In Georgia

Our time with our families was a treasure. My Mama and Daddy picked us up in Atlanta. The first place we ate was the original Chick-fil-A, the Dwarf House in Hapeville, Georgia, the town my dad grew up in (the same place as the Atlanta airport).




We were in Valdosta about 11 days. We didn’t really have jet lag because before we left, we had stayed up all night and covered the windows during the early morning to adjust our sleep to Eastern Time. We are seven hours ahead of east coast time (GMT +2). My mom said it was a lot like vacation all week long because we were eating special treats—mostly things that we missed while we were gone—Dr. Pepper, Dairy Queen, Cracker Barrel. We went to the farmer’s market for produce, because it was the closest thing to buying produce roadside in Ukraine.


Me and Dean on the porch


Alicia, Mom and I drove to Albany to visit my grandmother, Meemaw. She just celebrated her 91st birthday. She's one of the most optimistic people I've ever met.





Since our time was limited and mostly taken up with family time, we chose to host “Ukrainian Tea” parties for our friends and church families. The first was in Valdosta at my mom’s house during our first Sunday back. Our friend Cheryl from Tallahassee drove all the way up and went to church with us and visited throughout the tea. Several friends from Dasher Church dropped by and visited.





We had a great time feeding and visiting over at Jerry and Jeannie McMullen’s. They’ve been good to me over the years and their offspring Jerry Lewis and his lovely wife Lora are like my brother and sister.



We also shared good one-on-one fellowship with Jake and Cassie Dasher, Ryan Warren, saw a bunch of people out at Walmart and at church—talked with Russ from Savannah on the phone. We didn’t see many others but we still love you… and we can always email and talk on the phone—so Skype us.

Our last Sunday, John McLeod asked me to come speak at the Sunday school class at Central. Afterwards, we went to John and Ollie’s home along with the Bennetts and just had a good agape feast.





We headed off to West Virginia the next day and I’m going to let Alicia take over from here—

The Rest of Our Trip

We had a great time in WV with my family also. In this first picture we are sharing our favorite Ukrainian soda with my family.

Gifts at the Shrewsbury's

We also had teas in WV. One with each church family I am affiliated with there. We were able to share pictures from Ukraine with everyone and enjoy some tea and fellowship.

Brett and Bruce Reynolds

This is my good friend Tami Handley holding the few pieces of blennies and jam that were left. They were a hit.

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Norway Tea

We were able to share a meal with one of board members, Tim Johnson, who recently moved to WV. Also sharing this meal at one of my favorite restaurants, Bob Evans, was my family and the Handleys, some life long friends.

Tim Johnson and Brett

Bob Evan's with Handley's

Brett Alicia and Clinton

While at Hurricane Church of Christ, Brett was asked to preach. He shared a little about what why we are in Ukraine and what our last year looked like.

My Grandmother turned 81 in June and we were able to share in her birthday celebration and see most of my dad’s side of the family.

After leaving WV, we flew to Texas and visited with the rest of our board members: Max and Juan Pratt, George and Joyce Gray, and Morris and Beverly McFadden. It was great to visit with all of you.

Board Meeting

We flew back to Birmingham, Alabama where Russ and Martha Brown were gracious enough to keep us for 4 nights. We celebrated the 4^th of July with them(Martha’s a great cook) and on July 7^th, my friend, Jamie Waugh, married Ben Grizzle. Congratulations!

As we traveled back to Valdosta for a last few days, we stopped and had dinner with Brett’s brother and our sister in-law, Chuck and Linda White.

Chuck and Linda

What better way to get acclimated back into the culture here than to visit the local zoo with our missionary friends, Jason and Kerri, and their two girls Casey and Sophie.