to the farm

Last week we made a long overdue trip to my grandpa's farm in central Missouri. I say long-overdue because I haven't been there since I graduated from high school 17 years ago. Of course, we've visited with Grandpa in other places. But it was time to take Kevin and the girls to see where my dad grew up and where I made lots of memories as a kid. Mom and Dad met us in St. Louis, and after speaking to some dear friends at a church we rented a car and hit the road. The girls couldn't wait to get there!

Once we arrived, it didn't take long for my dad to get in one of Grandpa's tractors and give the girls a ride. Kevin also drove the tractor for a while. I love this picture of my sweet 87 year-old grandpa waving to the girls.

My Aunt Betty also visited and made this contraption to pick pears. Grace really got into the pear-picking and after working she declared, "I knew it was hard work being a farmer but I didn't know it was THAT hard!"

My Uncle Jerry and cousin Lucus arranged for the girls to get acquainted with some piglets. This litter was just a few days old.

Trinity told us before we went to the farm that she "wanted to hold a baby pig and a baby cow." We told her the calf was too big, but she got to hold that piglet after all.

We also got to see where my grandma is buried. It was so strange to visit the farm without Grandma there. The first thing I noticed when we arrived at the farm was that Grandma's vegetable garden was gone.

We looked at lots of old pictures and heard Grandpa share stories about family.

Central Missouri is beautiful.

There's a large Pennsylvania Dutch community in this area. They are precious people and have been wonderful neighbors to my grandparents over the years. We visited my grandpa's next-farm- neighbor one afternoon. They have a dairy and even showed us a calf just 2 days old, but no, Trinity didn't hold it.

Pristine farm home

Note the buggy parked in the garage along with the tractor set on steel wheels rather than rubber, since rubber-tired vehicles aren't allowed in their community. But this family would be considered progressive in that they own a tractor.

Our trip to Missouri was a fast one but we made many memories. As we left, Grandpa grinned and told me not to wait so long to come back the next time. :)

the America chapter

 

 

A few weeks ago I heard our ex-pat lifestyle described as "living in chapters." And it's true. When I think about my adult life, I tend to think of it in segments: life before moving to China, our first few years in China, our first time back in the US, our second term in China, on and on. So for now, I'm calling this our second American chapter. We've had so many wonderful experiences with family and friends since we arrived back June 30 that it's difficult to condense it into one little blog post, but I've got to get a few pictures up before I forget everything.

 

The day after we arrived, whilst my in-laws graciously babysat my jet-lagged children, Kevin and I got to witness my cousin Michele's baptism. My parents and aunt were there, and my cousin Laura even got to baptize her sister. This was an amazing night of worship filled with encouraging testimonies to the power of the gospel. 

 

 

 

 

Later that week we caught up with friends right before they moved back to Europe. Kevin and Daniel go waaaay back, as in back to high school days, college roommate days and best-men-in-each-other's-weddings days.  

Our kids had a blast together, too! We took them to Legoland in Dallas and played for hours.

It was truly "blast from the past" week as we also caught up with dear friends from sem..ary days. It's so hard for me to believe Haley is 10 years old already. It seems like the other day we were waiting outside her hospital room to hear her first little cries.

Thanks for coming to see us, Hoffmans!

After a detour to Virginia and some great meetings, (where we happened to see Air Force One land while waiting at the airport!), we headed to Boerne, TX for a big Gerlt family get-together.

We stayed at a beautiful ranch, rode mules, scared away the deer, watched deer early in the mornings, played and played, went to Sea World and had an all-around great time. I loved watching the cousins interact and play together.

The whole crew: Chad and Erin's baby arriving in November will be my parents' grand baby #10.

A few days later we headed to Nana and Pappaw's house in Lindale. (Kevin's parents also kept our girls for a night so we could celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary with a trip to the Melting Pot and a hotel stay in Dallas!) Nana has a beautiful yard and the girls enjoyed "helping" her take care of it. Here they are picking tomatoes.

Cousin Ariel was visiting from El Paso, which was a huge bonus. We love cousin time.

The OCD in me is upset my pictures won't load correctly right now. But this picture is too cute not to post. Here are the girls with Pappaw and Ariel at the Tyler children's science museum.

 

A few days later we headed to West Texas where we saw my dad's new office at city hall (he is now Councilman Gerlt!) and caught up with the Lewis family.

 

These kids played so well together!  

 

And I got some Kristen time. I am so thankful for friendships that always pick up right where we left off.

We got to see my almost 90 year old grandmother and gather 4 generations together in one picture.

It warmed my heart to see how much Grace loved visiting with Gram.

And as we got reacquainted with one great-grandmother, we said goodbye to another. Kevin's grandmother finished the race and went to be with Jesus this month. As sad as it is to lose a family member, we were grateful to be able to attend her funeral. Kevin and I have lost 3 grandparents while overseas and this is the first grandparent's funeral we were able to attend. All of Grandma George's 6 grand kids shared stories and letters with memories from her life. I know she would have loved it. 

 

 

Chapters. Seasons. We are soaking in every minute of this one. 

Six-ish

We planned to embrace the small, family party this year for birthdays, but then we discovered we'd be out of town for Grace's birthday. So we thought it would be fun to have a little party with some friends we don't get to see often.

Some dear friends allowed us to use their office so we'd have a little more space to party than in our hotel room. Here's Grace using the local sign for "6".

The party participants enjoyed a little lunch before cake time.

This is a familiar sight now and seems to be coming more quickly each year. Six years old already.

I found a pinata cheaply on the local version of e-bay. I'm now a big fan...fun times were had by all with only one slight injury. Yes, where there are no bats we improvise with a broom.

Candy!

This year, Grace could read her own birthday cards. :)

We are thankful for sweet friends who shared this day with us...

Grace, I say this every year but this past year has been my absolute favorite. From your big imagination to the way you crack me up with your many uses of the word, "chill-ax," you are getting to be a big girl. You love deeply and have a hard time saying goodbye, as evidenced once again by the tears shed when we had to leave new friends you bonded with for a few days. You keep me on my toes daily with all your questions. You absolutely love to learn. I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before you know more than I do. The other day you asked me what it means to multiply numbers, and when I explained the concept to you, you picked it up quickly since you've learned to skip count 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s. It's been fun to see you and Trinity become much closer this year, and I've watched you grow in patience, service and kindness toward her. The Lord be praised, you two really do love each other.

On your birthday this year, you told me you don't feel very "six-y." "SAY WHAT?" I asked. And you said, "Yeah Mom, I don't feel very six-y yet. I still feel 'five-y'." After I let out a big sigh of relief I said, "How 'bout we say six-ish?!"

I love you Grace. I'm so thankful to be your mom.

 

DONE!

The school year is officially over around here, so it's time to celebrate!

I'm really proud of my big girl; she's had a great year. She's reading and writing, can tell time and count money, will tell you how to find a perimeter, and has some fun facts about space she'd be happy to share with you at any moment.

Here she is signaling for you that she's DONE with kindergarten! She's so happy to be a big

first-grader.

When I asked Grace how she wanted to celebrate the last day of school, she said she wanted to have her good friend Luke over to eat cake with her. Sounded great to me! 

I'm not gonna lie; there were a few days this year when we both felt like this.

But the majority of days we were smiling, having fun, and learning together.

Grace has truly been a joy to teach. I think I'm getting hooked on this home school thing. And it's a good thing since it's our only option right now. Bring on first grade!!

When

• When I think about landing on American soil for the first time in 3 years, I get excited. When I realize both of my kids remember nothing about the last time we were there, I can't wait to make new memories with them. When I realize I won't have to subtract 13 hours to remember what time I can call my family, or when my daughter talks about how much she can't wait to play with her cousins, I say "bring on July!"
• When I read about a pastor in the Dallas Metroplex who has started his own fashion blog because it's just that important to stay current, trendy and "relevant," I want to throw up in my mouth just a little. And I get a bit nervous remembering that re-entry culture shock is a real thing.
• When the water is out for the 20th time this week and I just want to take a shower, I say July can't come fast enough. When my helper shows up one day asking for a 42% raise and then I tell her we might have to cut back on her hours because 42% more per hour is a bit much, I am frustrated. And when my helper calls the next day to say she won't come to work because she has to "pay her electric bill," I feel played. The passive-aggressive way situations are dealt with here drive me C-R-A-Z-Y. 
• But then, when my helper shows up for work the next day and we work things out in our "talk around it," dysfunctional culturally-appropriate fashion, and when she proceeds to spend over an hour washing, peeling, and chopping vegetables so I can play with my girls, I decide it's worth it. I think. I mean, in America, sure there are luxuries like frozen vegetables and sauce from a jar, but goodness gracious I get spoiled having a helper here.
• When I realize I'm on edge again today because people are staring and talking about us once more like we can't understand them and are simply monkeys at the zoo, I want to tell them they are in need of some serious manners. And then I realize I have anger issues. Never before did I struggle with anger like I have since moving here. You know why? Sin. As if I have the right to not have to hear people talking about us or stare at us. And I realize it might be good to get some perspective outside the fishbowl again.
• But when I think about the last year and how FAITHFUL the Father has been to give us joy and to allow us to see Him work in amazing ways, I am grateful. I feel like we've received more blessings from this overseas journey than I could have fathomed if we'd lived here 100 years. And He doesn't even owe us a single one.
• When I read in Luke about Jesus calming the storm and asking his disciples, "Where is your faith?" I identify with the disciples. I feel pretty great about how much I trust the Lord until a trial comes along. Lord, fix me.
• And when I think about how my heart really loves two countries at the same time for vastly different reasons, I am grateful for the opportunity to see some strengths and weaknesses in both cultures...and to have people to look forward to seeing on both sides of the ocean. I am blessed to be on this ride.  

Good Reads

I don't normally blog about books, but I've read two lately that I loved so much I just had to share. First of all, this is the best parenting book I've ever read. For real.




Maybe because it stepped all over my toes, or maybe it's the stage of life I am in right now, but this book spoke volumes to me. In essence, it challenges us to examine if we are building homes based on grace or on legalism. Kevin and I read this book at the same time, and it's given us much to discuss. And please, do me a favor, if you read the book, make sure to read it in its entirety.





And next up, Redefining Home by Carrie Hudson.



 Carrie gives her family's story of moving to Asia, moving back to the US, and coming back to Asia again. If you want to get a glimpse of what it's like to live cross-culturally and have a piece of your heart in 2 cultures at the same time, this is it. I got to meet Carrie a few months ago, and I have to say she's as passionate, down-to-earth, and hilarious in person as she is in the book. I've read her blog for a while, and when I met her I might have said in a slightly-stalkerish way, "You don't know me, but I read your blog."

Do yourself a favor and download these books. I'll even refund your Amazon money if you don't think they're absolutely great. :) You're welcome in advance.    

Easter weekend 2012

On Saturday morning, we hosted an Easter party for some neighbors and had a grand time. Most of the people where we live have never heard of Easter and have no idea why it's celebrated. It's a fun and natural way to talk about the hope that we have. We started out by decorating cookies with the kids. I'm learning to make my icing MUCH less sweet and it seems to be working; nobody complained about the cookies being too sweet this time. Then we moved on to dyeing eggs. I'll admit; there were one or two of these little ones I was scared to give access to food-colored water, but they did great and were much less messy than I anticipated. I think they thought the whole concept of coloring eggs was fun but pretty strange.

But the 1st graders got into it and took great care to decorate their eggs.

Little ShanShan is hilarious. She was fascinated with the colors and wanted to make sure she took some eggs home to her dad.

The hunt begins.

Here's most of the crew post-hunt. I think the parents enjoyed it as much as the kids. We had a big lunch at the dumpling restaurant across the street afterwards.

On Saturday late afternoon, Kevin and I took the girls out to play right before the heavens opened up and poured down RAIN. Now, usually we'd be upset to be caught in a storm, but we've been in a draught for a while and have experienced horrible water outages. So, we let the girls play in the rain until we had to seek shelter in a public bathroom. Gross, I know, but having to skip showers and only occasionally flush will lead you to do a weird happy dance in a public restroom when it finally rains. On Sunday morning, it rained again so we changed the outdoor fellowship plans we had with friends. But we still enjoyed an Easter brunch, had worship together, and my girls got to wear their beautiful dresses Nana and Pappaw sent from America.

I know I'm totally biased, but the cuteness-factor was off the charts. Trinity requested to wear her dress on Monday and Tuesday as well. Time to wash. You did good, Nana.

Since we had a rainy day and already enjoyed an egg hunt, we hunted chocolate eggs from America inside the house...

and made an empty tomb out of cupcakes, oreos, and coconut dyed green for the grass.

I'm so thankful that Grace seems to be grasping more and more the message of the gospel. She's been asking lots of good questions and I believe He's working in her heart. One of my favorite memories of the weekend was hearing Kevin talk with her about the Resurrection. He is risen; He is risen, indeed!!