Pittsburgh Baby

While the kids had adventures in Oregon and Mexico - we had a great time at convention - Authentic 15!

Pittsburgh is a LOVELY city. We enjoyed our day of sightseeing and the conversations with our taxi drivers.

The evening sessions were all great. The Relational Workshop Session I attended by Ken Sande was fantastic.

It's no surprise to any that know me, that the topics resonated! Authentic purpose, authentic relationships and authentic ministry. Love God - Love others - it all flows from relationship. GREAT messages.

I have NEVER been in a business meeting which accomplished so much in such an organized manner.

Women's Luncheon, Mission's Luncheon, Men's  Luncheon - all great.

Reconnecting with old friends and making new friends - priceless.

I didn't take many photos. I actually didn't take a single one once the convention began.  The day before Authentic 15 officially opened, we went downtown to see what we could find. We didn't see nearly enough - we have added Pittsburgh to our "RV bucket list."  We had JUST spent a couple of weeks studying the Industrial Revolution. Stacia and Zander were disappointed we didn't go to a Carnegie library or museum. It will be fun to go back with them.

Mount Washington - originally a community where factory and mill workers lived

 

The Monongahela Incline (Mon)  was built in 1870 to transport workers from the mountain to the factories down below....thankful Betsy mentioned this trip to us...

 

Views from the top....lovely. It was especially fun to imagine Dick proposing to Betsy from up here.



Heinz Field - home the Steelers



Streets reminded us of Tokyo -  a bit wider.

 We had lunch at Shiloh Grill...some yummy pierorgies.

 

I loved the architecture.



Parsonage directly to the left of the Mount Washington Baptist Church.

 

We spent quite a bit of time walking....exploring a couple of things we saw from the heights.

Because I'm too lazy to type the info out

 

We walked across this suspension bridge - and I remembered the big earthquake



PA & Lake Eerie Rail Road

The building looked like a church, as we got closer we discovered it is being used as the Allegheny Courthouse. It was designed by the man who designed Trinity church in Boston...so we were close.

 

That's it for sightseeing. We'll go back.

Gherkins Scattered Here and There

I last wrote eleven days ago  - since then we've been all over the place.

Krista led a team of eight to Mexico.  They ran a VBS at Imuris Kid's Kingdom, the orphanage where Arielle and she spent time last summer.  They also went a rehab facility, did some odd jobs and a bit of sightseeing.


F- Krista, Arielle, Katie
B- Shawn, Eric, Wyatt, David, Kent

An hour or so after the team left our home, we piled into Michael's commuter. The team took our van to Mexico. We drove up to Oregon and deposited the three youngest Gherkins with BreZaak. In addition to seeing them, highlights of this flying trip were seeing Nate, Nadia, Will and Sherri and my folks.  We drove back to Oregon on Sunday. We flew out of Sacramento on Monday morning.

Kids realized they have it good in the 15 pass van LOL

 Michael and I enjoyed the trip home, the quiet home (not sure we've been alone in our home for decades), and our trip to Pittsburgh (photos in a separate post).

Michael in front of Mt Shasta

There is no simple, chronological way to organize THIS post....so... glimpses from the Mexico trip.

Krista - our 2nd Gherkin

Arielle (6th Gherkin) and Miley

Alejandro in the middle

 

One thing the team did was shop and cook an "American meal" for the kids. This was a big hit last summer - the girls made pizza from scratch. This time they did BIG hamburgers, all the trimmings, fries and watermelon. It was well received.

Alejandro and David

Wyatt

DINNER

 VBS was the  highlight

 

Kent spinning stories

Meanwhile in Oregon, VBS played a part of the 3 Gherkin's week as well. They enjoyed helping BreAnne prepare for "her" VBS.



Goliath to scale

 

Cousin Time

Izaak with the kids

Photo booth with Bre

 They had a great time at the River too....

 

Car wash

::snort:: This cracks me up.

In Texas, Jamin prepared to move to College Station for the next phase of his education. Josiah called with the news that he had accepted a job in the Seattle area. I need to write a couple more "Mommy posts". LOL

We flew back to CA.......the team from Mexico showed up late Saturday night...after a stop to Chick Fil A.....

They left Sunday a.m., Michael preached, we headed back to Oregon to pick up the kids. We had a 10 hour turnaround. I was pretty proud of the kids being outside by the van at 0645 ready to head home.

Our trip home was uneventful, except for the tire that nearly blew. I'm so thankful Michael took the time to stop and have the tire checked. It was bulging and separating. So very glad it didn't blow when the kids were driving or on either for that matter.

It was a wild week and a half....lots of great memories made.  Back at home we gave Michael a Father's Day gift - a set of DVD on natural disasters......and picked up Yuuki.

 

It's nice to be home.

Friends, Family and Joy

The past few days have been FANTASTIC......Visiting with Don and Beth is always refreshing....and this time was no different.  Friendships maintained and matured over decades can be rare. Spending Don's birthday with him  added to the fun. Don was gracious enough to talk tech things with us (teaches Cyber Security at their hometown university - we do not have a secure system)....Back in college -30 years ago give or take -  Don was the Dorm Pastor who attempted to keep us all in line. Now we try to keep him in line. ::wink::

The Donald and Michael

Beth and I

 

There's a bird on your shoulder

 We were happy to host Joy Thursday night and Friday. Matt, Rachel and the boys were moving to a new home. Kudos to Nolan and Zander for helping them with the loading and unloading. When I was saying I can't imagine moving 3 weeks before my due date, Michael pointed out we did just that from AK to TX....but we weren't moving our THINGS in 107* weather!!!!!

The mission team Krista and Arielle are going to Mexico with arrived last night. It was a full house for dinner and a birthday cupcake for Don....Katie will be the girls' roommate starting in July.



Krista - fearless trip leader



Obviously Beth is the only "sane" one in this photo. LOL

 

Good friends, family, and time with Joy - days don't get much better than this! 

The List

We have entered the frantic zone....and we love it.

In addition to school, we  worked on "the list." This is half of the list......I find it helps to write down my mental status as well.

The kids were a huge help making White Chicken Enchiladas and "sugarless" no bake cookies to take to Desiree and family.

We took time to wonder at the honey



The next few days will be busy - and we planned it that way. The Bowers will be here tonight and Friday. The Mission Team Arielle is going to Mexico with is arriving Friday night. When they leave Saturday a.m., we'll hop in the small car and drive the three remaining kids to OR. They will stay with BreZaak, we'll get to see Nate (home from Turkmenistan), Will and Sherri and my parents. We'll come Sunday  - hopefully by afternoon and have time to pack and leave at 0500 from Sacramento for a week in Pittsburgh at the Open Bible Conference.  We haven't figured out how or when we'll get the kids BACK from OR - but we figure we can think better at Conference? 

Medals, Meals and Mommy Fail

Michael was awarded a Meritorious Service Medal today for our time in Misawa, Japan. This was earned there; between the two bases it took 2 years to actually give it to him. ::snort::   I'm just glad it arrived before retirement. It made me sad to think of Japan knowing we aren't going back next month.

Attention to Orders - Chaplain Tangen reads the Medal Citation 

 

Father Lowe (Our Wing Chaplain) presents the medal

Ch. Lowe surprised us all by taking all of us and the staff to lunch! Wow! Good food and good times. He said he felt like celebrating!

Happy to see Ed caught ALL of us chewing and not just me. LOL

Some dear friends in this staff photo

Our next stop on base was the beauty salon. When we go full time in The Caboose I may have to drive to FL to get my hair done! I miss Barbara!

Arielle needed to pick up a copy of her immunization records for New Hope. It seemed like a good time to get Stacia's very LAST immunization. We've been on  a VERY slow schedule since her childhood reaction. She won't need more until she is 11 - a year away. I asked them to check on the boys' records. MOMMY FAIL.  They are both past due.  It's the story of my life - as soon as I get them caught up - I blink - and they're behind again. They were fussing about which shots were "voluntary" and I helpfully reminded them they are ALL voluntary and let them know which ones we wanted.

The kids insisted on ice cream after the shots....and since it was Stacia's last shot I agreed to take them for shakes!