We've arrived!

Hello again!

After a week of travel, followed by a week of unpacking, we are finally in our new home. We left Minneapolis Aug 5 and drove down to Nebraska to see friends and family. While there we stayed with Grandma Johannes and saw several friends and family.

This included visits with Jeff's aunt Carol and her daughter, Tracy's work friends Brian and Sarah, and college buddies Steph and Christi.

We stopped by Midland Lutheran College and took a family picture by the fountain. 5 years ago, We had wedding pictures taken at the same spot. It seemed appropriate to have a new one with the whole family.

We were surprised to run into our former professor Dr. Carlson, who gave us a tour of the new rock displays and talked of his recent travels. Shahra received a souvenir geode as well. Our trip then took us to Peoria, Illinois, and finally to Anderson.

Our new place is a townhouse style apartment. We like having the office upstairs and away from the main floor since it makes it easier to work. Shahra is adjusting well to her new room and hasn't had too many problems. We visited her daycare and all looks well. She'll start next Monday. Her latest adventures include learning to count to 8 (or so), singing "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" and the "ABC" song and saying "Barak Obama" (the story behind this: Tracy randomly said something about Barak and Shahra now says "Rocka Momma" and giggles while running around the house. We showed her his pic online and she giggled saying "yeah, Brock Omama" This is almost U-tube worthy :) )

Since we've been here, we also reconnected with several Muncie friends. It was wonderful to get back to our church, where we are surrounded by many supportive folks. Shahra has found a new friend, Autumn, and will certainly meet more of the the 2 year olds in the nursery group.

Tracy met her supervisor and toured the hospice on Friday. The coworkers seem very friendly and excited to have an additional chaplain. The hospice facility is about a half mile from the hospital and is amazing. In addition to serving 75 at home patients, the hospice is a 25 bed facility with a beautiful courtyard. Each private patient room has french doors with a small private patio which opens onto the courtyard. The walk ways are wide enough to wheel out beds so patients can view a lovely stream with lilly pads and waterfalls. Several swings and picnic areas dot the grounds and give families a private outdoor space. Inside there are two large sitting rooms, one with a giant fire place and dinning area for private meals. While having a family member in hospice is certainly a difficult event, the staff and facility seem to provide as much comfort as possible to all patients and family members.

On Friday evening, we met some of Jeff's coworkers at a barbeque in Munice. The group was very friendly, and while there are not any toddlers, they seemed to enjoy Shahra. Several of the ladies enjoy scrap booking, so Tracy hopes to find some people to scrap with. Jeff has enjoyed meeting his coworkers and thinks it should be a good year of teaching, research, and education.

Everything is going quite well, but we have to say we miss our Luther community. Tracy has generally found a shared community in our neighborhood, but it has been more difficult here. There are some younger children, but we have not met any of the parents in our community. I certainly miss the evenings outdoors with all the Luther folks, our impromptu BBQs and long visits. Shahra does ask about her buddies, but she has looked at pictures which seems to work for now.

I hope all of you are doing well as you finish up all your summer plans. Love to hear from you when you have a chance. We'll post some house pictures once the last few boxes are stacked away and our pictures are finally hung.