The Simple Life

On our trip back from Missouri to Iowa, we passed this scene at a road stop.  I've been thinking about them eversince, wondering how I would like that simple life.  Or is it really that simple for them?  Yesterday we had 6 appontments here and there throughout the day on top of the wedding planning hanging over my head.  What would it be like to live the Amish life style for a year of my life??? Just thinking about  it !

Arkansas

This week, in between wedding planning and appointments with Jen and Ben, we darted over to Arkansas to visit the Foltz5.  Jennifer had a few full days of classes and work, so it's nice that at least two of our daughters are near enough to each other for us to be able to take  a days drive to visit. Any amount of time with the grand kids is worth the drive. Typical fashion for us, we tried to squeeze as much as we could into our short visit to make the time worth it.  Here's a recap...

Collin started kindergarten this year, so we took him lunch one day and visited his school. Aunt Lori also got to spend a few days with them and those kids simply adore her for all  the fun times that she plays so creatively with them.

  

It was so fun to observe Collin as a little school boy,  He was so ready for school this year and absolutely loves it while adjusting so well.  It's been hard for Marisa to let him go, but she is thrilled with his gifted teacher and knows that it is what is best for him right now.

I got these Christmas hand-smocked dresses in the Philippines when our girls were ages 5,3,1 and we have several years of family Christmas photos with the girls wearing them as they kept passing down the sizes year after year.  I thought it would be fun for Summer and Hayley to wear them-- but the ages/sizes did not match up for them.  I'm sure some more granddaughters in the future will get a chance to wear them for me.

Collin turns 6 on October 12 and we won't get to be with him- so we had a mini-party with him.  They don't do the birthday cookie thing in Thailand- so this was a fun "cake" for us too.

Papa had picked up this deal of a remote control car a long time ago and has been saving it for him!  They had so much fun playing with it as it goes all the way down his street!

This was my favorite part of the our visit.  Thailand does not have seasons and fall is one of my favorites.  I wanted to make a fall yard decor- but don't really have a home to do it and knew it would be a lot more fun to do with the grand kids.  Marisa and I actually had more fun than the kids did while buying the clothes at the thrift store and putting these characters together.  We were laughing so hard while putting their bodies in different positions to decide what looked best.  If you have a boring Autumn fall day, I suggest it as a great source of entertainment with a friend. I'm not real happy with the hog face and hoping Marisa can replace it with a happy and not so scary face. Hayley was afraid of the little guys face, and my intention was not for them to be scary but "fallish".

It was actually too early and warm in Arkansas to do this- but it was my only chance. We were sweating in the sun.  Notice Summer in her tank top with Mr. and Mrs. behind her in their flannels. Hope they make it till Thanksgiving-ish!

Another highlight of our time with them was going to the weekly UofA Campus Crusade meeting.  Jon is in charge each week of the set-up of the meeting.  There were over 400 students worshipping God together and listening to a really good speaker.  It was so so exciting to us and such an encouragement for us to see what God is doing through this ministry at the UofA that they are involved in.

We also got to have a reunion with the summer mission team from the New Heights church that came and worked with us in Thailand for 6 weeks last summer.  Jon and Marisa made us a Thai chicken and sticky rice meal and it was good to catch up again with them.  A few of them are already planning on returning to Thailand to work with us again next summer.

Enjoying Iowa for a few days now before a trip to some of our favorite churches in  Ohio!  It is a much needed kind of cool and rainy day in our little cabin all alone and quiet! :-)

Wedding #2

Life keeps spinning!  After just four days in Iowa to open up our cabin (after it being closed up for over a year), clean it up, unpack and repack- we were on the road again.  This time to get going on wedding #2 in Branson.  When we got to see the place that Jen and Ben had chosen for their ceremony, Mike and I both loved the Neighborhood Chapel at Kanakuk.  It is going to be such a beautiful place for their wedding. 

I barely got the checklists put away from the last wedding 2 weeks ago- and now we are delving into Jen's which is just 2 months from yesterday!  I think some day I'll look back on the year of 2010 as the year of "all consuming" wedding planning, with an emphasis on the distance planning part of it. Weddings in California and Missouri are a challenge to plan while living in Thailand and Iowa all within two months of each other.

One night we all knew that I needed a distraction from lists and wedding planner books- so we made a spontaneous plan to go to one of the well-known shows in Branson.  The 'Noah Musical' was one that has been recommended and Jen's local resident discount made it affordable for Mike, Jen, and I.  We thoroughly enjoyed it and the break was a welcome treat.

Silly Jen posing for me at intermission time. 

Jen and Ben have started classes at the Kanakuk Institute and have enjoyed the first week alot.  The KI exists to "Equip men and women with Biblical Skills for a Lifetime of Ministry" and we are so glad for them to have this year long experience.

'Then Comes Marriage' Photos Posted

The photographer from Bethany and Michael's wedding has posted some of the photos she took and she did an amazing job! You can see her blog post by clicking here. She chose just a few of her favorites so I'm still anxious to see the rest. Enjoy getting a few more glimpses of the day. The newlyweds are back from a great honeymoon and settling into their first little apartment together.  They are so happy to finally be married and  thankful for a dream of a wedding day!  This is just one of my favorites!

Arrowhead and Crestline

This will be a 'deja vu' post for some of our CCC friends. During the time that we were in California  for the wedding, we got to visit our old Campus Crusade headquarters. Arrowhead Springs Hotel was built in the 1930's for the rich and famous and a favorite place for Hollywood stars to visit, until CCC bought it in 1962 and developed it as a Christian conference Center.  During our first years on staff we have some of our fondest memories of attending trainings and furlough debriefs at this beautiful resort.  Since moving our headquarters to Orlando, the place has not been used very much- but it was so fun to revisit.

The hotel still reflects the elegance and grandeur of those by-gone days and still looks so beautiful.

The natural Arrowhead up on the mountain points down to the artesian hot springs below at the resort and spa.

Inside the hotel the decor is so vintage and the girls were lovin it all.  They even got to run the old fashioned hand operated elevator as we went up to look at the rooms that stars had honeymooned in.

Many great memories from this lobby area that looks just as it did many years ago.

The grounds still look great, it is such a beautiful place that God has used in many peoples lives over the years.

Lori has been working at Thousand Pines Camp which is just up the mountain a bit further near Crestline.

Our real purpose of this outing was to visit her camp and to show Jen and Ben where she has been working.  It too is a beautiful camp situated up in the San Bernadino mountains.

She drove us around the camp in this cart enabling us to see more in a shorter amount of time and yes, we did have to make sure that we were always hanging on.

She is really enjoying this job  and it worked out great for her to have a break between the summer camp and fall job to spend some time with us.  She even got to come back with us to visit The Foltz5, before she starts back to work in a few days. She's always loves time with her nieces and nephew and they love her to pieces, too.

The Day After

We were so happy and humbled to have several out of town guests and special friends/family come to Bethany and Michael's wedding. It's a long trip from Iowa, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, and Arkansas to California for just a half day wedding celebration so we tried to find another activity for us to enjoy together. The best option that we could come up with was a yacht cruise along the Oceanside harbor. It turned out to be such a fun time to relax, talk, enjoy the view together and the weather was gorgeous. Here's a few favorites of our time together.

When Bethany and Michael found out that we were arranging this, they too decided that they wanted to have more time to see their out of town guests.  We were all thrilled that they would want to postpone their honeymoon for one day to join us.  They were the last to arrive to the boat dock and we all lined up along the boat edge to cheer for them as they boarded.  Such cute little newlyweds, they are!

 

 

Captain Collin did a great job navigating the boat with the main captain's directions.

 

So much fun with friends and relatives!

Interesting to see the Oceanside pier that we had been walking down  from the other angle on the water side.

Crazy, cute, cuddly Lori- livin' it up!

It was so nice  for us to get more time with the newlyweds- since we knew we wouldn't see them for 2.5 months until we meet again at  Jen and Ben's wedding.  Thank- you Mr. and Mrs. Allen for delaying your trip.  If you'd like to see more photos of the yacht cruise- have a look by clicking here. 

Just not a California girl!

WE ARE IN IOWA!!

As much as we loved our time with our daughters in California planning Bethany's wedding these past 3 weeks-- I have to say it feels so good to be back in the mid-west.  Flying into the airport, the view was so very different from our California flight departure.  Instead or rows of buildings and spaghetti looking freeway diagrams-- we found the gorgeous fields and neatly laid out mile grid markings of farm roads. Gone are the tense muscles I had while driving on those bumper to bumper freeways.  Reminds me of my dad driving on the farm roads and doing the 'two finger farmer wave' to every vehicle that he passed.

We did enjoy our time in California alot and want to thank the friends that we got to spend time with for their  fine California hospitality.

It was our privilege to have a Sunday morning with the children from Cornerstone and thank them for their VBS project of raising money for our kids home in southern Thailand.  It is always encouraging to be with Pastor Jerry, too at the adult church service.

A treat for our daughters was meeting a wonderful Christian Thai lady, Samone and enjoying a delicious Thai meal at her restaurant after church.  She was introduced to Jesus the first time  as a young child by  missionaries who always invited her to their house to give her chocolate.  She thanked us over and over for the work of missionaries in Asia, because she is passionate about Jesus love for her today.   I decided I may have underestimated the influence that chocolate could be having on young Asians lives. :)

Now it's time for us to enjoy the sunny yet cool crisp air of an Iowa September for a few days before we are off again to start on the wedding in Missouri in 10 weeks.

Reception

Wedding ceremonies and receptions go by so fast and now I'm remembering why the pictures are so valuable.  I find myself just wanting to look at photos to remember the day and hoping to see some other photos other than my own- but so far this is all I have.  In time as I eventually get to view more photos, the details that I missed will be fun to see. Here's a few more from my lens...

Introductions of the bridal party.

Matron of honor and sign bearer.

The bride and groom make their entrance.

Bethany living it up just as she did as a little girl- twirling around in her dress.

Fun at the photo booth with props of their choice!

Maids and Matron of honor giving their speeches.  I love this one of our four girls.

Best Man speech.

Father of the Bride speech.

Prayer of Blessing

Cousin Jesse and Uncles Dean and Dan as ushers.

The signature that makes it legal.

Love this one of the beautiful bride and suspense of friends on what she'll do with that cake.

Presenting the 'surprise' grooms cake.

First dance as husband and wife.

Cousins Lori and Briana.

Lots of friends having fun on the dance floor.

Time to exit the party.

Mr. and Mrs. Allen.

Off on their honeymoon to the Mayan Ruins.

Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Mike and I are in awe of so many people who helped to make this big day for our family happen.  God provided people who helped in unique ways all along the journey....like that angelic printer man that showed up at our door, Terri- the drink lady, and the list goes on and on.  These friends who came all the way from Waterloo worked way harder than any friends should.  Thank-you Maggie, Maria, and Colleen- you are the best friends ever!