Michigan roadtrip

We were gone yet again for the weekend. This time we were visiting a church called Marimont Community Church in Pontiac, Michigan. We were there for their missions conference and it was another blessing to us to meet everyone and talk to them about our plans for Africa. We again got to meet some other families who are living overseas and serving God.

As we travel each weekend it is getting easier to be away. Of course 6 hours a day in a car with Annikah is never what I would "look forward to" but she actually completely shocked us at how well she did. Of course, she never slept even 10 minutes on each 6 hour trip but she also did not really fuss of cry at all. For that she gets the rock star award! I believe I also deserve some sort of award for entertaining her for that long. It got very creative at the end as we hit Chicago rush hour coming home. Hitting Jason while he is driving with the baby elephant stuffed animal may not be the safest thing but it sure was hilarious to overtired and hating her car seat Annikah!

here are some of the highlights of our trip:

*during our presentation on Sunday the PowerPoint repeated went out and then the power in the entire place went out, it actually quite reminiscent of Africa!

*the family we stayed with actually had pygmy goats as pets- 3 of them! Jenny & Matt and their family were so hospitable and Annikah LOVED the goats!

The feeling was apparently not mutual as one of the goats (I think his name was Hubcap) repeatedly head butted her. A unaffected Anni pressed on in her squeezing and petting of the goats. How often to city folks get to stay with people who have goats as pets? That was awesome!

*Annikah was really a trooper as her naps were totally off or non existent and it was a totally different place. She warmed up to the people and was very sweet to most of them. Only 2 incidents that were a bit problematic:

1. An older lady came up to Anni while she was eating (a major event for her) and got very close to Anni's face and started speaking in a high pitched voice "hi, little baby, what are you eating?" Anni was having none of it and slapped the lady right in the mouth! It was a bit embarrassing. Time out for her but also lesson for all those who dare cross the Annikah: do not get in her face while she is eating!

2. Anni was not a fan of the nursery so we kept her with us for the evening service. She was having a great time dancing to the music and stealing things from women's purses. She then was tempted by this perfectly teased white hair of an older women in front of us and she could not resist giving it is little tug. Lucky for us the woman did not even notice!

*We survived CUJO the dog. We arrived home (Matt & Jenny's place but they were out) after a long day and Anni was already up almost 2 hours past her bedtime. We wanted to rush in and get to her to bed and then the plan was for Jason to drive to fill the car with Hallelujah cheap gas and grab us something to eat from Kroger. Sounds simple right? The first part of the plan went off without a hitch, we got Anni to bed and then off Jason went out the side door while I was sitting watching TV in the living room. Less than 1 minutes later the door slammed and I hear Jason breathing so hard I thought something terrible had happened. I went over and he said "Cujo is out there!" His heart was racing and he reported that as he walked to the car all of a sudden out of the darkness (not in the city anymore Dorothy!) he heard massive thud-thud-thud galloping and then saw this huge dog running full speed toward him. He then turned and bolted back into the house where I now encountered him in this state. As soon as I realized he was ok I did what any concerned and caring wife would do I laughed hysterically at him!

I looked out of the porch and there he was Cujo in the flesh. He looked pretty nonthreatening to me, no foaming at the mouth or blood dripping form his fangs, more like a lab mix of some sort with a bandanna and a collar. Jason said the last time that happened he was attacked by a dog when he was little on his paper route (again I could not stop laughing). He insisted if I wanted anything to eat I had to walk to car with him. I grabbed my shoes and we headed back out, this time no dog in site. About 3 steps off the porch and the thud-thud-thud galloping came again in the distance. We both freaked out, screamed like little girls, and ran back into the house just in time to avoid either a viscous attack or probably more likely a crazy dog jumping on us and licking our hands. At this point I am laughing so hard I might just pee myself and Jason is still being clear is his initial assertion that this dog is in fact a killer roaming the streets looking for his next victim. We try again for the car and this time Cujo comes from behind the house, "See he is getting tricky and smart now" Jason remarked. We were just at the point of resigning to the fact that unless we are willing to risk being mauled by Cujo we must stay in the house and eat Anni's goldfish and applesauce when a neighbor comes looking for Cujo whose real name was something completely nonthreatening and who was indeed just trying to lick us. Well, it was a hilarious story and it ends well as we happily ate our hummus and chips and salsa without anymore potential animal attacks!

On our ride back we also noticed the beautiful colors of the trees and were thankful that we got to spend this time as a family together just meeting and being with people. It was an eventful & fabulous weekend in Michigan!