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We had an excellent time for our first furlough experience!  What is furlough all about for missionaries who work overseas?  For us it is all about reconnecting with loved ones, friends, and supporters.  Our expectations were met, because we not only had a lot of fun and time to relax, but we had great quality time with many of you who care about us.  We are so thankful!

We were very intentional about trying to make our two month furlough during the Texas summer.  Here are the reasons why:

1. Wes and I have always enjoyed hot summer days that drench you in sweat.  We’d prefer that over shivering in the cold any day, so you did not hear us complain one bit about the 100 plus degree weather of Texas!
2. Summer time is when cousins and Gran are on their school vacation!
3. Now that Jake is in school, summer time furloughs work out great with his school schedule, too.  At ICSL the students get at least one month off for the Peruvian summer (January) and at least one month off for the American summer.

So here’s a quick overview of our time in Texas:

Our first three weeks were spent with our supporting church in Kaufman and we were SO blessed by this time with them.  We love our church family there and we are super excited about the new couple they just hired to work and serve in the role of Senior Minister–Doug and Lana Page!

While trekking across Texas, we were able to spend some time in Houston, College Station, Corpus Christi, Kaufman, Fort Worth, Levelland, San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Chapel Hill.  Great times with family and friends!  I know there are many of you that we didn’t get to touch base with, but know that we think of you often and appreciate you, and we would love to try and meet with you on our next trip down.  OR you always have a place here in Lima if you get a hunch to see the Peruvian sights!

We spent time with both of our families and were able to do almost everything you could possibly do in the summer time–went to the pool, went to the beach, went to the lake, went camping on the river, went to a water park, the Ft. Worth Zoo, and a Ranger baseball game!  The boys had a blast and so did we!  And thanks to some dear, sweet friends in Kaufman, we were also treated to the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science.  Thanks again, Sandra and Lisa!  The boys will cherish their time at the dinosaur exhibits, children’s museum, imax, and the planetarium (and so will we, because those are great memories)!

We also got to celebrate Derek’s 3rd birthday on July 4th weekend! (I’ll write a whole other post for that one).

Stay tuned.  My vacation is over, and I apparently have a lot to say, so many more updates to come.  (And eventually Wes will get pictures ready to go with this post and the ones to come.  He’s been busy being the “Intern Coordinator” for our team.  We got 4 new interns a week after we got back, so I’ll introduce you to them soon!)