We are traveling through Iowa as I write this. One little is asleep, one is playing nicely with legos at the table and the two bigs are listening to Adventures in Odyssey back on our bed. The driver is driving, no I'm not typing and driving at the same time. ;) But as silly as it sounds, I realized that it's good for me to keep up with the day as it is happening because I don't know why, but if I wait for the end of the day, it all escapes me. I think you just learn to adapt to each crisis, I mean joyful experience, and move on to mentally prepare for the next one. lol
We all slept in this morning. I think the 3 days of long traveling caught up with us all! lol The weather was unusually warm and muggy when I left to go take a shower. Well probably not unusual for them, but us. And it was clear all the offspring needed to get some very pent-up energy out. So while we cleaned up, unplugged and sucked everything in, we sent them all over the playground in the rv park to play for a bit. Although we'd hoped to get on the road sooner, it was a well needed reprieve.
{please excuse cute kids snot running down from his nose. Where are his parents? Haven't they heard of a Kleenex?}
Of course we then headed to the bucks. And wouldn't you know it, the closest one was in downtown Lincoln, NE. The parking lot wasn't big enough for us to fit, so that meant taking a trip around the block looking for somewhere we could pull into easy enough. As it turns out, taking a trip around the block meant going through tight urban streets. We all had to be on the look out, out the side windows to make sure we were going to clear some of the cars parked on the side of the street. But you know, the driver took us right into downtown Dallas, TX last year (plugging two meters!) so if he can do that he can certainly drive the backstreets of Lincoln, NE. He pulled to the side and 4 of us ran into bucks to get our #1 priority for the morning. It was the largest and most gorgeous Starbucks I have ever seen - seriously! I wish I would have taken more photos but I hadn't had my caffeine yet, so you get what you get. lol
We re-entered the tin can and headed out of downtown Lincoln. The ol' downtown streets were adorned with mature trees lining them and going over the road. I was admiring the route and getting my phone out to take a photo and the driver says... 'hope they aren't hanging lower than 12'!' Oooops.... glad he thinks of those things since that surely didn't cross my mind! lol And yes, they were all high enough so we were good.
We drove for a few hours and stopped just outside of DesMoines, IA to fill up for gas. Everyone wanted to get out and help with the bug infested windows so it ended up being a family affair.
And some just painting the ground with water. ;)
{yes sparkly shoes are part of the required attire for water painting!}
We got back on the road and it was time for the princess to take a nap. She went down and the rest of us resumed our quiet activities. (ok I'm pretending, okay!?!? just work with me here!)
Oh by the way, the high quality bandage job on the tin can might need some updating.... :O
After we were well on our way again, I went into the facilities to get something and realized that I just couldn't stand the condition of the throne any longer so I took matters into my own hands - yes as we are traveling down the road. There was no better time. It doesn't take long with 6 of us (ok - technically 5 - but 4 of those being MALES!) using the facilities for it to need a good once over! Phew.... I feel much better now!
However, I did warn the older offspring that this would be their job for the remainder of the trip. I mean, come on, SIX weeks - we've GOT to keep cleaning as we go! So I'm considering whipping a good ol' fashioned chore chart like we have at home. I'm sure everyone will be jumping up and down with excitement about that one! ;) lol
And we hit Illinois going over the Mississippi River! The boys studied about the Mississippi River and all the states it runs through so they were pretty excited to see it in person! Plus one of them remembers Carnegie building a bridge from Illinois to Iowa and they were sure that was the one we went over! :)
Along the way somewhere Reed was in the back listening to Odyssey with Grant and he decided he wanted to wave at all the people driving behind us. So him and Grant started keeping track of all the people that would wave back at him. Hopefully he brightened a few people's days with his enthusiasm for life! <3
We hope to be hitting Chicago around 8pm tonight (yesterday we estimated 4pm! lol) and are super excited to see our family! We shall see how close we come to that arrival time....
In the meantime, I wanted to tell you about a challenge we gave our older boys. We have some verses hanging up by our table and they picked one for us to memorize first... "Do whatever he tells you." John 2.5 In order for that verse to be made real to them, we came up with an interesting challenge. They know and we constantly remind them how blessed we are however we also stress that we are just the managers of God's resources and we are to do with them/it what he asks. It's much easier to give stuff away, let people borrow it and be less attached to our material possessions if we engrain in our beings that it's not ours to begin with, but a gift that we can use for others. So we gave each of the boys $20. It's not to spend, keep, hoard or save but to give away. We asked them to pray and talk to God about who he'd want them to give it away to. We are just asking them to be used by Him and to bless someone else because we've been blessed. It might be today, tomorrow, or 5 days from now, that's between them and their heavenly Father.
Our prayer for this entire trip has been that it would be a trip beyond us! Meaning, it's not about us! It's easy to forget that when you are on a 'vacation.' But as you've already learned, the cooking, cleaning, disciplining, butt wiping and diaper changing still has to go on. And the last I checked our Savior doesn't go on vacation E.V.E.R. So our prayer is that we can be intentional about noticing him work in and through us, no matter where we are in the country or world! Granted there are many many ways to go about doing that, but hopefully this one that will be very real to our boys since they are participating in it, in a very personal and real way. Do you have any suggestions of how we can keep these next 6 weeks beyond us? We'd LOVE to hear them!
One of our theme songs for this year's trip is the Glorious Unfolding by Steven Curtis Chapman. The lyrics go like this...
Lay your head down tonight
Take a rest from the fight
Don’t try to figure it out
Just listen to what I’m whispering to your heart
‘Cause I know this is not
Anything like you thought
The story of your life was gonna be
And it feels like the end has started closing in on you
But it’s just not true
There’s so much of the story that’s still yet to unfold
And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed
You’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding
God’s plan from the start
For this world and your heart
Has been to show His glory and His grace
Forever revealing the depth and the beauty of
His unfailing Love
And the story has only begun
And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed
We’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding
We were made to run through fields of forever
Singing songs to our Savior and King
So let us remember this life we’re living
Is just the beginning of the beginning
Of this glorious unfolding
We will watch and see and we will be amazed
If we just keep on believing the story is so far from over
And hold on to every promise God has made to us
We’ll see the glorious unfolding
Just watch and see (unfolding)
This is just the beginning of the beginning (unfolding)
The Glorious Unfolding - official lyric video
It's so easy to get short sighted in our gotta-have-it-now culture so we love that this song reminds us that God is always doing so much more than we can anticipate, dream or expect. He's made promises to us that He always keeps, and we will be amazed if we wait and see what He's got up His sleeve because the story, our story, each of ours, is soooooo far from over!
-------------------------------------------------------
We arrived safe and sound in Chicago, but only after going through about 512 tolls that cost us $5/each! Kevin says it messed with his timing most importantly. It has been so good to see Kevin's sister and her family and catch up with them. The kids are all playing together with their two adorable girls and are happy as clams. Oh and Esther is in 7th heaven considering they have two girls (and a boy).... that means LOTS of pink and girl toys! I think she'd move in! More photos to follow tomorrow... right now the zzzz's are calling!
We all slept in this morning. I think the 3 days of long traveling caught up with us all! lol The weather was unusually warm and muggy when I left to go take a shower. Well probably not unusual for them, but us. And it was clear all the offspring needed to get some very pent-up energy out. So while we cleaned up, unplugged and sucked everything in, we sent them all over the playground in the rv park to play for a bit. Although we'd hoped to get on the road sooner, it was a well needed reprieve.
Of course we then headed to the bucks. And wouldn't you know it, the closest one was in downtown Lincoln, NE. The parking lot wasn't big enough for us to fit, so that meant taking a trip around the block looking for somewhere we could pull into easy enough. As it turns out, taking a trip around the block meant going through tight urban streets. We all had to be on the look out, out the side windows to make sure we were going to clear some of the cars parked on the side of the street. But you know, the driver took us right into downtown Dallas, TX last year (plugging two meters!) so if he can do that he can certainly drive the backstreets of Lincoln, NE. He pulled to the side and 4 of us ran into bucks to get our #1 priority for the morning. It was the largest and most gorgeous Starbucks I have ever seen - seriously! I wish I would have taken more photos but I hadn't had my caffeine yet, so you get what you get. lol
We re-entered the tin can and headed out of downtown Lincoln. The ol' downtown streets were adorned with mature trees lining them and going over the road. I was admiring the route and getting my phone out to take a photo and the driver says... 'hope they aren't hanging lower than 12'!' Oooops.... glad he thinks of those things since that surely didn't cross my mind! lol And yes, they were all high enough so we were good.
We drove for a few hours and stopped just outside of DesMoines, IA to fill up for gas. Everyone wanted to get out and help with the bug infested windows so it ended up being a family affair.
And some just painting the ground with water. ;)
We got back on the road and it was time for the princess to take a nap. She went down and the rest of us resumed our quiet activities. (ok I'm pretending, okay!?!? just work with me here!)
Oh by the way, the high quality bandage job on the tin can might need some updating.... :O
After we were well on our way again, I went into the facilities to get something and realized that I just couldn't stand the condition of the throne any longer so I took matters into my own hands - yes as we are traveling down the road. There was no better time. It doesn't take long with 6 of us (ok - technically 5 - but 4 of those being MALES!) using the facilities for it to need a good once over! Phew.... I feel much better now!
However, I did warn the older offspring that this would be their job for the remainder of the trip. I mean, come on, SIX weeks - we've GOT to keep cleaning as we go! So I'm considering whipping a good ol' fashioned chore chart like we have at home. I'm sure everyone will be jumping up and down with excitement about that one! ;) lol
And we hit Illinois going over the Mississippi River! The boys studied about the Mississippi River and all the states it runs through so they were pretty excited to see it in person! Plus one of them remembers Carnegie building a bridge from Illinois to Iowa and they were sure that was the one we went over! :)
Along the way somewhere Reed was in the back listening to Odyssey with Grant and he decided he wanted to wave at all the people driving behind us. So him and Grant started keeping track of all the people that would wave back at him. Hopefully he brightened a few people's days with his enthusiasm for life! <3
We hope to be hitting Chicago around 8pm tonight (yesterday we estimated 4pm! lol) and are super excited to see our family! We shall see how close we come to that arrival time....
In the meantime, I wanted to tell you about a challenge we gave our older boys. We have some verses hanging up by our table and they picked one for us to memorize first... "Do whatever he tells you." John 2.5 In order for that verse to be made real to them, we came up with an interesting challenge. They know and we constantly remind them how blessed we are however we also stress that we are just the managers of God's resources and we are to do with them/it what he asks. It's much easier to give stuff away, let people borrow it and be less attached to our material possessions if we engrain in our beings that it's not ours to begin with, but a gift that we can use for others. So we gave each of the boys $20. It's not to spend, keep, hoard or save but to give away. We asked them to pray and talk to God about who he'd want them to give it away to. We are just asking them to be used by Him and to bless someone else because we've been blessed. It might be today, tomorrow, or 5 days from now, that's between them and their heavenly Father.
Our prayer for this entire trip has been that it would be a trip beyond us! Meaning, it's not about us! It's easy to forget that when you are on a 'vacation.' But as you've already learned, the cooking, cleaning, disciplining, butt wiping and diaper changing still has to go on. And the last I checked our Savior doesn't go on vacation E.V.E.R. So our prayer is that we can be intentional about noticing him work in and through us, no matter where we are in the country or world! Granted there are many many ways to go about doing that, but hopefully this one that will be very real to our boys since they are participating in it, in a very personal and real way. Do you have any suggestions of how we can keep these next 6 weeks beyond us? We'd LOVE to hear them!
One of our theme songs for this year's trip is the Glorious Unfolding by Steven Curtis Chapman. The lyrics go like this...
Lay your head down tonight
Take a rest from the fight
Don’t try to figure it out
Just listen to what I’m whispering to your heart
‘Cause I know this is not
Anything like you thought
The story of your life was gonna be
And it feels like the end has started closing in on you
But it’s just not true
There’s so much of the story that’s still yet to unfold
And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed
You’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding
God’s plan from the start
For this world and your heart
Has been to show His glory and His grace
Forever revealing the depth and the beauty of
His unfailing Love
And the story has only begun
And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed
We’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding
We were made to run through fields of forever
Singing songs to our Savior and King
So let us remember this life we’re living
Is just the beginning of the beginning
Of this glorious unfolding
We will watch and see and we will be amazed
If we just keep on believing the story is so far from over
And hold on to every promise God has made to us
We’ll see the glorious unfolding
Just watch and see (unfolding)
This is just the beginning of the beginning (unfolding)
The Glorious Unfolding - official lyric video
It's so easy to get short sighted in our gotta-have-it-now culture so we love that this song reminds us that God is always doing so much more than we can anticipate, dream or expect. He's made promises to us that He always keeps, and we will be amazed if we wait and see what He's got up His sleeve because the story, our story, each of ours, is soooooo far from over!
-------------------------------------------------------
We arrived safe and sound in Chicago, but only after going through about 512 tolls that cost us $5/each! Kevin says it messed with his timing most importantly. It has been so good to see Kevin's sister and her family and catch up with them. The kids are all playing together with their two adorable girls and are happy as clams. Oh and Esther is in 7th heaven considering they have two girls (and a boy).... that means LOTS of pink and girl toys! I think she'd move in! More photos to follow tomorrow... right now the zzzz's are calling!
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