Editor's NOTE: Normally Glenn proof-read's my blog and does some major editing, however I am not asking him to do this for me, since he needs a break. So bear with me if there are misspelled words and the grammar is incorrect. Thanks for reading.

The tropical storm was blowing through Florida and was causing heavy rains to fall in North and South Carolina . It started to rain on Thursday night and rained all day on Friday, especially as we drove over to Waxhaw. We were thinking we needed to leave early to be able to see Ray and Doris Rising, but instead they were able to participate at our luncheon in the cafeteria.

We left Forest and Carol's house at 6:15am and pulled into Waxhaw, JAARS base at 10:00am. We made a pit stop on the way. But with the rain, it was necessary that we get a good start.

Since we had 2 hours to kill, we explored the Museum of the Alphabet
I took some pictures for Thomas. I know he would just love this place.

We also explored Mexico Townsend Museum

Then at 12noon, we headed to the Cafeteria. Glenn and I had purchased our tickets in the Gift shop earlier. Steve Walker had sent out an email to the following

• Jim and Deb Cartwright - Glenn attended Moody Aviation with Jim, plus we flew to Costa Rica and Bogota, Colombia to visit them in the 80's
• Steve Walker - missionary kid from Mexico. He graduated 1972 from Ben Lippen High School; Glenn graduated in 1973, we knew him and wife MarLou (she died 5 years ago)
• Bonnie Walker Price - missionary kid from Mexico - she is good friends with Sarah Barger
• Mary Walker - Steve and Bonnie's 92 year old mother - lives with Steve/Bible Translation in Mexico
• Debbie Wulff - first met in 1977 on PMT - Husband, Bill, was out of town. We would see them from time to time. Very funny gal. Has 11 g'kids
• Ray and Doris Rising - WBT missionaries, lived in Colombia for years - was held hostage for 2 years, 2 months, 2 weeks, 2 days and TOO long, moved to Santa Cruz, Bolivia - kept Wishbone (Dog) for us (Ellen)
  
• Tom and Mary Beekman -who introduced us together - Tom and Glenn grew up
  together in Mexico and I knew Mary from Moody - graduated together. They served with JAARS in Indonesia for years.
  

Our time at the JAARS base was sweet . We have known each of these folks in one way or another. We just wish that some of the photos were better. Oh well. We started heading out to Charlotte with the hopes of seeing Kathy Shea. We didn't see her last year, and I was praying/hoping we could see her this time. I texted her, and no answer. Because it was raining cats/dogs and the weather was going to be better on Saturday, we decided to pull over and stay the night in Charlotte and get a good start on the morning heading to Mark Boerckel's place. Glenn and I ate dinner (split a hamburger at Culver's). There, we decided to text Kenny and Diane Krestan to see if we could stop by and visit them. Kendra and her husband were there with their baby, Savannah. They replied "Come on". We had a great visit with them, talking about Bolivia friends. They had just returned from a trip to Bolivia. Glenn and I realized that in the midst of our travels to see supporters and friends, we have intentionally connected with those who have some Bolivia connection and influence in our lives

• Steve and Pamela Cubas in Oklahoma
• Virginia Swartzendruber in Kansas
• Ken and Lori McCune in Colorado
• Dan Strebig's parents in Ohio
• Henry and Vicki Cooper in Maine
• John and Phoebe Depue in Pennsylvania
• John and Bobbie Pearson in Virginia
• and now the Krestans in North Carolina
  

We have plans to visit in the next few weeks

• Bill and Beverly Smith in Georgia
• Gary and Nancy Lengkeek in Georgia
• Dan and Neva Abbott in Tennessee
  
• Dean and Linda Self in Alabama
• Barbara and Wally Pouncy in Alabama

Again we are blessed by these co-workers that we have known through the years . It was a very full day, a very busy day and a very rewarding day.