It's now been over two months since our last post and with our summer coming to a close, we figured this is the perfect time to provide an update. But bear with us, this could be a bit long........
On June 5th we left our home in the DR and began our trek to the states and the "Byker Coast-to-Coast Summer Tour 2012." Air travel to and from the DR is fairly expensive, not because of the distance, but more so due to the fact that 1/3 of every ticket goes to cover the exorbitantly high taxes and fees that the Dominican government places on all flights entering and originating in the DR. So, back in March as Christen and I were planning our summer travel, we found some pretty reasonable tickets which would take us directly to San Fransisco, CA with just one stop at JFK in NYC. Unheard of for a flight from the DR to California! With just one connection and a good price, we were sold. However, there was one major drawback.....the flight departed Santiago, DR at 2am. Needless to say, by the time we got to San Fransisco at 10:45am on the 5th of June, we were exhausted. But, all in all, the first leg of our journey went well and we were happy to make it to California in just 12.5 hours of total travel time.
The next several days would be spent with Christen's family in Morgan Hill, helping to prepare for her younger sister Megan's graduation and open house. In addition, Christen's dad, Mark, has helped with the local high school's "Safe and Sober Grad Night," an all night event at the school that is designed to keep the graduates in an environment where they can celebrate together safely and without incident. Between helping set up for those events, we stayed very busy during our first week back in the US.
After the graduation and open house, the entire family (us included) packed up and left for a Hawaiian vacation to celebrate Megan's graduation. It was a great time of relaxation and time with her family in a place that was very familiar to us - we stayed at the same Maui condos where we vacationed on our honeymoon. It was great to revisit the island and be reminded of the beauty of that place and all of the fun we had nearly four years prior.
After Maui, it was back to California for a couple of days, which were packed with more visits with family and friends, a trip back to Venture Christian Church (where Christen had attended when Joe was in Afghanistan) and a trip to Santa Cruz for Christen and to the Rauschnot hunting ranch for Joe.
On June 25th, we left California for Fort Walton Beach, FL to spend a few days with our good friends, Brian and Laura Nagle. We were met at the airport by a very pregnant (8.5 months) Laura as Brian was still out of town for several job interviews. Despite missing Brian for the first day of our visit, we greatly enjoyed our time with the Nagles and even got to visit with other friends living in the Destin area one of the nights we were there.
Next we flew to Nashville, TN for the next stop of the tour in Manchester / Estill Springs Tennesee, which we previously called home before moving to the DR. Our time in TN was excellent with visits to friends Michael, Sara, Brighton and Natalie Barnes; Eric, Katie, and Heidi Neel; Sue and Kevin Sipe; Daniel and Christy Sipe; Matt and Hollie Sipe; Alan and Faye Coleman; Buford and Carolyn Wilson; Randy and Ginny Wilson; Sabrina Wilson; Cameron and Sara Liner; Bob and Karen Nelson; Matt, Toni, Samantha, Erin, and Jessica Laubacher; and several other friends from our time at Arnold AFB in TN. We had the opportunity to share about Doulos many times informally, but also were able to share more formally at our former church, First Baptist of Manchester, TN and at a small group fellowship time led by our friend Eric Neel. Both were exciting opportunities to share about what God is doing through Doulos and how people can assist in the work of educating and equipping servant leaders for the DR alongside Doulos Discovery School. Although our time in Tennessee was far too short (we are already planning on being there longer next year), we were deeply encouraged by the seemingly boundless love and support of our Tennessee family and packed up our rental car for Michigan feeling refreshed and motivated as we prepared for our second year at Doulos.
We spent the following two weeks near Rockford (just outside of Grand Rapids) Michigan at a cottage owned by Joe's dad and his siblings. There we were able to spend some great time with Joe's parents and siblings and many friends and family members who live in Michigan. Although the weather was incredibly hot (especially the first four days when it was in the 100's every day) and the cottage is not air conditioned, we enjoyed relaxing by the lake during the day and dining with friends and family by night. We had not been to Michigan in over two years, so it was a great time of reconnecting with many familiar faces and sharing about what God has been doing in our lives. During our time in Michigan, we also had the great opportunity to share about our work at Doulos in front of the congregation of Seymour CRC, Joe's childhood church (from age 5-10 and again from 16-18 in Grand Rapids). Following the service, there was a time of fellowship where we were able to connect with friends from the church and share in more depth about the DR and Doulos, which was fantastic. A special thank you to Mrs. Barb DeKorne for arranging all of this for us!
After a great time in Michigan, we were Philly bound on a road trip with Joe's mom. We arrived late on a Thursday night and spent the next five days preparing to head back to the DR for year two. Amid all of the preparation, we also got to spend a good bit more time with Joe's family (sister Sarah, her husband Bruce, and niece, Eliana also live in Philly) and some AF friends stationed in the Philly area. On Friday, July 20th, we began our trek back to the DR via JFK (this time, DIRECT to Santiago). As we landed in the DR late Friday night, we started thinking about our next adventure - hosting a work team for the first time beginning in just under two days. But that experience will have to wait until our next post (coming soon)........
Until then, we thank you again for reading, for being a part of our lives, and for those of you who hosted us this summer, THANK YOU again for everything! We thank God for the great visit we had with many of you this summer and the opportunity to share about what God is doing in this unique community, through this unique school. We are excited about year two and all of the adventures and experiences we will surely have - and we look forward to sharing them with all of you!
Soli Deo Gloria,
Joe and Christen
PS: Sorry that we don't have more photos.....we started out strong, but per our usual photographer MO, we lost steam about half way through the summer :(
On June 5th we left our home in the DR and began our trek to the states and the "Byker Coast-to-Coast Summer Tour 2012." Air travel to and from the DR is fairly expensive, not because of the distance, but more so due to the fact that 1/3 of every ticket goes to cover the exorbitantly high taxes and fees that the Dominican government places on all flights entering and originating in the DR. So, back in March as Christen and I were planning our summer travel, we found some pretty reasonable tickets which would take us directly to San Fransisco, CA with just one stop at JFK in NYC. Unheard of for a flight from the DR to California! With just one connection and a good price, we were sold. However, there was one major drawback.....the flight departed Santiago, DR at 2am. Needless to say, by the time we got to San Fransisco at 10:45am on the 5th of June, we were exhausted. But, all in all, the first leg of our journey went well and we were happy to make it to California in just 12.5 hours of total travel time.
The next several days would be spent with Christen's family in Morgan Hill, helping to prepare for her younger sister Megan's graduation and open house. In addition, Christen's dad, Mark, has helped with the local high school's "Safe and Sober Grad Night," an all night event at the school that is designed to keep the graduates in an environment where they can celebrate together safely and without incident. Between helping set up for those events, we stayed very busy during our first week back in the US.
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| The three sisters together. Congrats, Megan! |
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| Beautiful Maui sunset |
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| Obligatory Lu'au photo :) |
On June 25th, we left California for Fort Walton Beach, FL to spend a few days with our good friends, Brian and Laura Nagle. We were met at the airport by a very pregnant (8.5 months) Laura as Brian was still out of town for several job interviews. Despite missing Brian for the first day of our visit, we greatly enjoyed our time with the Nagles and even got to visit with other friends living in the Destin area one of the nights we were there.
Next we flew to Nashville, TN for the next stop of the tour in Manchester / Estill Springs Tennesee, which we previously called home before moving to the DR. Our time in TN was excellent with visits to friends Michael, Sara, Brighton and Natalie Barnes; Eric, Katie, and Heidi Neel; Sue and Kevin Sipe; Daniel and Christy Sipe; Matt and Hollie Sipe; Alan and Faye Coleman; Buford and Carolyn Wilson; Randy and Ginny Wilson; Sabrina Wilson; Cameron and Sara Liner; Bob and Karen Nelson; Matt, Toni, Samantha, Erin, and Jessica Laubacher; and several other friends from our time at Arnold AFB in TN. We had the opportunity to share about Doulos many times informally, but also were able to share more formally at our former church, First Baptist of Manchester, TN and at a small group fellowship time led by our friend Eric Neel. Both were exciting opportunities to share about what God is doing through Doulos and how people can assist in the work of educating and equipping servant leaders for the DR alongside Doulos Discovery School. Although our time in Tennessee was far too short (we are already planning on being there longer next year), we were deeply encouraged by the seemingly boundless love and support of our Tennessee family and packed up our rental car for Michigan feeling refreshed and motivated as we prepared for our second year at Doulos.
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| Friends Michael and Sara Barnes' adorable kids, Brighton and Natalie (with her first softball trophy!) |
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| 4th of July pig at Eric and Katie Neel's Amazing, Annual, 4th of July Extravaganza! |
After a great time in Michigan, we were Philly bound on a road trip with Joe's mom. We arrived late on a Thursday night and spent the next five days preparing to head back to the DR for year two. Amid all of the preparation, we also got to spend a good bit more time with Joe's family (sister Sarah, her husband Bruce, and niece, Eliana also live in Philly) and some AF friends stationed in the Philly area. On Friday, July 20th, we began our trek back to the DR via JFK (this time, DIRECT to Santiago). As we landed in the DR late Friday night, we started thinking about our next adventure - hosting a work team for the first time beginning in just under two days. But that experience will have to wait until our next post (coming soon)........
Until then, we thank you again for reading, for being a part of our lives, and for those of you who hosted us this summer, THANK YOU again for everything! We thank God for the great visit we had with many of you this summer and the opportunity to share about what God is doing in this unique community, through this unique school. We are excited about year two and all of the adventures and experiences we will surely have - and we look forward to sharing them with all of you!
Soli Deo Gloria,
Joe and Christen
PS: Sorry that we don't have more photos.....we started out strong, but per our usual photographer MO, we lost steam about half way through the summer :(
