Scenes from the Road

Along the way.  Shot through the car windows at 65 mph.

All Because of Relationship

As many of you who are long time blog readers know, Minda has had a dream of becoming an archaeologist since she was 5 or 6. Grama Linda bought her a palentology dig trip for her 13th birthday just to fuel her dream. Since we moved to Montana she has been dreaming of the hot, dry sands of Egypt even more.
Rewind again to when this dream first began.
We had just become a part of the budding 'internet world' and Yahoo Chat in particular. James being a musician and worship leader went to a Christian chat room and asked, "Anyone want to talk about worship?" A woman from Texas replied and they began a long conversation that covered a wide variety of topics. When they finished, James told her she reminded him of me in so many ways he'd love to get us together to chat too. The next night we did. Her name was Zanetta. Her husband, Randy, didn't believe I was real. :)
That was the beginning of our relationship. We hit it off immediately, and have stayed close over the past 11 years!

Now, back to the present. Just after Minda's graduation in May, Zanetta and Randy announced their intention to become full time missionaries in Israel. Through an offhanded comment on Facebook, about being able to get Minda awfully close to Egypt if she came with them to Israel, plans and dreams began to take on form and flesh. Questions started pouring out of her. How much would she need? How long would she be there? What would she be doing? Could she possibly go to school there? Visit Egypt? Would they really be willing to allow her to come?

She leaves in June! They will be living in the main port city of Haifa where they will be working with the poor, beginning an outreach to college students at the University of Haifa, and providing some 'home' contact for the naval forces that dock there.
BUT - her favorite part so far? No Snow! Warmth. Sun. Sea Breezes. Fresh Figs. And, Oh yeah! The possibility of gaining a student visa and remaining in Haifa to get her archaeology degree.
Who would have guessed an internet chat 11 years ago would have congealed into a lasting friendship that would be an avenue to a little girl's dream coming to pass?
All is falling into place, piece by piece. We are still working out details. Another thing you can all be praying about! We are just a bundle of prayer needs in this household!

Odd Poppets

I love watching my kids create.
Cassia with her photography, editing, singing or card making. She does things with photos that make me dream. Her voice lilts about the house sweetly, trying new ways of singing the same ole songs.
Tofer with his cooking, dancing and music. He always has some new move to show us, some new dish he's been experimenting with that he can't wait to have us try, and the keyboard is never at rest when he is around.
And Minda with just about everything else. Knitting, collages, painting, drawing, or sewing. Even the way she dresses! It's obviously what she was created for. I've been knitting twice as long, but she is more consistant and twice as fast. She is happiest in the middle of a big mess of scraps and thread.

These are her latest venture. I call them Odd Poppets. She creates them from organic wool felt, without a pattern. She has an idea in her head and now it's in her hands... or, rather, in Conner's hands. The bird above was in Conner's stocking for Christmas. His name is Armstrong. His dream is to one day fly so high he'll land on the moon, but as you can see he is of a flightless variety (unless, of course, Conner is giving him some help!) Maybe, someday, they'll go there together. Maybe.

Her newest Poppet is a magician. He is going to be a marionette when Malinda finally gets his strings tied to his sticks. I call him Mergatroid, but she hasn't officially named him yet. She is hoping to sell them to raise money for her upcoming trip to Isreal. (June)
Wonder what her vast imagination and deft little needle will create next?

Always Better When We're Together!!!!!

Warning: Tons of photos ahead!

Scenes from our ongoing Vacation ~ I always try to make things we wouldn't normally have, when we are on holiday.
Our first day of week #2 we went for a hike in Paradise Valley.
Pine Falls
Our very own butterfly whisperer.
The Crew

Ummmm...ya... OK... Moving on...
Glorious. These mountains still make us stand in awe...
Tof & I made a fire pit and have been taking advantage of it!
Even Cricket gets excited when we head out for "Shmores" ~ she has to be in on the food-action!
Playin' games. Mexican Train-y-O!

My Daddy took Tof to Wheat Montana on their trip back to the Creative Woodworking weekend, so this was sorta nostalgic for him. This was the girls' first trip... and ... um... we won't mention what # this was for J...
We traveled to some Ghost towns nearby. This was a flour mill in Pony during the Gold Rush.
Virginia City was the next stop. We had a little lunch and enjoyed our walk back through time.
Boardwalks! Aren't they fun?
Nifty little shops. No, the coffee wasn't really 10 cents.

In Nevada City there is a Music Hall. You can hear wurlitzers and pipe organs or watch little movies for 5 - 25 cents.

Back home to more s'mores! ! !
OH YA!
Yesterday we stuck close to home. I did some laundry. J and I went to get creamer for our coffee. Tofer has been recording tracks. The girls read and knitted. (Minda finished her scarf, Mom!) We decided to attend Saturday Night Service at Journey Church with Don & Jen. Afterwards we went to their place for ice cream, coffee, and Star Trek. Today is more laundry and a trip to the grocery to pick up chocolate for our fireside time tonight.

What an amazingly blessed time this has been. J goes back to work Wed. Cassia is back to work Tues. We'll begin school again on Wed. All with refreshed souls!

In for a landing

Earlier this summer the Blanchards had planned a camping trip to the Yellowstone area. Kary'n was going to come stay with us while Jim and Paula traveled through the park, but plans were discombobulated, as they often are in summertime, and we got the call that they weren't coming after all. Kary'n called again though. This time to say that they had a free ticket if she could come stay with us for 11 days! We picked her up Monday at BAP! She was treated to a most amazing sunset that night, & although none of the kids saw it, the Sunrise was also spectacular!Our days, so far, have consisted of lazy mornings, touring the town and countryside in the afternoons, and dinners and games and movies in the evenings. (and of course there has been non-stop giggling and goofiness from these 2!)Waiting for Tof to finish work (sporting their Ross finds from the day before).Going Organic At the Flying C - yes, they are in long sleeves and sweaters, it's been chilly here!Of course we had to do Rockford - both girls got hot coffee because they were cold!We went to the Emmerson Cultural Center. The girls found a trunk full of buttons and plopped down for half an hour to sift through them! Little did they know that a reporter from our local arts paper, The Tributary, was sitting there and asked for photos of the girls doing their treasure hunting for the article coming out in Sept. on the Emmerson! I'll link it when it comes out.Here's the 2 bohemian beauties at a very tea party-ish setting. There were all these fun chairs and flowers and herbs set up outside the Center, so we stopped for a photo-op.Breakfasts have been about 10 AM, filled with laughter and stories, and a little eating...But mostly stories and laughter!

K is here for 4 more days. Today we have a picnic planned out in the Hilyte Canyon, tomorrow is J's and C's day off so who knows what we'll do, Tuesday begins Catapalooza at MSU and we are going out to hand out water bottles and flyers since our church is on campus!

Wed. eve. we have to take her to the airport so I'll spend the day washing her clothes and helping her pack.

It's been such a blessing having her with us. So thankful that I adore my children's friends!

Sara's Dream

We heard from Sara today! She is in Gabon with other missionaries, and loving what God is doing both in and through her! It was just a quick note, but I am rejoicing at the fulfillment of this dream for her.

From Sam's blog ~ "Today, or is it yesterday now, Sara went to a small village for church. She said that the ride was pretty wild with 7 people in the front of a small truck and 8 more packed in the back. The service was amazing Sara said with all the African singing and dancing etc. For those of you that know Sara you can only imagine the smile she must have had on her face and her heart hearing the African’s singing and worshiping."

I can't wait to hear all her stories (She is a great storyteller) She sent some pictures! (Clinic of the English Christian & Missionary Alliance in Gabon)Sara took stickers. Look where the kids thought it was cool to stick 'em! :o)
So thankful she didn't have to fly by herself. Another CMA girl flew out from Arkansas for the International leg of the journey!
Thanks everyone for joining with us in prayer for Sam and Sara during this time. She doesn't arrive home until the 23rd. I'll keep you posted as I hear from Sam or Sara.

Minding the Mission

Wow! What a week!!

J and I spent most of the week in Billings hearing about the Great Commission and building relationships with other pastors and their wives and families.

It was also some great time alone as a couple. :oD

J got to lead worship Tuesday night with some of his buds. Our prayer during the preparation week was that the pastors would feel built up and edified, and energized in their spirits as they were lead into the throneroom. God definatly did all that and more than we could have asked for. It was an evening of anointing. Both the worship and the message of what He is accomplishing throughout the world, exalted and glorified God alone! I was very proud of my guy and our friends.

Our kids stayed home and did their school work and chores! We have THE BEST kids in the universe! You can not convince me otherwise! They are simply awesome, by the grace of God!

4 days, 3 nights, and no time apart from eachother, yet we came home to a clean house, happy siblings, no broken bones, and school assignments totally completed!

They recorded the worship song that I blogged about, so as soon as I figure out how to embed an audio track onto blogger without it being a video... I'll let you know!

Success!

We're Home!! What an adventure. I feel like I conquered the world and all I did was drive to Minnesota and back! Cassia had a great visit. She made friends, fell in love with the college, their faculty and staff, got a taste of late nights and early mornings several days in a row, and got a nifty, purple T-shirt! (he he!) Peter told me before we left to keep my hands at 10 & 2... How did I do Peter? I won't be anxious to get back in the car again anytime soon. Just thinking about it makes my butt ache.

Our special Google map blown up to 350% so you can see "St. Boni" (as the locals say). Google gave us wrong directions, but we made it anyway thanks to the grace of God! It's a beautiful place, although most of our time there was spent watching the unseasonal blizzard. Winds were outrageous!

One of the many long stretches of I-94 east... at least it was a beautiful morning! It reminded us of eastern Washington. We felt like we were driving to Tri-Cities or Odessa. It made Cassia miss 'home'. I can't say that I will ever miss coulees, scrub land, tumbleweeds, or sagebrush, though I do miss the heat sometimes.

This is Tonya. She is from a small town in WY and wants to go into Crown's nursing program. She and Cassia became good friends while they were there. She is one of several people that we are now missing. One thing about going into an environment where everyone is there for a similar purpose, and have similar goals, dreams, and hearts is that you connect quickly and feel their absence acutely when you are separated.

Tof blessed us with some Starbucks money. However, finding a Starbucks in eastern Montana, North Dakota, or small town Minnesota is a needle in a haystack exercise. My nose, however, is a finely tuned Starbucks locator. We found one on the way home hiding out in Bismark. Do we look happy? Coffee = Happy, happy, happy!

Thank you, again, to all of you who were praying for us continually. Cassia's interview went well, she doesn't think the essay went great, & the initiatives were challenging. The roads were good, and the car did fantastic. I wish you were all here so we could tell you about it in person. God did some amazing things and we could not feel more blessed or secure in the knowledge of His love toward us.

Please pray for the scholarships & grants that Cassia will be finding out about in the upcoming weeks. If she is supposed to be at Crown, it will have to be paid for through God's provision. I'm so excited about her future.