Catching up

It's only been 2 months since I wrote last, ahem . . .

During that time our girls participated in the Bingham Field Days. Every year Bingham frees the kids from classes for 2 days, the last Friday and Saturday of January for all sorts of track and field events. Parents are asked to come and help or at least come. Most do. Our girls did pretty well, bringing home some ribbons. But it was mostly the fun and sun that everyone looks forward to.

During that time Wanda and I worked hard on MCC stuff. Wanda finished up the budget and working on the computer software program to send to Akron. I worked on a situation with several MCC partners that were going through a rough patch internally. I went to evening meetings (I remember those, ugh). Maybe there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

During this time we talked about transition. Our MCC term will finish in June and our family will return to NA. What will happen when we get there? Are there any job opportunities for us? Where will we live? Ontario or Ohio? Where will our girls go to school? To a Mennonite or public school? We also found out during this time who are replacements will be. A young couple from Winnipeg, Manitoba who will come for an interim period of 12 to 18 months. They will arrive in April for 6 weeks of language and orientation. We look forward to their arrival. Things are moving quickly.

During this time we had birthdays. We celebrated Wanda's birthday, then saluted members of both the Amstutz and Roth on their birthdays and finally my birthday on the 4th. I think someone I know put out the word that it was my 50th to my pals and voila! my email inbox was full of happy 50th birthday wishes. That has been a very pleasant surprise, to see all those emails from friends and family.

During this time we also planned our 15th wedding anniversary getaway. In the midst of all that we had to do we managed to find time to look at potential B&B's to stay at, a car rental and to connect with our friends in Pretoria who were kind enough to invite us to hang out with them for several days. I am writing this in Cape Town, South Africa in a B&B we found online and it turns out that we picked a good one! Right in the heart of the city with lots of nice restaurants within walking distance (we've already tried a couple of them). But I'll write more later.