Sneak Peek

Oregon Coast

"Hunting" Buffalo
(That small dark spot in the field behind us)

Hot Springs, Yellowstone

We are on our second day of driving home... made it all the way to Keystone, South Dakota after a fun drive through the Yellowstone National Park where we hunted buffalo, saw a fox playing the the field and explored hot springs & geysers.
Tomorrow we are going to take the kids through Bear Country & visit Waldrug before we start the long haul home driving through the night. We hope to be in Grand Rapids, Michigan very early Tuesday morning!!!

Latest Lifeline

So in all that has been going on in our lives lately I have felt a huge need to refocus on God's faithfulness and presence. These are a few verses and prayers that have helped and become my lifeline of late... If you are going through something tough, just trying to survive the mundane, or waiting on prayers to be answered - you aren't alone!

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." Romans 8:26-27
"So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer." Ezra 8:23
"The power in our prayer life flows out of God's presence with us. It's not our power, it's His." Stormy Omartian
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12
"If you remain in Me and my Words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." John 15:7
"Dear God, Help me to have faith enough to believe You will answer my prayers. Give me the patience to wait for the answers to appear. Keep me from giving up and taking matters into my own hands. Instead, enable me to trust that You have heard my prayers and will answer in Your perfect way and time. Help me to rest in peace during times of waiting and weariness." Stormy Omartain
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13
"Lord, I praise Your name. You are almighty and far above all things. Your presence in my life is greater than anything I fear. I know faith in You and Your Word will conquer all opposition in my life. With Your help I will not dwell on my problems, but instead I will praise You and Your name continually." Stormy Omartain
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"For God is not a God of disorder but of peace." 1 Corinthians 14:33

Smelling home

Elie had a cranky day yesterday, with a few melt-downs... When I went into her room to "talk" she burst into tears and started listing off all the things she misses about Michigan and her home. For nearly an hour (I think even longer) she cried and spilled her thoughts on traveling - something she "never wants to do again for a very very long time" - missing her bed & having to share a big one with her brother all these days, missing her school, friends & Sparky's class at church... and on and on.

Finally she said, "and Mom, most of all I just miss the smell. Oregon smells so different and I just want to smell Michigan again!"

****

Our favorite Jadon quote for this trip... "Where's the sanitiser - I need to sanitize my hands, again."

Winding Down

Wow, it's been a wild ride these last few weeks. I, once again, have no pictures downloaded yet, so nothing to show for all the fun we've had. We are tired. Very, very tired. And ready to get home. We have been gone from our beds and routine long enough. The kids are missing Michigan immensely, as are Bryce and I.

I'm sorry I've been such a lame blogger, but when it comes right down to it, I just haven't had the energy at the end of the day! It will pick up again when we are back home and life returns to "normal" again.

We send our love to everyone we haven't seen in a really long time - we miss you! See you soon!!!

Eureka!

During our latest adventures we spent time with our friends in Eureka, California for Labor day weekend. One of the things we did was to visit the zoo - during our visit we were able to view this show... enjoy!

Bedtime

Putting the kids to bed tonight we each took our turns with the kids. Both were unusually affectionate and overly tired, so things got a bit goofy. While I was snuggling with Jadon he started asking silly questions. I tried to answer them to the best of my ability eliciting peals of laughter from him - until finally, mimicking my adult tone of voice he said, "Oh, just hug your son!"

Which I gladly obliged... of course!