Amazing Journey Part 4

From the Grand canyon, we drove through Painted Desert, Monument Valley (where we saw 1,000 ft high funky rock formations jutting out of the desert sand), 4 corners, and up into the mountains of Colorado. It was really an amazing drive. We stayed overnight in Pagosa Springs and got up nice and early to hit our first hiking destination - Treasure Falls.

10 years ago, Andrew and I stumbled upon this well-maintained 3/4 mile hike up to Treasure Falls. When you start the hike, you can't even see the Falls. As you get closer to the top, you start to hear them and then finally, you round a corner and see this -

Isn't it just gorgeous! We got to see it just as the sun was coming up over the mountain. We all just stood there and silently "wowed" for a while. After we had our fill of looking at the falls, we decided to walk a bit further onto a smaller trail where we found our first mounds of snow. Andrew was leading the crew and I was at the back making sure we didn't lose anyone when I got the novel little idea to send one of our sweet children up to their Daddy with a hand full of snow to put down his shirt. His surprised little yelp kinda shattered the peacefulness of the morning, but I think it was worth it :).

Did you know that the tallest Sand Dunes in North America are in Colorado?? Nestled in between 2 mountain ranges are the Great Sand Dunes. Our kids really enjoyed playing in Medano Creek - you have to cross this creek to get to the dunes and the water is FREEZING. After a while, you get used to it and it's a lot of fun. Because the snow melt water is rushing so quickly from the nearby mountain range, there is a very strong current. After crossing the creek, all you see is this -
Those dunes might not look big, but they are 750 feet tall! They only look small because they're standing in front of a 13 thousand foot tall mountain. Looking at them was incredible and climbing them was exhausting! We definitely didn't make it up the highest peak, but the kids had a ball climbing up and running/rolling down. I'm pretty sure we brought a couple feet of those dunes into the van with us.

For the next 5 days, our family stayed in Manitou Springs - a rugged little town just outside Colorado Springs that probably saw its heyday in the 50/60's - I kid you not, on our way in, Andrew and I saw a hotel sign that read "Air Conditioning & Color TV." Nonetheless, we really enjoyed our stay there. We had a nice 2 bedroom cabin where we could stretch out a little more and a full kitchen so I could cook again. I know it may sound crazy that I was excited about cooking again, but after 1 1/2 wks of eating out, I was really ready to cook some nutritious meals for my family. Plus, Manitou Springs is a fantastic location for so many of the things we wanted to do and see.

Overheard...

Last night I went to bed feeling pretty awful. This morning I woke up feeling worse. This means that Andrew got to take the kids to church on his own (I still got to get up and do hair, however). He also got to be in charge of the 3yr old to Kindergarten games for the Sunday School picnic :) and make our food to take. He chose brownies. As he was cutting up the brownies and putting them on plates, I heard our children come upstairs and start talking and it went something like this:

"Dad, did you make those brownies?"

Yes.

"REALLY??"

Yes.

"ALL BY YOURSELF???"

Amazing Journey part 3

From Tucson, we planned to drive to Sedona, spend the night, hike around and then head to the Grand Canyon. A couple hours into our drive, the van lost power...by God's grace we were able to restart the van twice and made it to a service station where we were told the fuel pump was bad and would take all the next morning to fix. I have admit I stressed for a bit knowing we wouldn't get to do anything in Sedona and knowing that it is hard to find a hotel to accommodate our family. God completely took care of the details and I was able to settle in realizing God must have a purpose for this detour. We spent the next day swimming and relaxing before getting back in the van to drive to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Ah, the Grand Canyon. I've been to a number of places in the States and abroad and yet I really think my favorite place is the Grand Canyon. For those of you who haven't been there - find a way to go! It is so humbling to stand at the edge of this HUGE canyon and be filled with the awe of how infitinely GINORMOUS God is. I just love it. Add the hiking and the views and you have what I think is one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Before we left for our vacation we spent 2 weeks studying some of the animals we would find here and flood geology. Flood geology is essentially a literal understanding of Noah's flood and the way it would have changed the face of the earth. The Grand Canyon is an amazing testament to God's power and how sin changed not only our relationship with God, but the very face of the earth forever.Time for a kid quote. Andrew and I spent some real time talking to our kids about the dangers of the Grand Canyon. People really die here every year because they take risks and do things that aren't too smart. At one of the overlooks, we saw a guy climb up onto a stone "wall" along the edge in order to get a better picture. In shock, Alyssa pointed her finger and yelled, "Look Mommy! That guy's bein really stupid!!"

We hiked part way down Bright Angel Trail and our kids did fantastic!! They were having a great time hiking down, but different people we passed saw the size of our kids and kept telling us to head back up. We had wanted to hike to the 1 1/2 mile point, but eventually we decided that maybe we should start listening to the people and turn around. At one point during the hike back up, Alyssa looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I can't take one more step." I gave her a bunch of praise and encouragement and moments later she started singing Sunday School songs (loudly) and that kept her happy the whole rest of the hike up. We were so proud of our kids we rewarded them with the most expensive ice cream cones we have ever purchased. The black arrow is my best guess as to how far down we got.

Mother's Day we drove and hiked along the East Rim. We stopped at one of the views and read the Biblical account of the flood. Lucas commented how perfect it was that we read about the flood at the Grand Canyon. He's very quick :). You might notice two verse plaques that I took pictures of in the collages. We made it a bit of a treasure hunt to find these plaques. There are actually 3 of them at different locations, we were able to find 2. We ended our Grand Canyon time at Desert View eating a packed lunch looking at the huge expanse of the Canyon to the west and the flat surface of the Painted Desert to the east. Beautiful. I'd go back in a heart beat.

Back in the saddle again

After a delayed flight (we were supposed to head home on Friday, but O'Hare was having terrible storms, so our flight was delayed until Saturday, going through Atlanta, with a 3 hr layover...ugh), Andrew and I arrived in Chicago Saturday night, retrieved our 2 happy oldest (ok, so only Kayla was thrilled to see us, Timothy would have been happy to stay in Chicago), thanked Matthew and Bridget (Andrew's brother & sister-in-law) for helping to watch our kids for the week and drove as quickly as we legally could so I could see my 2 youngest before their bedtime. They were very excited to see us - and very wet - we arrived during bath time. We thanked Andrew's mom and dad for watching our kids the past week and then got back to our soaked, elated children. Lucas was a bit emotional as he told me, "Mom, you wu gone fo like 2,000 days." When I replied that it was really more like a week, he responded, "Well, it felt like fo-evu." He then put his wet hands on my cheeks and very seriously said, "Don't evu do that to me again."

The beginning of the week was a complete blur w/ lots of laundry (thank you Bridget and Mom Rassi for the laundry you did, it was such a blessing!!), T-ball, kickball and swimming lessons. By Wednesday I was starting to feel like life was starting to settle and then, as I was discussing supper plans with Andrew - a screaming Lucas came running to the back door. I looked out, saw lots of blood running down his leg, hung up on Andrew, grabbed Lucas, told Timothy to call Andrew back and tell him to come home ASAP (Alyssa was still sleeping) and drove pel-mel to the Dr. office. And let me say, Lucas was incredibly brave. Not a tear from the time I put him in the van. Two layers of many, MANY stitches later (I think even the doctor lost count - the gash was a couple inches long and down to the bone), we arrived back home with instructions to keep him as quiet as we can (hah!) for the next couple days so he doesn't open it back up again.

Yep, I'm home.

Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin' to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again

Pinch me...

I'm actually sitting in the Ft Myers library right now. Now I know that begs the question, why in the world would I be in the library when I could be on the beach or by the pool?!? But, first let me tell you how I got here!

My VERY sweet husband planned this surprise trip for us back in like February and would have kept it a complete secret if he hadn't accidentally showed me an e-mail between he and his boss outlining what weeks he would be gone right before we left for our big family vacation. oops. He still, however, managed to keep me completely in the dark about our destination and whether the trip was for the whole family or just the two of us.

He can be incredibly secretive. I tried on occasion to pry it out of him, but he wouldn't budge. Not that I was surprised he kept quiet. This is, after all, the man who kept the sex of our third child a secret from me for 4 months of my pregnancy.

Anywho...I thought we were coming here to my parents' condo just because he knows how much I enjoy it and because it is truly relaxing. We've been here many times before and know the area well, so I wouldn't feel like we had to be running around all over trying to see as much as we could in our limited time (not that I would do that :) ). Well, I was right on destination, but with a catch...this time we're here without kids!!! That's a first. We have had an awesome time relaxing, enjoying great food and he's let me walk the beach to my heart's content :).

Now, back to the original question. Why, on earth, am I in the library?? Unfortunately, there are 2 reasons for that. 1- Andrew had a little on-line work to do, so we really had to come in one day. and 2- we are FRIED. Let's just say that Andrew and I actually did our walking this morning between 6:30 & 8 so as not to be pelted by the sun's rays. We were a pretty sad sight last night, slathering on aloe vera like nobody's business.

We better heal up quick, though. Tomorrow we hit a big water park. We're, ummmm, checking it out to make sure it's ok to bring our kids to next fall. :)

Amazing journey part 2

Ok, so these posts are taking me longer than the trip did. Oh well, c'est la vie!

Our next stop, after getting back into the States...after sitting in a line of cars for over an hour...with a 3 yr old that had to go to the bathroom so bad she cried for nearly half of it - not that she hadn't gone right before we left Magdalena, but anywho...our next stop was Tucson, Az.

Before we left on this trip I had pretty well planned out what each day would entail, the places we'd visit, etc. A few days before we left, Andrew mentioned to Fred Funk that we were going to be in Tucson for 2 days and told him our plans. Fred energetically told him to scrap our plans and went on to describe what we should do instead (dinner details and all). The change threw this type A a little off kilter, but I revived and we followed through on Fred's suggestions - he did live in Tucson for over 20 years after all. We had a fantastic time.

Tuesday night, after settling into our hotel, swimming and doing some much needed laundry, we headed off to Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse. It was definitely our most expensive meal of the trip, but good food and a lot of fun, too. PP is in a little "old West town" in the heart of Tucson. So, we got to take in a Western Stunt Show after supper too. The kids loved it.
Notice the ties on my boys? When you walk in the door to PP, you see a sign that says "No ties allowed." If you wear a tie, sometime during your meal, your waitress walks out, ringing a big ole cow bell and loudly announces, "We've got some law breakers here. What should we do with them?" The crowd yells out, "Hang 'em!" or some other pleasantry, and then after some coaxing, "Cut off their ties!" So, she then ceremoniously cuts off the ties of the offenders. The rafters of this place have literally thousands of ties hanging off them. Of course, Fred had told Andrew this, so they wore ties Andrew should have gotten rid of years ago. Our boys, on the other hand, were a little surprised! The looks on their faces were too cute once they realized we were ok with the ties getting cut.

Wednesday morning we headed to Desert Museum, which is much more a zoo/botanical gardens than a museum. Huge Saguaro Cacti. As we were walking along my kids more than once mused - Cactuses? Cactee? Cacti? to the confusion of the elderly people we passed who apparently don't appreciate Veggie Tales as much as our kids do. Fantastic place!
We were there until late in the afternoon. Then we met up with Daniel and Diane Wuthrich for supper at Oreganos. Our deep dish pizza was great, but the conversation was even better. We had a lot of fun catching up with the two of them and even got in a game of Adventures in Odyssey's "Answer That" which got D&D on my kids' good side permanently. It's always fun to be with people who love Adventures in Odyssey as much as we do.

We had planned on going to church with Daniel and Diane, but before we met, Daniel told us that Tucson church was having their yearly business meeting that night and since I don't even attend Morton's business meeting - it's never sounded appealing with 4 kids in tow - we decided to opt out and head back to our hotel to swim a bit more instead.

The next day we got up bright and early again. Did I mention that it took our bodies a good week to get used to the 2 hr time difference? We were regularly getting up at 6 (yes, this night owl just wrote up at 6......am) and going to bed around 8:30. One of the many joys of staying in hotels is that everybody gets to go to bed and get up at the same time - by our third night or so Andrew was kicking me out of the room to go walk the hallways while he settled kids down. I think he decided it was easier to settle down 4 energetic kids in 1 little room than settle down 4 energetic kids and their stressed out mother because of the 1 little room.

On to Sabino Canyon. Gorgeous hiking. Beautiful natural pools formed by snow melt cascading down the mountains and hills. Per Fred's recommendation, our kids wore swim suits and had a blast.

Amazing journey part 1

I don't have the brain power to do justice to our trip right now (more than 4400 miles), but it was truly amazing and I saw God's hand in so many areas that I'm just really pumped. So, I'm going to try to give you a picture of our first destination....Magdalena, Mexico.

First, I want to say thank you to all of you who prayed that the swine flu would stay at bay, the borders would stay open and our trip would be a blessing to us and those we visited. Each and every one of those prayers was answered. THANK YOU!!!

The whole reason for this trip was the orphanage in Magdalena, Mexico (Casa Vida Y Esperanza - CVE). We drove ~26 hrs over the course of 2 1/2 days to get there. During the 3 days we were there we met and played with the kids, talked and fellowshipped with the servant-hearted staff, ate some great Mexican food, shared the Lucas story, did a few very basic jobs to help out, and basically experienced life in "the House of Life and Hope." They have an amazing mission to reach not only the children who live there, but the entire community around them.

Sunday was really an eye-opening day. We got on a school bus at 8:30 and drove into Magdalena. We stopped at home after home and picked up people who wanted to come to church. We drove through some very poor neighborhoods and watched children, teens and adults coming out of small block houses, or smaller metal shacks. We picked up Christian Sisters, children who were excited to come to Sunday School, and many who are searching. Andrew and I were blown away as we drove down little winding streets and saw homes that Bill Schick had helped bring running water to, or built an addition onto. And with "Buenos Dias" , kisses and smiles, the bus filled up. We arrived at church just a little before 10. (FYI - the picture at the left was not taken from the bus, I didn't feel pictures were appropriate, but I took it later as we traveled back home).

After singing together (in Spanish of course - I tried, but I'm pretty sure I saw some girls giggling in front of me), the kids went to Sunday School (also in Spanish), Andrew stayed in the sanctuary for the men's devotional and I went to the lunchroom to give the devotion to the women. About that - Saturday afternoon Nicole Knobloch asked if I would be willing to give my testimony, I said ok and then later that night I asked, "About how long do I need to plan to speak?" "About half an hour," was her reply. Let me tell you, a half hour is a really long time to speak (even with translation time cutting into it). Thankfully, God provided and afterward I was able to spend some time talking to a few of the women, listening to their stories, sometimes in English, sometimes with someone to translate. One woman's son was nearly killed in an accident. She came to CVE for help with medical bills and not only did she find help, but she found Jesus and I am humbled to call her my sister in Christ. I heard several stories like hers. Many of the women have not yet come to Christ, but you can see God working on their hearts. It was such a tremendous blessing to speak with these women.

The rest of our time there we got to take part in birthday celebrations, do a couple little jobs around the orphanage and play with the kids. Lucas was able to follow through on his desire and give his money to Seth Gerber (accountant for CVE) who handled the gift with real appreciation and grace. I hope this experience leaves a real imprint on Lucas' young heart to keep dreaming big dreams for God. Our trip was definitely not a typical "work team" experience. Work teams are a fantastic opportunity to focus energy on a specific task to benefit others and I'm thankful to have been on one in the past. However, what we experienced was more, I think, what real mission work is all about...the every day. Every day the staff at CVE get up and decide to serve God in the laundry, discipline, cooking, hugging, cleaning, fixing and loving. They serve in the every day - and I had to think - can the same be said of me? That's my goal.

Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.