Where in the States are the Amors?A Cheyenne Birthday

Apparently May 30th is a popular birthday! I know a couple others with the same birthday as mine, but I found a couple more in Cheyenne. Anthony made me breakfast on the day of. Our friend nicely offered to skip his normal Sunday evening plans and watched the kids for us so we could go on a date. So fun to have dinner and a movie, just the two of us. But can I complain for a minute about the price of a movie?! Oh my gosh! The theater was not even that nice, new, or clean…and $5 for a bottle of water is ridiculous! I guess I'm spoiled by the cheaper theaters on base. I'm willing to sacrifice some of the niceties for a lower priced movie ticket. Okay, that’s all I’ll say about that.

Then, I got treated to a pedicure the day after my birthday. Okay, so I’m outing our friend here a bit when I tell you that he came with me to get pedicures. He gets them every 6 weeks and knew just the place to go to. So, the company was great and I have pretty flowers on my toes! I just felt a bit awkward talking about my trip to SE Asia and what I understand of the politics there while getting pedicures from a Vietnamese couple.

Where in the States are the Amors?Omaha & Cheyenne

I have to say that this was the first time I experienced a little “reverse culture shock” coming back to the States. As we drove across middle-America, I just so struck with how much we Americans really have. In the midst of a bad economy, we still, in general, have so much. The houses here are so big! The stores are so big and so many! There are so many choices from restaurants, to stores, to products. We are a people rich in material goods even in difficult economic times. I think we often forget how much we have.

Being Memorial Day weekend, our contacts between Wisconsin and Wyoming were out of town. However, our friend from Tennessee happened to be visiting family in Omaha, and we were able to stop and stay with them for an evening. We had such a nice time with them. The kids were able to play at a nearby playground for a bit, and they were both interested in sweet baby Theo. It was fantastic homemade food, sweet company, and a wonderful bed!

Made it to Cheyenne in less than 48 hours after landing in Milwaukee. Got to stay with our great friend and former volunteer staff in Germany. His is apparently the party house cause there was never a lack of people around. So good to catch-up and see his new world. We were so impressed at how settled and connected he is after only 6 months in Cheyenne. Such is the way of military folks! You either get connected quickly or not at all since you often only have a few years in one place. Glad he is choosing to connect and is making an impact for the Lord in the lives of those around him. We greatly miss his ministry passion in Germany, but are glad to see that God is using him somewhere else (for the time being). J We are hoping that God continues to bring him back to student ministry, but as a full-time Malachi worker.

Where in the States are the Amors?Let the Journey Begin...

Our kids are being rockstars when it comes to the travel! Sure they have their moments of utter exhaustion, but I have to say that I have been impressed with how much they have rolled with the punches.

We left home at around 7 in the morning. An hour drive to the airport, a 9 hour flight, a 2 hour layover, a 2 hour flight, another 1 hour drive and we arrived in Racine, Wisconsin at a dear supporter’s house. We were lucky enough to have a great Malachi friend happen to be on our flight from Frankfurt to the States. She convinced the passenger seated next to us that surely they would want to be further away from the children and was able to sit right with us. It was so nice to have another set of hands to help with and entertain the kids. Thanks Lord for that special gift!

By the time we reached the house for the night in Wisconsin both kids were out. Although it was merely 5 in the evening, they had stayed up all night in Germany time. Neither stirred when we transferred them to bed. Of course, that meant that they were bright and bushy-tailed at 2:30 the next morning. Anthony & I decided to take advantage of the jetlag and were on the road by 5.

We drove to Omaha that day in our new (to us) mini-van. Another major blessing! God provided through our supporters in Wisconsin with this great van. Reliable, spacious, and even came with a dvd player to keep the kids occupied. I can’t tell you how grateful we feel to have this transportation for the summer!

About 18 hours in Omaha, and we headed out to Cheyenne. Another long drive with stops along the way at Walmart and for food to stretch our legs. Three long travel days with minimal meltdowns on the kids’ part! We are off and running…