Insta Life

The calendar says it's officially summer and it's like my body intuitively 'knew'... time for a break. 

Thank goodness for Instagram. On days too lazy to pull out the 'real' camera (assuming it was even charged) and blog, I can still capture and post a few moments with the iPod. 

I still have images to share from our trip to Kentucky, but in case you're not on Instagram, here are a few from Indiana until then...

Nathan and I were invited to participate in a few days of training during Field Director's meetings at WGM.  Given that some of the information had been covered at other trainings we've attended this past year, we chose to come on the days when the issues of crisis management and member care were being discussed.  Interesting, interesting stuff.  While you think bad things always happen to other people, it's good to be prepared in case it happens to you.  So many things to consider when moving one's family overseas -- while we tend to think about things like school and access to medical care, we also have to consider matters like evacuation plans and contingencies in case of natural disasters or civil unrest.

We were very glad that our meetings at WGM took place in the days leading up to the wedding of a former cabinet member, Maria.  Maria and I were put together in a mentor/mentee relationship through Asbury's women's ministry program my final year in Kentucky.  Her wedding took place on county fairgrounds just half an hour west of WGM.

A very strong thunderstorm delayed the proceedings and forced it indoors, but it was beautiful nevertheless!

Extra special was that we got to sit at a table of former Asbury students.  SO fun!  Abby and Anna were present (Abby was a bridesmaid) and Nathan reminded us that the next time we will all be together will be at the airport in Albania!  Maria and Scott were very gracious and in lieu of favors made a donation to Abby and Anna's Albania fund.  To those of you who have given to Ellie and Reni's future teachers, THANK YOU!

 The morning after Scott and Maria's wedding, we were blessed to visit First Church of God in Eaton.  They were the first church to open their doors to us and we wanted to return to give them a status report and say "thanks."  Sadly, this is the only photo I got!

I really, really dropped the ball and didn't get a photo of us with Nathan's cousin, Kathi, who treated us to lunch after church.  It was a rare time to visit with just her (Uncle Jack and Aunt Ruth were out of town), but we had a really nice time!  Thank you, Kathi!

On the way home we stopped by the Bachmans where Mom and Dad were taking part in a little mini-Fellowship of Christian Farmers reunion.  Mom and Dad had been caring for Ellie and Reni while we were in IN so we stopped in to pick up the kids.  Ellie and Reni had already made friends with Joe and Judy's grandkids when we arrived.  When we walked in, E&R looked up, saw us and said, "You can come back later!"

Tuesday night we had quite the storm blow through.  You can see the corn leaning below.  The next morning we found two large pieces of heavy corrugated metal siding in the back yard.  The wind had come from the west and the closest building in that direction is at least 1 mile away!

This week we have had som nice evenings for walks on our road ... and splashing in puddles after thunderstorms.

Or swimming at Gigi's mini water park ... where the kids converted Aunt Bug's former Barbie dream house into a rocket ship.

Of course all the fresh air and summer activity shows that Reni still needs one of these... as much as he doth protest his maturity and lack of need.

While the kids were keeping themselves busy enjoying the great outdoors, I've been busy at my desk (I just finished up two big projects which I will share about on another post). But in all our traveling here and there, I wasn't keeping a good eye on my stationery supplies.  One day I realized we were at the very bottom of our stack of thank-you cards, lacking enough to get caught up with our list. So I scoured our office closet for supplies and gave Nathan my idea of an alternative homemade card that we could make with what we had on hand.  He produced what you see below...  I love it! 

Hope you all are having a good summer, slowing down enough to catch fireflies, take walks, swing on your porch swing...

...and if you're driving down the road and see an RV, may it be a reminder to you (as it is to our friend Jonathan) to pray for our family!  We're not on the road right now, but still working behind the scenes and in need of your prayers as we prepare for Albania.



Ellie's 8th Birthday Par-TAY!

Ellie's birthday breakfast request was chocolate chip pancakes... we didn't have chocolate chips but we did have m&m's.  That's an "E" and a smiley face that Nathan put on an eight-shaped pancake.

Lunch after VBS was happy meals at Mickey D's and time in the Playplace...

Then, while the boys bought the supplies for the evening cook-out, Ellie fulfilled a long-time wish to have her nails done, including the fancy little flowers painted on just like Marilyn's.

We went next door to the nail salon and Ellie got a hair cut.  She kept telling the hairdresser over and over, "I'm getting my first makeover!"  I was glad she was so happy (and that the experience was only $17 between the two activities!).  She won't soon forget it!

And below, an amazing surprise in her happy meal... a bird with flapping wings, absolutely perfect for our bird-loving girl.

All done!  And yes, that's the same dress pictured in her 6th birthday photo... her birthday falls on Flag Day, so we like to dress patriotically...

Later in the evening we were able host a party like I remember having at her age... complete with extended family present.

Nathan grilled out on our little camping stove...

(below) Ellie and Reni with their 'favorite' Waggoner cousin, Elisha.

Gift opening was a little chaotic.  And I think Ellie scored more gifts than ever.  Reni got really into it too.

And for her third straight birthday, lanterns... I got them super cheap the winter Tangled was in the theaters.  Then they shot up in price.  We've been releasing a few per year and I have a couple more left.  Now rumor has it the EPA may be outlawing them...

What a special day! Nathan and I marveled at the crowded room of family surrounding Ellie with love. I think she had a really, really good day and we couldn't ask for much more than that.  What a privilege to raise this little girl and call her ours!  What a gift!

Summer 2013 Newsletter

We recently sent out our Summer newsletter via snail-mail, but if you can't wait for a printed version or if you just want to see the pictures a little bigger, you can check out our digital versions below.

Click on any image below and use your arrow keys to move from panel to panel.

or download a PDF version here.

Learn how you can support the Waggoners

What We Do For Fun on the Prairie

 Vacation Bible School was always the highlight of my summer as a child.  We didn't do vacations.  We didn't have a pool pass. And living in the country, well, having friends over for a visit was a special occasion too.  When we saw on our schedule that we would be around for Delavan's community-wide Bible school (sponsored by three different churches), we volunteered to assist since we wanted Ellie and Reni to attend and get this experience before we leave for Albania.

We were given the Kindergarten class which, shall we say, is about the opposite end of the student age spectrum from college students (our comfort level) as you can get, but fortunately Mark and Eszti were in town and Kindergarten is Eszti's absolute favorite age.  Eszti graciously took on the role of leader of our teaching team and the rest of us fell into other roles, with Mark and Nathan taking turns accompanying Ellie in her class. We asked Reni his favorite part of Vacation Bible School?  The "making part."  [i.e. crafts]

(Below: Mark leads the kids on a crawl away from the evil Pharoah).

Because Mark and Eszti were not familiar with our part of the country, we made sure to save an afternoon after VBS for a trip to Springfield.  We packed a lunch which we ate in the car while we drove about an hour south to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library.  Probably my favorite museum ever.

They have a variety of theaters (we've only been in one, but the show had visual effects we couldn't explain to Ellie because we weren't quite sure ourselves how they did them). You also enter the museum halls by walking into replicas of Lincoln's boyhood log cabin in Kentucky or the White House.  All throughout there are wax figures in life-size vignettes to help give context to the exhibits of artifacts and information.  I snagged a few pictures before I saw the "no cameras" sign.  Oops!

'Above Right (top):  A scene from New Salem (which we visited last fall), (bottom) son Eddie's tombstone, which was particularly sobering upon calculating that he was within a few days of Reni's current age when Eddie died of TB.

A rare picture indeed:  Ellie and Reni both have their eyes closed!  At the entrance they gave us a clip-board with questions to answer from the information posted in each era of Lincoln's life. It was for Ellie, but it kept us grown-ups engaged in the information, particularly in parts we may have overlooked.  But really, it can stand on its own.

There is a great children's play area (where you can take photos) with all sorts of hands-on activities.  Reni loved, loved, loved the Lincoln logs (which, free fact, were invented by the son of Frank Lloyd Wright).  I thought the doll house replica of Lincoln's Home was a great thing for the kids to see before we toured it next.

Even the grown-ups had fun in the kids area!

We drove a few blocks down the street and visited Lincoln's Home.  This is a free tour (who doesn't love free?), you just have to pick up tickets in advance for your designated tour time.

Everything in the home is pretty close to the way it was when the Lincoln's lived there, except it was air conditioned.  And nobody was protesting that!

The guide pointed out something stored under the bed.  Loved how all the kids immediately had to look and see.  Right, Lincoln's desk. No room for a laptop!

I hope I'm not giving anything away too prematurely, but the next afternoon after VBS we did a quick photo shoot for Mark and Eszti's new prayer card (they are headed to Hungary as missionaries).  Here's one that was in our top three...

Then, before they left, we did another little photo shoot on the big tractor (NOT for their prayer card, wink).

Mark had on his Albania team jersey, so the kids requested to wear theirs to match.  I apologize for the tummy Ellie is showing.  She's obviously growing!

And that's what we do for fun on the prairie!