Saying Goodbye is Never Easy!

The last month for us in Paraguay, was full of goodbyes. We had many bittersweet emotions. We are very happy to be heading to Dyersburg to work with the West Dyersburg church of Christ and we are very excited to be returning back to our friends and family in the states. However, we are sad because it is very hard to leave behind so many people that we have grown to love and appreciate. And to leave behind the work that we played a role in getting started. 
Everything we read about reentering your home culture (the U.S.) said to make sure to have closure with the people and places of the host country (Paraguay). So, that we did. During our last month, we visited all of the places that we had frequented over the years and said our goodbyes to both the people and the actual places. I highly recommend to all missionaries leaving the field to take a whole month before they leave (after they have finished packing and/or shipping a container) to finish out everything- including closing out relationships, paperwork, accounts, etc. It helped us so much! We loved our last month in Paraguay because we had that time to just enjoy it. Everyone kept asking us if our heads were already in the states and I felt like I could honestly tell them "no". We set aside our last month to be in Paraguay and to have our minds on Paraguay and the people of Paraguay. And I am so thankful that we did. I will always cherish that special time that we had in our host country.

The first thing we did was say goodbye to our things as they left to get on the boat to be shipped to the states. Of course, that was pretty easy since we knew we would see it all again in a few months and they were just things. Then, a few days later, we said goodbye to our house of 7 1/2 years and moved into the SIM housing, which was the best decision we could have ever made! It was furnished housing that gave us so much freedom and a lot of fun opportunities to visit with other missionaries as well as lots of fun activities for the kids. There were many, many goodbyes that followed, although I did not get to include them all:

I had breakfast with one of my American friends, Gabriela, whom I met the first year that we were on the field through the U.S. Embassy.  We ate at "Cafe de Aca" (The Coffee from Here), which is a newer, hip coffee shop that I just went to for my first time a few weeks ago.  I am obviously not as hip as I once was! It was great to have that time with her to reminisce fun times in the mom play groups we met in.

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Our family had dinner at Delci and Natalia's house.  Delci has been a member of the church in Paraguay for years and Nati was baptized during our time in Paraguay.  They fixed us a yummy chicken milanesa dinner (it is similar to a breaded chicken parmesan, but without the spaghetti sauce and cheese), feijoada (a brazilian black bean and rice) and some fabulous fresh mango and guava juice.   Gricela, another teen from church also joined us.  This family is one of the many that have grown so close to our hearts and many tears were shed as we said goodbye to them. 

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We said goodbye to the busy streets of Asuncion.  I am still trying to decide if I will miss the traffic of Paraguay.  Probably not, but it has certainly been a one-of-a-kind cultural experience!

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We said goodbye to our teammates, Brittnea and Ale.  They live next door to the Spradlins and while we were having our goodbye dinner with them (which I did not take a picture of!), the kids went next door and played with Brittnea and Ale. Apparently there was some pretty high hammock swinging going on!

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We had our last team lunch together at one of our favorite hamburger/milanesa/ice cream joints, 4D. We have been so blessed to work with Cara and Josh Blackmer, Troy and Andrea Spradlin, Perry and Alba Hardin and Ale and Brittnea Yegros.  We left behind a powerful team of servants in the church of Christ on Sacramento!  God is going to do great things through them, and I can't wait to continue hearing about it! 

I can't believe I caught this on camera, but yes, this is Walker standing in his chair licking his ice cream plate clean.  He got in a little bit of trouble after I took the picture!

Emma and Walker said goodbye to 4D ice cream.  This was some of the best ice cream in Paraguay!  Can you tell by Walker's face?

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We went to one of our favorite indoor playgrounds at Feria Asuncion (one of the few giant department stores in Paraguay) and let the kids play one last time.  I once lost Walker in this store and it terrified me!  The guard put out an alert on his walkie talkie for me and within a few minutes, I was brought a terrified and crying little boy.  I also once got on the escalator going down with Emma, but Walker did not grab my hand in time to make it on.  He got left at the top of the escalator screaming for me.  He was so scared that I didn't have time to get on the elevator and go up, so I just ran back up the escalator that was coming down.  It took me a few minutes to get to him, but I made it.  I got a lot of strange looks and I was very tired when I got the top!  That store holds some funny memories for me!

Emma and Olivia enjoying their little rocking toys.

And Walker too.

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We had our last playdate with Anjara and Sarai Kessler.

This is Carole Kessler and myself.  We met the Kessler family through a mutual American friend.  She introduced us because we have two kids the same age and because Carole and her family were moving to Paraguay after my family had already been there for many years. We instantly became friends and enjoyed lots of play dates with our kids.   Her girls also took ballet and jazz classes with Emma.

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We said goodbye to our missionary friends, the McKissicks.  This is Amy and me.

We met the McKissick family in our spanish studies our first year with Berlitz language school.  They are medical missionaries in a small town about 5 hours outside of Asuncion.  They now have 6 kids and were getting ready to take two new interns out into the "campo" for a few months in this picture.  Our kids loved having a week at the SIM house to play with the McKissick kids and we enjoyed getting to visit with Amy and Jeff one last time.  They became very special friends to us while in Paraguay. 

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On our last Saturday morning in Paraguay, we took the whole family to one of our favorite coffee shops, M.L. Calentitas (Hot "Medialunas" or Croissants).  They serve some of the most delicious croissants that I have ever put in my mouth.  They are comparable to Krispy Kreme donoughts!  Walker ate four of them along with a giant chocolate milk.  He was fairly active for a few hours after that!

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I led my last ladies small group at the home of Nora Yegros.  Nora prepared a fabulous "merienda" (afternoon snack) and I talked about the difficulties and blessings of moving to a new culture as a missionary.  It was a very special time to share with Alba Hardin, Nora Yegros, Pochi Vera, Andrea Spradlin and Brittnea Dye (not pictured because she took the picture!).  I love these women and am going to miss them greatly!

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We spent the night at the Blackmers house (our teammates) their last two nights in Paraguay so that the kids  (and us adults) could have that time together.  The Blackmers left for furlough to the states about a week before we left Paraguay.  Troy and Andrea Spradlin, our teammates also joined us and the kids got to wrestle with Troy.  I wanted pictures of all of us together, but Olivia refused to go to sleep without a crib, so I was upstairs with her.  I tried to leave the room several times and she would just get up and follow me out!  We may face some challenges as we settle in Dyersburg and try to get her used to a big girl bed.  We might just have to find someone to let us borrow a crib! 

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The Yegros family, a family that has been a key family for the Asuncion church for many years, had us over for lunch.  Nora is an excellent cook and we always enjoy eating her food and having the company of the many Yegros!  Nora and Ike have 5 kids- Ale (who recently married our teammate Brittnea), Luis and Romina.  And Helena and Mauri are away at school in the states at our alma mater, Freed-Hardeman University.  We hope to get to spend some more time with them while we are in Dyersburg, which is just an hour and 15 minutes away.

It seems that when the Yegros have visitors in their home, there always seems to be a photo very similar to this one taken.  So, we are now a part of the famous "group shots" taken in the Yegros home.  We will miss this family dearly!

And our kids absolutely love playing with the Yegros kids' legos collection (although their kids are not really kids anymore).  With 5 kids who mostly asked for legos on birthdays and special holidays as gifts, they have a mighty fine legos collection!

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We had a merienda at Rocio's house and the kids loved playing with her two kittens.  I promise that no kittens were injured during the taking of these pictures, although it may appear so from the way Walker is holding his kitten!

Rocio worked in our home for almost three years, helping me with cleaning, cooking and taking care of the kids.  Whenever we needed a babysitter- Rocio was the one!  We all think of her as part of our family and we are really going to miss her!  When the kids say their prayers for our family at night, Rocio is always included.  This picture is of Rocio with Olivia, her sweet grandmother and her sister, and then me with Emma and Walker.  We were so thankful to have gotten to meet her entire family before we left.  Chris said when we left their house that her grandmother was the sweetest little lady he had ever met in Paraguay.

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Luis Fernando, the son of Mirta, the church secretary and member of the church, quickly became Walker's best friend.  They are the same age and they both love what most little boys their age love- cars and trains and planes. 

Fernando and his sister, Leti, came over to the SIM house several times to visit and play.  Walker and Fernando loved playing with the toy trucks in the dirt!  Fernando was convinced that he was going to get on the airplane with Walker and go to "los estados unidos" (the united states).

Leti and Emma posed for a picture too!  We have watched Leti grow over the years and she has become such a beautiful and sweet Christian young lady.  Mirta was always like an aunt to our kids. She taught Emma some of her first spanish words. And helped plant her love for "palitos" (bread sticks).  We will miss their whole family!

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In the condominium where we lived, we had some great neighbors over the years!  One of those was families was Cynthia and Alvaro and their kids Joaquina and Regina.  Our kids played almost daily with Joaquina and Regina on the condominium playground.  As soon as Emma and Walker would hear them playing outside, they just had to get ready to go outside and play too. They had us over for dinner one night before we left.  It was great to visit with them, see the condominium and let the kids play together one last time.  And it was very tempting to go peek in the windows of our old house to see what it looks like with new habitants (okay, so Chris really did). 

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Emma made a great friend from her dance class, Mikah.  Mikah's family worked with the U.S. embassy and they lived just one block from our house!  We visited their house before we left so the girls could say goodbye. 

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Josiah and Vivian, our teammates' kids came over and spent the night at the SIM house. They had a fun time playing in the pool, creating a waterslide on the playground, doing puppet shows and just spending time together.  They all piled on our bed at the end of the night to watch a movie.

Toby even got in on the action while they were in the pool!

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I was blessed to get to spend an afternoon with the ladies from church, talking about the importance of and how to teach children the Bible.

We took a look at the children's classrooms and I showed them where all of the Bible class resources are and how to use them. 

And we even practiced several of the children's songs so that they couldn't say they didn't at least know some of them!  If you have ever visited Paraguay, you have probably heard the "Mis coditos Dios me dio" song.  (God gave me my elbows)  We actually had a great time singing together and being silly.  And afterwards, enjoyed a great mixture of Paraguayan and American snacks for "merienda" (tea time).

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We visited one of the kids' favorite outdoor parks and playgrounds, Parque de Salud (Health Park).

Olivia enjoyed rolling in the sand!  All three of the kids were covered from head to toe with sand by the time we left.  That is always fun to clean up!

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We took the kids to their pediatrician, Dr. Juan Max Boettner, one last time and let them get caught up on vaccines and say goodbye.  He also took Walker's stitches out that he had in his chin from falling off of the bed at the SIM house.  Dr. Boettner gave them candy for being good, their favorite part of going to the doctor. 

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And definately our hardest goodbye of all was saying goodbye to our church family.  What beautiful people, inside and out, we were blessed to serve with in Paraguay!

Our last Sunday the congregation presented us with the previous group picture, framed and matted with all of their signatures on the matting.  We had to quickly go to the next room after the presentation because Chris and I got very emotional.  God has truly blessed our lives over the past 7 1/2 years and we will never forget our family and friends that became a part of our lives while in Paraguay.  They will be a huge part of us forever!  And words can not describe how much love we feel for them.  People in the U.S. keep saying to us "you are finally coming home"!  It makes us feel good that they are excited to have us returning, but at the same time, we don't really feel like the U.S. is home to us anymore.  We made our home in Paraguay.  And to us, it feels like we are leaving home.  And our kids have never known the U.S. as home.  Only as the place where we go to visit grandparents, family and friends.  I pray that one day soon we can feel at "home" again in the U.S.  But I think first we need a little time to grieve leaving our "home" in Paraguay and saying goodbye to everyone and everything that has been our life for 7 1/2 years.  But one of the many blessings of being a missionary is having more than one "home".  So, we are fine with having two, in very different countries.  Both that we love!