A Sunday Well-Spent

***Disclaimer:  Those of you who know us well are aware that Michel returned to Colombia last Friday, August 2, 2013.  However, I'm obviously still catching up blog posts from the last days of her vacation.  I'll keep dating the posts, but they won't correspond with the date that the post appears.  Sorry for the confusion...but I wanted to properly finish the chronicle of Michel's time with us in Iowa.

July 28, 2013

"A Sunday well-spent brings a week of content."  ~Ancient Proverb, author unknown

We brought Michel to church this morning, and then we met Mike's sister Amy and her family at Jimmy John's for lunch.  Our boys had been petitioning for Jimmy John's for a while, but Michel hasn't been too excited about the various sub sandwich restaurants we've tried (Jimmy John's, Subway).  We drove through Taco John's for her on the way to Jimmy John's...then went through the drive-up again when Mike decided he preferred Taco John's...then swung through a third time when Matthew said he wanted Tex-Mex as well.  (This is not our typical family outingWe finally made it and enjoyed lunch with Amy, Jack, Nathan, and Luke before they headed home to Kansas.  Thanks, Amy & Jack, for coming to stay with us and meet Michel!

We had a mellow afternoon at home, with a little quiet time for all three kids in their rooms and some family games.  We had a quick pizza dinner at Costco and purchased a suitcase for Michel's return trip to Colombia.  I'm quite sure that her new clothes and souvenirs will not fit in the backpack she brought with her on the plane.  It's difficult to believe that she will be heading back to Colombia in less than a week.  We are hopeful that this summer is just a taste of what her future can hold with an adoptive family.

After dinner, we headed to one of the local aquatic centers.  We invited some friends to meet us there, but they were unable to make it.  I was surprised that Michel, even after meeting so many new people this month, was still excited about getting to know new friends tonight.  When we were waiting to hear back from them, she asked a few times, "Will your friends be there?  Can your friends come to the pool with us?  When can we see your friends?"  She has such a great attitude about meeting new people.  She is sometimes shy with adults at first, but jumps right in with the kids.  As the month progresses, I've noticed her trying out more English with the adults she meets.


Michel loved the pool and said it was one of her favorite things we've done this month.  (I wish we had another month to take her swimming lots more!)  She is very comfortable in the water and fearless on the water slides.  Her stamina never faltered as she climbed the steps - over and over - to ride the slides.  She enjoyed the lazy river as well, although it was tricky for her to negotiate the exit against the current!  She played a little water basketball with Mike and the boys at the end.  We were all sorry to see the pool close for the evening, although everyone was getting chilly after sunset!

Overall, we had a relaxing day together as a family.  It's hard to believe it is the last Sunday of Michel's stay.  As the proverb above states, I hope that this was a Sunday well-spent, and that our last week of hosting is a week of content.