Home Sweet Home

We are home!  Yahoo!  We have one more week at home before I go back to work - I was already going to start the process of checking work email but I forgot my password!  So instead I'll watch my girls bounce on the trampoline as I kick back on the deck in my own back yard and write out what I assume will be the last update for the blog...

We arrived back Saturday (one day early) and it was great to open the front door to our home and with some nervous energy begin the process of unpacking and getting our heads wrapped around the reality of being back home.  My parents and family are away, but we quickly headed to the hospital to surprise Leonard and give grandpa a hug!  He has been in our thoughts and prayers and we continue to trust in our God for peace, strength, and wisdom as our family continues to walk with him on the cancer journey.

We were officially away for 90 days and in that time:
- the van travelled 13, 500 kms
- we ate at 13 different fast-food restaurants (Best Burgers - #1 Five Guys #2 Habit Burger #3 In n Out)
- we saw licence plates from 40 different states and 6 different provinces
- we swam in 18 different swimming pools
- we met people from Norway, Finland, Denmark, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Washington, Vancouver Island, Minnesota, South Carolina, Oregon, Texas, California, Arizona, Utah, and Kentucky
- the girls watched "The Lorax" over 15 times
- I read over 12 books, 3 epistles, 2 gospels
- the tooth fairy visited us twice
- we took over 1,800 pictures

As I think about the last few months, I can hear Keziah singing "It's a Small World" - we've heard that song lots over the past three weeks! And yet as I think about the last few months, it's the world that seems much bigger, me so much smaller, and God that much greater...

"Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.  One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your might acts.  They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty - and I will meditate on your wonderful works.  They tell of the power of your awesome works - and I will proclaim your great deeds." Psalm 145:3-6 

Camping at the Black Hills

After a few days of driving, we've made it to the Black Hills and we're back in the tent!  We were able to drive through some amazing scenery in Utah and Colorado - a fantastic drive.  We've had great driving days, but we did hit two hailstorms close to Rapid City.

We really enjoyed seeing the wildlife in Custer State Park and the many alligators, snakes, and spiders at Reptile Gardens!

Roughing it - campground has a pool

Only a few more days until we're back home, crazy!  We're looking forward to being back in Winkler, but we also want to enjoy our last few days on the road as a family.  

Blessed to be a blessing.

Arizona

Quote of the Day:

"You do know that most Canadians come to Arizona in the winter, right?"

We've spent the last week hanging out in my sister's condo in Mesa, and it's been great!  I think we must be getting acclimatized because 30c no longer feels hot, it's like a cool morning breeze, lol.  We've done lots of swimming at the condo pool, relaxing, playing with our girls, eating fresh fruit and veggies (yahoo!) and we have had some time to read again.  I've been reading "Sticky Teams" by Larry Osborne - a fantastic book on creating great leadership teams for churches, will definitely be recommending it to our WMBC board.

We'll head out Sunday for the Grand Canyon and then we'll make our way north - the long drive awaits, but we've got three days to make it to Rapid City, SD so it shouldn't be too bad.

I'm starting to miss home, church, and family...

Arizona here we come

The last week has been a bit of a blur - all I know is that I walked a lot of miles in flip flops and I'm probably on stimulus overload right now.  Disney was fun and tiring, and we spent one day in Sea World.  Amazingly we had four days of cloud cover and cooler temperatures - thank you Jesus!  This whole trip we have felt so blessed and taken care of.  Today we leave for Arizona and a week of down time and resting.  I'm ready to move on and start our next leg of the journey.  I'm also ready not to eat anymore hotel mini waffles, peanut butter sandwiches, or McDonald's!

Kez's expression is awesome

Our beautiful princesses!

A big highlight for the girls was meeting Cinderella, Ariel, and Aurora.

 

Sea World!

From Everything God has made to everything man has made

We're now in Anaheim!  We've actually just finished the first part of our day at Disney and we'll go back closer to evening for part two.  The last few days we've spent up near Yosemite Valley and we've marvelled at the beauty and power of God's creation.  It's home to the tallest waterfall in North America and the Grizzly Giant redwood is among the largest in the world - you just cannot imagine the size of these trees!  The van has seen a lot of curves and hills these last couple of weeks, and hasn't let us down yet.  We were ready to get back on the interstate to go faster then 45mph and have a straight stretch of road!  We thank God for keeping us safe.  Thanks to all of you who are praying for us.  

 

After Yosemite we headed for southern california and theme parks, first up, Universal Studios!  And yes, it was quite hot that day...we were happy the girls could play in the splash park.

 

Today, we woke up our princesses and headed for Disney.  To be honest, I had pretty low expectations, but we've have a really good day so far, so we're looking forward to getting back this evening.

We continue to meet people along the way on our journey and seek to encourage and share God's love.  In fact Kez & Nev just about gave away all our rasberries at Disneyland with others in the line, they love to share!  It's easy to get caught up in living your own life and looking out for your own interests; we're discovering that it takes intentionality to look beyond your own selfishness, but when you do and you engage people in conversation your life is enriched in so many deeper ways.

 

Wow, it's Hot!

So I went from sleeping in a tent with a toque and fleece jacket, to right now the current temptature is 35 degs Celsius!  We're leaving for Sacramento tomorrow - high of 43, I guess there is a heat wave happening, ha!  Here's hoping the elevation at Yosemite means we don't roast in our tent...

Anyhoo, since our last update we've travelled from Seattle down the Oregon coast and we're just about to hit California.  Our quirky observations - lots of Suburas, antique shops, dogs, drive-thru espresso shops, and quite a few churches.

Seattle was great as we hit the touristy spots like Seattle Center and Pike's Place Market.

The girls reaction to their first IMAX 3D experience was priceless!

Our first stop in Oregon was Nehalem Bay State Park - camping at the ocean, fantastic!  The weather was great, and it was so beautiful!  

We  celebrated our anniversary with style!

Further south down the coast we stopped at Jessie M Honeyman State Park - huge sand dunes and swimming at a lake.   

We decided to not stay a third night, and instead we travelled down to a Wild Animal Petting Zoo - talk about your close up experience!

We're in Seattle!

Thursday was "graduation" day for the girls as it was their last school day - and to celebrate we got surprise them with the news that we are going to Disneyland!  They were excited.  The next day, Friday morning, we made our way back into civilization after feeling quite secluded at Esperanza.  We had a wonderful drive back to Victoria - I wish pictures could do it justice, but you just can't capture what we were able to see.

On Saturday morning we had a chance to visit with a family that has planted an MB church in the last few months in an area of Victoria called "James Bay".  We had a great breakfast, visit and prayer time with them.  They are attempting to adopt four siblings under the age of six, and should know by the fall whether it's going to work out - pray for them!  The rest of the day was spent chilaxing in the inner harbour area, heading over to fisherman's wharf and visiting a petting zoo.

Feeding the ducks at Beacon Hill Park

  

Cooking Spaghetti on a burner on the 3rd flr Window Ledge at our Hotel!

Sunday we took a ferry from Sidney through the San Juan Islands over to Anacortes, WA - wow, what an awesome tour on the water we had through some beautiful Islands! (again pictures don't cut it) We hit fairly heavy traffic on the way into Seattle, I'm assuming people coming back on the weekend, but we're here and ready to explore the city tomorrow.  So begins the third leg of our journey.