Last week in a re-cap: Wednesay/Thursday

Last week was a whirlwind time of activity, fun, laughs, inspiration, food prep, dishes, music, driving, short nights, and loads of great memories! It was like being on a mini-vacation --- only we didn't leave home!

My family loves to engage in hospitality whenever possible. This past week was a time of just that as we were privileged to host a family sleeping at our house, several friends who joined us for meals and activities, and half of our church who attended one of the mission conference services in our living room. :-)

We met the Dana ladies during the Bandera Maiden's Quest retreat this past fall. Recently, when Mom and I traveled to San Antonio for the film festival, we stayed at their home, and enjoyed getting to know their whole family better! Last week, we had the opportunity to return the favor and host Mrs. Dana, Sarah, and Samuel while they were in town for a home school speech and debate tournament. They came in on Wednesday evening and left Sunday morning. Even though we didn't get to see them a whole lot during their stay, due to their long days at the tournament, we enjoyed our limited time with them very much!

Also on Wednesday night, our missionary friend, Nathan Day, arrived in town for our church's missions conference. (Nathan is pictured above - on the right - with Richard, the fellow he stayed with. ) Katelin and I have both gotten to know Nathan during our experiences in Ukraine, so we had a blast catching up with him and taking him around town on fun excursions.

Needless to say, we had a full dining room table on Wednesday evening as we re-connected with far-away friends from all over!

On Thursday, we took Nathan rock climbing along with Brian (a really great 14-year old guy whose faith and Godliness is an inspiration!). Rock climbing is one of my favorite sports activities, and I love any excuse to go! Since Nathan has only been outdoor-climbing in Ukraine, we thought it would be fun to take him to an indoor gym. It was certainly a good workout for all of us! :-)

Nathan and Katelin listening to instructions on how to belay.

Brian and I take to the rocks! (Well...you know. The pretend rocks.)

Way to go, belayers! We couldn't do it without you!

Howdy from the top!

"Okay, dirt me!"

Nathan and Katelin take their turn.

Rock climbing is a great team activity.

A fun day indeed. :)

The rest of our week to be continued...