Last road trip of the year...ABILENE and HAMLIN

AUTUMN - PECANS and LEAVES

We have a nice big pecan tree in our front yard.  The kids (and Grandpa) have been put to work.

And Josiah discovered how fun a pile of leaves can be!

He is the cutest thing!

THANKSGIVING

November 27, 2014

This is some pre-Thanksgiving preparations.  Ginny, as always, is a big help as we baked 3 dulce de leche pumpkin pies (Joshua’s request), 2 mint chocolate chip pies (Ryan’s request), I don’t know how many dozen cookies (three different types), two 9x13 cherry cola jello salad (Ginny’s request) and two 9x13 pans of corn pudding (my request).   

 Ginny even helped involve Julia and our neighbor girl.

And what were the guys doing during the baking and cooking and cleaning? 

They were playing games.

Actually I got to play too…and I even won!

THANKSGIVING DAY

What a blessing to spend Thanksgiving with family – Jeff’s parents, his brother and wife, plus their daughter-in-law and grandbaby.  

A SECOND THANKSGIVING

November 28, 2014

The day after we stuffed ourselves with turkey, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and all kinds of desserts, we did it all again. 

We drove to College Station to spend the day with friends from Lubbock who were spending Thanksgiving with their two daughters attending school at Texas A&M.

GIRLS' WEEKEND

November 21-23, 2014

It’s always so fun hanging with my three best friends from high school…that’s a long time friendship. 

We spent two nights in Allen, Texas eating wonderful food, shopping for Christmas (we hit 8 stores in 9 ½ hours), and staying up into the wee hours of the night laughing, talking and reminiscing. 

34 WEEKS

 Thanks, Ginny for the pictures!

Road Trip: SAN ANTONIO AREA

November 16-19, 2014

Our traveling continues as we try to do as much as we can before baby #8 arrives.

Sunday we had lunch with the Rickerhausers in Fredericksburg.  Dr. Nancy was an attending when Jeff was in residency.

Sunday dinner was with our host and Jeff’s 2^nd cousin Jim and Debbie McKissick in Boerne.

Monday we ate dinner in Kerrville with friends from Lubbock – the Fox family.

Tuesday we had lunch in Boerne with one of my MOPS mentors from Harlingen and her husband.  They were at our first RDM meetings 11+ years ago.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get a picture.

Then we went to San Antonio to visit with another MOPS mentor from Harlingen and her husband.  They were the hosts of that very first RDM meeting.  

 We ate dinner in Boerne with friends from college - The Hendersons.

road trip: LOUISVILLE, KY

November 4-10, 2014

It was a long couple of days getting to Louisville – two 12 hours days with rain the entire time. 

Going we stayed a night in Little Rock and coming back we stayed in Memphis and then with my best friend in North Texas.  

While in Kentucky, we met team mates from Paraguay who are also on furlough for a Dunkin Donuts breakfast and then a morning at the Creation Museum near Cincinnati, Ohio.

It was our first taste of Fall – it was cold and the trees were sporting beautiful colors.  Of course pictures cannot do the brilliant colors justice.

The reason for us heading to Louisville was to attend the annual Global Missions Medical Conference. 

We loved seeing all 6 of our 2014 T.I.M.E interns there, plus an intern from our very first group back in 2009 and one from our 2011 group. 

We saw friends from residency, Abilene days, and even our neighbors from Belton.

It was a privilege to help man the SIM booth, to meet other SIM missionaries, and to talk with those passing by about opportunities to serve.

 Our host was the mother of my Dad and Liz’s team mates in Bosnia.  She graciously opened her home to us.

We were blessed to have mutual friends watch our children while we attended the conference.  The kids had a wonderful time.  They were even taken to the zoo one day.

Another highlight of the Kentucky trip was (after the conference) getting to meet our future team mates – the Bakers.  They drove from Maryland just to eat at McDonalds with us….and to hear about Paraguay.  They are now raising funds and hope to be in Paraguay September 2015.

We got home from this road trip weary.  A couple days later Jeff took his board re-certification.  He has put in lots of study hours and will find out the results in December.