Grandpa Engdahl is 90!

The weekend before Christmas all of Peter's family gathered together in the Twin Cities for a surprise birthday party for his grandpa, who turned 90! We arrived Friday night and met at the Luna Rosa restaurant in Still Water. We had our own private room, which was actually a hollowed out cave with a fake fireplace in it. This was a fine Italian place and the food and ambiance was excellent. Grandpa and Grandma were so surprised when they walked in and saw all of us together. They thought that they must be dreaming.
Saturday dawned a cold and snowy day and we all packed into the Grandparents' house for a Swedish pancakes and fruit breakfast made by all the guys (also a tradition). In the afternoon we drove to Peter's old house from high school and got coffee with the siblings. Before meeting up with the family again for Smorgasbord dinner, a Christmas tradition. And it began to feel a lot like Christmas with all the snow, and decorations, and family together singing Christmas carols before dinner. There is something so special about being with family at the holidays.
Sunday morning came and the Sailhamer side of the family all got together at Grandma and Grandpa's house again (we just couldn't leave) and had another breakfast and our own family Christmas. Everyone flew out that night except for Peter and I. And the whirlwind, wonderful weekend came to a fast close. I'm so glad that it all came together.
Peter and I rented a car and drove to Michigan on Monday. We made it in time for Christmas and to celebrate my brother's birthday and have all the same festivities all over again. I was even able to make Christmas candy again with some friends from high school, just like we used to way back when.

Christmas Parties

It's still sunny and warm in the Denver area, but Christmas parties (as well as all the festive decorations) have helped to remind me that Christmas is approaching, with or with the appearance of snow.
Peter was able to go back to Madison for the weekend and be there for his unit's Christmas party. He came back with a lot of flight suits and uniforms and all the extras that go with them. While he was gone one of his cousins had a work Christmas party the same weekend, but here in Centennial, CO. So I hung out with Jan and Patrick. We had s much fun going to the Art Museum and to get coffee or lunch.
I did have  a taste of snow and pine trees though. Peter and I decided to go up to Copper Mountain for a day of skiing. In just a short time of driving we were high up in the Rockies with fresh snow falling. We only spent half a day on the mountain since they were forecasted to get another 12 inches that day. It's beautiful to look at or to be in, but not to drive through with our 2-wheel drive Jeep.

Thanksgiving with the Sailhamer family

Peter and I are back from a week with the Sailhamers. It is always so fun to be together and holidays just make things more festive. And not to mention, I just LOVE Thanksgiving food. All the cousins we there and the guys had their golf outing and football game on Thanksgiving morning. We had a few park outings  and a cousins dinner with the adults. And of course, we watched the military channel and some black and white movies.

John Elsen and a Broncos Game

Last weekend we had our first Denver weekend. Peter's college roommate, John Elsen came to town with 4 high school students that were Broncos fans. Our main objective was the game, but there was so much more time to do Denver things. And what fun we had.

So our weekend started with lunch at Chick-Fil-A, since almost all of us had never been to it. We found out what a popular place it was when we arrived and there was a 30 minute wait to place your order. Yes, this was a fast food restaurant and the food was worth the wait. Afterwards we went to the Denver Nature and Science Museum and saw an IMAX movie on the images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Imagine, stunning pictures of the stars in 3D. What wonders our God has made. Saturday evening finished off with marco-polo in the hotel pool and eating at Woody's, an all-you-can-eat wood-fire pizza place.

Sunday was the day of the main event. It was sunny and I wasn't cold at all with all the layers and hand warmers on. We left the house at 9:30 in the morning to meet up with John and the boys at the stadium. We were tailgating before the game. John had brought tons of meat to grill, brats, deer sausage, ribs and barbecued chicken. And a football, or pigskin, to toss around. This was probably the part that I was most excited about. My first tailgating experience.  We went into the game a little early and got as close to the field as possible to watch the team warm up and try to spot Andy Studebaker, who was playing for the Chiefs. Peter and John were trying to catch his attention by yelling Wheaton and his name. It was really fun to see someone you know playing and it made me feel like I was watching a Wheaton game with Wheaton people...minus all the alcohol around. So for the game we were rooting for the Broncos, but also for Andy any time he was on the field and cheering whenever we saw him cream a guy. What a game, what a weekend.

things we do to occupy our time

So here's the deal, for the next few months Peter and I are unemployed so to speak. Peter is excitedly anticipating starting pilot training and his days will be filled with working out and studying tons of material that he has found.
So what will my days look like? I have been asked this question zillions of times. We will have 6-7 moves in the next 3 years, the length of stay varying from weeks, to months, to one year. On one hand it's hard to pursue a career when your husband's job is moving him often to different states. Perhaps, someday, I will be able to teach again. But on the other hand, the thought of not working opens up many possible options of what I could do. I have thought about things that I love and what I'd like to do in the next few months and years.
The answer: cooking classes, music lessons, studying and tutoring Spanish. So I have signed up for harp lessons and taken my first cooking class (Fish 101). Peter downloaded Rosetta Stone on my computer so I can use it to brush up on my Spanish. I am super excited for each one of these things. I found the harp teacher on a national listing who teaches beginners to advanced on all types of harps. When I called her I found out that she was a Christian. It's a God thing. My first cooking class was so fun and it opened up the mysterious world of cooking with fish to me. The class was 3 hours long, covering how to select and buy fish, different cooking methods and which would best fish a type of fish. Then we made three fish entrees using a different cooking method. Peter loved eating my left-overs that I had made.

from summer to winter in 1 day

We left the 80 degree weather of Arizona, drove through the desert and up into Colorado. By sunset we were driving thorough the winding roads of the snow-capped Rockies. The temperature was in the low 30s and snow was all around us. That was the quickest and weirdest seasonal adjustment that I have had to make yet. Just as it got dark we came upon the little town of Ourey nestled between the peaks. Peter said that it reminded him of Switzerland; sure enough, that was the nickname of the town - the little Switzerland of America. The main street was really wide and lined with stores with gingerbread fronts. There were bakeries and chocolate shops and a park down the road that had natural hot springs. We found a Comfort Inn to stay at which was a lot more like a cozy B&B. In the morning we had a hot breakfast and then walked the main street with a short detour at the coffee shop.

We spent the rest of the day driving back to Denver, our home for the next few months. As fun as the road trip was, it is so nice to be here and in one place, at least for a while. We spent the morning chatting with Ben and Amy Grover and are now about to tackle some things on our 'to-do' list. Back to real life.

things you find in a desert

It was time to say good-bye to Arizona and head to our new home of Colorado. We were able to spend a lot of time with Andrew and Heidi, a friend from Wheaton. We also found a tarantula on the side walk, a gas station that sold suckers with dead scorpions in them, camped at the Grand Canyon, saw the air force base that we will probably be at in two years, and watched the F-16s for a while.

On our way back to Denver we went through Four Corners, the point where Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico meet. By standing right on the center, we could say that we were in four places at one time! Peter did push-ups on the spot and an old man noticed and asked if he could take a picture of us. He had his airborne wings on and after talking to him, we learned that he had been in the Special Forces doing reconnaissance work. He and Peter talked for a bit about the Army and Fort Bragg, where he had also been stationed back in the day too.

Oh yeah, our other adventure happened while we were driving through the desert of NE Arizona. We followed a sketchy hand-made sign to a rickety booth set up down a side road to see dinosaur tracks. They were... something else alright. You can see for yourself from the picture. No one was around but us and this man at the booth and there wasn't even a car  or sight of another building. And the only cash that we had on us to give him was $1 and some change that we found in the console of the car.

the Grand Canyon

We had my brother, Andrew, for the whole weekend. Our big plan: go to the Grand Canyon for the weekend (something that Andrew and I had not seen before). We drove up Saturday morning/afternoon. The drive took longer since we stopped at beautiful rest areas. As we drove north we watched the temperature drop from the mid 80s to the low 50s. By the time we arrived we had turned on the heat in the car and pulled out our sweatshirts, it was going to be a cold one.

The first sight of the Grand Canyon was spectacular. It really made you stop in awe. There were so many depths and layers, the sun added to it by lighting some rocks brilliantly and hiding others in shadow. As we walked along the edge of the rim it really looked unreal, like a beautiful painting. We watched the colors go from vibrant hues to dim purple at sunset and then went to make camp for the night. The park showed the forecast for the weekend, high of 52 and low of 20. Even so, we were excited to camp. We bought cheddarwursts and smores and had a fire. It reminded me of how my brothers and I would routinely have fires at night in the summertime.

Peter and I were surprisingly toasty all night. And never needed to make a run for the car to blast the heat and warm up. When we woke up though it took a couple minutes to find Andrew, he was in the heated bathroom warming his hands with the dryer.

in the valley of the SUN

We are in Phoenix, we arrived yesterday evening. It's amazing how hot and dry a desert is. And in spite of it, or because of it, there are so many people that live here and consider it a 'hot' living location. But I wonder who first came here, looked around the empty, dry desert and thought, "I think this would be a great place to live"? hmmm. Anyway, we will call this place home in two years. It does have spectacular sunsets, my brother and a good friend, and F-16s.

Today we spent the day hanging out at Luke AFB, watching the planes, working out, and going to the library. We are about to go meet Andrew since he just got off work. And we will be hanging out this weekend at the Grand Canyon. How fun.

Goodbye LA, hello AZ

Yesterday was our last day here in Southern California. Peter had an early morning golfing with the cousins, which has become a tradition of theirs. (Mike won, in case you're wondering Johnny.) I made biscotti, just to try it out since I had a kitchen at my disposal. We cleaned out our car, Old Faithful, and re-packed it ready to hit the road again. And we had a dinner with all the extended Sailhamers of SoCal which was just awesome. We came home to Mom Sailhamer's famous guacamole and another episode of the military channel with the family. Just a warning to our Boston siblings, this may be what we are watching around Thanksgiving too instead of a black and white movie. Peter is hooked!

Today we are heading to Arizona to see my little brother, some friends, the Grand Canyon, and Luke Air Force Base (which will be where we'll be living in two years). The trip definitely seems like it is winding down to a close and we are excited to head back to Denver and "real" life. But before that we'll have the last hurrah in the desert oasis of Phoenix.

a tea party to remember

Last week Peter's Aunt Claudette invited his mom and I over for a tea party! I LOVE tea parties and this one will be such a fun memory for me of time in Southern California. Let me help you picture it all.

Aunt Claudette is a lovely and enthusiastic woman in her 70s with beautiful white hair. She has an ever-present smile on her face and is always laughing and loving the people around her. Every family needs an Aunt Claudette (and Uncle Billy too - but that's another story).
When we got to her home the table was set with flowers, lace and fine china. Orchestral music was playing in the background and we were dressed to fit the part. Perhaps something so fancy would make one feel nervous to have proper etiquette or be very graceful and charming. I did notice that I slowly ate my soup the proper way, dipping the spoon and scooping away from me. Even with all the formality, there was never a stiff nor uncomfortable moment; rather an ease permeated the air. We were having fun with playing tea party. We laughed and talked and told stories. Over the next three hours we lingered over a delicate pear tea, sweet scones, pumpkin soup, heart-shaped cucumber and chicken crescent sandwiches, and little petit fours.

apple pie day

Outside it is cold and drizzly and, like most people on these types of days, I just want to stay in and be warm and cozy. Today is an apple-pie-making day. Won't it be so nice to have the apple pie smell wafting through the house on this cold, fall day? Mom Sailhamer has been wanting to make one for the last week, but it just hasn't worked out. So this will be a great surprise to come home to. The pie dough that I made last night is ready and I just found a recipe that I want to try. oh what fun!

Peter's surfing start!

David had the weekend off of work so we hit the beach. The three of us "kids" drove down to the beach despite the day being in the 60s and rainy.  We got chai to drink and strolled along the pier watching the fisherman. That's where Peter started watching the surfers more than the fish. He'd wanted to go before, so still interested he checked on how much it would cost to rent a surf board - only $10, he was sold. All through the lunch that David treated us to his mind kept returning to surfing and what it would be like. By the time lunch was over and he rented the board he was both super excited and a little nervous. As the only surfer without a wet suit and the band strapped to his wrist instead of his ankle, one might have been able to tell that he was new at this. But Pete happily jumped into the waves and paddled out. At first the waves rocked him and David and I have footage of the wipe outs. But, natural athlete that he is combined with some tips from other bros, he started picking it up staying on the board. His time was interrupted by dolphins surfacing about 10feet from him. When I say surfacing, I mean completely jumping out of the water, doing flips and chasing each other. They stuck around for about a half an hour and it was so cool to watch from the shore. However, it was a little disconcerting for Peter since they were so close with nothing separating them in the water. His comfort was that the other surfers acted like it was normal only to find out that the had no clue since they were from Utah. I guess the locals don't usually surf on rainy days in the middle of the afternoon.

With the family

After leaving Yosemite we drove down to the LA area to spend some time with Peter's family (and mine too!). The temperature rose quickly after leaving the mountains, from the 50s to 94. The landscape changed dramatically from pine trees to shrubs and brown grasses on rolling hills and plains. We came across several old ghost towns, or semi-ghost towns, that had once been a thriving metropolis of gold diggers in the 1800s. A plaque and few of the buildings remained (among over grown trees) to give a hint of what had been. Visiting CA ghost towns might be a new pastime here, just like going to the beach. When we were all here last Christmas we went to visit the ghost town next to Jason and Betsy's land in Yermo.

We reached Fullerton and are enjoying spending time with the family. All of the kids pitched in to get Mom a new computer and David got a new monitor. So Peter is busy helping set it all up and just loving it. I went grocery shopping with Mom and helped cook. It's nice to be in a kitchen again. :-D

Yosemite

We spent a few days at Yosemite National Park. The plan was to camp, but the brochure that we were given when we entered said that you couldn't keep any food or toiletries in your car because of the bears. For a minute, we thought about disregarding that, until we read further that the black bears at Yosemite don't hibernate, but are active year-round and that if they break into your car to get food there could be a $5,000 fine. Yikes! These were not your average black bears. We pulled over to have a picnic dinner and deer walked up to us looking for food and wouldn't be scared off. That confirmed it, the wildlife in Yosemite were a little too used to people. All the campgrounds happened to be full, so we stayed in a tented cabin (much like a DTP tent for all you HoneyRockers). It was awesome. I've always wanted to sleep in one of those. And all of our food and toiletries were kept out side in a metal bear box.
We spent the next couple days hiking waterfalls and exploring the Yosemite Valley. We went to the museum and cemetery, the old school and a couple of the hotels and caught the sunset at the top of Glacier Point. "Well, of all things!" We left having done a lot, but wanting to do so much more. I'm so thankful for these persevered wilderness that we can go to and explore.

San Francisco driving adventures

We made it to San Francisco yesterday. Driving in we were able to watch the end of the Blue Angels' air show over the Bay. Guess who was super excited about that? We had great seats from where we were (almost) parked on the freeway with the amount of traffic. We joked about the rush-hour traffic until we realized that it was Sunday afternoon... a lot of people live in San Francisco. In the next four hours we slowly drove through San Francisco. Peter did a great job weaving in and out and squeezing through tight places. Wheew, it was stressful for me in the passenger seat, but he had a blast. We went down to the Fisherman's Wharf and got a great view of Alcatraz. Then drove down  Lombard Street, famous because of the steep 27% grade of the road and tight, hairpin turns that you have to make. Peter's words, "This is better than a roller coaster!" And it was fun. The scary part was coming to one huge hill that we had to go up. Peter had the Jeep floored the whole way up and we might have been doing less than 5 miles per hour. I'm so glad we made it up, but we had to pull over for the car to cool down some after that work out. I'm starting to think that we should name our Jeep (with 200,00miles) Old Faithful.

the sights along PCH: hitch-hikers and Redwood Giants

We continue on our way down the Pacific Coast Highway, the ever-changing road. It is the scenic route that is always keeping us alert with it's ocean views and winding roads through the mountains. We've passed several road bikers that are sharing the road as they bike to San Francisco or further south, as well as A LOT of hitch-hikers. I thought that hitch-hiking was illegal, but maybe not. Amazingly, we have seen one man three times now. The first time we saw each other we made eye-contact and waved. He probably noted our Wisconsin license plate and wondered why we were way out here. Miles down the road we saw him again and gave a wave of recognition. And again, hours later, a third time. We got a huge smile and a 'hey-I-know-you-point' while we honked and waved. I really wished we could pick him up and give him a ride and hear his story, but our car is packed full with no extra room.

We drove through the Redwoods yesterday, literally, down the Avenue of the Giants. It is amazing how thick they are and to think of some of the trees being 3,000 years old. Oh, the stories they could tell. We also stopped to take a gondola ride through the trees canopy and hear the tall tales of Paul Bunyan.

Today we will make San Francisco and spend a couple days there. We got an early start today since we were at a strange campsite and the only one for miles around. It was a tree-less, paved lot with one bathroom that had a screen door and there was polka music playing until early in the morning. The cost for one night was $45, but Peter talked them down to $16 (the most that we've paid thus far to camp). This trip will be full of crazy stories though.

the Pacific coast

Yesterday dawned a cold, stormy day of wind, rain and mists. The first 'bad' weather that we've come across. It was also the day that we arrived at the rocky Pacific coast of Oregon. So instead of soaking in the sun on Cannon beach and stroll along where the sea water meets the sand. We got coffee and chai and drove to a high over-look to watch the storm-tossed waves break against the rocks and shore. It was one of those mornings where you wanted to have a hot drink, good company and talk about dreams and stories and beautiful things and to reflect. We stayed there for a while and then drove down the coast. We stopped several times to take pictures and, at one point, watch several sea lions on the beach.

Later in the afternoon we went to tour the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It was so fun to see how they made cheese and ice cream and try their samples. The factory produces 167,000 pounds of cheese each day.

the smokin' good time continues

So, Mt St Helens was a blast! Besides breath-taking views, the rest areas offer historical information that ignite the imagination. If you guys have not been there we would suggest that you go. Pete says it's a 'lava' fun. There are a lot of Elk there as well and it's pretty easy to catch a view of them. We also enjoyed an Elk burger for lunch. Peter called it one of the best burgers that he's ever had. And it was good! Now on this wild west tour we have had elk, buffalo jerky, and fish prepared the Chinese way.

We arrived in Portland last night. And I drove into the city during rush hour. This is a big deal! I don't usually do city drive at all. I would rather park miles away and walk. So, I had a big accomplishment, of course with Peter's help navigating. Team Sailhamer working together again.

We camped east of the city, near the Columbia River Gorge. The route we took said it was the scenic byway, however, by the time we were driving on it all was dark. The first thing we noticed when we woke up was how windy it was here. But the sound of the wind blowing through tall pines is a beautiful thing. As we drove back to the highway we came across several tall waterfalls cascading down rocky cliffs right at the edge of the road. Funny to think that we drove right past and didn't see a thing the night before. We spent the morning taking pictures and hiking around. You might know of one falls in particular, the Multnoma Falls. They are the second highest falls in the US, 620 feet. We got chai tea at the base of the falls and after a photo shoot hiked the 1.5 miles to the top. What a spectacular view of the river. Looking at it and hiking the landscape brought a new understanding to the Oregon Trail. What a rough journey.

This afternoon we went to Washington Park in Portland and walked around the Japanese Gardens that stated back in the 1880s. It was gorgeous with small streams and waterfalls around shaded corners. Stone foot paths and bridges covered in moss wound their way through, showing off so many hidden gems. I looked in awe at the restful beauty and intricate detail of this garden.

Tonight we will walk around downtown Portland and then head to the coast. I've been told by several people that Cannon Beach is a must with spectacular views of the rocky coast.

a glimpse of military life

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at McChord Air Force Base just south of Seattle. This was our third day there in the last week or so and we felt like we were getting to know our way around pretty well. It was the first time that I've been on a base like that and it gave me more of a glimpse of what life will be looking like for us soon. In a way it had all the elements of a normal city: there was a grocery store, a mall with a food court, a library, fitness center, housing, children centers, a movie theatre, etc. The abnormal things: a gated community where you have to show ID, people in uniforms everywhere, the names on things are very military-ish, and I think every one that spoke to me called me ma'am. It was a lot of fun to be there - go to the library, eat at the food court, and go around with Peter doing his errands with him. He was able to fill out more paper work there and get fitted for his uniform instead of needing to go back to the Madison unit. ALSO, while we were there I also got my military ID, awesome huh? Now I have to find a place to use it at. :-D

So after seeing Seattle, walking around the Pike Street Market, and getting a latte at the French bakery, Le Panier, we are on our way to Mt St Helens and Portland. They say there is a coffee culture in Washington and I think that I quickly assimilated to it, funny that it didn't happen during my time in Colombia. Now, however, coffee tastes great! I've been drinking an americano every morning. There must be something addictive in it...oh yeah, caffeine. Today as we drive it is another beautiful sunny day here. We've been in Washington for over a week now and have only seen rain once. I'm starting to think that it must rain more in northern WI than in Seattle.

time with friends in Lynden, WA

We just spent the last few days with the Robins and Droullard family in Lynden, Washington. It was so nice to be around them. We went for an ocean-side stroll at night and looked at the stars, played with Carrie and Ethan's daughter Karen Poppy, did pull-ups and the slack line (I got 2 pull-ups!), drank coffee everyday and hiked a canyon in Canada (Peter's first time in Canada). It was a busy and fun few days. But the best thing is the fellowship with friends that love the Lord. We are so blessed.

Pete's dream come true

One of Peter's long-time dreams came true last night.
We are now the proud owners of smart phones! That's right, we went to the Verizon store and tested out several versions. We both really liked the Samsung Fascinate so we will continue to have the same phone as each other for the next few years at least. Pete was so excited that there was a noticeable bounce in his step, a huge smile on his face, and he couldn't stop hugging me. He was up late into the night figuring out how to work his new phone. And I have to say, I'm liking this new phone too. :-D

exploring the islands

We just got back to the mainland of Washington. The ferry ride was awesome and added its own excitement to things as you had to rush to get to it in time, we called it Ferry Stress. We had been exploring the San Juan Islands with Dan and Meredith Elsen. It is fun to vacation with friends. We saw seals and whales, spectacular mountain views about half way up the mountain and from the summit a sea of clouds and mists that swirled around us. We stopped at several coffee shops and little stores along the main streets. And went to the movie theater instead of setting up camp when it started to rain. Around 9:00pm when we headed to the campground Peter realized that he hadn't remembered to pack the tent poles with the tent. No problem, this was a new challenge for us to conquer. There were four HoneyRockers in the car and we knew how to make shelters. So we set up a lean-to and slept so well, snug in our sleeping bags, with the warm, ocean fog all around us and the fog horn playing a continuous lullaby.

a world-class dinner

We had an incredible day yesterday. It started with an early morning fly-fishing at Rock Creek where John Elsen taught us the art of the cast while the mountains were waking up with the dawning sun. Only Andy Elsen caught anything, but what a huge fish he caught! We came back home to the traditional huckleberry pancakes on the lawn and spent the afternoon mountain biking and hiking around Rattlesnake Creek.
But one of the most amazing things was dinner last night. We were invited over to dinner at the house of one of the Elsens' friends. This friend, and the whole family, are world-class chefs. They have studied all over the world and worked at many fancy restaurants (ie: the Trump Towers). The father used the Old World style of cooking and will concentrate on one food style until he has mastered it. The menu for last night, Chinese food. Since we were at his home we were able to watch him work. The dishes he brought out were each a piece of art. We started of with Shanghai soup. I wasn't sure about it at first since it had all sort of fish in it, but it tasted so good. After that we moved on to the vegetable course with spicy cucumbers, bok choi and green beens prepared a different way. Then the main course of Dan's spicky peanut chicken (Con bo gdar?) A slowly braised pork with an excellent red sauce, and Atlantic blue fish stuffed with wild mushrooms. Dessert was a lovely fennel cake with fresh pear slices and fresh plum sorbet that he made with plum from his own tree. Everything was incredible! Including watching this man work, seeing the presentation of his dishes and the slow eating as the courses came out over a period of 3 hours. This was something to write home about and remember forever.

the Montana mountains

As we drove from the middle of Wyoming up to Montana the country got more and more beautiful. HWY 287 took us right through Grand Teton and Yellowstone. We stopped so many times to take pictures of the scenery and wildlife, including lots of buffalo and a bull elk at the side of the road. And of course we watched Old Faithful go off along with the other geysers.
It has been so fun to be with the Elsens. From having scrumpcious, ethnic dinners to Italian cafes to enjoying the ruggedness of the mountains. Yesterday we left early in the morning for the mountains. We came across a herd of elk. It was a majestic sight to see them in a green valley with the early morning fog still lingering about. The bull elk was bugling and guiding the herd away from us. We arrived at a spot well known to Dan and John, and after a short hike through the woods, spent the whole morning at natural hot spring pools next to a mountain stream. Just imagine how wonderful this was! To be in a forest with a stream flowing and gurgling past tumbling over mossy rocks while we sit beneath waterfalls of steaming water that come out of the mountain cliffs and fill several pools along the stream's banks! It was the most luxurious spa experience I could ever have, and completly free and with friends!
Peter, John and Dan are having a blast being together again. Besides late night talks and stories, they've gone mountain biking already (of course!) hockey, and fly fishing will be happening soon. I've went on some mountain hikes to see the view from the top and made earrings with Aana and Meredith. We also went to a cafe to get coffee where they did latte art which, of course, makes the coffee taste so good!

into the wild, wild, West

We are deep into cowboy country, somewhere in the middle of Wyoming. I've never seen landscape like this in real life - only in Westerns. At times we've driven through large hills scattered with pine trees and looked off at dry, brown land that stretches off and meets the horizon. For Peter and I, as we drive, our thoughts have been about Cowboys, herding cattle, sleeping out under the stars by a campfire and drinking thick, black coffee. We drove past Split Rock and talked about the pioneers going west on the Oregon Trail and what it would be like to be walking there and seeing the looming mountains off in the distance.
We stopped at the smallest town in the US, Buford Wyoming, population 1, and we had to meet him. The one resident, Don, owned a little gas station/c-store that we bought gas at. Who would have thought that there could be such a small town as that? It was about 20 minutes outside of the very large college town of Laramie, so he couldn't have been too lonely there.
Being in this open country makes me really want to see buffalo and even taste it. So far we've seen deer and antelope on the hills, a buzzard on the side of the road, a glimpse of a large bull moose in the back of a pick up, and lots of steer. Last night we found a camp site next to the Wind River. It was beautiful. We finished setting up camp by the light of the stars and the full moon, which bathed everything in light. We stood by the river and talked again about the cowboys who slept out under the stars here at one time and felt similar to them. And then we heard the coyotes start to howl. As fun as it is to think about the old days, we were glad to have sleeping bags to crawl into. And even with wool socks and a hat and fleece on, I have to say that it was hard to sleep because it was so cold. Those cowboys were tough! And their campsite never offered them a full, complimentary breakfast. yum.

meeting the Grovers

We are in Colorado! And this will be our home for the next few months. It was a bit slower than we thought with the truck, we didn't even make it out of Wisconsin the first night before we had to find a place to camp for the night. But we had so much fun camping out. I believe our time at HoneRock influenced our recreation for sure, I can't imagine myself ever before thinking about to turning our air mattress into a small blob... only in the gentlest sense though. Iowa was beautiful, green and hilly. Nebraska was flat with corn fields, but so many historic sight along the way.  Colorado looked a lot like Nebraska at first, until we got close to Denver and the mountains. And we enjoyed going through it all.
We arrived in Centennial yesterday afternoon and put our things in storage. I finally "met" the Grovers, long-time friends of Pete. I say met because we had never seen each other, but through Peter and several emails, I felt like I already knew them and were friends with them. Part of me wanted to say, "hello, old friend!" and the other part say, "This is the start of a beautiful friendship!" Ben and his dad, Jay, helped us unload the truck and we had dinner with the whole family and met little Matthew. It was so fun.
But today has come we are starting out in our Jeep for a month-long road trip around the West. The first stop from here is Montana and seeing our friends, the Elsens.

Today is Moving Day!

We have said our good-byes, cried and laughed and reminisced with the ones we love. The truck is packed and Peter's coffee cup is full. It is a sunny, fall day and we are moving to Colorado. It's crazy that this is real. But we are full of expectation as we go where the Lord is so strongly leading us. The first thing we will do is drop off our things in Denver and then start our month-long camping trip around the western United States. But for today we will drive and drive until we find a place to camp out at in Iowa.

Open doors

Thank you all for praying with us for Peter's physical. He was nervous going into it, knowing that the outcome was in the Lord's hands but still really wanting to pass. And he was told around lunch today that he passed! Praise the Lord, it is Him who made his body! This is the last mountain that has just crumbled before us. The Lord is so clearly going before us and preparing the way for us to walk this road. When he called to tell me I was so filled with awe over what the Lord has done and how He is leading us. In so many ways He has taken care of every detail. And our hearts are just so thankful.

our first home

I am sitting in our first home together. It has been a wonderful year and a half of living here. Of being married and starting life together. They say that you will always remember your first home fondly, and think back on all your times there.

Our first home is a little, wood-paneled apartment with big windows that look out at the woods and horse pasture. There is a little porch off our bedroom with a swing to sit on and little musical chimes. You can hear the wind in the leaves through the windows. And the walls are still echoing with laughter from the tickling and silly story-songs that have become so much apart of our lives. And our shoes are lined up outside waiting to go on a walk through the woods and down to the lake. I will miss many things about living here.

We are moving. We will move to many places in the next couple years. It is the start of a new adventure and I am excited. The Lord is leading and I have great expectations for the unknown ahead. And I am so thankful for what he has done in my life and for me, so thankful for this first home and the time here, so thankful for my husband, and so thankful to run this path set before us.