Back to the States!

We officially left Sucre on June 8th.  After spending a few days in Santa Cruz, we got on our 2:30 am flight to Orlando, Florida via Panama City, Panama.  (Thanks Ces for finding us a place to stay!)  Despite the early hour, everything went without a hitch.  We were excited to get through the flight and on to our little mini family vacation in Florida.  After spending 3 days at Clearwater beach we flew into Columbus, Ohio where we were received by our family, signs and wonderful smiling faces!

We spent the following 3 weeks in Cincinnati.  The best way to tell you about our time there is to thank everyone who did so much to help us in our first transition back to the States.

Thank-you to the Angstadt family for hosting us!  We invaded their home with our 2 young energetic children and over 10 pieces of luggage.  They fed us, played with our kids and let us do loads of laundry.

Thank-you to the Kendall family for letting us borrow their car for three weeks!  It was an invaluable gift to us.

Thank-you to the Hope Missions committee for taking us out to eat, and listening with open hearts as we shared about our time in Bolivia and the next steps God has laid out for us.  Your continued support means so much!

Thank-you to the Journey and Empty Nesters communities, and the kids ministry of Hope Church for allowing us to share about our journey home and sharing in our excitement for our new ministry.

Thank-you to the Jensen family, for the awesome welcome home basket that was waiting for us a the Angstadt home.  For the fun night out on the town, great pool afternoons, for taking our family for a fun day to King's Island, and for your amazing friendship!

Thank-you to Erin for driving down to Cincinnati to spend the afternoon with Jennie.  It was great to have a heart to heart with a great friend.

Thank-you to Collin for helping to organizing a troop of people to help us pack up our moving truck.  And of course for everyone that showed up to help us move!  (Denny, Steve, Joe and Lori, Lee, Melvin, Jeff, Rob, Collin, and Greg)  We couldn't believe you all showed up and how quickly we were able to get it all done.

Thank-you to Matt Jensen for coming over for "ice cream" which turned into a 3 hour-repacking of our 24 foot truck to fit in a few last minute things.  (Can you see Matt in the picture below...way back in the truck on top of everything?)

Thank-you to the Pinkston and the Dowling family for storing some of our things for 3 years (!) in their basement!

Last but not least a big thank you to the Warden/Dowling family.  For welcoming us home with open arms, watching our kids, all the fun sleepovers with cousins, and showering our kids with gifts and special outings.  We love you and appreciate your support.

The danger of starting a list like this is that it's impossible to record everyone and everything that was done for us while we were home.  There is probably people who were doing things in preparation of our return that we aren't even aware of.  So...for those of you not on the list, for all the dinners and lunches, and encouraging words shared with us, THANK YOU!