January 11

January 17, 2011
We made it back to Ohio! It was sad to leave Matt and Sukey, and their family who is wonderful! We talked to them this afternoon though and they got good news at the doctor with the babies! They got to go off of their oxygen today!!! Yeah! They are doing well and it’s such a blessing! We just love them!

The trip back was pretty good. The Lord has blessed us with great travel this trip for sure! When we got home Jeremy and Katiera and the kids came for dinner, and we all hung out for a while. It’s been another long, but good day! I’m ready for bed!

– Emily

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January 16, 2011
Two days with Matt and Sukey just aren’t enough! I wish we could stay longer. We have to leave tomorrow morning. It has been such an encouraging fun time here! Ryan and Matt and Micah went to church this morning. Sukey and I stayed back with the babies. They are still on oxygen but they’re hoping to get off tomorrow! They are very sweet little babies! I got to spend lots of time talking with Sukey today, and we had a big lunch with the whole family. Sukey’s sister has a little boy micah’s age and they played trains downstairs for pretty much the whole day. I’m convinced that Micah would have stayed down there forever if we wouldn’t have made him come upstairs to eat (which he didn’t do because he was so excited about playing with the trains)! I’m so thankful that the Lord brought Matt and Sukey in our lives! We have had lots of great converations and we even got in a game of Farkle! Me and Sukey went to church tonight while the boys stayed home with the babies and Micah. They did a great job putting the kids to bed! We’re all exhausted! They have two babies and we have lots of travel, but even in the midst of all of our exhaustion, it’s just great to be together!

– Emily

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January 15, 2011
Today was such a wonderful day! We drove to Lebanon today to visit our friends, Matt and Sukey. They trip took 6 1/2 hours and we stopped half way to visit Leia Suska! We haven’t seen her in a long time! We met at a restaurant and had lunch. It was super fun to catch up with her! The only down side of the day was that Micah had some trouble. He had a melt down at lunch, and had some trouble in the car too. I can’t blame him at all though. We have traveled so much and he has been SUCH and great little boy the whole time! This is the first time he has had trouble, and for a two-year-old, that’s pretty great. He’s just so wonderful! The second half of the trip though he did better and we made it to Matt and Sukey’s parent’s house in time for a great dinner with our friends. We miss them so much! It was soooo great to meet their little babies! They are almost 6 months, and they are growing so big, and super cute! It’s great to be here with our friends! We’ve been dreaming of the future together the whole time! What does the Lord have in store?

– Emily

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January 14, 2011
This is our one rest day. I got to spend some time today though with Stephanie, we went shopping to Target. It’s so hard to find time to spend with everyone! I have so many great friends and so many people i want to spend time with and life is just too busy! I’m glad we got to fit some time in today together though! I got to hold her baby Josie too! The rest of the day we spent resting for the most part. We took naps and then spent the evening with my family playing Wits and Wagers. I was glad to have a little time to rest today! We have a long drive tomorrow!

– Emily

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January 13, 2011
Today was the last day of the missions conference. It has been a long day. We’re finally back in Norton at my parents. Despite being a long day, it’s been another good day. The Missions conference is just so great! It’s so great to be back at Cedarville! Today after chapel Ryan and i got to speak to a Missions class. It was so fun! We both had that class when we were in school, and it was neat to be the missionary now and get to share with college students about our experience! I also had a very encouraging talk with a lady, Becca, who I used to work with when i worked in Chucks. I love how the Lord sends so many special people while we’re here to encourage me! I love sharing with people what the Lord is doing in my life too! Ryan and I took a picture at the place where we met today, then he kissed me and shouted, “This is where we met!” Nobody seemed to care, but it was fun! This afternoon we had lunch with Delora and dinner with her and Kari too. We have fun spending time with her! We only got to spend a few minutes in chapel tonight because we needed to head home. I always love singing in chapel!

– Emily

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January 12, 2011
We had such a great day today! Well, it didn’t start the best. Micah and I woke up a little late and I was 15 minutes late for chapel, so I had to sit by myself upstairs with the engineers and a girl. When chapel was done though the girl turned to me and said “thanks for sitting with me!” It was very sweet of her!

For lunch today we ate with Dr. Bjorstad. It was fun to sit down and talk with him again. Michelle, one of my roommates from Cedarville met us too and she has a little boy now so it was fun to catch up with her. Micah had fun crawling under and around the table. When lunch was done we went back to Delora’s to take a nap, which MIcah never did! He laid there forever and then i went in to take a nap with him but neither of us fell asleep. Ryan went to a seminar this afternoon.

There were some girls from the school today who gave pedicures to all the missionary ladies. I have to say, it was my favorite part of the week so far! I had great conversations with the girls and was able to encourage them and I was so encouraged myself too! It was just so wonderful! I’m glad the Lord put those girls in my life! Plus, I got a fabulous foot massage and pedicure. My toes are pretty pink! When I got back to Delora’s Micah giggled at my toes and said “funny toes!” It was very cute!

We had dinner at Delora’s tonight. Micah had a little trouble, but dinner was for sure tasty! Ryan and i went to chapel then and then to the Hive for coffee with a student. It was great to get to meet with him. He has a lot in common with RYan and he was able to encourage him and pass along lots of things he has learned. We just love being able to share with college students and invest in their lives! The Lord sure has blessed us today!

– Emily

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January 11, 2010 1-11-11
This morning we slept in a little. Micah has had a lack of sleep and slept late and was super grumpy in the morning when he woke up. Ryan went to be at our booth and go to chapel and Micah and i stayed at Delora’s house for the morning and rested. Poor Micah has been so good at traveling all around. He deserved a bad morning to be sleepy and grumpy. The rest of the day he did great though. We went to an alumni lunch in the afternoon. It was fun to be with alumni missionaries. After the lunch we put Micah down for a nap. He slept from about 1-4:30. He was very sleepy! Ryan was in a anel on short-term missions this afternoon. Tonight we went to Colonial for dinner, a favorite spot in Cedarville. Micah hung out with Kari and the girls tonight and Ryan and i went to chapel and to the ice cream social afterwards. We met with the team coming in March. It was fun to meet them all and share with them about Eleuthera! We’re excited for them to come!
I love being at the Missions conference! It’s a big encouragement and I’m already seeing the Lord work in my own life!

– Emily

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January 10, 2011
We’re in Cedarville!!! Yeah! We are here for missions conference, and we’re already feeling encouraged! We got here and got settled at Delora’s house. It’s great to see her again! We all went to a dinner for the missionaries after that. Kari had lots of fun watching Micah! After the dinner we went to Walmart and to Kari’s to get Micah and visit a little. Kari and her friends were having lots of fun with Micah! It was super late and he was still awake! He was sleepy though and actually asked to go home and sleep. It’s so great to be back here. It brings back so many memories and I’m reminded of so many ways the Lord worked in my life while here.

– Emily

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January 9, 2011
January is going by too fast! We had a great day today! We went to church this morning at the North Campus. It was great to be able to be in the worship service and have Micah be able to be part of Sunday School. After church I went to Michaels because they were having a sale and I had a gift card from Christmas. I had fun shopping! We all had lunch together then tonight Ryan and I met with the potential group to come to Eleuthera on a missions trip this summer. I get so excited when i get to share about what the Lord is doing in Eleuthera and how our church can be a part of it! After that Katiera, Alexis, and i went to Applebees for a while and had a great time talking. The Lord has really blessed us in so many ways. We are always so encouraged coming back here. I’m thankful for friends and family investing in our lives.

– Emily

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January 8, 2011
We had a great day today! We all slept in a while because of the late night last night, and this afternoon we met up with our friends from St Maarten, Kadesh and Stacy and their kids. We had a fun lunch at Olive Garden with them. It was the first time I had met them and I had such a great time talking to Stacy, and their kids are wonderful! Tonight we had dinner at Jeremy and Katiera’s and then we had more nerf gun wars. It was girls against boys again, and I think we won once, but we had sooooo much fun again!

– Emily

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January 7, 2011
Best day EVER! We had so much fun today! We celebrated Christmas today since we were gone for the actual day. Last night we didn’t get to bed until super late, and this morning poor Micah was sooo sleepy! He actually somehow slept under our bed with just his little head on his mattress. It was super cute! This morning Jeremy, Katiera, Maggie, and Anika came over for breakfast. Noah had to go to school which was very sad – we missed him! After breakfast though the boys went to go see a helicopter, which Micah loved, and the girls had a tea party! After our tea party we made a fort tent out of sheets to cover most of the living room and played war. Us girls had the best time playing war! We had a nerf gun that we used and we played pretend grenades! Maggie was a great spy! When the boys and Noah got back home we opened up presents. I have the most fun watching Micah open his! It’s so fun! He loves to open presents! Jeremy got the best present this year though – lots of huge nerf guns! We all spent the rest of the evening eccept for dinner having an all out war with all the guns! Everyone had a gun, and it was boys against girls. Some of the time the little kids were spies! We had SOOOOOOO much fun! I think that the problem with adults is that we don’t do fun things enough! It’s so fun to have tea parties and build tents in the house out of sheets and have nerf gun wars!!! My mom was the best shot i have to say! We all had fun! Our war didn’t end until about 9:30 at night (we opened presents at 3:30) and after that we played Wits and Wagers again. I love my family! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family! The Lord has given me abundant grace and mercy! I have so much to praise Him for!
Merry Christmas!

– Emily

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January 6, 2011
We had a fun day today. I had a doctor’s appointmeng this morning then tonight Jeremy and Katiera and the kids came for dinnner. Tonight is our “Christmas Eve”. We got Belgrades and played and watched “Despicable Me” and played more Wits and Wagers. Micah had lots of fun playing with his cousins again! We’re excited for our Christmas day tomorrow! It’s fun to be back and be able to celebrate Christmas with my family. We made cookies today and decorated them tonight.

– Emily

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January 5, 2011
We made it to Ohio! Yeah! Our first stop was actually Cedarville to give Kari’s car back. She so graciously let us borrow it for our trip. My parents met us in Cedarville, and we drove back together. We got to spend a little time with Kari before driving back too. We stopped for dinner too, and now we’re home and super tired. It’s been another blessing of a day for us! The Lord has kept us safe again!

– Emily

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January 4, 2011
Today was a long day of driving. It was sad to leave Wisconsin! We had a great visit though! And our drive today was great too! Tonight we are staying with great friends, Mike and Annie, in Chicago for the night. It works out great because they are half way to my parent’s house and we have had a great visit with them. If only we could stay longer! We had a great dinner though and fun playing Wits and Wagers too. Tomorrow will be another 6 hours of driving! We are praising the Lord for safe travel!

– Emily

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January 3, 2011
Today was another great day in Wisconsin. It’s sad that today is our last day here though! Mimi made her waffles this morning for breakfast. And this afternoon I went into town to the store. Tonight Ryan made ribs for dinner and we had a delicious dinner all together. Micah has been having fun all afternoon, but the morning was rough for him for some reason. He is in a stage now where we cries and throws a fit if something isn’t going the way it should. He stomps his feet and yells “help!” a lot if one of his toys isn’t working or something. We are working on teaching him how to handle his frustration. He cried a lot this morning when things didn’t go his way. He does better though when we talk things through with him and help him to get his words out about what he’s trying to do and why he’s feeling the way he is. It’s tough growing up! We went to the land to take some pictures by the big wood piles too. And tonight I packed everything up for tomorrow’s trip. We’re praying that the tires are ok for it!

– Emily

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January 2, 2011
Well the day started a little rough. We were late for church because we got a flat tire on the way there, so we had to go back and switch vehicles. The part of church that we did make it to though was good, and after church we all went out to lunch at the Chinease restraunt. Then we headed to Walmart to pick out a TV for Ryan’s parents. Micah did so good in the store so I bought him a little truck to play with. He’s such a good little boy! When we got home it was nap time, and Packer time. They won, which put everyone in a good mood. Micah has extra energy tonight and has been running non-stop around the house and jumping on the trampoline. There was something else today that I wanted to remember to put in my journal….I forget what it is!!!!! It was very funny though whatever it was!

– Emily

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January 1, 2011
It’s always fun to write the new year for the first time! I love New Years because I feel it’s a fresh new start and it’s fun to think about all that the Lord will do in the next year!
We had lots of fun last night for New Years Eve! We went to a restraunt called Roosters for dinner and had pizza. There were roosters all over the walls and Micah went “cock-a-doodle-do!” all night! After dinner we went bowling. We had so much fun! I forgot how much fun bowling is! Micah had lots of fun too, and I’m pretty sure he beat my score! They had lots of fun music playing and New Years party favors for everyone, and we played from 7-9 and at 9:00 they pretended it was New Years and did the whole count down thing, so that was fun. For the real New Years Ryan was watching a movie, his dad was sleeping, his mom was washing dishes, and I was sitting at the table. It was sorta anticlimactic, but she and I at least yelled “happy New Year!” Then I went to bed. Micah was cold I think last night so he came into bed with us, which meant no sleep for me. I slept this morning though and we all took a nap this afternoon. Ryan and Micah and I went to Wendys for dinner tonight and then on a Walmart date. It was a quiet New Years Day ,but it was a pretty good one. I did however miss my family. I called right as they were sitting down for dinner. It was sad not to be there with them. But I am so thankful that the Lord gave me two families who are amazing and love Him.

– Emily

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