I will always remember July as an epic month in the year 2025. After months of anticipation, we welcomed our teammates, the Artoni family, and traveled with them throughout Illinois and Indiana! This post skims the highlights of those travels and wraps up with Reni's 16th birthday celebration!
Week 1
After returning from Honduras and Texas, we prepped the house for their arrival, including some stars and stripes bunting for the upcoming July 4th holiday!
Nathan drove up to O'Hare to pick them up. We had supper then opted to keep them awake by firing off some small fireworks we had purchased to honor their arrival.
Then we concluded with a sunset walk down the road.
On July 4th, we stopped at Bass Pro Shops on our way to Mom's home in Peoria.
When in the midwest, one must engage in target shooting :-)
Luis' first purchase in the USA was a giant Stanley thermos, for his mate` (tea), of course! I don't think this is the one he actually bought, though.
(Below), no one is more festive for holidays than my sister, Hannah!
Mom made an American meal that included corn-on-the-cob, of course!!
This was our first real July 4th experience from Mom's place downtown. We don't claim 2021 since the primary city shows were canceled for Covid. It was pretty epic, lasting 25 minutes!
Saturday morning we drove to Manito to visit Grandpa Van. Loved this display of patriotism at the fertilizer plant.
We introduced Grandpa to Luis...
The girls took total advantage of the flat land to perfect their bicycle riding skills.
I taught the girls how to shuck corn!
And we got the slip-n-slide out!
And more evening walks, post supper.
Week 2
Their first Sunday in America found them sharing at Crosswalk... where Ellie and Mom performed a prelude duet.
Monday we welcomed retired missionary, Barbara P (Kenya) who was passing through Illinois on her way to Indiana. She tutors Laura in English.
Barbara spent Monday night with us and on Tuesday we were thrilled to host Nathan's Uncle Paul and Aunt Melanie from New Jersey for lunch.
Tuesday night Mom hosted a small reception to introduce the Artonis to some of our local friends.
It was a treat for them to meet my Aunt Miriam (below).
with the Bachmans...
... and Shrocks.
The McCues traveled down from eastern Michigan. Rod is a big BBQ-er, but let Luis take the lead in marinating the ribs for our lunchtime cookout.
Below, posing with the McCues, their daughter, and grandsons
Thursday we hosted our neighbor and long-time friend, Kristi.
After Kristi left, we got busy making homemade empanadas for Dad Waggoner's small group meeting that night.
Below, Luis shares at small group.
Friday we took the Artonis shopping. Treat #1 was their first experience of Chick Fil A...
... then we picked up a special treat of Crumble Cookie...
Then we hit Costco where I ran into my cousin Emily!
The Costco visit was to pick up items for an evening cookout at the farm for a reunion of the Doing Sports God's Way team that came in April 2024.
We set Saturday aside for some local sites of interest. They had asked about Laura Ingalls Wilder sites, but since we're not exactly close to those places, we decided to take them to New Salem Village
Below, some interpreters explain the general store run by Abraham Lincoln, and his partner, Berry.
In the interactive children's museum, they humored me by dressing in some of the costumes from the "dress-up" box.
We then drove to Springfield and visited the Lincoln Presidental Museum -- at which I took shockingly few pictures, but I love this one below.
Week 3
Their second Sunday in America we visited the lovely folks at Dillon Mennonite Church.
They were so kind to serve us a delicious potluck lunch.
On Monday, we headed up to the northwest suburbs of Chicago, but stopped in Plainfield on the way to see longtime friend, Elisabeth, and meet her boys.
Then we arrived in Cary to stay at the home of the lovely Claudia and kind Don Erickson.
Claudia lined up some wonderful appointments for us, including lunch at Chick Fil A where the operator comped our meal!! <3
In between appointments we took part in an online training by our org.
Tuesday evening the Artonis shared their story with a small group.
Then Wednesday we drove up to Antioch where they shared with another group...
In Antioch, we stayed at the lovely Ol' Pine Lodge Cabins.
Tim and Robin (below) are the owners of this beautiful property and recently restored all of the WWII era cabins themselves! Consider them if you're ever looking for a place on the lake! You don't need to drive all the way to Minnesota, ha ha!
Remember the Kentucky Derby themed tea we attended in May? We got to reunite with Don and Claudia's amazing daughter, Becky. She's just the coolest.
And yes, that is a skunk hat on Ellie's head.
On the way home we stopped for lunch at Braker's Market in Eureka.
So there's nothing more eye-opening about one's culture than experiencing it through the eyes of a foreigner. At about this point Luis politely observed aloud how "uniquely" we dress our foods in America. He said, "In Africa, Turkey, Albania... you just have chicken." Then pointing to another corner of the plate, "And rice, and vegetables. And they all stay separate. But not here!"
We got home from our trip to Chicago Land around 2PM and Luis jumped at the chance to mow the grass that had grown in our absence. He later told us, "I think when I return to Albania I'm going to plant some grass in my yard."
Saturday morning was another early morning! We got in the car and drove down to St. Louis! And I had to snap a photo of the navigation system when I saw we would pass a place called "Waggoner!"
Laura and the girls had never heard of the Gateway Arch. Which might explain their lack of gasps when we crossed the Mississippi River. As a child (and an adult), it never ceased to impress me!
We got tickets for them to go to the top! But the real highlight of the day was visiting the Ramirez families for lunch! We just so happened to visit when Adriel's brother, Jeremias and family, were passing through on their return to Texas!
The photo above was years in the making... And I don't know even where to begin in describing all the ways in which we are interconnected, but needless to say, we felt like honorary Argentines for the day! And bonus, in the middle of lunch, we ironed out details for Lydia (in the middle) to come to Albania to complete her OT doctorate capstone project with us next spring!!
Have you ever seen a ceramic like this? I doubt it -- it's a microwaveable dish in which you melt cheese and meat for yummy cracker or toast topping. A great appetizer! Apparently it's made by one man in Uruguay, but if you see one in America, let me know!
Week 4
On Sunday, July 20, we visited my childhood church family at Valley Chapel. And no, that's not an old photo, they were preparing to host their summer VBS with the theme, "Christmas in July." They have more creativity in their small church than some 5 times the size!!
With my longtime friends, Kay and Lora!
For lunch we celebrated Rebecca's birthday over pizza and wings at Perdue's in Tremont, a Waggoner family tradition!
Then we came home to the farm and had cake for Grandpa Van's 98th!!
My cousin, Justin, joined us!
Then Monday morning, the Artonis said goodbye to the farm and Illinois as we packed up to go to Marion, Indiana!
Somehow we all squeezed in here!
And then two hours later, near the Indiana border, we met Reni's group and picked him up!
Our destination was WGM's headquarters for a week of training, but we also have a lot of friends in the area. Our colleague, Laura N, has a "u-pick" flower farm and she invited us to come pick flowers one evening! It was a first for all of us!
With some help and instruction from Laura N, we made a beautiful bouquet!
Another evening we visited the Metz family!
During the day we learned so much about improving our communication techniques and workshopped various presentations. We heard so many moving stories and testimonies from the other participants engaged in work around the world.
Thursday evening we met Maria (a former Asbury student) and her family! The kids had great questions about life in Albania and it was fun to get to speak some Albanian for them!
Friday evening we shared dinner with our long-time friends, Nate and Anne. Then they treated us to dessert at Ivanhoes in Upland where we met up with Anne's parents, Hubert and Sarah!
Saturday morning we went to Marion's Abbey Coffee to see Charisse.
I liked the light on Reni and asked him to pose for me. This kid. Transforming before our eyes into a man.
Later at Charisse's super cool downtown apartment in a converted historic bank building! Aren't those kinds of properties the coolest?
Saturday afternoon Nathan's cousin Kathi arranged to meet us at Aunt Ruth's nursing home. She had moved here since we last saw her. Uncle Jack joined us, then later cousin Tim came too!
Week 5
Sunday morning, July 27 found us at the first church at which we ever shared!
Thanks, Eaton, for welcoming us back! We are honored to be your missionaries!
We then had lunch at Cracker Barrell, per our tradition!
From there, we drove up to Lansing, Michigan! It was a joy to reconnect with Meredith and Jaron! Meredith was a student in our leadership team at Asbury, but she also assisted me as a photographer back in the day when I shot weddings!
Monday, on our way to Jenison, we stopped in Grand Rapids to visit the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum.
I explain that since I was born during his presidency, I never got to study him in history class because it was "too recent."
Needless to say, we found the museum fascinating.
Above, Reni stands in a model of the cabinet room. Below, Ellie reads about Ford's attempt to fly out thousands of orphaned babies from Saigon before it collapsed and fell under rule by the north Vietnamese.
Monday afternoon was HOT and a perfect day to enjoy the Grisco's pool!
Rebecca (above) and her sister Rachel (below, back row) -- are my second cousins. A lot of folks marvel that I have a relationship with my second cousins, but we were blessed with grandparents (my grandfather, her grandmother) who were extraordinarily close and valued family connection perhaps more than some. I didn't realize fully why until my grandfather passed away -- but he and his sisters were orphaned in their teens. I suppose in those days there was no CPS and since they had aunts and uncles in the area in case they needed anything, my grandfather and great-aunts continued to run the farm themselves and finish high school! They eventually married and the aunts moved to Ohio with their spouses, but the siblings and their children stayed close through an annual gathering of our Whiteford family from my earliest memories until the last one in 2017.
We planned to get home before Reni's birthday on Wednesday, but were more than happy to stop along the route when a former Kentucky friend saw we were in the vicinity and we stopped for coffee! By coincidence, she had just so happened to request that day off of work! What a joy to catch up and meet her boys!
Reni turns 16
Above, we celebrated with waffles for breakfast and Ellie gifted Reni this Messi jersey. She found it in a shop and knew he would love it. I love her gift-giving heart! She is so generous!
We went put-putting in East Peoria with Gigi and Aunt Hannah
Reni got something crazy like 3 or 4 hole-in-ones on their two courses (one indoor, the other outdoor).
Then we enjoyed a special birthday dinner at Alexander's Street Steakhouse!
Reni, we love you. We're proud of you. And we're treasuring every day we have left with you before you fly the coop!
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