Reuniting with special friends in Valentine, Nebraska

This past Wednesday I got to do something that I have been wanting to do for over two years -- hang out with this incredible woman!

Amber & I met in Guatemala (through our husband's & their shared love of college football!) and I have been thankful for her friendship ever since. We had the delightful opportunity to meet up in Denver when I was pregnant with Mabel. Their family moved back to the US that same year and ever since I have been trying to scheme a way to get in a much needed visit. When Jason applied for this "turkey job," the proximity to this family's current location was a definite bonus for us.











This past week her husband was down in Guatemala with a missions team and it seemed like the perfect time to reconnect. The kids & I made the 3+ hour drive thru the Badlands and voila, we were there!

Our first day in Valentine was a wonderfully warm day and seeing that it was most likely our last for a while, we tried to take advantage of it as much as possible -- having a picnic at the Valentine City Park, going for a hike along the Niobrara River, and visiting the Fort Niobrara Wildlife Preserve. I had no idea Nebraska could be so pretty :)

At Fort Falls -

A lookout over the Niobrara River--

Enjoying downtown Valentine on a very chilly day!

Lots of fun play time inside their Valentine house -- we all had such a good time together. It was really hard for to say goodbye!

Joining the dark side

I have finally done it. Not sure how I feel about it, but I have my first ever {very budget friendly} smart phone!! Whoa. I have been saying that once Jason got a job I would get one. Now, having run out of excuses, here I am -- saying good bye to the flip phone that we have used for over 5 years!

I have put off getting a "smart" phone for a long time ... it didn't make sense in Vermont where we barely had any cell signal, nor in Guatemala and then the added monthly cost didn't seem like a good choice with our tighter budget while Jason was in school. But really I didn't want one because they seem to make people the reverse of "smart" and even more I didn't want to become like so many people I see -- a person who constantly has their phone glued to their face, who chronically misses where and who they are with because whatever is happening on their phone takes a higher priority. 

As much as I know I don't want to be that person, I know my my own limits and how easily I too am distracted, sucked-in to thinking that there is something better than what's right in front of me ...

Luckily, I have had some really good role models lately ... people who generally CAN complete a sentence without checking their phone, who sometimes never even take their phone out when we're together and who still make actual phone calls on their phone! This has given me hope, that perhaps I too can be a person who has healthy boundaries with a phone, who won't let it control my life. I'm not confident, but hopeful. We'll see ... I have to learn how to use this crazy, hand-held computer first! :)

Exploring the Black Hills with our first visitors!

After only six days in our new home, Jason left last week for his first work-related trip of his new job. It would have been a little depressing, but my parents arrived the very next evening to keep me & the kids company! They stayed for over a week, helping us get a bit more settled in and doing a bit of adventuring together.

I will sheepishly admit that this area has completely surprised me with it's beauty. Of course, we have arrived at a great time of year with everything dressed in it's Fall glory and most of the tourists gone for the season ... but still, this place Jason has brought us is pretty spectacular!

Our first day out, we headed for the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway -- a feast for the eyes at every turn!

Then once Jason had returned we headed to some of the area lakes - Horse Thief and Sylvan - with views of Mt Rushmore from the road (I had no idea!).

Horse thief lake --

Sylvan Lake --

We even got to celebrate my Dad's birthday (a little belatedly) -- Luke looks pretty excited about the candles :)

We also had the pleasure of touring Custer State Park on a nearly deserted Sunday. Amazing. I was really impressed with the park. It seemed more like a National Park with the variety and scope of attractions and I'm really looking forward to spending more time there in the future!

Bison along the road even before we reached the park gate! They really make our subaru look small!

The wildlife along the Wildlife Loop Road was a real highlight -- many, many buffalo, antelope, donkeys, coyote, prairie dogs and even wild turkeys (of course!).

Leaving the park along the Needles Highway - very cool landscape!

We had a lot of nice time in and around our home in Rapid City as well ... 

Nana taught Luke how to make rhubarb pie from the rhubarb growing in our backyard. SO delicious!

The Dinosaur park is just a short drive up the hill and a great place to spend our last evening with my parents ... watching the sun go down over the Black Hills and the city.

And then all too soon, it was time for our last breakfast together and goodbyes at the airport :( So glad that they were able to come out and welcome us into our new home!!

Moving. Moved. And maybe a bit crazy.

We're official. We've moved to Rapid City, South Dakota.

We left Leavenworth on September 15th --

And spent a few days in Moscow, visiting with friends and packing our belongings into a giant truck.








































Then, we made the journey to Rapid City (all in one day!) Whew -- I had the subaru with the kids (& bikes!) and with stops we traveled for over 16 hours before arriving...Jason arrived an hour after us.

A very l-o-n-g day, but we were HOME!

We were greeted by our smoke detector going off at midnight when the steam from showering poured out into the hallway, then the next morning we awakened to the low-battery chirping of yet another smoke detector. Lovely. We were glad that at least it hadn't started in at 2 am and instead let us sleep until 6 am at least :)

Our first breakfast in our new digs --


























We were thankful for the awesome blessing of a young man next door willing to be hired for an hour to help Jason unload --

And then ... came the fun (& maybe crazy??) part -- we left it ALL and got back on the road East to Vermont!! Woo-hoo!

My heart has been aching to return to Vermont for some time now. We have wanted to return to Forest Echo Farm, where we lived and also to see some very special friends ...

Once we found out we'd be moving to S. Dakota, I mentally thought we'd be halfway there and asked Jason to see if he could push back his start date for his new job so that we could make the trip out there. He did. Then I did a little research and found out that Vermont was actually TWICE the distance we would have already driven. Ouch.

But ... we decided "why not?" and went for it. It wasn't always pretty in the car, but overall the kids did really great and we had the pleasure of getting to stay with friends along the way that we hadn't seen in some time. Double blessing. More on our wonderful Vermont week soon!