Another Airport Good-Bye

We had a surprise visitor yesterday afternoon--Quantel, home on leave before leaving for Iraq (or Lebanon?) August 10. Because of the two roles for which he has been trained, he will definitely be in harm's way. He is a gunner (50 caliber machine gun) and he drives the "bump truck" which picks up the bodies. He has already suffered significant hearing loss. This war is now up close and personal for us. As he left, he mentioned that he wasn't sure about his ride back to Detroit Metro. His flight was 6:30 AM today. When we asked him why he chose to fly in and out of Detroit, he said, "Because it is in Michigan." He was not aware that there is an airport in GrandRapids that he could have used.

Since it was absolutely necessary that he be on that flight, we told him to call us if he needed a ride. We asked if he could please call by 9 PM. Well, he waited for his ride till about 10:15 and then called us. After much discussion about where we could meet him (He was in Jenison), we agreed on a certain Mobil station. When we got there, we waited another half hour because his brother and friends just could not say good-bye. Thank goodness for cell phones so that we knew what was happening. We finally left for Detroit about 11:30 and got there about 2:30 this morning.

Looking back, we feel that those three hours with him were a gift. As I listen to him describe his life in the Marines, I marvel at his insights, his sensitivity, his commitment, his vocabulary (using words like "reiterate"), and where he is in general at age 21 (on Aug. 26). He still has his Bill Cosby-like sense of humor and apparently is the only one is his platoon that can make his commanding officers laugh. He seems to be someone that other guys confide in, and we were able to talk about that great responsibility. We were able to pray with him and share about God's purpose for his life and how his faith will make it possible for him to survive, no matter what happens. It was very difficult to leave him at the airport, but he promised to call from California before he is deployed.

The worst part of the trip, of course, was coming back. We didn't want coffee because we wanted to sleep when we got home, so we had to rely on stimulating conversation--not always easy at 4 AM. We got home shortly after 5:30, having made very good time. There aren't many drivers on the road at that time, although you wonder about the ones who are. Please pray for Quantel. We had been hoping that by time he was deployed, troops would be withdrawing from Iraq. Just the opposite is happening, and he is going into a very dangerous situation. We'll keep you posted if we can.

Glorious Breakfast

OK...call me weird, but this yogurt made my day. Let me tell you why... I have this annoying tendency to think I can make certain things "easier" by doing them myself. For example, cloth diapers (save $, the environment and waste) and making granola (because I can never find a brand that isn't too sweet.) Plus, I just take satisfaction in doing as much on my own as I can...because what if all the Huggies and cereal factories blow up? :) Anyway, as you can imagine, this doesn't always make life easier. Nevertheless, I enjoy the challenge. So I've been making our own yogurt off and on for a couple years, unsuccessfully. It's always too runny, which I don't mind and is fine for smoothies, but to the kids it's a mess running off the spoon. I tried everything, I thought, from adjusting the time and method of letting it "cook" to experimenting with several different natural thickeners (I can't eat gelatin since I learned it was made of horse hooves.) Well, I read another "recipe" for yogurt that gave two hints no one else had bothered to mention, both of which I tried and the yogurt came out PERFECT! It was thick and creamy and so delicious, especially with the juicy mango I cut up to go in it. If I were a diabetic for the rest of my life, I would eat this for dessert every day! YUMMY!! 

Cousins

It was so much fun having all of the cousins together. I know they all really enjoyed each other! 

Correction

Here is a picture of Eric since, after a closer look, the person coming down the slide might be Kevin. Really hard to tell. 

3-Story Slide

Just a note about the pictures. I believe that the "splasher" at the bottom of the 3-story slide is Eric. Although the young children played contentedly in the shallow pools, the adults (especially the three brothers) spent much time and effort determining and devising ways to achieve maximum speed and water volume displacement (rather like a tidal wave). These feats were observed by others with interest, amusement, or fear, depending on how far away from the bottom of the slide they were standing.

A Few More

 

Water Park Weekend

Here are a few pictures (I hope) of our weekend. Since pictures are worth many words, I won't say much--except what a wonderfully cool place to spend a very HOT weekend.


 

Believing and Becoming

Remember the rousing "discussions" Brian would have with some of you over theological issues and Biblical viewpoints? Several interactions with friends and a few things we have read in the past week have reminded me of how differently we see things these days.

We have lovely friends who believe it is of utmost importance to be Biblically sound and theologically tight. Our most respected childrearing educators insist that the King James Bible is the only true translation. As much as these wonderful people have influenced and inspired me, nothing holds my attention longer than someone who's character is like Jesus.

Didn't the pharasies and teachers of the law think they had it all understood? But Jesus showed how they didn't even have a clue about his heart. This is how I have been feeling over the past years. Of course I think it's very important to be true to the Word! But a friend or stranger who is a kind, humble and thankful servant is much more intruiging to me than someone with all the right answers.

We had a wonderful trip to Colorado this past week, here are just a few pics of the trip. Elinore had a big week putting in long days in the backpack...such a trooper. She also learned the all important skills of waving and clapping. She is still working on the concept of waving though, she waves to people and cars...but also to walls and doors from time to time. We had a great week and really enjoyed being away from the many distractions that make up our day to day life. 

Overheard at Breakfast

"We'll figure out a way for him to not go back to Thailand. Because I like him. He's a good buddy."
Sam