Spending SIX days in the car--to spend SIX days in Vermont

Fifteen hours after we arrived in Rapid City, we loaded up our car for a 3700 mile road trip. It was an official celebration to the end of Jason's job hunt & the last 3 years of working toward his career change.

We stayed with friends along the way and although there were definitely some tense moments in the car with the kids, overall they did really well. All things considered -- they were only strapped into their car seats for nearly 60 hours, poor things!

We were fortunate to be able to stay the whole week at our beloved Forest Echo Farm (FEF)-- where we previously lived as caretakers for two years. It was a joy to re-introduce Luke to his very first home and we were so happy to be back at that special place. We had wondered if we remembered Vermont and Forest Echo as better than they actually were ... we definitely did not!

We stayed in the Ripley Hill cabin -- complete with wonderful sleeping porch, views of the farm pond & a kybo (outhouse)!

We arrived at nearly midnight to an unbelievable display of heavenly beauty - the stars were incredible. We had a lazy morning the next day, reacquainting ourselves with Forest Echo a bit before heading to our old church and catching up with friends there.

The next day was an all-FEF day -- we had FABULOUSLY warm weather which I was so so thankful for -- and spent a great deal of the day on FEF's small lake, Tiny Pond.

But first, a view of our old barn-home where we lived as caretakers. It's been painted RED since we last saw it!

Luke loved the hike down to the pond and Mabel was ready to paddle once we arrived!

We paddled all over the lake, checking out the beaver lodge and even found a geocache that we'd uncovered years ago.

Then it was time for a swim from the small dock which floats 20 yards from shore.

Our only outing for the day was to travel down one of our MOST favorite roads - Patchbrook Rd -- to get Maple Creemees at the Green Mountain Sugar House! Amazingly delicous!!!!

Driving back we came up the main road to Forest Echo and took in the beauty once again of a road we drove so so many times in our two years there. A beautiful couple miles in every season!

In an effort to squeeze the most out of the lovely warm day, we even had a campfire that evening.

And the next morning was a perfect day for playing in leaf piles!

Then we were off to Woodstock for the day -- one of my favorite Vermont cities!



























































































































A special bonus was seeing Jack & Ruth, some of the owners of FEF who we hadn't seen since Luke celebrated his one month birthday. They have always been incredibly kind to us and it was a pleasure to get to see them again in their lovely Woodstock home.




























We spent even more time visiting our old haunts at FEF the next day ... realizing the time was already slipping by too fast!

W also visited some of our favorite village stores --

One of the reasons getting back to Vermont had been so heavy on my heart for the past year was that we left some very special, older friends there who had promised not to die until we were able to get back. I wanted them to be able to keep their promise and even more, to just see them. Unfortunately for us, Bud went to be with Jesus a month before we arrived. We were glad to know he was in a better place, but selfishly wished he would have held on just a bit longer. We were incredibly thankful to be able to spend some very special time with Edie. Bud and Edie were the first non-family/non-medical people to see and hold Luke. Luke had grown a little since then :) Edie was great with the kids, getting on the floor with them to teach them marbles, letting them play with her hearing aids and treating all of us to ice cream sundaes!

We had one final, grand day at Forest Echo 





And all too soon, it was time to say goodbye. To Forest Echo & Vermont. Until next time.

First Real Snow!

We had our first real snowfall on Thursday!
Mabel must have said at least 200 times "it's snowing outside!"
It does make things look a little bit prettier, but I am SO not ready for winter to begin yet!

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!