The Checklist

Willie was happy to see some indication of Hockey!!

This is my check on my checklist... the Book Depository where Oswald 'allegedly' shot JFK from...
This is a picture of me going crazy with the camera.  Behind me is an 'X' - that's the spot of the fatal shot that killed John F. Kennedy.

Hey Uncle Willy... we're in horse country now.  Get that work visa and come on down!

Cheap entertainment - you kinda had to be there but Samuel found some game that kept these two crazy kids entertained for quite some time.

Well I experienced something on my list of "Things to see..." It was the Dealey Plaza in Dallas.  All of you that know me - know that I'm a bit of a Kennedy 'fan' (use the word fan loosely).  I know it sounds a little crazy but I was really excited to see this.  For some reason I just didn't think that some of those dreams would come true but hooray!!  And Willie was a driving champion in downtown Dallas!!!

Texas is proving to truly be the south... a lot of American flags, Waffle Houses, "yes Mam" and that 'warm' smell!

Olivia enjoyed her short chat with Gramma this morning - that was super cute - thanks mom.  Samuel is still praying for Kobe, Jobe and Tori and is waiting for them to come over to his house.  Michela the dinosaur is still with us even through all the miles.  William, Samuel has your moose - oops... oh well he was probably wanting a warmer winter!  

Samuel was really disappointed that we ended up in another hotel and is saying he doesn't like Texas... I made the mistake of telling him we were going to Dallas today.... he was expecting to see Dallas (our blue eyed blonde sweetie) :-)

So ya, our day was good  - I would have liked to go upstairs in the Sixth Floor Museum but Museum's aren't really for the kiddos!  

So a couple more nights in the hotels and we'll be in Newton Texas ready for schedule and the long awaited potty training.

miss ya'll

Billboard from God

"Calm waters?  Set sail with Jesus!"
God using a structure to show us once again how very present He is!
Off to the pool.  Being hand-in-hand is really important for Olivia (I think it's a control thing... then Samuel can't go faster than her) 
This was an awesome billboard that said "As my apprentice you are never fired." God.
There's a silver lining at the end of each driving day and today it was the great weather and an outdoor pool.
Beautiful green green fields!
Always happiest when she's got something going into that tummy!!
Big brother helping little Ms. Olivia with her shoe... they are actually becoming pretty great friends!  Thanks for praying about this mom!
Our Cracker Barrel Stop.  Say Cheeze!
Lovin' the Green!!!
Sweet face... can't believe how she can soften my heart and yet make me pull out my hair within a few seconds of each other!
Always with a rock in his hand... these were our morning pictures outside of the hotel in Kansas.
Off to start another day.  God is so good!!

We're puttin' our feet up in Oklahoma City and lovin' the 26C weather.  I know it's cold for the locals but we're crazy northerners!!  

God has brought us about 4400 km safely and we're so grateful!!  Samuel showed signs of being very tired of driving today so we had a short day on the road and jumped into an outside pool; had some great family game of Tag and some hot supper from Chili's.

Dad we thought of you today... country song on the radio reminded Samuel of you and your great singing of Johnny Cash's classics :-)

We are finally feeling like we're in the south... the trees are coming alive and there are some beautiful green fields and there's water.  It even smells warm!!  We love it!  The kids have lost their sick faces and I think I might have said "Oh, it's so hot!" but not in a complaining manner...

We went to one of my favorite stops which is Cracker Barrel and I was looking for the Cobb Salad Jules but I couldn't... so I settled for a different salad but it was awesome.  Olivia quite enjoyed her Chicken and Dumplings.  Samuel didn't want to try it but I said it was kinda like what Gramma Penner makes and then he tried it and liked it too.  There was so much Christmas Stuff in the store I just about lost it!!!  I'm SO excited for Christmas even if it means that it's going to be different this year - I know God has a lot to teach me about the real excitement of Christmas so I'm willing to learn.

So tomorrow we're off for Texas and then we'll hang out for two days until we 'report for duty'.  Thank you Jesus for your love and care!  Tisha we're so close...

Tumbleweed and Train Tracks

Just another hotel room... looking at a book.
I know this is yucky mom but there just aren't that many places or them to play... so hotel floor it is!  
"Off to see the Wizard..." we're in Kansas now
Sweet face - even after a few hours in the carseat.
She was made for ice cream cones!!  Look at that tongue!
Thanks for this book Myranda!  Olivia did so well today on the trip!  Thank you Jesus!!!
William, Samuel was trying out his new rope on a pole at the hotel.  He got it!  

Today was a day that was pretty uneventful (or maybe downright boring)... we had lunch outside which was great because the sun was wonderfully warm; it was all dreamy until a truck with PIGS parked right beside us!!!  Let's just say I wanted to throw up and it pretty much happened but he was only there for about 10 minutes but oh my ~ we won't be purchasing a hog barn anytime in the future!!

We're in Kansas now, it's pretty flat and not too exciting but our kids are keeping us quite well entertained!

God has been so good and we keep seeing confirmation of that truth!  I told Willie today that this whole adventure is such a God thing.  It started as a little bit of a selfish thing because I wanted an experience... but it really has changed in the last month.  I would not be able to do this if it was just us doing it!  How do people travel to the opposite side of the continent without God???  

We are starting to miss familiar faces and places but we have a destination in mind (not that we have the foggiest idea what it might be...) so we keep our eyes on the goal.  We lost an hour today so that's great... time to get the fish out of the tub and into the bed!!  I'm starting to wonder if they'll be able to sleep in separate rooms when we get back home.

Take care!  Talk to you tomorrow when we hope to be in Oklahoma - God willing.

Colourful Colorado

This is one of the cutest houses I've ever seen... 
This is a super bad shot but you might be able to use your creative minds and see it... it's a HUGE cross on top of this hill out in the middle of nowhere (or somewhere)
One of my favorite poses by my littlest model!!!  We call it the Peace pose!!
This would be Wyoming... dry and rocky but so amazing - God is truly the most creative!!!
And yes this is Hermie... Samuel's photography (while he was watching his Hermie dvd.)

So we finally saw some trees and wow is Colorado beautiful in the fall!!  Our travel day was a bit shorter today and Olivia had a good 3 hour nap so we're so thankful for that!  Samuel was back to his sweet self and we're thankful for clean hotel rooms!

Samuel has had some pretty sweet prayers today... he must have been feelin' the Spirit today.  A couple times during the drive he said "Mommy, let's pray!" and then off he would go to pray for everyone and everything.  Some were pretty specific, some were general (like "Please make Mommy brown!"

Prayers and love to you from Colorful Colorado!

71 Pictures

An indication of how long we've been on the road... Willie's hat line.
Olivia being her monkey self
Shootin' some hoops at the Germ World in McDonalds 
Some of the Treeless world we've been driving through.

Today has been our hardest day thus far... and an indication of that is that I only took 71 pictures today!!  Our morning started with a Fireman at the hotel door asking us to evacuate.  So thankfully I was out of the shower already which was early for me... woke up the sleepyheads and said we had to get out now.   So we threw everything into our bags and got the 'not so excited to be awake' kids into hoodies because it was cold this morning... only to have them say it was a false alarm.  So we then started our morning again - just a little slower.  

The kids went crazy in the vehicle today... 10 hours from Great Falls to Casper, Wyoming.  Wow!!!  I was really stressed out because Olivia is sick and I know she's cutting more molars but yikes... she needs to stop fussing or I'm going to have very little sanity to work with by the time we arrive in Newton Texas!!  

But God is so wonderful and he has given us a wonderful hotel with great staff to park our weary bodies for the night and just give us some rest and time to really reflect on how great He is!!  The scenery we have seen has been amazing (except for the lack of vegetation!!!  I'm really needing to hug a tree!!  Willie might be thinking he would like to cut one down but either way we would love to see one!)  We've seen at least 83 thousand cows from Magrath Alberta to Wyoming and the radio stations are Country or Christian so that's kind fun!  Except that Samuel asked for some Hip Hop today... but he had to settle for Tim MaGraw! 

The kids are now sleeping peacefully and as I look at their beautiful faces and give them their last goodnight kisses I wonder how I could have been so frustrated a few hours ago on the road!

Family is Fabulous

I'll figure it out eventually!!

Dallas and Olivia

Stopping in to see a college student along the way... thanks for taking time for us Trenten!  Remember to share the Starbucks :-)

Okay so now we're past the border patrol and well - it wasn't as smooth as we had thought it would be.  They were not too happy to let us cross but after about 45 minutes of Willie asking, listening and asking again (and me praying in the truck) we got to go with a few conditions but we're on the road again.  

Wow I wonder how many times I'm going to say this same thing... "Thanks so much for the prayers"!!!

We're now settling into our first American hotel and looking forward to the drive tomorrow

Close to the border...

So we survived the first 14 hours of travel, a scary hotel room, the US Embassy, doctor's visit and showering with a beetle (not a singing Beatle!)  Saturday afternoon we're crossing the border into Montana and will move on Sunday morning.

It's been so wonderful to put our feet up and enjoy some awesome time with my sister and her family - and wow some great food.  The kids are loving the time with their cousins!  

Nothing too exciting to let you know about yet but I'm sure there will be some great pictures to come soon.  As soon as we get to a place where there is some 'faster' high speed.

Thanks for the prayers!  No nausea and and too many tears on the road from the toddlers in the back - we can feel your prayers and we're lovin' it!  God is faithful.