Summatime

Our time in the States this year was considerably simpler than last year. We did the "Kansas Tour" as Gerald calls it - KC, Topeka, Hillsboro, Meade and back again. In Topeka, we practically cleaned out Walmart (medicines, toiletries, office supplies, clothing, etc.), saw doctors, did business, had a wonderful time catching up with friends, and spoke in church.
Dad's slide sorter in Mom's basement - made out of Grandma's old TV console (top) and his old medical cabinet (bottom). Dad had about 5000 slides - most of which he had already sorted. I went through the remainder of them which I enjoyed EXCEPT for the pictures of the bulgling eye tumors, anthrax patients, and gruesome war injuries! I had to wonder how he could see such horror for so many years and remain the positive, hopeful person he was. "By the grace of God" as Mom says. I also went through Dad's files, pictures and other things around the house. I thought it might be difficult, but it was actually quite enjoyable - as though I was talking a walk with him and he was telling me about all the jokes, tidbits of information, news, articles and devotionals he had kept over the years. Seeing pictures of him before he was sick was another lovely reminder of the many healthy and strong years he had on this earth. I even found the very first cataract Dad ever extracted - from 1967 - taped to a yellowing piece of paper!

Central and Eastern Kansas was unusually lush and lovely for August. Here's a hibiscus flower in Mom's garden that showed off for us!

Another of Mom's amazing meals! Stan (my brother) and Diane came down from NY to help with house repairs and Nancy (sister-in-law), Ben, Will & Sophie came down from North Dakota to join the fun (Brad was still in Afghanistan). What a good time we had catching up and working around the house! The girls helped Stan and Diane very energetically - largely because: A) Children prefer to work with a fun uncle and auntie than for their parents, and - B) They were allowed to use sharp objects (shears) to "trim" the garden! Aunt Esther (Mom's sister) is sitting in front of Mom and Melanie (my cousin) came by too. The girls had a great time with their big cousins who threw them around and wrestled with them non-stop! It rather reminded me of most of my growing-up years!

Later, my brother Daniel, Helen, Emily, David and Timothy came from Winnipeg to drop Emily off at Tabor College. Their eldest, Andrew, was unable to come :( Katrina and Timothy really hit it off, catapulting lincoln logs and doing endless stunts off of a mini-trampoline! It was fun to see where Emily will be living this year and to meet some of her friends. We got out to the lake with both sets of family and had many long talks trying to make up for lost time.

In Meade we had a great time of being spoiled by Gerald's parents and seeing church friends and lots of the wonderful Reimer family. Although it is terribly hot during the day, Meade cools down at night which meant we could have several picnics in the park.

We left KC August 23 and spent half a day in Frankfurt where I got to meet with a friend from high school. Then, 36 hours after we left KC, we arrived home at 1:30 AM with the help of my brother, Ron. It's good to be home!

Trip Quotes:

Katrina

Day one: Mom! A woman is driving a car! Is that allowed? (I do drive here, but the vast majority of drivers in Morocco are men)

Day two: Mom! A woman is riding a bike!!!!

Day three: Mom! A woman is riding a motorcycle - surely that is not allowed!!!

Kendra: I can hardly wait to get back to Morocco

Me: Why? What is it you love about Morocco?

Kendra: I don't know - I just love it.

The next day, we filmed Kendra singing: I just love, love, love Morocco - but I don't know why - I don't know the reasons, but I love Morocco!