This past week, Patty and I travelled to Michigan for training for teaching English in China. I will try to recount some of the highlights of the trip and training.

Saturday--We left and travelled about halfway there and stopped for the night at Rock Cut State Park in Illinois. It was really warm so we went hiking and ended up at a swimming lake. On the way back, I ended up getting us lost and we ended up getting an extra 6 miles of exercise. Let's just say, Patty went to bed at 8 pm because she was exhausted. We did some camping and the weather was nice for sleeping.

Sunday--In the morning, we left for Spring Arbor (training). Driving went well and we arrived early. We were able to meet some of the other short term m's that will be leaving to various places like Mexico, Ukraine, Peru, Thailand and Myanmar, China, Romania, and Venezuala.

Monday--This was our first official day of training and we learned a lot about what to actually expect. It will not be just the fun and adventures but also many struggles with getting used to different cultures and learning how to live in a new language. At night, we went to a large worship service and learned about the work of the Father in Asia. Amazing things are happening.

Tuesday-Thursday--We had three more days of training and getting to know other workers and people from throughout the world. We learned a lot from so many people and it will take many days to understand it all. We will hopefully get a chance to keep in touch with and learn from our new friends. It was a great chance to learn about the Free Methodists--we were blown away by what we learned and the passion of the people we met.

On Thursday night, we left for our romantic part of the trip. We drove to South Haven along Lake Michigan and stopped at a Bed and Breakfast. We walked along the lake on the sand and visited the lighthouse. It was nice to be able to relax and enjoy the beauty of the small town. In the morning, we left and drove towards home. We stopped at another lighthouse in St Josephs. We stopped again in Chicago to go through the Field Museum--amazing collection of actifacts on Egypt, Africa, Ancient America and Dinosaurs. We travelled through the night and heavy rain storms and made it to the Cities at about 12:30 am. What an amazing trip and lots of learning. We are glad to be back though and have lots of work to do. We are closing on the house on Friday--ahh!! Hope all is well.

Moving. We have been engrossed in the moving process for quite a few days. We have been packing and taking a few boxes over to mom's house everyday now. It is a slow process, but the house is getting empty. We are looking forward to the 4th of July, although it will be our last for a few years. We are going to be in the dodgeball tournament and also going to watch the parade, have a get-together at our house, and go to fireworks in Albert Lea. The weather looks like it will be good, too. This weekend we leave for training in Michigan. Along the way out, we are going to stop and go camping in Rock Cut State Park in Illinois. On the way back, we will be stopping at a Bed and Breakfast along Lake Michigan near Patty's favorites, the lighthouses. This will be our vacation together before we leave.

Besides this we have been trying to get together with friends and family as often as possible and fundraising has been going well. God has been answering many prayers and blessing each step of this trip.

This past week has been a very busy one. On Monday and Tuesday, we were able to go to a couple of Twins games. I love watching baseball in person. On Monday, we went with Patty's parents and watched a game full of lots of hits which the Twins lost 8-5. On Tuesday, we got together with our college friends, Nate and Amanda, and their future child. Amanda even had a "circle me Bert sign, Babies first game" sign. It was a game with very few hits that the Twins won in the 12th inning. We had great seats only four seats from the left field fence. Wednesday and Thursday we worked on packing things and getting rid of furniture. I was also able to get in a couple of bike rides with a high school friend, Carl, to Pine Island and Lanesboro. I loved getting out and doing something active in nature.

Our house is getting very empty. we are trying to move out five boxes a day. We have made a few trips out to the farm to let Tippy get used to his new home and to walk in the woods and pick wild raspberries. As we pack things it brings up many stories and memories of blessings from friends or family members. We are hoping to take lots of pictures with us, but we are not sure what else we want to bring to remind us of home. At the end of this week, we will be leaving for our trip to Michigan for training for China. We are so excited!!