Weekend Getaway!

Who would have predicted that a weekend to Chicago would prove to be so eventful? After arranging all the logistics for four children to stay with different friends for the weekend, including getting to soccer games and other events, I was relieved to finally get myself on the airplane to Chicago. In just seven hours I would be with my husband for a romantic weekend in Chicago, including attending the wedding festivities for our dear friends. But storms in Dallas (in which my round-about ticket took me) caused delays and eventually a cancellation of my flight from Dallas to Chicago until the morning! I spent my first night ever alone in a hotel! It wasn't so bad after I adjusted my expectations and knew I could still get to the wedding in time the next day. As a matter of fact, I quite enjoyed the evening to myself which included room service dinner, a king sized bed, and a good "chick flick".

Once I made it to Chicago, Rob and I had so much fun! Bonnie & Jason's wedding felt like a reunion of all the friends I had to leave the past ten months! We stayed in a beautiful room on the 21st floor of a hotel downtown, and spent most of Sunday enjoying the city and exploring Navy Pier. My departure came too soon, but this time I only had to say goodbye to Rob for five more days as he is back in SC tomorrow. One more week and we leave SC.....hard to believe!

May is a very busy month!

May tends to be the time when many things are wrapping up for the school year. We can attest to this as our calendar has been full for the last week, with no break in sight until June!

Some of the highlights include: a wonderful Mother's Day celebration by Eli's fourth grade class (I teared up several times during the program!), Hand Middle School band concert (Ben's beginning band group really showed great improvement since Sept. and Jacob's Advanced band was stellar), kayaking with friends/neighbors Matt & Maureen Petkewich (while all the kids were in school!), a fun day at Carowinds amusement park in North Carolina (Jacob and Ben went with the band, Rob, Grace & I drove up separately, and Eli chose to go to a friends for the day since he doesn't like rollercoasters!), many lunch and dinner dates with friends (Kanefts, Goddards, Browders, Edgar, & Shannon Walker!), Rosewood Elementary School picnic and Friendship Festival, USC baseball game, climbing at Stronghold gym, & lots of soccer games!

Lowlight was of course taking Rob to the airport again on Sunday! He will be back in two weeks, but this time I get to see him halfway as we are attending Bonnie Evon & Jason Larusso's wedding in Chicago this weekend!! Thanks to Lambersons, Petkewichs and Edgars for keeping the kids!

Less than a month to go!!

It is wild to think that we have lived in Columbia for nine months and our time here is dwindling down!! Jacob and I leave for Rwanda on May 28th, and Rob and the rest of the kids will begin the U-Haul journey home on May 30th! All of this comes with mixed emotions...excitement to get back to our friends in Wisconsin, our home, our cat, and our washer and dryer (okay that's me). But there is great sadness to end this chapter of our lives which has been filled with some of the most significant life moments and friendships we've ever experienced! What a testimony to the people and to God's amazing goodness!

The most exciting news this week is that Rob has finished what we came to South Carolina for in the first place....the main part of his dissertation. He sent out four copies of a 230 page "master piece" to his dissertation committee in California, and will give his proposal defense next week! Basically they will drill him to make sure he knows what he is talking about, and then give the go ahead to conduct his research this summer. We are all so proud of Rob. The morning after he finished the paper, all of the kids wanted to see the final results! It is what they sacrificed for this year, and they were proud!!! We celebrated with a night out for pizza! Now Rob is enjoying a lighter schedule until he returns to HoneyRock this Sunday.

As our time winds down, we have been brought back to the "must do" list our family created when we first arrived. It is with great thanksgiving to see that we had done everything on our list except to canoe a river in SC. So, last Sunday, Matthew Fletcher a friend from our church took, us kayaking down part of the Saluda river. We went through three sets of fun rapids and throughly enjoyed our afternoon. It was crazy to see the city of Columia as we paddled down river!