Last Blog For a While

Well, this will be the last blog for a while. Tomorrow we are going back to the land of no internet, Grandview, WA and then next Monday we're leaving for OKLAHOMA!!! We're so very excited! We'll be traveling the week of Dec. 29th-Jan. 4th so please keep us in your prayers. We will be stopping in Bakersfield, CA to see Caleb's Granny hopefully Tuesday night and spending Wednesday with her. Then Thursday we will start our trek to the homeland. We hope to be there by late Friday/early Saturday depending on how well the traveling goes. But since we'll have the time zones against us (losing an hour every day) we're not sure how that will go. Especially since we'll have to buy food and everything before we get to the place we're staying in Oklahoma. But, we will be in church in Mustang, OK on the 4th, and we can't wait!

Our friends, Ron and Vicki Lehew, who mean a lot to us, have allowed us to use the trailer Ron purchased last year while we're in Oklahoma. It's right next to their current trailer so we'll have neighbors. We're so thankful to the Lord for providing a place of our own to live, we weren't sure where we were going to stay for the 2 weeks we'll be home. But God is always faithful and provides for us. We will be in Oklahoma until the 16th of January when we'll be leaving for New Mexico. We'll be at the Heartland Home Missions Conference, if anyone else will be there! I'm not sure how many of the meetings the kids and I will be able to attend, but I'm sure Caleb will be there for most, if not all, of them. Hope to see you there, maybe!

Thanks for reading and leaving comments. It's humbling to know that people care about what we're doing and how we're doing on the road. We're having fun, but we're ready to be home, even if just for a little bit!

SNOW!!!

Well, we've been in Washington for three months, and we've finally seen snow! We're in Auburn, WA which is just south of Seattle, and there's a light dusting of real snow here. Not tiny little ice balls, not white ice, but snow! I opened the window in our hotel Sunday morning and showed the kids and they absolutely freaked out! So we got dressed in our warmest church clothes and went to the van to go to church, and they were so excited to touch snow! I felt bad for my poor little Southern kids. Everytime we were outside and they saw snow, they HAD to walk in it and get it all over their feet. I thought about yelling at them to get out because their socks were going to get all wet, they would track snow into the van, etc. but I decided to let them have their fun. We're leaving Washington in 2 weeks (WHOO-HOO!!) and who knows when they'll see snow again! I'll try to take pictures today, if it doesn't melt by the time we go out.

New Friends and Wii!!

On Thursday, Dec. 4th, we drove to Oak Harbor, WA to spend the weekend with Bo and Kimberly McKenzie. Caleb knew Bo from Heartland and then some preacher's meetings, but I had never met either of them before. We had a great weekend and the best part was, they had a Wii! So we played that almost constantly. It is just fun to meet people and have an instant connection because of the Lord! The more Kimberly and I talked the more we realized we were the same person! So many things in our background and family life are similar, it's scary! We were both raised in Christian homes, our dads were both military, we both married plumbers and now we're both in full-time ministry! Plus we both have a love for shoes that reaches to every womWe also got to see Robin and Micheal Graves, and it was good to see them again. We went to Mrs. Graves' candy shop and got some delicious candy! They make all of their treats in their store and they're very fancy. http://www.cascadecandy.com/ Check out their website!!

We also had "girl time" on Saturday. I got a pedicure and the girls got their nails painted! They had so much fun.

Right now we're in Everett, Wa staying in a gorgeous Missions Apartment, and it's actually an apartment! We have it all to ourselves and we feel like we're in a castle! We haven't stayed anywhere by ourselves this large in a long time. We're counting down the days until we're back in Oklahoma and we're excited to see our friends and family again! Thanks for all of your prayers.

Lela's Birthday!!

On Monday, December 1st, Lela turned 3!! This was not an exciting bday for her because it means that she isn't 2 1/2 anymore! She loved telling people she was 2 1/2 and she always got a laugh. Telling people you're 3 just isn't as cute, apparently. But she's finally starting to come around and says she's 3 now. Caleb picked up an ice cream cake and made Lela's favorite meal, spaghetti and meatballs, for dinner. We had a good time with Josh and his family, ate lots of food, had good cake, and Lela got what she wanted, two movies! She got Monster, Inc. and 101 Dalmations. They're both now her favorite movies and would watch them constantly, if we let her. I have pictures, but they're on Rochelle's camera so I'll have to wait until I can get them on my camera!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving! We spent it with our friends, Chris and Tammie House who live in Hillsboro, OR. We were in Baker City, OR that Tuesday and enjoyed a Thanksgiving banquet with Elkhorn Baptist Church and the Looneys there. Then Wednesday we drove to Hillsboro (near Portland) and went to Corridor Baptist Church that night. The church there was very nice and gracious and got us a hotel room for the two nights we would be there! We were overwhelmed by their love, it was so kind of them. Then Thursday we spent the entire day with the Houses. Tammie wouldn't let me do anything, so I got to lay down on the couch all day and relax! The kids all got along and it was just a good day. I'm thankful for friends that will open their homes to us while we don't have a home!

Updates!

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted! I didn't realize how long until I checked the sight again. I'm worse at this than I am at sending out Thank You cards! And that's bad. So I'll try to do some short updates so it's not so long.

The week of Nov 17th-21st I was incredibly sick! The only things I could keep down were strawberry yogurt and Dr. Pepper! So, Wednesday we drove from Pasco, WA to North Bend, OR and I was so sick and tired that drive (8 hours) that when we got to North Bend, Caleb dropped me off at the ER. They completely misunderstood why I was there and treated me like someone with half a brain who didn't know that you get nauseous when you're pregnant. But I got an anti-nausea pill and a prescription out of the deal, so it wasn't so bad. Plus I got to hear the baby's (yes, just one baby!) heartbeat and I did find out I was dehydrated, just tired. They wouldn't check my iron, which I didn't understand, but since I'm always low when I'm pregnant, I'm pretty sure my iron was terribly low that week! But I've been getting it back up and feel better now.
The next day, since the nausea pill was 24 hours, we drove along the Oregon coast on Hwy 101 and had a great time! We stopped at the Sea Lion Caves and saw some cute sea lions swimming in the ocean. And then we stopped at a beach and even though it was absolutely freezing, we took off our socks and shoes and ran through the waves! It was so fun, and the kids had a blast. We have video of the kids and I in the waves, but I think we're missing a cord and I can't figure out how to upload the video to the computer! But once I figure it out, I will post it.

Meeting friends, Preachers Meeting, Election and Seattle

We've had an interesting last couple of weeks! The first Sunday of November we went to Hillsboro, OR (outside of Portland) and I got to meet one of my online friends, Tammie House! We know each other through an online group for IFB Moms but we'd never met in person. It was great to meet her and her family, and it was like we'd always known each other! The church was great and we had a good time. They're looking at building their own building in the future, so they were excited about our ministry and had a lot of questions about it.

After that we drove back along the Columbia River to get to Josh and Rochelle's house. The highway along the river is so beautiful and I love driving that highway. On one side there are huge cliffs and mountains with waterfalls and beautiful vegetation and on the other side is a gorgeous river with boats and barges floating along, and lots of birds to watch. I love imagining the 1800s when the wagon trains went through and had to cross that same river. I think of the game Oregon Trail where you had to float your wagon down the river and find a safe place to "land". Driving through this part of the country it's fun to think about the wagon trains going through and how in the world they made it! Sometimes I don't think us in our minivan with a paved road is going to make it, much less a wagon pulled by oxen. I have developed deep respect for those that braved the land to come out here. That was my deep thought for the month!

One Monday when we got back "home" we found out there was a Fellowship Meeting going on that week on the other side of the mountains so we decided to wash some clothes real fast and pack up, and we left at 5:30 in the morning to make it to the meeting by 9am. We were still late because we hit rain, sleet and snow in the mountain pass, and Caleb didn't have any dress socks or white undershirts even though we both KNOW we packed some so he had to go to the store, but it was a good meeting and Caleb was able to set up some meetings in some empty spots we had. I was just so tired from traveling and being sick that I ended up sleeping the entire afternoon and missed the Ladies Meeting! I was a little upset because the Pastor's wife from Hillsboro was there, and I was looking forward to talking with her more. But I was just so tired! So sleep won out.


While we were there, the Raes let us use the hotel room they were using. I'm not sure if it was their time share or someone else's but we were able to use it and it was so nice! It was in downtown Seattle and they had full concierge service, seperate bedrooms and a huge bathroom! The only downfall was that we were in downtown Seattle on election night! So after Obama accepted the Presidency bid there was honking, screaming, and drum playing until about 3am. At first I didn't know what in the world was going on, but when Caleb got back from the fellowship meeting (Lela and I didn't go at night, Lela was sick) he told me there was practically a riot going on! But we were still able to sleep and it's something exciting we can always tell about!

Wednesday night we were in Gold Bar, WA for their services. Our hotel room was in the only hotel in town, and it just happened to be above a bar! I was so tired that I fell asleep immediately but Caleb said he had a hard time sleeping. It was a good thing we were there on a Wednesday night and not Saturday night! I am so proud of Caleb and his preaching. He's gotten really good at it and he really just wants to say only what the Holy Spirit wants. We've never had a negative reaction to his preaching, and I believe it's because he is so passionate about only saying what is from God, and not him. Even though he only preaches the same two messages (he's working on a third) and I tease him about sleeping during his preaching, I love hearing him preach both messages and I love to feel the reaction from the people in the congregation. Before he preaches Noah and I "bet" about which message he's going to preach and whoever chooses the right one gets the first piece of gum. Noah also sings the song that goes along with our video presentation. I try to keep him quiet, but I do let him sing because at a certain part I like to sing along too! He can sing the entire song, he's pretty good!

Before we went to Gold Bar on Wednesday we decided to walk around downtown Seattle for a little bit. It's a very neat place with lots of culture and things to see. Everyone was wearing Obama shirts because of the election, and everyone was talking about it, but it was still fun. We got to watch them make cheese, and then we ate some cheese that they had made there in the store. We tried some Turkish Delight. I've always wanted to try it since I first read The Chronicles of Narnia and Edmund gets sick after eating it from the White Witch. It was pretty good and not at all what I was expecting! It's more like a gummy candy, I thought it would be a cookie-type candy. We also got to go to the Sound and chase the seagulls and pigeons. We saw the Pike Place venders and got suckered into buying goat cheese. I pretty much know that if Caleb tastes a sample of something, we're going to buy some! We had "truffle sauce". I have no idea what it was but it was way too rich for me, I almost threw up right there in the street. But Kayla loved it; she ate hers, mine, and Lela's! The kids were also excited, they got to ride a bus! We took the bus down to the Market and walked back. We stopped at Old Navy and I found some maternity t-shirts for $2! I was excited. We had a great time and we loved downtown Seattle!!

Caleb's parents are visiting right now and so we went to Fort Simcoe (sp?) today. Half the buildings were burnt down and half of the remaining buildings were replicas and the original buildings were closed for the winter! But it was still fun to walk around. The kids pretended they were in jail and we went into the blockhouses and pretended we were under Indian attack! The kids had fun at least, so that's all that matters!