Thursday, May 19, 2011

Project 365, What week is this?

Seriously, I had to go look up to find what weeks I'm covering with this post. It's been a crazy few weeks! I had hoped to get this up last Saturday (and even had the photos picked out) but we were constantly on the go, and never near wifi. This week we've been settling into our lovely house in Jonesville, Michigan, and yesterday the nice people from Comcast came and turned the switch so NOW WE HAVE INTERNET!

Woot!

I briefly considered waiting until this coming weekend but decided doing three weeks worth of pictures might send some folks into a boredom induced coma. So -- before I proceed with ALL THE STUFF that's been happening -- I'm catching up with P365. Hopefully you'll enjoy this excessively random selection of photos :)

At the end we were scrambling for photos we knew we'd need for our video presentation, making mad dashes around town to snap "just a few more". Thought I'd share a few of those. You may think gas is expensive here, but look at what we pay:
That's PER LITER and even when translated from pesos to dollars, it's still way more than we're paying in the U.S.

I'm not sure I've ever shared a photo of a verdulerĂ­a (vegetable store) before:

We left Argentina on Tuesday, May 3rd, flying over the Andes to our first layover in Santiago, Chile. Ivan went a little crazy taking photos out the window. Our seats were right over a wing, but that didn't stop him from getting some pretty cool shots:

Our son picked us up in Chicago and took us back to his house in Indiana where our car was waiting for us. Our home church, Countryside Bible, provided a lovely little Saturn for us to use! And our daughter and son-in-law went to Michigan the weekend before and brought it back to Jon's. So we transferred luggage and drove on down to Tina and Kyle's. She was pretty excited about watching the baby birds hatch in the nest right outside her craft room window:

In the months since we were here for the wedding, Tina's department moved to a new building on campus. Here she is at her new desk in her new office:

On Mother's Day the Indiana branches of the family came together to celebrate with my MIL. I snapped this photo of mom with the three siblings. Some of you may recognize my SIL, Rita.

Later that day we went to our consuegros to enjoy another meal prepared by the "younguns". Jon smoked a chicken as well as some pork while Kyle made yummy homemade baked beans and this delicious salad...
...and Tina made delectable bacon chocolate chip cookies.

Our daughter's office is right across the street from the headquarters of the mission that my in-laws were with and they have this lovely, peaceful outdoor space...
...as well as an amazing mural painted by one of their missionaries to France. The mural goes all the way around the lobby and I couldn't resist sharing the entire thing, even though it takes four photos to do it :)



The artist/missionary (sorry, I can't remember her name) spent months working on this project. Didn't she do a fabulous job?!

Wednesday, May 11th we headed down to Rita's for the night. Mike was teaching a pottery class at the Red Barn she's mentioned on her blog so we went over to see the studio. VERY impressive! And you know I absolutely luuuuuurved the wall color :)
Then they took us to Ivanhoe's for dinner. The cowabunga burger isn't on the menu but Rita, having written an article about the restaurant a few years ago, knew about it and suggested we get one. GINORMOUS! That's Ivan's large man hand next to it to give you some idea of it's size. Cut in half, it was still the biggest burger I've ever had!
If you live in the Indianapolis area and have never been to Ivanhoe's, you really should go! They have a gazillion different sundaes and shakes too, but we had their infamous strawberry shortcake for dessert -- with both whipped topping AND ice cream. YUM!

Last Saturday, before we headed to Michigan, we went to visit dad and had someone take this photo of us with him and mom. Dad was quite cheerful and alert this particular day and we cherish those times!

We drove straight to a friend's house in order to celebrate; our friend recently finished seminary, graduating magna cum laude! He's done most of the work long distance and didn't attend the graduation (it was several states away) but his wife and kids got him the regalia anyway. Way to go Jim!

Whew! So glad to be caught up at last!

I have lots more to write about, but that will have to wait. I'm just SOOOOOOOOOOO happy to have internet again. *insert sigh of extreme contentment*

10 comments:

Dennis said...

We got home safe and I couldn't wait to see if you had written anything and you DID!! Dennis & I felt so welcom and at home with you and Ivan. Thank you for letting us join in the visit!
Donna

Dennis said...

Dennis has a google account but I did write the note.

Mari said...

It's so nice to hear from you again! Looks like you have been making good use of your time, with visiting family.
That mural is so cool!

sara said...

looks like you are cherishing every moment!!! so fun that tina gets to watch those baby birds!!! And I love that mural...wow, that is a lot of love and work!!!

so glad to have you back!!! Heading down toward AR at all?!!

Lhoyt said...

How I wish we were closer so that we could enjoy the family times together. You seem to pack so much excitement into your days, that I would probably have to have a siesta to be able to enjoy all the action, but MIT would certainly be nice to try.
The picture of Mother and the siblings is fabulous, as is the one of Dad, Mother and you. So glad you were able to catch Dad at a time of lucidity.

SusanD said...

You never disappoint with your photos and narratives. I'm trying to get caught up on my photos too. I've taken them, just haven't posted. Looking forward to more of your adventures. Blessings, SusanD

Skoots1moM said...

i know your heart is busy singing and singing...what a great time you're having.
your pictures are awesome...
the mtns don't look real...gorgeous!
how neat about the bird nest ;)
I know Tina must really be enjoying her new job location too.
My girlfriend drives a saturn and she loves it...
wow...so glad you shared the entire mural, what an amazing job...beautiful
It's getting hot here tomorrow, back in the 80's...i've certainly been enjoying the 60's ;)
love the shot with your mom and dad...so sweet!

The Bug said...

OK I'll quit complaining about gas prices (not really - but I'll TRY). LOVE the mural & the pics with your family.

Amy said...

fabulous pictures! those bird eggs are SO pretty, and what a great shot of the little guy hatching!!
love the vegetable store, too. those two are my favorites!

Oldfangled said...

Whenever we go to Ivanhoe's, Stephan insists that we share a Cowabunga. I don't even get a choice. (Good think I like the Cowabunga, too.)