonia, MI -- We stayed one night with my parents, left the older boys there the next day to spend some time with their grandparents, and took off for Pennsylvania with Benjamin and Elizabeth.

Day 8 (Dec. 12, 2014) -- Livonia, MI to Somerset, PA -- We stayed three nights with our friends the Hintons. The church in Somerset supports our family, so we met with them on Sunday morning and gave a report on our work. My friend Michelle drove up from Virginia with her family to see us and we got to spend some time together.

Michelle and I have been friends for 35 years!

Day 9 (Dec. 15, 2014) -- Somerset, PA to Livonia, MI -- We traveled back to Livonia and parked ourselves at my parents house until after Christmas! Whew!

Next up -- Christmas in Michigan!

Furlough 2014-15: The Pacific Northwest

After our time in Ft. Worth, we flew to Seattle and were in the Pacific Northwest for  almost the entire month of November. We spent the majority of our time in Seattle with the Bellevue Church of Christ, but we were able to take a few days and head down to Portland to spend Thanksgiving with Ronda.

We were present for the Bellevue church's Missions Sunday on our first Sunday there, which was very special. We also visited almost all of the home groups during our time with Bellevue, shared meals with different members, had meetings with the elders and missions committee, and got to do some shopping and explore a little of Seattle. We had decided, for various reasons, to change our residency to Washington state, so we  also had a few "paperwork" errands to take care of during our time there. We registered to vote and got our WA state driver's licenses. I was continually amazed at how easy and efficient government offices were in the States in comparison to Ecuador! It's all a matter of perspective, folks! After getting all that taken care of, we were able to go to the public library and get library cards. The kids loved the library, and we definitely made good use of it during our time there!

The church had arranged for a short-term rental house for us during our time there, which was a VERY big blessing! It was nice to have a place of our own to come home to at the end of the day, and it meant we could have friends over for dinner or even to stay the night. We reconnected with several different friends and relatives during our time in Washington and of course Oregon!

Here are pictures of the highlights of our time in the PNW:

I got to reconnect with my friend Abby, a fellow MK from Kenya! It had been over 20 years since we had seen each other.

Game night with the young adult group at Bellevue Church of Christ

Our former teammate, Jordan, happened to be back from Angola on her furlough at the same time as us. She flew all the way to Seattle to spend a few days with us. We explored downtown Seattle together.

Highlights of our day in downtown Seattle included a ride on the Great Wheel with an awesome view of the Puget Sound, and a visit to the original Starbucks and Pike Place market.

Elizabeth met her Auntie Ronda for the first time.

We took the ferry to Whidbey Island one day...

...to welcome cousin Johnny home from his Navy deployment! We are so proud of him.

We spent a very cold day at the zoo!

We paid a visit to Cousins Dave and Kaye who live north of Seattle, about an hour from the Canadian border.

We got to attend the Dickens Carolers pre-season Christmas concert, hosted by the Bellevue Church of Christ.

While in Portland, we got to have lunch with my cousin Candace and her son Cory.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Auntie Ronda in Portland. The next day, we had Christmas with her!