Green Means Go!

Wanted you to be the first to know... we just got an email from our missions pastor saying that we had a green light from the Counsel of Elders to go to Asia-Pacific!

It "officially" begins now - I was just saying to Josh last night that I can't even begin to think about all that we need to do before we go. Obviously above all else we need to continue in prayer and seeking the Lord's direction as there are many decisions to be made. Beyond that the biggest thing to do will be to sell the house, which is mostly ready to put on the market. We will have to see how long the visa takes to get before we do so, though, since we'll need a place to stay until we leave.

Thanks for your prayers for us and our kids as we start to work through this process. We couldn't do it without you!

Good Times

Well, Jo left on Monday morning and life has fallen back into some semblance of normalcy. We had a great time with her, as always. The kids love Auntie Jo and she's nuts about them so that's a great combination. Julia was teething molars so she was on-again-off-again with Jo but they had their share of snuggle time too. Jodi watched the kids one noon so that Josh and I could have lunch together, a real treat. One night we got a sitter and took Jodi out to the Thai Palace in Milwaukee. We've been there a number of times and the food is always great! We really enjoyed the time to talk and the Volcano Chicken! These photos are from our evening there.
We were actually planning on dinner at Abu's Jerusalem of the Gold - an Arabic restaurant we have enjoyed a number of times. Jodi clued us in to the yummy schwarmas they make because she learned to love them when she studied in Israel last year. We got there, and the restaurant was closed for remodeling, so we headed over to our second choice, Aladdin's, but for some reason that was closed too! It was quite a trip to find an open restaurant downtown Milwaukee on Thursday night!!

 

Status Update

Just a quick update - we have a preliminary "green light" to head to Asia-Pacific from the Elmbrook Missions Committee and have one final hurdle before it's official - the Counsel of Elders meeting which is in about a week and a half. So, we continue to wait in expectation. Thanks for praying with us and we'll let you know as soon as we get the "GO!" 

Jodi and Julia Getting Acquainted

This is the first time Jodi's seen Julia since she was 5 months old, so it was great the Julia went right to her - not a common reaction to a stranger! 

Checking each other out!

Had a fun outing at the zoo last week - Julia had a fun time checking out the animals (as did the boys)! Josh's sister Jodi arrived Thursday and will be here until next Monday, so we're enjoying the time with her. Josh has Friday off, so we'll have 3 days at the end of her stay to hang out as a family! More snow coming tonight, so Jo will have had 60 degrees, major wind and a snowstorm in her 10 days in Wisconsin. Must be a Wisconsin spring trying to happen!