Greetings Friends & Relatives,
Well, as you can see we are now located at a new church where Mitchell is starting his second interim pastorate. We finished our first assignment at Cross Road Baptist in Bangor, PA on Memorial Day weekend. Then we headed back to Cincinnati for a month...long enough to be with family and get ready to pack up again for a new assignment to the Great Rivers Region in Illinois. It was a hectic three months and we got very exhausted by the time we arrived in Peoria. We both came down with very bad colds the last week of June. It took us three weeks before we began to be able to function again...which slowed down our "unpacking" in order to get settled in our new home. Slowly, but surely, we finally regained our strength to begin ministry duties as well as get settled into our new home.
The church has put us into a townhouse, just about a mile down the road from the church on Farmington Road. It is a very comfortable, pleasant, and quiet place to live.
HAPPY BIRTHDAT, PASCAL! Our grandson Pascal (son of Peter and Mollie) celebrated his third birthday the day before we were to arrive in Peoria. Of course, we couldn't miss it! So we were able to celebrate at his party, then drove to Peoria that night. We got to our apartment about two o'clock Sunday morning. We were pretty tired, but we were still able to be present and accounted for at the church's first morning Worship Service. Thankfully, Mitchell did not have to preach until the following Sunday...July 1st. Birthday pictures are below.
It was good to see all of the family together again. For instance, Mollie's Mom (Pascal's other grandmother) was there
It's always good to be able to get together as a family.
Speaking of "Party"...BRING ON THE PRESENTS!!!
We took some time in June and July to try to get some valuable time with Mitchell's 83 year old Mom and my 93 year old Dad in Indiana. Mitchell's mom lives in Indianapolis with Mitchell's sister, Carolyn. Mom will be 84 in October and has dementia, so she can't be left alone. But physically, she is doing well. Carolyn and Mom are pictured below.
Our daughter Ruth, and her husband Hugo, (Pictured below) went with us the second weekend in June.
When we went on to Kokomo, IN, my Dad was still in Rehabilitation, as a result from his fall on Mother's Day. Dad's 93rd birthday was coming up on the following Tuesday...June 14th...also known as Flag Day and of course, Father's Day was coming the following Sunday. So!!! Our daughter who loves to party, came up with taking "Grandpa" some festive chocolate cupcakes, along with several appropriate balloons: One "Get Well" balloon; one "Flag" balloon; one "Happy Birthday" balloon; and one "Father's Day" balloon...She wanted to make sure we covered ALL occasions. And to top it all off, we stopped off at the nearest Wendy's for Grandpa's favorite treat, a chocolate Frosty to take to "Grandpa Taylor", since he cannot go out himself right now. My father was quite surprised. My cousin, Loran Cox (who has taken such wonderful care of my father's needs while I am away)joined us for the party. He is pictured below with our daughter, Ruth, and Mitchell.
I treasure this time we had, because since then, Dad's health has steadily declined. When Mitchell and I went back to see him a few weeks later, his health had declined a lot. His memory had also diminished a lot...before we knew it we were talking about full nursing care. His Medicare in the Rehab Center ran out on August 18th. There is another wing that has a full care nursing center, and with his permission, he has since moved to that wing. On the weekend of August 14th, we drove to Indiana following our Worship Service to begin the final move from his Assisted Living apartment and take everything back to our Cincinnati Storage Shed until we can take care of it all. Dad looked good when we arrived Sunday night. But my cousin reported that while we were taking Dad's things to Cincinnati on Monday, Dad had suffered a bad day. Long story short, his oxygen went down to 83; he also was developing an infection. So they put him on oxygen for the day, and began giving him anti-biotic shots for the infection. Apparently, he made a good recovery and by the time we got to see him again on Tuesday night, he was up, fully dressed, and visiting with my other cousins. He was off the oxygen and a nurse came with a shot, encouraging us with "it's his last shot". Then they were to start giving him pills instead. Dad looked good, and it put us more at ease to return back to Peoria that night. We got back to our apartment about eleven-thirty that night.
We had a wonderful surprise on August 14th, before we were to leave for Indiana to empty Dad's Assisted Living apartment. We had just completed the first Worship Service and were greeting people as they left. Mitchell turned around and then said to me, "Look behind you and see who's here."
I did, and standing at the top of the stairs to the sanctuary was none other than KURT BUESCHER!!! Kurt and his wife, Jackie, were long-time friends of ours at our Cincinnati Pleasant Run Baptist Church where we and our children grew up in our faith. They now are retired, living in Louisanna. Jackie was not feeling well, and she was sitting down on a couch in the entry foyer, until the second service. Wow! We were so excited to see them, as it was in 2009 when we saw them last. After the service, we went out to lunch with them before they headed for home and we headed for Indiana. Thanks Kurt and Jackie for taking the time to stop by to visit with us. (I hope that you, Jackie, are feeling much better by now.) Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me (Can you BELIEVE it???!!!) to take their picture. But taking a trip down memory lane at Pleasant Run Baptist Church, I found them in a 2004 Church Anniversary Program, where Kurt is singing and Jackie is accompanying. Some of you might remember being there :)
Well, I believe that brings us current...hard to believe so much has happened in our lives since May. Here it is the third week in August already! The Lord has been good and we rejoice in it. We ask your prayers as we continue to serve at Second Baptist Church in Peoria.
Blessings to Each One of You,
Wanda & Mitch
"aka"
Mom & Dad
Grandma & Grandpa
We are trying to my father in laws family of John Lindquist from Kokomo Indiana. He is the sin of Frank Lindquist. His brothers were also Frank and Richard. We think this might be you. Please let us know.
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