On June 24, we all flew away from the dry heat of Spokane and into the thick humidity of Mississippi. We arrived in one piece and were picked up at the airport by our host family, the Clubines. They put us up at their house for 12 days! Insane generosity--something we experienced a lot of while we stayed in Mississippi. Southern hospitality? Or Christian hospitality? Maybe both.
Our training started the next afternoon, so I, Tim, took the opportunity to visit Lake Arkabutla, a huge and beautiful lake near Southaven. I praised the Lord for his creation as I ran along the sandy shore, but when I arrived home I discovered that God provided the raw materials, the Army Corps of Egineers did the creating. Anyway, I encountered a new (to me) fish--found it floating out in a couple feet of water. An Alligator Gar. Looked like some sort of prehistoric monster, what with its multiple rows of sharp teeth, and its bony armor. I didn't get a picture, but if you follow this link you can see some good pictures:
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/AlligatorGar/AlligatorGar.html
Here is the pond near where we stayed. Note the Crayfish (aka mudbugs) chimneys along the shore.
So our training began on Monday afternoon and we went full bore for the next twelve days--all day everyday except Sunday. Finn joined other babies in the 'Globe Toddler' class.
George made many new friends in his class, the 'Pathfinders'. Jill and I learned so much information in our classes, from how to teach Third Culture Kids to how to behave during a coup. The classes were all very practical and will be ultra valuable as we move overseas. When we weren't in class we were enjoying the fellowship with the ~120 other missionaries in attendance. We made many fast friendships with people going all over the world.
Any other time we had was spent eating--lots of good Southern cuisine. Grits. Grits and gravy. Biscuits and gravy. Gravy and gravy. Finn ate more than his fair share of pickled ocra. George preferred the Memphis barbeque.
Yum, yum ocra!
After the training, we rented a car and drove south to spend a few days with my old Alert chum (chum as in friend, not as in stinky bait thrown in water to attract fish...) Paul Ellis and wife, Jenny. We stayed at Paul's family cabin, out in the Mississippi forest. George and I caught toads, skinks, bass, bluegill, and ticks. I caught a Cottonmouth (aka Water Moccasin)--fulfilling a childhood dream.
We returned home on July 11, and are now packing up our house and waiting on our visas. We thank the Lord for a safe and wonderful trip to MS.
We did not think we would be playing in the snow during this holiday season, but we're making the most of the cold white stuff.
George started preschool at South Side Christian on November 27. God reserved a George-shaped hole in the Tuesday/Thursday class (the last available spot), and he is loving it.
We pieced together enough Christmas stuff to decorate in proper style--a rocket-pop Christmas tree. Thanks for the tannebaum, Joe!
Finn relaxes while waiting for the visas, something Jill and I have a little more difficulty doing, but God is good and his timing is exquisite.
Finn goes for a short crike (crawl + hike) through the rain forest near Trout Lake. Thanks for the great picture, Uncle Dennis!
It is now going on mid-September, and here we are, still in Spokane, waiting for our visas. Our specific date for possible departure is in 2 weeks or 2 months--in other words: we really don't know! 
Here is George clutching the treasured diploma. Some of our visa paperwork is posing below him on the floor.
We spent several days up at Priest lake last week--stayed at the Skiffington's incredible cabin. Brother-in-law Dan and I decided that our skin needed to be envigorated and exfoliated by the native clay (Dan is the one with the one with his eyes closed; I'm the one who looks like Gollum). After we washed off, our skin glowing with health and vitality, I realized that my wedding band was gone. Yipes! I felt like Gollum, and was half expecting to see Elijah Wood making off into the forest with my precious. To compound the problem, our little spa party had clouded the crystal clear water, making it impossible to search. As the light began to fade 4 or 5 hours later, after I had already made plans to make my new ring out of a piece of copper pipe or maybe duct tape, sister-in-law Shelley looked off the end of the dock and thought she saw something. There it was, my precious, wedged between a couple rocks, in about 5 feet of water. Hallelujah! After 6 years of wearing the ring, I am sort of bound to it. Thanks Shelley.
The woman who made the whole thing possible.
