~The first of MANY pics of my trip to TN!~

OK! So here's how it all came to pass!  Sunday night the 29th of April I was sitting at my computer and I wrote that poem about Grandmother turning 90 and posted it on my blog.  I then copied the poem and sent her a card with it in it. 
That's when it dawned on me..."THIS IS CRAZY!  I just lost one Grandma and didn't get to come home!  I'd rather go to GG's birthday party and see her alive...then to come back for her funeral (if it were to happen while we are on the mission field.)"  
So, I talked to Phillip about my idea of my flying to TN and SURPRISING my family...especially my Moma and Laura!  Phillip ran it past our mission's director and they both thought that I should go!  YEA!!!!!!  =D
So, I got my ticket on Monday and then called my Aunt Carole and asked her to PLEASE KEEP MY SECRET from everyone especially Laura, Moma, and GG!     GG's birthday party was on Saturday and I wanted to fly out on Thursday so I could help Moma and Laura on Friday.
I could hardly sleep the next few days...I was SO EXCITED!  I called and talked to Laura on Monday night for she and Moma had just arrived at GG's house in TN that evening.  We talked on Tuesday and Wednesday evening as well.  I told her that I wished I could be there to HELP HER GET READY during those few days.  =)  (I NEVER said I wished I could be at the party...for I knew I would be! =)
When I posted my Fun Food Friday with an URGENT unspoken request...my request was for me as I traveled that day!  =)
~So, here I am, on Thursday, May 3rd getting out of the taxi at the Bogota airport heading to my beloved TN, my GG, and my FAMILY! =)~

~After I checked in I got me a VERY RARE treat of a Cinnabon and some hot tea.~

~Then I went back to my gate and awaited my plane...which we boarded ONE HOUR LATE!~ 

I was dying about leaving an hour late...for I knew that I only had an hour and a half lay-over in Atlanta, GA and I DID NOT want to miss my next plane to TN.  Here we are fixin' to taxi down the runway.~ 

~Leaving the Bogota airport.~

~The beautiful Andes Mountains.~

~The huge city of Bogota...filled with many souls who need Jesus!~

~I prayed LOTS that Jesus would help me make my next flight so I could get to TN that evening.  Jesus did help me.  When I landed in Atlanta...Delta gave me a sign that said to RUSH ME THROUGH and I was able to make it to my gate in time.   (For I had to collect my luggage and go through customs before I found my next gate.) 
I just had a short 30 min. flight from Atlanta to Knoxville, TN.  Here we are landing in TN.  I was so EXCITED!  GG's house and my family were just 7 mins. away!!! =D~

~Dear Aunt Carole picked me up.  Here I am seeing GG for the first time.  She looked at me and asked, "Who are you?"
She knew who I was but was so shocked knowing that I was to be in South America and COULD NOT BE IN TENN!  =)~

~10 mins. later Laura, Darla, Bryan, and Moma pulled in from working on the reception hall where GG's birthday party was to be.  I hid until they came up on the deck.  I think you can tell by the pictures that my Uncle Dan captured...that I SURPRISED THEM BOTH VERY MUCH!!!! =)~

~They both screamed and Laura said she just knew she was going to faint!  I was SO HAPPY that I my plan had worked and I had surprised them!~

~Then, just 10 mins. later my Daddy drove in from IN.  I hid again and I think he was surprised as well...although he did not scream.  =)~

~On Friday we had a big day ahead of us doing the last minute preparations for GG's birthday party the next morning.   Dear Moma made yummy gravy and biscuits for our breakfast knowing we'd be working right through the lunch hour and would need a breakfast that would stick to our bones.  =)~

~Daddy cutting the purple cabbage for Moma to use to put the reuben sauce in for our sandwiches.~

~Laura, Moma, and I in front of the nice sign the pastor's wife made for GG in the reception hall.~

~Laura and our dear friend Sis. Clapper doing the skewers of grapes and cubes of cheese.~

~Aunt Carole and I doing the sandwiches...while Moma made the hall beautiful!~

~On the way back to GG's house I snapped this picture of The gorgeous Great Smokey mountains of TN!  Tennessee is GOD'S COUNTRY!  =)  
We moved to TN when I was just 6 months old and lived there until I was nearly 11...so this is Home to me ...well, one of my Many homes now! =)  ~

Part 1 and Part 2 of GG's party pics coming some time tomorrow Lord willing...and part 3 and 4 of the rest of my time in TN coming too!
I'm glad to be back with my WONDERFUL sweetheart and our sweet children.  I think that my little Mary thought that she had Permanently LOST her Mommy...though she didn't know where.  =)  I was happy that she came right to me when she saw me this morning.
I surely am GRATEFUL TO JESUS that He let me go to TN!
 

~The great city of Bogota!~

Let's learn some things about the great city of Bogota. As missionaries, moving to a new country and culture has it's adjustments, but we have learned to love beautiful Colombia, the culture, the people, and the food!

The Colombians are SAD...for the news media always makes Colombia sound sooo dangerous and so bad...but God is helping their country to be more safe! It's safer now than it had been 10 years ago! Colombia's president told one US news media person to Please come and visit, and get acquainted with his country, Colombia, before you knock it. Colombians are sad because the people in the USA think of their country as everyone here being dangerous, everyone being mean, and everyone doing or selling drugs. WHICH IS NOT TRUE! Just like anywhere, there are bad people...but the city of Medellin, Colombia, that 10 years ago was one of the most dangerous cities in THE WORLD...is NOW SAFER THAN WASHINGTON D.C. Colombia is a Beautiful country, and the people here are very nice. I mentioned that the people (that you meet on the street) are more friendly in Medellin, but once you became acquainted with the people from Bogota, (and they realize that they can trust you) you will find them just as kind, loving, and giving! You cannot enter someone's house without them giving you a drink and trying to serve you food...even if they hardly have anything to feed their own family! Once you become their friend, you have a friend for LIFE!
Bogota has some very delicious food. Like the plate of food that we get from a restaurant down from our house: a bowl of yummy homemade soup, rice, a vegetable, or beans, a fried platano, a salad, yummy chicken, and a homemade yummy Fruit juice...all of this for around $2.50!!
They are famous for their fruit salads here. They have LOTS of fruit salad restaurants, that basically sell those salads and ice cream and that's all. The fruit salad is filled with yummy fruits, and then covered with a cream, raspberry sauce, and a ball or 2 of ice cream, and shredded fresh coconut.
They have a typical snack called an "oblea" that has a caramel cream, fruit sauces and shredded white cheese if you want it, sandwiched between 2 thin sweet wafers.

An arepa: a white, unleavened bread that the Jews invented here in Colombia, made out of corn flour. They heat this thick, corn tortilla-like thing up, cut a slice inside and melt cheese and add melted butter and salt on the outside. To us they taste a lot like popcorn...with the butter and salt. Unlike Mexican food, Colombians don't make their food spicy, but they do have a special SPICY sauce that they call "Aji" that they put on their arepas and their empanadas.
An empanada: a deep-fried masa pastry filled with rice, meat, potatoes, etc. and they serve these with HOT sauce.
Colombians eat a lot of fried foods, but also eat a lot of FRESH FRUITS AND VEGGIES! They almost always have fresh salads, and fresh YUMMY fruit juices to drink.
The elevation of Bogota is: 8,355 feet.
Population: City proper: 7,014,111. Metro area 7, 594.000
Bogota is a beautiful city that is HUGE and is surrounded by very pretty mountains.
Weather: there are 2 seasons: Dry and Rainy. The Colombians tell us that their weather is so mixed up now, that they cannot predict what season it will be when, as they did in time past. =)
One source said:
January temps 67 F./42 F. with 33" of rain falling, normally.
July temps 65 F/46 F with 41" of rain falling, normally.
Economy: Banking, Insurance, coffee, tires, chemicals, clothing, flowers, and more.
Colombians are good looking people who are blacks, indigenous, fairer people, typical Latino looking, and a mixture of all of the above.

I'm reading the Book, "Third Culture Kid". In there it mentions something that I find myself doing. I find myself wanting to DEFEND THE USA, IT'S FOOD, AND IT'S CULTURE to the Colombian people, and wanting to DEFEND COLOMBIA, IT'S FOOD (minus the cow feet, chicken feet, cow gut, etc.) AND IT'S CULTURE, to our visitors from the USA. I so want my friends from both cultures to get along. I feel like I'm a BRIDGE to join my original culture and my new culture. I guess I have 2 homes now...Of course, to me the USA will ALWAYS be #1, but since God has called us to Colombia, I'm adapting to, and enjoying my 2nd home. Come visit us in Colombia, and I don't think you'll be disappointed. =D