Tico Tuesday, August 17th

Happy Tuesday from Sierra Vista, Arizona!
I'm now 2/3 of the way through my 9 state, 9 airport crazy trip to the States. And thanks be to God, the whole last week has been shared with my best friend in some of our favorite places. Mommy and I had a blast in northern New England, eating red hot dogs, hiking, playing in rivers with frigid water, hanging out on the beach, and listening to Joe Castiglione narrate Red Sox games. I love the people in Pennsylvania, and if I have to consider somewhere in the States home that would be it, but in so many ways I am still such a New England girl! This past weekend we visited our old church in Auburn, ME and I got to share in the services there. Some really great stories and a few more pictures on the blog!
May God bless your family, work and recreation this week!
Carrie

The family reunion ended well and last Wednesday Mommy and I spent the night in the most adorable, quaint hotel ever. I would love to go back there and stay for at least a week! We were in this little cabin with a screened porch, a little living room, bedroom and bathroom. Behind the cabins runs the Pemigewasset River, a small river that runs through New Hampshire's famous White Mountains. Hence the frigidity... I'm used to playing in cold New England rivers though! We slept with the bathroom window and door open and enjoyed the soothing sound of the river flowing over the rocks (even while we slept! ;-) )
Thursday we got up early and did a great hike-a loop that allowed us to summit 3 peaks, Little Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayette. We had gorgeous weather and managed to do it in 6 hours. I LOVE HIKING!!! The way up had some spectacular waterfalls before the tree line!
Then we went to Mommy's hotel and I cleaned up before having a little New England Grover reunion with Brender, Amy, Jackie and Brian (and kids). We stayed up really really late-I was amazed Amy and Brian and Jackie were able to stay awake (they all have little kids)!! but it was really really good to see them and meet their younger kids. My favorite part was getting to talk with them and having Brian lead us in a Eucharist service (he is an Anglican priest). It was wonderful! I hadn't had Holy Communion in a long time!
Friday I was clearly tired, but Mommy and I walked the beach anyway. That evening we visited my parents' friends in Old Orchard Beach. I stayed in at night and crashed from exhaustion from the previous day's activities.
Saturday we had a blast. we went out for breakfast with some really sweet ladies, walked on the beach, candlepin bowled (Mommy beat me by 2 pins the first string then I whooped her 90 to 66 the second string. I almost never bowl 90s, even when we used to bowl more often!), and went to Cole Farms for lunch. It was at Cole Farms that we got our classic Maine red hot dogs, Indian pudding, strawberry-rhubarb pie, and blueberry ice cream. We were pulling out all the stops and making the most of our time in Maine!
Saturday evening I got to share at East Auburn Baptist Church, the church in which I grew up. It is great, but weird to go back. Every time the kids I used to babysit are older and there are tons of new people (which is a really good thing!!!). But there are still so many dear people from church I love so much. One highlight was getting to see Dr. Bob, one of the most amazing men of God I have ever met who has mentored Roger, the senior pastor of EABC. Dr. Bob continues to get along more and more in years but with that his love for God and others has only grown and I just love him! He is one of those people with a deep, booming voice and shows his deep love for you and God by asking you "How's your soul?" and ends every service with "Go give 'em Jesus!" I loved meeting new people too. One lady came up to me after the service, said her name was Linda, hugged me, told me she prayed for me and walked away. That was really sweet. One little girl Sunday morning asked me for my autograph. That felt a little funny, but I was more at peace after I saw lots of other "normal" people's names in the notepad.
And this is a really cool story: I got a e-mail a while ago from Bill, the director of the missions committee telling me a family was "adopting" me as their missionary. A few weeks later the e-mail came from the mom, telling me about herself and her family. She said her daughter was the one that chose me. They were standing in front of the missionary bulletin board at church, looking at the pictures of the missionaries and the daughter kept coming back to my picture and saying, "There's just something about her, Mom!" Well, I got to meet this family. It turns out the mom is a nurse in the medical center where Daddy worked and she and her husband got baptized a week ago because other Christians at her work led her to Christ. Isn't that great!! And they are already leaping in and learning about and participating in missions! That is how it should be!!
I wish I'd gotten to know Bill and his wife Pat better when we actually lived in ME and attended EABC. He is such a dear man! I HATE HATE HATE sitting by myself in church, so Saturday night I sat with him and Pat and he was just so dear-he had his arm around me for much of the service and made little comments and filled me in on various things and it was just a huge blessing to me!
Yikes this is getting long. Well, Sunday Mommy and I headed back to the airport after church and I enjoyed a delicious bottle of Moxie (a Maine-exclusive rootish flavored fantastic soda) on the way, and of course we were listening to the Sox again. We had some wonderful conversation on the plane (and a lot of other really really good conversations over the course of our hike, beach walks, etc) and on the second flight (after making a really tight connection, thanks be to God!) she told me all about the trip she and my brother Zach took in May, biking through much of Austria.
Sunday night we got home in the midst of the craziest lightning storm you could ever imagine. The flashes were constant and from every direction, but thanks be to God we landed safely and I was very happily reunited with my DADDY!!!
So, that is a taste of life. I could tell you more about visiting our old house and seeing some old friends in Auburn and other things, but I think that is enough for now!