So its been a little over 4 weeks since we landed in Chicago. We left Melbourne mid June and made a pit stop in Southern California to visit Heather's cousin, His wife and their 3 children. It was a short but great stop and it was a relaxing place to start taking the edge off of the massive impending jet-lag that would set in. We had a great time hanging out, going to the beach and letting the kids play as well as getting reacquainted with all America has to offer!
We were able to meet up with our friend Sarah and her boyfriend for a few hours as well! It was a great time and wonderful to meet Edgar but too short!
We also took the last day to surprise the kids with a trip to Disneyland! We thought it would be a great reward for being the most amazing kids this last year! We didn't tell them we were going there but just took them. As we were driving up one of the main streets to get there there were numerous signs with Mickey, Goofy and Chip and Dale. Abigail started to notice them and she kept saying, "That's weird. There are all these signs with Mickey and friends on them!" When we were discussing where to park she figured it out and Josiah exclaimed with glee, "We're going to Mickey's house!!" It was such a fun day and we were joined at the park by one of our friends from the BAS who was home in Cali visiting family and Brett and Michele and kids (Heather's family) were able to join us for dinner and fun!
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| Our amazing friend Amy, one of the kids beloved "aunties" from this last year. |
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| Josiah still loved meeting Mickey! |
After we said goodbye to Brett, Michele and Crew our next and final stop for awhile was Chicago. We arrived here in Chicago and have been staying with Bruce's parents. It has been an interesting transition for us. This was the longest time that Bruce or I have been out of our home country and taking in to consideration that we were not just away living in 1 other foreign country but 4, its been weird being back. We definitely have been experiencing culture shock and simple tasks like going to the store or the library have proven to be pretty overwhelming for us. As the weeks have
gone by things have gotten better and we are all adjusting.
So what are we up to now? Well so far we have been to many family get togethers, celebrated the 4th of July and are trying our best to get ready for the baby. The kids have been partaking in general summer time festivities playing in the water, learning to ride a bike and playing with their cousins. We have been trying to homeschool at the library for an hour or 2 on the weekdays just to give the kids a little structure. My (Heather's) parents came for a weekend to visit and we have been going to Midwife appts in our old neighborhood of Oak Park. Below are a few pictures of the last few weeks. Regrettably we have forgotten our camera on some family gatherings and are lacking in the pictures with cousins department. :)
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| waiting for the parade |
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| a little sibling love! |
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| cousins |
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| knocked out after a long fun day glowstick still in hand. |
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| Telling Grandma Davis something important. |
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| Grandma Wilkens took Abigail to the store to pick out a new bike helmet. We thought she should model it for you! |
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| Before we left a year ago A was riding with training wheels. When we got back we thought we'd try her without them to see how she did even though she hasn't been on a bike in over a year. She caught on super quick and its riding on her own! |
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| If your looking for J these days you can be sure he is somewhere where water is involved! |
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| Baby #3 cooking away (35.5 weeks)! |
So thats all for now. We will be back posting when the baby comes (Due Aug 18th) or if anything else is noteworthy. We are still planning on returning to Tanzania Jan. 2014 and are continuing to move towards that goal. We are also planning on heading to Michigan for a few months starting in September and are waiting for things to come together for that.
If you are either in Chicago or Michigan and would like to hang out email us at mrandmrswilkens@yahoo.com and we would love to see you!!
Thank you for all the love and prayers that you have shown us over the last year! We are so blessed with amazing support! Bless you!!
