very busy

I can't believe it's been 10 days since I last blogged! Part of it was due to crazy schedules and part of it was due to an uncooperative blogger that wouldn't allow me to blog while in Columbus. Anyway, back at it...

We spent Friday in Harrisburg at Kevin's cousin Kelly's house and got to hang out with them for the day. Their daughter Madi was kind to play with Seth and share her toys. Unfortunately I didn't take a single picture while we were there! I am super bummed because they were so cute playing together. Then while they both went down for naps, we enjoyed watching the Wimbledon together! We went Friday evening to Aunt Marta's house for dinner and then headed home to go to bed and pack for the next trip. I do have some pictures of Seth seeing the horses that Aunt Marta has, but I'll once again have to wait to go to Kevin's brother's house to blog from our laptop there with the pictures.

We then left last Saturday morning (July 4th) to head to Columbus, OH. Not a bad trip, but Seth definitely wanted out of the car the last two hours. He eventually settled down. He continues to be a trooper with all of this traveling. Once again, praise the Lord!

Our time in Columbus was wonderful and busy with some down time here and there. We stayed with our best friends Matt and Leah. Couldn't be more grateful for them and to them. They are better friends than we could ask for, and we miss them lots in Hungary. It was WONDERFUL getting to stay with them and spend lots of time with them. Leah is due on Wednesday (which by the way is my birthday!) with their first baby, and we were hoping we just might get to meet him or her before we left. But that little one is staying put at the moment. I do expect a call or a text though when this baby is born. :)

We had a cookout last Sunday with many people from our old small group at church. The group has grown and split, which is great to hear. It was fun to see everyone, and most of them have had babies since we left. It was great to see all the little kids running around!

On Monday I got some time to have Leah all to myself to shop and have a long lunch to just chat. So great! We made a surprise visit to see our good friends Dustin and Kelly as well. I remember our last night in Columbus and crying as we said goodbye to them. I was so sad to think that their son probably wouldn't remember us, so we made a little video for him. When I walked into their house on Monday, Ethan ran to jump into my arms to give me the biggest hug. It was the best feeling in the world! He was proud to tell me that he knows we live in Hungary and all of that. Hard to believe that little guy will be in kindergarten this fall.

And Monday evening was a real treat getting to spend more time with Mike and Emily, who were also part of our small group and had their first baby boy in May. They are raising support to go longterm to Mexico City, and I loved getting to hear about that from them as well. We truly have been blessed with great friends!

The week continued with lots of visits with old friends and faithful supporters. Several people we visited took a picture of us with their kids and whatnot, so I will post those once we get those in emails. I know that everyone grows up and changes, but it was so funny to see all these old students of mine who are now in middle school and so tall and mature, as compared to little second graders! We got to spend time with the Busby's, Laipply's, Romanelli's, Rider's, and others. I loved seeing many families who I just so dearly love from our 3 years in Columbus, and they were all so kind and encouraging to us. It was great to catch up! There were many more families and individuals who I would have loved to see, but there wasn't enough time to see everyone. And some I just have lost contact information with, which is normal but would have been fun to see them. I did get to have breakfast with my second grade team I taught with there. I really had a great job teaching at Worthington Christian, and we have thought countless times about how God placed us there and how grateful we are to him for that.

We drove back to Western NY this afternoon to spend more time visiting Kevin's family. We will be speaking at one of our supporting churches on Sunday and look forward to that. We still have quite a bit of support to raise in order to go back to Hungary, but there is no doubt in our mind that this is where God wants us, so one way or another we will get there. The Lord has always provided for our needs and we are trusting him to do that again. We have felt encouraged by our supporters and are grateful that so many of them are sticking with us!