Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

As a little girl, I remember my mom singing that little ditty when we pulled into our driveway after a trip. Two weeks ago, I was a bit gitty in Ixtapa as we stepped out of the airplane to 27 degree C tempertures. For this southern cold-blooded gal, it was a welcomed relief from the below normal summer tempertures of the Saskatchewan prairies (burrr). Our internet news reported snow in some parts of Saskatchewan on the last day of summer...boohoo. Alas, we find ourselves here on the Mexican Pacific Coast again bathed in constant sweat. The rain continues to pour and the mold welcomed us to our Home, Smelly Home!!! The Mexicans say we have about six more weeks of rain. I've decided to enjoy it while we have it. Eight months is a long time to go without a drop of the wet stuff.

We have mixed reviews concerning our three weeks in Canada this summer.
The highlights:

*seeing our twins and other dear family members (Thanks G'pa for the great B & B.)
*visiting with some of the churches and individuals whom make it possible for us to be in Mexico
*attending the WONDERFUL wedding celebration of Tiffany (Bern's niece) and Layne

Our first week and a half was dedicated to visiting some of our supporters. After a way-too-fast coffee with dear friends, Marlo and Robin Dunlop, we headed off to Kenosee Lake to visit with the Moose Mountain Church. (They sure put on a great pot luck!) On the way we had the joy of staying overnight with Kresten's adopted family, Lowell and Darla Peterson and gals in Weyburn. We had the opportunity to get a peek of Kresten's corner of the world for the summer at his work and home. We are so grateful for the Petersons, the Oberkirsches, and others who welcomed Kresten into their world with open arms. He had a GREAT experience in Weyburn.

After saying good-bye to Jim and Judith Sedor in Carlyle, we headed north to Dauphin, Manitoba. We were royally spoiled by Mike and Debbie Bolton. Logan even got to go for a ride on Mike's four wheeler with his pal, Ronald. That evening, after stuffing ourselves from another AMAZING potluck, we had the opportunity to chat about God's work on the Pacific Coast. We felt so loved and honoured by our families from the Mountain View Assembly and The Crossing.

Heading back south we ended up at the Mitchell Ranch in Southern Saskatchewan for Tiffy and Layne's wedding. This truly was a highlight as we visited with many friends and family. The "cowboy" wedding was lovely, and Tiffany was the prettiest "cowgirl" bride I've ever seen!! Everything was simply PERFECT!! Congratulations, you two!

Grampa's wheels then took us to Saskatoon where we spent time with our dear church family. It was a joy to share the work of which they have been such a vital part. We get such encouragment from our family there. (Now we're getting into the "not so great" part of the trip.) The next four days were spent cleaning and showing our house to potential renters--NOT what I want to be doing when we've come so far for so little time. The GREAT part about those four days was spending time with Kresten (who worked as hard as we did) and Brad and Crystal Peterson. Thank you for eveything!!

We give a million thanks to Ian MacLeod for managing our property while we are in Mexico. That's a HUGE gift. Thanks, Ruth, for lending him to us so often!

Finally, we returned to Regina for a week of visiting with the twins, G'pa, Dave, Rich and Sue. The time went WAY too quickly. Bernard had to dedicate more time than we had hoped in trying to get the house rented. His efforts paid off as we signed a rental agreement the Wednesday before we left, for which we are extremely grateful. As always, good-byes are painful, but we were so very thankful for the time we were able to spend with our loved ones. (Thanks to Rich for getting up at the crack of dawn to take us to the bus station.) Our overnight stay in Calgary was with Bud and Marlene Ashby. It was lovely to "catch up" a bit with them, and Logan had a great time with Ethan. Bud was very gracious to transport us to and from the bus station and airport. (Thank you, Bud.)

We hit the Mexican soil running, and again are immersed in the reality of life in our corner of the world here on the Pacific Coast. Our team is reunited, except for Macolm and Tammy who are still in the States for the next few months. We were all glad to see each other back home fulfilling our various roles in God's work. We love being home and worshipping with our Mexican family. On our first Sunday back with La Comunidad de Cristo, there were at least 17 new people worshipping with us that we did not know!!! Our hearts are always tugged in two directions: longing to be with our twins in Canada, and longing to be where God has led us to church plant. It has been said that missionaries are happiest on the airplane between two places--perhaps I identify all too well with that.

Until next blog,
Alicia for the Krogsgaards