Tales from Furlough - Week 2

We're now up in the Midwest, and thoroughly enjoying our furlough. This break for us has been a wonderful time to see others, catch up on health care and miscellaneous to-do's, and just spend hours together as a family (this last one is probably my favorite part).

Here are a few of the recent highlights:


Seeing the Martin Luther College (MLC) Christmas Concert: this will stick with Mike and me (and Trinity!) for a long time. Mike sat with Trinity in the front row so she could have a close-up view of the event. She was in awe...later she mentioned the possibility of her one day being there, singing and playing an instrument. I can't think of a better thing to say to Mike and me. If we someday sit where she sat, and watch her sing in an MLC concert, I think we will consider it a dream come true.

We also got to see the Chapel of the Christ (where the concert was held) at MLC for the first time. Simply spectacular. We took the picture above shortly after Mike gave Trinity a mini-tour of the interior.



Catching up with Mexico acquaintances. Here's Noelle with a dear friend and former WELS Kingdom Worker in Mexico, Tim Patoka. We've had the chance to see various friends, relatives, and folks with a Mexico connection. While I've loved the chance to see them, I also know there are many we won't see on this trip. (If you're one of them, I sincerely apologize. We haven't been able to see everyone because A) child number three has thrown me for a loop and I regularly forget things/don't schedule stuff/act like I left my mind in the other room, which means I just don't get in everything these days, and B) I feel like we owe it to WELS, who has sent us to be missionaries and given us a time to come home and rest, to do just that - rest! If we don't, we'll go back to Mexico wiped out and not ready to hit the ground running, which isn't fair to anyone, especially those who are supporting the work there.)



Introducing the girls to new sights, like picturesque farms with cute houses and red barns that they've only seen in books. They were so enthralled (Look! A farmer!) that we stopped and took pictures to remember the occasion.



Setting new milestones. The baby continues to grow, and his latest achievements include rolling over (hurray!) and working on sitting up on his own. I have to say, watching the third one do it is fun in its own way: yesterday, Trinity showed me how she could, indeed, lay on the floor and roll over too :).

I'm looking forward to the coming days, especially as we approach more opportunities to worship in English. May God bless your upcoming Christmas celebration as well.