catching up

Ok I am done with things being sequential. The stress is just too much for me to try and make sure I have covered all of the previous events before I tell you about how we are today.

We are in Carpinteria, CA. It is gorgeous here. Our friends have welcomed us into their home and we have been here over a week. They have three kids and have been married just about 6 months longer then we have. They have a beautiful home and a dog that my kids have fallen in love with. We go somewhere new each day and the tide pools were a blast. The kids are doing great! We have been keeping up with school and they have loved being able to swim almost everyday. The sites they have seen are seared in their memory and it is coming out when I ask them  to paint what they remember. We walked all over Santa Barbara yesterday and found a gem in the courthouse. The beach is beautiful, not hot at all and the people here are amazingly friendly

We thought we were going to head to Yosemite this week but God had other plans. We have met some people here in Cali and we are excited to see what might come of these friendships. One of them in particular is a family that lives in Roatan Honduras. It is a small island off the coast of Honduras. It is a very family friendly island and there is an opportunity for us to go on a family mission trip there in the Spring.

We also found a place to live in GA at least until the end of the year with very inexpensive rent as we re- group from our trip and see what is next for our family. It came out of nowhere and it is about 2 miles from Larry's brother and his family. They are really excited and we feel really good about it.

We are headed back east this weekend and will make stops along the way to camp and see friends. We are hoping to get our tent fixed today as it has torn in a very important area for holding the tent up and keeping it stable on the ground. Duck tape might have to do the trick but I might have to learn to do a little bit of nylon sewing. The right front tire has a slow leak so we will get that patched up today as well.

I feel like you have had a little snapshot into where we are at today and hope to keep the pictures coming from where we have been for you to enjoy.

We love you all!

Fountain Paint Pot Hike

 Boiling water that looks like...a BEAR

 Geyser

 Mud pots

 Geyser

 Blue pool

A storm was brewing and we were getting wet as the rain started pouring on our way back to the car

Yellowstone

 We entered through the West gate of Yellowstone. We went through this mountain to get there.

 Bison our first day there

 Cascade Falls

 The ranger told us one of the best view of Old Faithful was from the back. We had an hour and half to kill so after going through visitors center, eating lunch and walking the path around to the back...Old Faithful took 20 minutes longer then expected. We waited and were not disappointed.

 These  blue pools were in many places along the boardwalk around the geysers

Katherine thought it was funny how stinky it was so she wanted Daddy to take a picture of her smelling the boiling water.

Pics from the road

 Leaving Salt Lake City

 Kisses from Larry ;)

Silly Sean making us laugh on those long driving days

He asked me to take this- he thought he was really silly

We have driven over 3,000 miles. We still have our sanity. We are getting along better then we did before we left. We have had no accidents. We have had no car problems. We believe that we MUST serve a real God for that to have happened

Camping stories- Part 3

Best time yet, camping that is. We were in a good groove and had a great time. The campsite was huge and surrounded by great climbing rocks. We met our "neighbors" and spent a good amount of time talking with them. We even had a game night after dinner their last night there.


We went on two hikes and that is where we taped our video update. Eagle falls and Cascade falls. Eagle falls is super easy and was a nice treat after all of the longer hikes we have taken. Cascade falls was Difficult! Very steep and right on the edge of a cliff. I was very nervous. We made it but not without a lot of prayer. The lady who told us about the hike must have gotten her hikes mixed up! She said it was kid friendly.

Two afternoons in a row we headed down to the lake. Sean slept on the beach towel both times. The sun was warm but the water was freezing! The kids barely noticed even though their lips were purple and teeth were chattering. There was a cove with great rocks to climb on. I braved the icy waters and had a blast with them in the water that day. Exactly the kind of moments I needed with them. We had been having a rough time interacting non-stop, so laughing and being adventurous was just what we needed. Larry also thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon as you can see in the photo.

We walked away with smiles on our faces and a feeling of accomplishment. The camping stories aren't over though. We should be heading to Yosemite soon.

 

*all photos taken with Droid Incredible-this time*

My "baby" boy

We celebrated his birthday this weekend and I am so grateful for the joy he brings. Makes us laugh and snuggles right when we need it.

Grand Teton Sights

We arrived at Grand Teton in the evening so when we woke up the next day and drove back to Yellowstone. Stoppping along the way to enjoy the gorgeous water and mountain ranges.

New friends!

You would think that from the picture above they didn't want to take a picture with our kids but it was just the deer poop in the grass. They were all very disturbed that it was sticking to their feet and wanted to get the picture over with and get out of the grass.

MaryBeth welcomed us into her home and had a wonderful home cooked meal for us our first night. She only found out we were coming 24 hours before we got there!

Thank you sweet Alexander family for loving us, welcoming us and praying with us for God to continue to reveal himself to us.

Highlights:
Pizza night
Walking to the park
Singing with Clay and Marybeth our last night together worshipping the Lord!