Vacation in America

We are back in Croatia after a great 2 week vacation to see family in the States. Our return was on Sunday evening around 5:30. We are still jet lagged and sleeping at strange times. Two nights ago, Bret, Ryan and I were all up at 3 AM. Elise, for the first time ever, has adjusted the quickest.

Connecting with family was wonderful! Our first week was spent in Weatherford, Oklahoma. My parents and grandmother live there and both of my brothers took a week off of work to be there for the whole time.

The middle brother, David, had just recently returned from a mission trip to Africa to help with Buckner International Ministries. David is a GREAT photographer! I knew he was interested but had no idea how good he is. This was his second trip to help orphans in Kenya. The ministry is called Buckner Orphan Care International and he is planning to go back, possibly as early as this spring. I’ll post some of his pictures or at least links to them when they are available. My youngest brother, Steve, had his three year old son, Luke, with him and we had a great time getting to know him. We only wished his wife, Diane, could have had more time off work as well. It was great to see everyone after a two and a half year absence.

We were able to worship at First Baptist Church of Weatherford on December 24. Their pastor did a role play as one of the shepherds the angels appeared to. It was great and very effective in calling to mind what God did for us in sending His Son.

We traveled to Austin, Texas on December 29^th and spent one week with Elise’s dad and his new wife, Barbara. We were so happy to spend some time getting to know Barbara. She is a wonderful woman who is a great blessing to our family. I told Elise’s dad that he had managed to marry way over his head for a second time. He agrees. Barbara’s son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Tracy, met us there with their two sons. We are appreciative of their efforts to be there and greatly enjoyed meeting them and getting to know them. God has all sorts of unexpected blessings for us in this life.

Elise’s family is big and very close. I mean, think about the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and you are getting close. They have a big family reunion, the Fortner Roundup, in Brownwood, Texas every summer. I still get confused on who everyone is and Elise and I just celebrated our 23^rd anniversary.

Well, Elise’s mom, Ann, and her dad hosted an annual New Year Eve’s dinner and party for those in the Texas area. There are a lot in the Texas area. Elise and her dad hosted the party in 2003 when we live in Austin while on Stateside assignment. This year, Barbara got the opportunity. She seems to have survived! Thirty – one people made it for the dinner, including five from Arizona and one from Hong Kong. Six thousand miles traveled and we did not even win the longest distance traveled award.

The next day, Elise’s brother, sister-in-law, and nephew, David, Linda and Kenny, arrived after an all night drive from Denver. They were late due to the snow storms in Colorado and definitely had the hardest trip of us all. We are so appreciative of their hard work and sacrifice to be there. It was great to reconnect with so many people.

I learned some important things on this trip and some not so important. I will share those in the days to come.