Reunited

Tomorrow begins our official furlough.  Nate and I will also be reunited.  He will fly from León, Guanajuato, México and I will depart from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.  We will meet in the Dallas airport and fly together to Phoenix, Arizona where Dad W will pick us up.  I can’t wait!

It has been a long 3 weeks apart, but we kept in touch everyday with various venues of media.

We begin our promotional tour of presentations on Sunday.  Nate´s brother, Steve, accepted a pastoral call to Texas, so we are planning to spend the time between our presentations with them before the family leaves Arizona.

Due to our travel schedule and unknown internet connections, there may be a delay between postings for the next couple weeks.  Thanks for your support and patience! 

 

A Day with Family

One of the joys of coming home on furlough is visiting with family. This weekend, I attended a special birthday party for my cousins, Christian-8 and Olivia-6.

Their dad, Brian, planned a fun scavenger hunt. Each child had an adult partner. My cousin Jordan was my partner. We got a bucket and net along with a list of items to find. After we completed our list, we handed over our findings to the grandpas. They inspected our treasures and gave us another task. We needed to go upstairs and ask great grandma or uncle Tim for a balloon. Then the adult team member had to blow up the balloon and the little teammate drew a smiley face on the balloon. We gave it to the grandpas. Then it was time to shake some oversized dice. Each child received a prize. We got a hula-hoop. Wow! I was impressed how well Jordan could hula-hoop. I didn’t know they still used them in school.

Cousin Christian is autistic. You wouldn’t know that if you only saw a glimpse of him working on his iPad. Every visit, I am pleasantly surprised how much he has advanced! His parents, Jackie and Brian, are amazing. Their house is a learning center and they work with him all the time. They have a life-size white board, posters and signs throughout the house, an endless Lego Land, and his iPad. Christian is a brilliant boy, who communicates in a different way.

I love my family!  Christian, have a day!

For more details on Christian’s story, go to his mom’s blog: http://tiredmama.wordpress.com

 

Jury Duty

After arriving safely at my parents in Campbellsport, Wisconsin, I went through my mail and found a letter from the Fond du Lac County Clerk’s office waiting for me.  I opened the envelope and it was a request to serve on jury duty.  Wow!  I have always wanted to serve on a jury.  Fortunately, it was postmarked only 2 days before, giving me 8 days to return to avoid a $500 fine.

After going through the questionnaire, I had a lot of questions so I called the County Clerk’s office. A friendly woman named Shelly answered after the second ring, and guided me through the forms. I added a note to the forms with the dates of my availability in Wisconsin and that I have temporary residence in Mexico.  I will be waiting for that phone call. 

Image provided by www.favim.com.

 

First Furlough

Nate and I are coming upon furlough, a time to travel stateside for ministry meetings, conventions, presentations, medical and business appointments, and spend time with family and friends. Nate took his furlough early in 2009, to marry me.  This is my first official furlough and I am excited.

I will be getting a head start on our furlough, leaving tomorrow morning, on our 3rd wedding anniversary.  I will be presenting at the upcoming WELS Kingdom Workers’ Chapter Workshop in Bloomington, MN this weekend.  My topic is “So… You’re Going Overseas”.  I am absolutely thrilled to be able to share all the things that I wish I knew when I began serving as a mission worker overseas. Nate will be joining me stateside in mid-May.

This past week, we spent special moments with our mission team in Leon, as we celebrated Easter together.

Nate & Julia Wagenknecht, Rachel, Noelle, Mike, Hans, & Trinity Hartman, Larry & Marlene Schlomer, Lucas Fricke (WKW), Joel Hering (WKW), and Heidi & Brad Krause

Stay tuned for more details throughout our furlough.

 

Climate Control

This morning, I woke up to these similar weather forecasts for our family members…

• 56 F Overcast – Yorba Linda, California, USA (Brother Dan & Family)
• 54 F Sunny & Clear – León, Guanajuato, México (Nate & I)
• 48 F Sunny & Clear – Sun City, Arizona, USA (Dad W)
• 46 F Sunny & Clear – Campbellsport, Wisconsin, USA (Mom & Dad M)
• 46 F Sunny & Clear – Casa Grande, Arizona, USA (Brother Steve & Family)
• 45 F Cloudy – Appleton, Wisconsin, USA (Brother Mike)

As those were morning temperatures, it is now up to 81 F with sunny skies here in León!  I love this climate!

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate

Just wanted to share a little traveling tip for international travelers. As Nate and I were taking my parents to the airport, we reviewed the details of their return trip to the USA from an international origin.

P = Passport Control
Passengers disembark the plane and pass through immigration to show proper documentation with passports and visas.

B = Baggage Claim
Passengers pick up bags after immigration.

C = Customs
Passengers continue through customs with the declaration form (1 per family) and baggage. Declare any items, if needed. Proceed to exit if final destination, or hand off bags to baggage handler and go ahead through security checkpoint followed by departure gate if layover.

When in doubt, just remember Peanut Butter Chocolate!

International travel has been on my mind lately, as I am preparing my presentation “So, you’re going overseas…” for the upcoming WELS Kingdom Workers Chapter/Volunteer Workshop in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA. Click here to register!

 

Family Time

Isn’t it wonderful to have house guests, especially family?  My parents just spent two weeks with Nate and me here in León.  The first couple days were a bit slow as I was recovering from being sick, but it was nice to have Mom and Dad around to help take care of me.

We spent the rest of their days visiting with our mission team and family, getting to know congregation members and prospects at church events, traveling through historical towns, enjoying beautiful panoramic views, shopping for local artesanía, trying new foods, playing card games, and spending precious moments together as a family.

We did put Mom and Dad to work as Dad completed several plumbing and electrical home improvement projects and Mom gave each of us a haircut.

We are continually thankful for the Internet which makes our family and friends only a phone (or video) Skype call away.

Thanks for visiting, Mom and Dad! We hope you visit again soon!

For photos and details on their trip, go to http://majerusinmexico.shutterfly.com.