Fri., Apr. 4 - Wed., Apr. 9

Wow. Boy, do I have some blogging to do. Actually, only six days have passed since I last blogged, but (heh) a lot can change in six days. Actually, a lot can change in three days, which was the time between when we left Arizona for Des Moines and when Jeremy accepted the position as Grandview’s minister. OHMYGOODNESS, what a lovely weekend we had. I’m hoping that the following pictures will speak louder than the paragraphs I could write. What needs to be said is that Jeremy and I were overwhelmed at the ‘wonderfulness’ we experienced this weekend, in every aspect of our visit. We are excited out of our SKIN about Grandview choosing to hire Jeremy, and that we get to go be a part of the family there ... excited, but also flattered, humbled, thankful, hopeful, and joyful. We have every reason to believe that our family's situation there will be tremendously better in every way. “Stay tuned!” Additionally, we also believe that it is best for Mission Valley at this time if Jeremy vacates the minister position in order that the next chapter can begin for the congregation here, so, definitely 'no regrets'; the only sadness is that we will definitely miss our loved ones here, and of course they are expressing similar sentiments.

The following two pictures were taken on DFW's "Skyway", which is basically a train with no seats. It travels way above ground transporting passengers from one terminal to another. One passenger saw me taking pictures of the children and offered to take a picture of our family. Unfortunately we were almost to the end of our ride, so the picture he took wasn't ssso great.

Dallas from the air
Justus and Jeremy busy on the airplane
This was the view from our motel on Sunday, which was overcast. The roller coaster is part of Adventureland, a theme park in east Des Moines.
We arrived at the motel very late on Friday night. Saturday morning when we opened the blinds, I said to Jeremy, "Yep, we're baaaaack! I'm looking across a corn field at a Menard's!" lol (Menard's is a home improvement store in which Jeremy spent many hours as a construction worker in NE back in the day.)

Saturday morning I took this picture of N & J playing with some of the children of the families who met us for breakfast at the Thompson home ... an extremely enjoyable morning (even though we had to be ready to leave the motel at 6:30 a.m. AZ time!!).

Just thought this was a funny comparison of Justus's and Natasha's 'stuff situation'
On Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. in Omaha, Travis, Kristen, and Katie rose super-early to get ready to go, and then drive the 2+ hours in order to worship with us in Des Moines. Amazing! It was sssso great to see them, especially Katie, who we've not seen in the three years since we moved away from Blair. Kristen took this picture of Katie and me.
Jason, a young single in the Grandview church, took this picture of the seven of us shortly before Art and Nancy offered to let the Omaha 'Kids' join us for lunch at Old Country Buffet!
This one's for free. ;) Just a cute picture of Justus playing with Magnetix. I think I have a fettish about little kids' bare feet tucked under them during play. Ssssssso sweet!!

We came home with lots to do!! But first, Justus had to complete his process of learning to ride his bike!!!!! Monday evening, after Jeremy, Justus, and I slept the majority of the plane ride from Chicago to Tucson, all the 4 Fab had energy to do was eat the Crock-Pot supper Elaine had prepared for us before she worked all day. (How lovely!!)

Tuesday was grocery shopping day and l-a-u-n-d-r-y. Today I cleaned some, bathed Jabba, and spent much time on the phone. There will be many hours spent on the phone in these next few days as we explore our housing options. Jeremy is scheduled to leave for Des Moines on Wednesday of next week, so there is all kinds of last-minute stuff going on in that regard, both logistically and relationally. (We have dinner dates through the rest of this week and into next week.)