During one summer break from Indiana Wesleyan University, I worked at a camp in Michigan. Three other IWU students also worked there -- Melissa, Angela, and Steve. We called ourselves"The IWU Funheads." Silly, huh? But, oh, were we fun! On our weekends off from camp duty, we would pile into Steve's car, pull out a map of Michigan, and randomly choose a city to visit. I remember we chose Frankenmuth because it had a funny name! Little did we know that it was a tourist town! On our way, we made signs on notebook paper that said, "Frankemuth or Bust!" and taped them to the back window of the car. Don't you think "Funheads" was an appropriate name for us?
In October, I returned to Frankenmuth with Gerson and Jayden. On the way I shared my Funhead stories with my husband. He laughed! When we arrived in Frankenmuth, we were astonished to find that the sign outside our motel welcomed us! Of course, they spelled our name wrong, but we knew they meant it for us! We felt very welcome.
We had the opportunity to visit the biggest Christmas store in the world. I had been there before with the Funheads, but it still was overwhelming! Bronner's is so huge that even though we browsed for 3 hours of so, we probably didn't even make it to more than 1/4 of the store! Gerson was just amazed that a store that size existed! It was incredible.
It was quite chilly in Michigan and we had to bundle up. Jayden got to wear our garage-sale find --- a snowsuit for a baby! Doesn't he look handsome in brown? This picture also shows his beautiful two teeth and his light-up-the-room smile!
Our purpose for going to Frankenmuth? To speak in at the Holiness Missionary Chruch. I spoke there when I was a single missionary, and it was wonderful to be back and see old friends and make new friends! On Friday night we had supper with the former pastor of the church and her family. What a joy to see her again and catch up with what God has done in her life in the past 6 years! Then on Saturday we attended the Fall Family Day and watched kids color pumpkins and participate in games. We also had a wonderful potluck meal. On Sunday we spoke twice --- Sunday School and the main service. It was a blessing to share with them what God is doing in Bolivia and where He is leading us next. After the service we were invited to a family's home where we ate an amazing meal --- it was just like Thanksgiving!
We enjoyed the beautiful autumn colors. Jayden got his first experience with fall leaves! He did try to eat a leaf at one point!
On our way out of town, we stopped at some local shops in Frankenmuth and did some Christmas shopping. All in all, it was a wonderful trip! Can't wait for another opportunity to visit this quaint, unique town.
