The Paperkite

Leah has found her Studmuffin!
Never seen a cuter River Otter!

Monday found me leaving Cairo, NE for Lebanon, IL. Lebanon is 25 miles east of St. Louis, MO and the home of cousin Leah. It was a little out of the way, but how often does a girl get to hang out with her cousin Leah! So back on I-80, I head east to I-29 taking a shortcut through Nebraska City that led me into Iowa. Once I found I-29, I crossed into Missouri and stopped for lunch in St. Joesph. An hour later I was zooming in and out lanes in Kansas City, MO and on my way to St. Louis, which of course I managed to hit at Rush Hour. Yea me! Traffic wasn't really all that bad, as long as I stayed in the middle lane and followed the signs. However this plan only works if you're following the right signs! I somehow missed that I was suppose to find I-64 to get to Lebanon and stayed on I-70 instead, except that I wasn't even on I-70, I was on I-55! Don't ask me, I don't have a clue how I did it either! I fortunately realized my mistake before I got to far and was able to turn around without wasting too much high dollar gas!

Tuesday morning I awoke from a blissful sleep in a beautiful house built in 1897. Newly remodeled, yet still filled with it's "turn of the century" charm. Later that morning, I would find myself on the way to a place I had never been, but always wanted to go--the Zoo! St. Louis is one of the only remaining free Zoo's in America--yea St. Louis--you rock! So anyway, Leah was kind of enough to take me to the Zoo and teach me all the things I didn't know about the animals. I had so much fun, very much like all the little kids who were there for their first time too! I saw ant-eaters, elephants, bears, giraffes, zebras, monkeys, lions, penguins, camels, and so many more animals. But my favorite of the day, believe it or not, was the paperkite butterfly. So beautiful, so elegant, and so delicate. This little insect left me standing in awe of the creativity of our God. He could have made all butterflies just alike, but He didn't. He decided to go colorful instead. Even a little crazy! Different sizes, different colors, different purposes. All designed to bring Him glory. And then just because I know He delights in delighting His children, I got to see a paperkite butterfly move for the very first time after having shed it's cocoon. And once again I was left standing in awe of the greatness of our God

A Nebraska Sunday

Ever wondered what there is do in Nebraska?
Well, I still wonder, but at least for this day, I found there is plenty to do. The day began with a drive into Grand Island, NE for some Sunday morning worship. It was "Honor the Graduates day", so Go Graduates! After church, we found our way to Applebee's, where I enjoyed my first semi-real meal in what seemed days! After Applebee's, Audrey had a mission team meeting, so I took a nap. Such a good nap. A very very good nap. When Audrey finally emerged from her meeting we headed over to the Putt-Putt place for some mini-golf. It was quite an intense game, mostly because I couldn't seem to keep my ball out of the air! Let's just say I got plenty of exercise running to hole 9 to retrieve my ball after shooting from hole 3!! Lots of laughs! After mini-golf, we went to a few stores and then to this awesome place called HyVees. It's a grocery store that's also sorta of restaurant. I went to one place and got chinese food and then over to another and got some fruit. Audrey went for the salad bar. From HyVee's we drove 20 miles to Cairo, NE, the actual place where Audrey lives for the moment. We finished the night with watching 27 dresses on my laptop and then finally turning in for a good night's sleep.