Before we took up a whole row in the airplane,
we had
just enough time to sneak in a few more memories in Michigan.
There was time for a Christmas pageant.
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| Zion was Joseph and Sharlet was Mary. Uncle Kody's stick horse, circa the late 1970's, was the donkey. |
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| Jack Jr. and Gene were wise men. |
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| Brave the shepherd. |
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| And an angel named Jubilee. (Did I mention she got glasses this furlough? Severe astigmatism.) |
There was also time for a trip to Build-A-Bear.
And time for Christmas dinner.
There was time for Christmas cookies.
And I HAD to see each of my brothers and their families one last time.
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| Kody and me. |
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| Jack and me. |
Oh and guess what G0D did? After a green Christmas (sad), he sent a thin layer of slick snow in our last 48 hours stateside! So there was sledding after all. Whew, that was close.
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| The sledders in action. Sadly Zion was sick this day and couldn't go. |
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| Cutest sledders ever. |
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| Love my mom. |
There was time for a quick dinner at Bagger Dave's in Grand Rapids on Christmas Eve (before meeting up with Liz and Brian and their crew for church at The Barn at The Other Way).
And speaking of Liz, there was OF COURSE time for one last supper, at Panera in Grandville (halfway point for us), where we talked about the cost of following G0D's call on our lives. Tears were shed, love was felt, and a big, bittersweet hug was had in the parking lot before parting ways for another stretch of time apart.
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| Panera selfie. |
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| Free to live in this moment. |
