We miss our friends in America when we're here, and when we're in America, we miss our friends back here. Our hearts have been spread over the earth like peanut butter on bread. All the way to the edges, crust to crust, and evenly. To pick a favorite peanut in the butter would be impossible.
But I will say this: when we're in America, we REALLY miss John and Alisa and their kids.
We had a best friend family when I was growing up. The Wilkes family. We went on vacations with them to places like the locks at Sioux St. Marie. In their hotel room we were allowed to jump from bed to bed (in our room we couldn't). We went camping with them, where Benny cooked us goulash and told us corny jokes around the campfire. Every New Year's Eve found us celebrating at the Wilkes house, a homey place hunkered down on a hilly street in Grand Rapids, where we practiced cartwheels in the basement until midnight and then threw homemade confetti as the ball dropped on TV.
I am so happy that G0D has given us our own "Wilkes family." Our husbands love each other, Alisa and I love each other, and all the kids love each other. John and I are good friends, Daniel and Alisa are good friends, and we actually
like - not just love - each others' kids.
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| We love this bunch of redheads! |
We went hiking together when we got back from America this summer. Such fun!
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| I am this boy's hairdresser. I get to cut those sweet potato curls every couple of months, and then watch them grow back. |
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| Sometimes I get to cut her russet curls, too. She has been my lil' friend since before she was potty trained. Love this girl. |
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| And then there's the token blond, with her twirling girliness and her free spirit. Her name is spelled like mine, only with an "L." Jubilee has a soft spot for little Layla, too. |
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| On another note, check out the trailhead map from our hiking trip with them. Is this cool or what? |
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| So glad to have people to walk this trail with us. |
