Time with Duplessis in Diamond, LA

Chilly & Chapped in Colorado

We had a fabulous time in Colorado Springs with our friends that we met in Mississippi. The altitude is 6200 feet above sea level so we had some getting used to... Willie snoring, Olivia’s lips bleeding and I couldn’t stop yawning (apparently my brain was lacking!) Going from sea level in Louisiana to over a mile high in a few days is a bit of a shock to the system. We got to see the Focus on the Family ‘head quarters’ and we went to an amazing display of God’s creativity in a place called the Garden of the Gods. I’ll post pictures soon (seriously... I will do it soon). Jim and Cyndi Curran put us up for the night so the kids got to sleep in a bunk bed which was pretty exciting (oh to be a kid again!) We got to meet some of their family and their two grandbabies who were 4 and 2 years of age... God’s lovin’ the details!!

We are thankful for safety - we almost blew away in the strong winds today but alas we remained grounded; for now... we set up camp in Cheyenne, Wyoming and we’re doing well. Thanks for the prayers... it’s only a few more days and we’ll be able to put our feet up and get out of the truck for a few days in Magrath.

No word like goodbye

I have added a word to the kids 'no-no list' "Goodbye" is no longer a word in our vocab. We trust that God will be gracious enough for us to see all the wonderful people we've just said goodbye to again.
On Tuesday we left friends in Diamond, LA after a fun sleepover at their home (pictures to follow soon). Off to the fun Raiford home where something is always going on! We had too much fun and it was really hard to leave. But alas, all good things come to an end and we were thankful that we had the time we did... thanks to Nik ;-) and her honeymoon delivery pick up. We had to move on Wednesday night; saying farewell for now to Kent, Tisha and the kids we love so much!
We arrived in Beaumont Texas shortly after our friends The Glenn's had their fifth baby so we got to see a fresh little one! We stayed the night and then we met up with the Samuel family in Newton Texas, she was a homeowner who we got to know in Nov/Dec while we were here with MDS. We spent some good time in her new home and Samuel got a hair cut and we went to the "Last Chance Cafe" for some good food and some good fun. We said farewell to the Glenn family today and hit the road one more time. We're now close to Dallas Texas and are heading off to Amarillo tomorrow. Our next stop to run and play will be with some long termers that we met during our time in the Pass who live in Colorado Springs.

This blog post is boring but I'm doing it so that I don't forget about where we were when - and some of you want to actually know where we are :-)

Willie says ... 797 km behind us and only 4409 km to go :-) Sounds like fun!! Let's just say I know pretty much every word that Lightening McQueen says in Cars!!! Well... "got ourselves a nodder..." time for bed.

Love you all. The pictures will start rolling in soon. Sorry for the delay.

The beginning of reflection...

We left the MDS site today with a few different emotions. We only drove about 30 minutes to a hotel in Slidell but we felt that we needed to start moving forward. The kids were excited to get to a hotel and experience the full size bath tub!
I asked Willie what he was feeling or if he had a verse for me to post on the blog that would speak what he was feeling... I got a long sigh and then nothing... so I searched my heart and this is what I found: On the way out of MIssissippi there was a church sign that read "Aspire to Inspire before you Expire"
We will rest tonight and I'll continue our thoughts tomorrow. Thank you again and again!
Tisha we'll see you so soon!!

Praise God from whom ALL blessings come...

We are thankful that God is already working on another adventure for us and we're excited to meet Him there. Until then we pack and pack and repack... trying to get our lives to fit on the box of the truck! Should be fun to see if it works one last time.
So we'll be coming to a community near you.... we'll contact you on our way through and see if we can stop in for a chat... -except you Kathy and Carl... not planning on swinging by that way =)
See you all soon; thank you for your prayers! God is so good! We are in his hand as we travel west and then North and North and then North some more!

All Good Things Must Come to an End

And that is what we're feeling now but as the time is nearing when we need to start packing up(how in the world will we fit back in that truck??), we are so thankful to God who has allowed us to walk through this amazing time of refreshing and stretching. We've all had a lot of challenges and yet we are all different because of how God has blessed our socks off (we are rather attached to our flip flops and crocs!) He is faithful and we have seen it in other people's lives and in ours.

We will start the trek home on Saturday, Feb 28th. We won't go too far ... just to Louisiana to say goodbye to some dear friends and then to Texas to say goodbye to some more amazing people that we just met in November.

This past week we were all feeling lost without the friends we had with us for two weeks, the kids were actually bothered by them leaving which is odd - they were totally into knowing that the people were all just here for a short while. One morning when Olivia realized that people were leaving again (just to go to the job site) she ran away from me (we were in the dining hall) and she headed off for one of the vans on the yard. I finally caught up to her and asked her where she was going. She said "Going home, Ms. Amanda home" I realize that I've been telling her that our friends went home but that we would see them again... so she's thinking that would be a good place to be! I think she understands more about what's going on then I thought. But she keeps saying "see them tomorrow, went home, see them tomorrow".

We were so thankful to receive a package from home this last week which made our entire year! It was so thoughtful and so appreciated because again, it came right on time!! We needed to know that there were people at home that cared and God showed us that even though it's sad to leave, there are a lot of exciting things about going home, seeing faces that we have loved for a long time and that we care for and that we have missed! We're excited to see the family of God back home; just to connect again and jump back into life in La Crete.

Time to head out for the morning, it'll be a busy weekend! Thank you for your prayers - Jesus is too good!

Fun day with Callie & Carson