Family Travels

Living in Costa Rica has resulted in our doing a great deal of traveling to stay connected to our family. Pam and I are on our way home after many days of travel. It’s been a whirlwind trip…but loads of fun.

Pam left Costa Rica on May 24 heading to Santa Rosa, CA. Her flight went through Dallas/Fort Worth before arriving in San Francisco and taking the shuttle up to Santa Rosa. Several members of the Bond clan were gathering for a milestone event. The celebration culminated with a tattoo party. Pam got her first tattoo and the rest of the family added to their collection.

Pam said getting the tattoo hurt like crazy and she wouldn’t do it again. But the milestone event was more than worth it.

I left Costa Rica on May 31 passing through Miami before meeting up with Pam in Philadelphia. It was cool to meet in the Philly airport. Pam had traveled from San Francisco and I had come from San Jose, Costa Rica. From there, we boarded another plane taking us to Burlington, Vermont where we spent time with Rachel and her two daughters, Audrey and Eden.

We had an amazing week! Rachel had invited us so we could “look after” after Audrey while she took Eden to New York City for her 8th grade graduation trip. While they were gone, we spoiled Audrey by being “doting grandparents.”  Pam and I were also able to do some home improvement projects at Rachel’s condo. It made us feel really good to serve Rachel and to spend quality time with her family.

The highlight of the trip was attending Eden’s 8th grade graduation. It was the most personal and beautiful graduation ceremony we’ve ever attended. What an honor for us!

Saturday, June 8, we flew from Burlington, Vermont to Las Vegas, Nevada to visit dear friends, Terry and Becky Wolverton. Pam and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing our friends and exploring the amazing community where they live, Anthem, Sun City. I was even able to knock out two swims at the community pool.

We are now on our way home. It’s Tuesday, June 11. Pam has been traveling for 19 days. I have been traveling for 12 days. It’s been a wonderful trip. When we moved to Costa Rica, I’m not sure we realized how much travel would be in the offing. But traveling is part-and-parcel to our calling to stay connected with our family while we serve with English Christian Fellowship.

Speaking of ECF, we’re now averaging 160+ in attendance. As a result, we are preparing to launch a second Sunday service on August 4. We will offer services at 9:30 AM and 11:00 AM. Please pray for this. Sustaining two services will require doubling our number of volunteers and introduce many new challenges. However, we are grateful to God for ECF’s continued growth and vibrancy.

Warmly,

Steve and Pam