The best of times, The worst of times ( Mostly good :) : Christmas in the DR (for some of us)

Marcy making friends at ATL.

Christmas was a celebration that we were not able to do as a family once again this year. Karen, Nina and Janae stayed in Jarabacoa and had their vacation time there as I and Marcy went to the States. We flew into Oklahoma on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas day with Abby and Jeff. Then on Saturday I drove one of their vehicles to St. Luis to Urbana15. It is a missions conference that is held every three years in St Louis for people that have interest in going (mainly overseas) into full time or part time missions. SI had a booth their to try to recruit short term and long term staff as well as a couple of College programs that we help out with. It was a great time to reconnect with friends from Language school in Costa Rica and MTI training that we went through in Colorado back in 2011.

Emma with her new Christmas Present.

On my way back to Oklahoma City on New Years Day, I was able to stop in and visit with Mark Ropp and his family in Kansas. I enjoyed spending a few hours with him. Then on Saturday Jeff and Abby went with Marcy and me to visit Jason and Sara Smoker, some friends that had lived in Shipshewana for a number of years. Sunday we had the opportunity to attend church with Jeff and Abby as well at Memorial Road Mennonite Brethren Church in Edmond, OK. It has been good for Karen and I to see them so involved in their church there in Oklahoma.
While Marcy and I were out gallivanting around in Oklahoma, Karen, Nina and Janae were back working in Jarabacoa as Karen and the girls did some much needed painting in our house in town. Karen also had a project at Genesis that she was overseeing during the break. We had a nice two days together then when we got back before I headed to Santiago to be there for the remainder of January for the work teams that are there/coming down during the month. Busy times :)