Note flooring- labor of love!

Guess I was overly optimistic when I stated in our last blog from Honduras that we'd send one from WA state! From the moment we walked into our Moses Lake home that we'd left with flooring undone and not totally furnished, we basked in the finished product, loving gift from the neighbors, who worked the whole 5 weeks we were back in Honduras to have the flooring in for us and a homey atmosphere to greet us!  All we had to do was buy a bed and put the finishing touches on the house- the rest of the 3 weeks was just pure enjoyment! Thanks, Mike and Claudia!
We've now been in Oklahoma for 2 weeks, after a 17 day roadtrip from WA to OK . We are currently biding our time til the closing date the end of May on a small 2 bdrm. condo- right on the Riverparks Bicycle Trail, as we'd prayed.

Hopeful that we'll close on this end of May!

2 nite stop at my niece Robyn's home to laugh with her 7 kids

We are cozily keeping house in a corporate apartment with all the luxuries of life- including internet, exercise room, grocery store across the street, and 1 mile from the bike trail. For this brief interlude, we're grateful!

Jacksonville Pres in Oregon from John's cousins porch

John and I in front of his childhood church

We managed to squeeze a about a 4 day road trip into 17 days- visiting about 17 families along the way from Moses Lake to Tulsa. We saw family, friends, other missionaries, former visitors to honduras, some hitherto unknown relatives of John, supporters...just a step back into the past in some ways, as we visited John's childhood home and the church in which he grew up, plus our Frequent Flyer Team in Jacksonville- have lost track how many trips those folks have blessed us with in Honduras!  Just lots of nostalgic interactions...lots of joy.
I had never seen the Redwoods that I recalled, so the trip thru Northern CA was a dream come true. We visited the Brownings, neighbors from Honduras for whom John has delivered 2 children. What a fun reunion- they are very special people to us. We hiked one evening with Tom and Patty Harmon, ongoing medical visitors to us in Honduras, who let us wax eloquent about many folk they, too, knew.  Then we went thru Los Angeles for a 2 day visit with John's kin, who very quickly became friends. We stopped for 2 nites with John's brother in Sedona, and as usual, his wife made it a "Healing Place"- what a gift Jane has for making a place where we always meet Jesus and come away feeling renewed!  Tho it had not been planned, we arrived at my folks in Sun City on my mom's 86th birthday, with my sister celebrating her birthday the following day. What fun! From there, we went thru Lubbock to visit the Belchers,  longtime supporters and on to Tulsa.

Josh, Linzy, Hadley, Guildy, and Talby on their ranch

The Redwoods

The pink bluffs of Sedona. 

Brief visit with my folks and my sister in Sun City

Our first week was full of doctor's appointments, tuning up the aging bodies. We are in the process of getting a shoulder replacement surgery scheduled for John, with projected date the end of May. Will be a race to see which happens first, his shoulder or the closing on the condo. We're enjoying being closer to kids and grands, looking forward to being settled into the new place where the little ones can bicycle with us on the trail with good access to the parks nearby. Our overall plan is to spend the summer months when possible in the north, and the winter months here in Tulsa. This year is mixed up due to the surgical need, but its a plan in the making!

Newest grandchild, John Axel, with his sister, Savannah