December 7, 2014

Our Home Leave – November Recap

We have been thoroughly enjoying our time back in the United States.  We arrived in the beginning of November and are now a month in.  It has been wonderful to reconnect with family and friends.  This month has been a busy one, however we are doing our best to rest and take time to reflect, heal and think about our last year in Nicaragua.  It has been difficult to image what life might look like back in the United States and to be honest, much of what life looks like here is not too appealing.  We really have come to love the simplicity of our lives in Nicaragua, the pace that we are able to live and the time and care that people have for one another there.  We will continue to process what this means for us, but for now, we wanted to share a few photos from our time here.

I spent my 31st birthday with my lovely nieces and nephew.  They, along with their momma spoiled me throughout the day.  It was a very memorable day together and while it was much different than last years birthday in El Salvador, it was just as special.

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Here are a couple more nephew and niece pictures.  We have spent many wonderful days together, soaking up the time that we have missed.

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We have been to a couple of weddings over this past month.  One was the marriage of our Seminary friend Joe, who was married in Wisconsin to the lovely Jenny.  We were thrilled to be present on this beautiful day and Kevin had the opportunity to be a groomsman.

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My mom, SIL Kate and I hosted a bridal shower for my cousin Sarah.  We enjoyed a lovely pink themed afternoon together celebrating the love of Sarah and Eric.

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We have been spending a lot of time with our niece Ceanna Arita.  She was born in May and we were unable to meet her until this trip.  She is now six months and is such a joy.  We have been fortunate to watch her almost every Tuesday and are enjoying all of the special time that we have with her.

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Esther Zonnefeld, Kevin’s grandmother passed away on November 16th.  While we are saddened by the loss, we are grateful that she is no longer in pain.  We remembered and celebrated her life with family and friends while reflecting on the wonderful lady that she was.  This photo is of Kevin and his sister, Carrie.

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We headed out to Colorado for the week of Thanksgiving visiting my sister Shawna.  We enjoyed time with Nate and Liz, who worked in Nicaragua with us.  We also visited my childhood friend Claire and her darling babies.  The rest of the week was spent in the beautiful mountains.  We enjoyed many outdoor activities, celebrating Thanksgiving with a wonderful meal as well as time with family.

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While I haven’t captured on photo all of our times with special friends and family, the moments and time have been captured in our hearts.  We are so grateful for the relationships that we have here.  I will leave you with a few more photos.

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