I like to remember our trips and so thought it would help me to make a list of some of our more memorable moments...
* we drove something like 8000 miles over the course of our furlough - from Mexico to Canada and to various places within the United States - that's a lot of car time! we shared a lot of quality conversations together - evaluating our lives, our parenting, our work in Mexico, our future plans, etc.. we read a lot of books, listened to lots of radio, and tried to be creative with our time being strapped safely in our buckles (including the very popular game of pumping our arms to get the semi-trucks to honk their loud horns - this was by far a Reece & Chase fave!) - we saw so much of God's beautiful creation and the boys noticed a whole lot of animals
* Benjy enjoyed his 1 week Master's class at ACU - very challenging
* spending time with our good friends Scott, Melissa, Cameron and Casey Smith - they shared their home with us and it was good to reconnect and pick up right where our friendships left off - they are just those kind of friends!
* little Pierce begins sleeping through the night early on the journey - great thing for me!
* we learned the hard way that one should make hotel reservations when travelling through not so populated states like Montana, Wyoming and Kansas (many extra miles were added on to already long travel days for "no vacancy" in the entire towns on 3 different occasions - the reasons: Jehovah Witness convention, rodeo, wrestling tournament, german convention)
* ok, call me biased but there is nothing like a Saskatchwan sky - I loved being home - it was so green, so pretty, so wide open! good afternoon/evening spent with good childhood friend Jenn and her husband Terris and kids Rahimay and Rohan. Benjy and I loved our walks/jogs out on the country roads, breathing fresh air - the boys loved playing outside for hours - riding tractors, quads, motorcycles with uncles, chasing cattle - they loved connecting with cousins Kenzie, Kalen and Camrynne and of course grandma! we loved our camping trip with Auntie Char and Uncle Dale and Grandma - lots and lots of fun! We ate and ate and ate - good food! We enjoyed this most relaxing part of our furlough and appreciated the time for devotionals and spiritual conversations with my Mom...and the visit with Char that lasted until 4:30am. I am blessed with a good family. Thank you!
* loved listening to the not so intelligent toddler/preschooler arguement in the car between Reece and Chase about whether the animal spotted was a donkey or a horse!
* we enjoyed Father's Day weekend with the Brednich siblings and Benjy's Dad (Gary) and Robin - this was the first time in along time that all siblings were together and it was a lot of fun - the boys loved time with cousin Caden - they loved the family afternoon at Cabella's and the highlight of the weekend....Auntie Betsy and Uncle Jared announcing their pregnancy - we are thrilled to meet this new little family member in February!!
* we learned that when travelling by plane early in the morning with 3 sleeping children and way too much luggage - it is not a good idea to cut your time close - we ended up missing our flight as there was a line at the curb-side check-in line and we spent several hours waiting to fly stand-by...amazingly all getting on a few hours later!
* contrary to my thoughts that a trip away from home is no time to begin potty training...Chase takes great interest in using the potty like a big boy - almost always telling us when he needs to go #2!
* our 2 weeks in Louisville, Ky with our partnering congregation (Westport Road Church of Christ) were wonderful - they are the nicest people - very hospitable and warm - we loved reconnecting and meeting new friends - our kids loved playing in a different back yard every night and with so many fun friends like Isaac, Elijah, Ian, Kirsten, Ian, Oliver, Makaela, Drew, etc..
* our family trip to the Newport Aquarium was a lot of fun - we enjoyed the shark tunnel, watching the deep sea divers, and racing the penguins!
* time with the mission committee and leadership team from Westport Road were special - from blueberries and ice cream with Dan and Jan, tractor rides at Jim and Sue's, playing cars at John and Debbies, bowling with Doug and Reagen, bunnies at Ken and Brenda's, or the fish pond at Larry and Dianne's - the kids made memories with people that serve our work in such a special way...and we felt the love, encouragement and support from our church family!
* Reece and Chase made a big step in life and were ready to go off to Bible class on their own (they were quite proud of this!)
* a very special baby shower put on by Gina and Stephanie for little Piersen - it was a great way to have some time together as ladies and for Pierce to laugh and smile his way into more hearts! we are grateful for their genersoity and love for our family.
* protective big brother Reece saves Chase by screaming to us that he has fallen in the pool as we let him out of our sight for a few seconds - we got a pretty big scare to see him under the water....but in typical Chase style he coughed for a second and was ready to go back and play!
* we loved the church picnic and the special fireworks - what a great way to spend our last evening with Westport Road!
*our visit to Washington DC was to see Mimi (Benjy's Mom, Mary Beth) and she made sure to fill it with lots of activity - themed around the White House - we got a tour of the White House, the West Wing and a White House lawn view of the President's departure on Air Force One (yes, we saw President Bush wave right at us!) These are interesting things to see - maybe not quite so age-appropriate to young little boys who don't understand why security guards yell at you when you are simply stepping on the White House lawn (yes this happened) or why it is inappropriate to slobber and make farting noises on the leather chair outside of the oval office (yes this happened too)...or to be told by an overzealous military person on the tour of the Pentagon that you shouldn't wander away from the group during the tour or you will get shot (yes...true - comment aimed at Reece - with a not very impressed Mom listening on)...but it was very cool to all of us to see all the sights - even where Mimi works at the Capitol building.
* the Air and Space Museum, the Natural History Museum, the water fountain at the Sculpture Garden - all very neat things to see!
* we got a chance to see the Cubs play against the Nationals - Pierce's first major league baseball game - while Reecer and Chaser stayed with Mimi! Benjy was so happy to see his Cubs (as this is "the" year according to him!)
* Mimi and Uncle Burke kept all 3 boys as Benjy and I had a few hours to ride the metro, check out a museum and most importantly just be us!
* we had an opportunity to have several significant conversations with Jason and Heather Thornton who had given us pre-marital counseling and now graciously shared their time with us - giving us a marriage check-up - time well spent.
* arriving back to our home in Mexico City at 2:30am - hoping the kids would transfer from their car seats to their beds...only to have them wake up with excitement - taking about an hour to get them back to sleep after seeing their dogs, their toys and their home after weeks of being away!
