Where in the States are the Amors?Kansas (again)

Pop-Pop and Masami playing cars

Our last week in the States was pretty relaxing with a few minor misfortunes. Being with my in-laws always tends to be the place where we “crash.” Since they pretty much live in the middle of nowhere, it lends itself to being low key. We have developed a few important relationships there, so we always have a few people to see and connect with, but no major schedule to keep.

Our first few days were especially low key because Alethia came down with a mild fever and pretty much just needed to rest it off. That, adding to it the heat, and we were pretty much stuck at home and forced to rest. Another reason it is easy to rest at my in-laws is that they have this big, comfy pit couch. It is like a million years old and Anthony’s mom has considered getting rid of it on numerous occasions, but they continue to convince her otherwise and nurse it along, covering it with blankets and pillows to add to its comfort. Hours have been spent, the whole family late into the night, hanging out on that couch watching movies, playing video games, wrestling, talking about anything and everything. Now, my children are experiencing the magic of the pit couch as Alethia wrestled her Uncle B, got airplane rides from Auntie Non, watched Uncle B playing Donkey Kong, watched old VHS movies, and napped there.

So, besides all the resting, there was the whole “will we or won’t we” of going home which I have already blogged about, so I won’t say anything more about that. And there were the dental appointments…all 6. Yes, I said 6! I’ll be honest, Anthony and I have not done a good job of having regular dental cleanings in our adult life. However, now is the time that our children will start to need it, so we are trying to be more responsible. In that vein, we made appointments for dental check-ups for us and Alethia knowing full well that Anthony and I would probably need a filling or two. In a matter of 4 days, Anthony got 7 fillings, and I got 3. Needless to say, we were in a bit of pain. Alethia, on the other hand, did fantastic for her first visit and got high marks from the dentist. At least we are getting it right for her!

Once we got beyond Alethia’s fever and our dental trauma, we had a little double-date planned with Anthony’s parents. We had saved one of our favorite meals out for this occasion (Mexican food with that yummy white cheese dip!). Anthony had met his mom at work and was walking over while his dad and I drove over from the house, leaving Bryan and Noelle to watch the kids. We sat down, ordered drinks and the cheese dip and guacamole. My stomach was growling with hunger; I had been anticipating this for a week. And then the phone rang. It was Noelle…Masami had shoved peas up his nose and she couldn’t get them out. I could picture it immediately: our little entertainer found that he could get some giggle out of his Auntie and Uncle by sticking peas in his nose. The accusation slipped out immediately: “You laughed at him, didn’t you!” It was all the encouragement he needed to keep at it. I drove home thinking, I’ll just quick get these out with an aspirator or something and be back before dinner is served. When I got there, Noelle had managed to get one of three out. I spent about 5 minutes with an aspirator and tweezers and finally coaxed the second one out. But there was no getting to that third one. I needed a flashlight, at just the right angle, with his little nose smooched in just the right way to even see the pea. I tried, then Anthony came and tried, and finally there was nothing else to do but take him to the ER. Our evening plans drastically changed and off to the hospital we went.


Well, that’s not exactly accurate. Anthony ended up taking Masami himself while I went back to the restaurant to meet his parents. No use in both of us waiting around for who knew how long and I was starving, so I had dinner with his parents and we ordered Anthony’s to-go. At the hospital, they ended-up pushing the pea back further so that Masami sucked it up to the back of his throat and coughed it out. The doctor said “at least it is food and we can do it this way and it’s not a battery or something.” Who knew a kid could fit a battery up there?! Well, we are grateful too…and now we know what to watch out for.

With that behind us, we had one last night in Kansas. Our church there, led by Pastor Micheal Linthicum, gathered its leaders and spent some time praying over us, appointing us, and sending us out again. Such a blessing on the eve of our travels back to the field! This body has prayed over us and supported us and encouraged us since we first began our journey with Cadence. We are incredibly grateful for them and their ministry to our family.

Tearful goodbyes and a (this time packed to fly) full car, and we headed out. We have a very long day of driving to Milwaukee before we fly out tomorrow. But this is it…the last leg of our journey!