Almost there...

Our time in Nebraska is coming to a close and I figured I should give you all an update on our “USA bucket list”

Mexican food -We went to LaMESA and Finley kept flirting with the girls on the table next to us….that child.

Grilling s’mores -Our neighbors and some other people from the college had a bonfire and John and Elea got to go, even though it was really pushing her bedtime.

Going to a water park -We stayed one night at Big Wolf Lodge in Kansas City and the kids loved the water park. We pretty much spent all day there since we literally could not leave because our car was at the shop getting a new alternator.

Eating ice cream cake -We just had ice cream cake today to celebrate all of John’s family members who had birthdays in July.

Catching a firefly -Mommy caught some in a jar and we watched them glow in the dark bathroom ( the sun goes down after our kids’ bedtime)

Getting our nails done -We bought some non-toxic kid nail polish and we decided we will paint our nails together with Elea’s cousins when we are in Germany.

Malt Shake -We were planning on getting some in Clay Center at the little Diner where I had my very first malt Shake, but their ice cream machine was broken.

Fair -We were planning on going to the Fair during Papillion Days, but that same weekend was the tornado. The kids and I went for a little while but I had no cash with me so we didn’t get to ride any rides and it was super hot and then our car died on us, so it was a rather un-fun trip.

Time just flew by and of course there are a million things we’d still like to do. I just hope my kids will have some fun memories from our time here.

Everything is getting kind of hectic and we are very on edge.

It’s getting really real as we are trying to be organized about packing our life in 3 boxes, 3 suitcases and one duffel bag. We still have a lot of things we will probably end up storing at John’s dad’s place or donating.

It’s quite the struggle…there are things you want to take but it is impractical. Then there are things you need to take but you can’t pack yet because you need them until the very last day. Then there are things we’ve packed that we would like to take and will probably end up having to unpack to make room for very important things in the end…and so on…it’s really like having this Tetris game in the back of your head going on 24/7 and in the middle of the night you remember things you need to take and try to figure out where to pack them…..”Box #1 is at it’s weight max, but box #2 still has lots of room….the duffel bag is full room wise but still has a lot of weight capacity left, maybe if we move some clothes from there over to the black suitcase, then that book can be in the duffel bag and….so on and so on…you get the gist.

Wrapping up our lives here is sad and complicated and really bitter sweet. I already know there are so many things and so many people I will miss. It will be weird coming back here to “visit”. Right now it is hard to picture because for the last 9 years we would go to Germany to “visit”. I am really antsy to leave but also would love to stay here longer. It’s so fun catching up with old friends and then it’s sad because we knew our time here was very limited.

We know God has a plan and He is good, so His plans are good. We trust in Him and His timing and His provision. We feel so blessed to be able to follow His call and we are humbled by our brothers and sisters in Christ coming alongside us and supporting us in our ministry. Looking forward to writing our fist blog entry from Germany soon. Then this blog title will finally make sense.