The home land.

Well, we've been in the US for a little over a week now.  It seems like the time is moving very fast.  It's amazing how quickly the days go by when you spend a good part of either the morning or afternoon or both at doctor's offices or looking for clothes on sale or visiting a local playground.  It's much colder here than I expected so I left our plethora of winter clothing behind us in hopes/delusion of warmer times...  I had to make a trip to Goodwill just to get some jackets for the girls.  My parents have recently moved to a new state (South Carolina) and so we are enjoying getting to know the surroundings and their beautiful home, as well as starting to connect with friends we have in the Charlotte area.  Next week, we'll head to Tennessee for a week with Scotty's folks and then off to a retreat sans children for a whole week!  We have high expectations for that time and are praying for the Lord to speak to us and start a new work in our hearts.

Highlights so far (these might not be so exciting to those of you who haven't lived in a developing country):

IHOP- oh my gosh- whipped cream and giant pancakes.
Fast internet.  My list could end here with the great joy this brings us.
Playgrounds that focus on child safety.  No rusty nails or missing boards or broken swings or broken glass.  And they are EVERYWHERE.
Retail stores with clearance sales.
Trees.
WIDE roads.
Siri.  My new best friend.
My parents.  Always available when we need them.
Cereal.  So much variety!
Flushing toilet paper.  Ironically, Natty still throws hers in the trash can 90% of the time and giggles when she actually remembers to put it in the toilet.

Chocolate chip pancakes.  I think she's excited.

Hopefully, the next few weeks will bring some more significant thoughts and processing that I can share.  One thing I'll say for this country- it is easily distracting.