branson

This weekend we took a family "vacation" to Branson, MO!  

(Maybe some of you noticed a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that we were going to surprise our kiddos with a family weekend away?  well, this is that trip.  For different reasons we decided to postpone it).

So...this weekend, we surprised them!  

On Friday afternoon, Nathan and I packed Layla and Daisy into our van (Layla was so confused what was going on!  We finally decided to let her in on the surprise :) ).  We went to Kaine and Halle's school to pick them up early...and they had no idea we were coming!  They were BEYOND excited when they saw me in the office and I told them we were leaving on a weekend vaca.  It was so fun to surprise them.

We only live about 2 hours away from Branson, so it seemed like a good option.  We did some googling and found a great deal.  For a really good price, we got a two-night stay at a hotel that included family passes for the whole weekend to the indoor waterpark, two large pizzas at one of the restaurants, a free round of mini golf, $10 to spend in the arcade, and free passes for our family to attend a show.  For the price we paid, it was such a good deal!  

Our kids LOVED the waterpark.  That was definitely the highlight for them.  The only downside was that it was in a separate building, but they didn't mind.

 (photo credit: http://bloggingbabiesandthebayou.com/vacaton-geteaway-great-price-expedia-grand-country-inn-branson-missouri/)

We spent a lot of time in the waterpark...

 

fyi...that is ketchup on Layla's face :)

(We met another missionary family in the hot tub!  They are involved in a campus ministry in Springfield, and we had a great time talking to them!  Halle and their daughter really hit it off :) ).

After we went to the waterpark the first evening, we decided to let our kiddos stay up late and took them to do the black light mini-golf.  It was a super cool mini golf course--our kids loved the black light!

We let our kids watch Saturday morning cartoons for awhile, which might be a first!  They were mesmerized, especially by the commercials.  They loved watching the commercials!  Ha...Nathan and I laughed at how little our kids have seen tv in their lives.  We explained to them what commercials are :)

On Saturday morning, we went to our free show at the hotel's theater.  It was a really neat show!  Our kids loved it (well, minus Daisy.  It was a little too much for her).  It featured pets who do amazing tricks...including a dog that could ride a tricycle!  It was a pretty cute show :)

 

(credit:  http://www.grandcountry.com/amazing-pets)

Our kids loved sleeping in the hotel room...

We went out to eat at Cracker Barrel on Saturday night.  Our kids LOVE eating there.  The girls are always so excited to get pancakes with their very own syrup!  And Kaine loves that they have shrimp on the kids menu.  That kid LOVES shrimp.

This was a first...we were asked 2 times while at Cracker Barrel if Halle and Daisy were twins!  HA!  The first time I almost didn't know how to react...I felt bad telling the lady that Halle is almost six and Daisy is only two and a half...I didn't want her to feel stupid.  But seriously...I have never been asked that!  I guess maybe it was because their hair was the same that night.  So funny :)

Our waitress at CB told us about her church, and invited us to come on Sunday (today).  We hadn't planned to go to church while in Branson, but we thought why not??  So we went to church at this place this morning:

Wow.  What a huge church.  I found out it used to be a theater there in Branson.  It looked like a hotel inside.  Our kids were in awe.

Layla asked me why those people had to wear the blue dresses??  :)

In the lobby of the church.  Fun to visit...very different than what we are accustomed to!

What a sweet weekend away with our kids.  I love the ages that they are at...such good memories :)

technology "stuff"

At least, that's what I call it :)

Right now, we are in a class called Missionary Technology.  Because we will most likely be living in a remote tribe someday, there is a whole different category of technology that we will need to learn (and by "we"...I mean Nathan will learn it and he will probably try his best to teach me :) ).  

We will have to know all about how to get our power (no electricity in the jungle!!).  We will use PV panels (or solar panels) to get our power.  The power will be stored in batteries (don't think AA batteries--think a huge box thingy that is a battery itself), and then we will be able to power our computers and a few appliances and lights.  This all requires a ton of setup and maintenance, and to be honest, I think it seems so confusing and almost impossible.  Good thing I married a very smart and talented man!  I know Nathan will be great at this stuff, and that brings me lots of comfort :)

But also, here at NTM's training center, there is a whole branch of NTM called the Tech Center.  The missionaries who work here in the Tech Center are giving their lives to help missionaries in the tribe to be able to do their jobs efficiently.  What a blessing.  

The Tech Center guys are geniuses.  They actually invent new ways of doing things, and they also manufacture a lot of the equipment here--for us!  And other tribal missionaries!  Again, what a blessing.

Although I am super overwhelmed in this class, they are actually doing a very good job of communicating to us--even sheltered city girls like me :)  We are learning so much, including hands-on labs like soldering.  

Ha!  If you would have told me even 5 years ago that I would learn how to solder, I would have never believed you.  But it's true...I learned it today!  And I had Nathan take a picture for proof :)

We are so thankful for New Tribes and the amazing training we are receiving.  And that is an understatement.  I can't imagine going to a tribe in the jungle without learning the stuff we are learning!

Am I really the mother of an eight-year-old??

Seriously.  I know every mom already knows this, but I will say it again.  Time FLIES.  I cannot believe it was eight years ago that I became a mother.  The time went so fast, but at the same time I can hardly remember what it was like pre-kids.  Craziness.  Before I know it, Kaine will be graduating high school.  What a sobering thought that is.

Anyway, on a lighter note...we had a good time celebrating Kaine's birthday last week!  He turned 8 last Thursday, but we celebrated with his sweet friends early while we were still in town on Christmas break.  Carter, Hudson and Kaine had a blast together.  They chose Subway for supper...Carter said "Subway is my favorite, because we can eat fresh!"  Haha...good job, Nick and Jess!  You are training him well :)

When they get together, it is instant wrestling, play-fighting, and just psycho-ness in general :)

We had another party for Kaine a couple of days later, with our families (grandparents, great-grandparents, etc).  My mom bought some ninja turtle masks :)

My dad had a fun time making a game for the party--"Who knows Kaine the best?"  Thanks for doing that, dad!  It was really fun.  And by the way, I did TERRIBLE on the game!  Shows how well I know my son, I guess!

Kaine's latest favorite dessert is cherry pie, which he requested instead of cake!  And my grandma went above and beyond and wrapped him up another pie with his gift!  Thanks, grandma!

Kaine's actual birthday was the first day we were back in MO.  He chose Subway for lunch (again!)...

And we had the McCormick's up for dessert and a few gifts in the evenings!  Here Kaine is opening up Abel's card--haha, we always get a kick out of reading what Abel writes in cards!  Funny to hear what a one-year-old comes up with :)

And Kaine requested more pie for dessert that night--this time raspberry cream:)  Jill was so kind to make her award winning raspberry cream pie for Kaine that night--thanks, Jill!  You are a super aunt!

I am so thankful that God has blessed us with this sweet boy.  He is maturing so quickly, and growing in his love and understanding of the Lord, too.  We are beyond thankful!!

home sweet home.

After a very fun and wonderful Christmas break, it feels so good to be settled back here in our apartment in Missouri!  We arrived back here on Wednesday night, but that wasn't our original plan...

Our original plan had been to come back on Sunday, after we attended church at our home church.  (Kaine and Halle's school was scheduled to start on Monday morning, so we wanted to get back in time for that.  Remember this post, where I mentioned we were going to start Halle at public school in January?  So this would be her very first day of school, and we wanted her to be there for that).

Well.  Sometimes God has different plans for us!  This time, He did.  I guess he wanted us to stay in IN for a little longer, and He chose to use the huge snowstorm to keep us there!

So...this was the day that we were supposed to leave.  Ha!  I think leaving this day would have been suicide.

It was actually a very fun day to be snowed in.  As everyone already knows, that was some beautiful snow!  And on Sunday the temperature was perfect for playing outside, and the snow was perfect for packing. Our kids loved it.

That night, since we weren't going to be able to drive to MO, we had made some plans to go to our friends Vince and Brandy's house for the evening.  As we drove out to their house, we wondered if we were crazy!  Here is a picture of the 5:00 traffic that day.  There weren't many other geniuses like us on the roads that night!  Thankfully, we arrived safely at their house, but while we were there it started to get MUCH worse outside.  It looked like our backup plan to leave on Monday morning would be OUT.

Monday morning, God decided to send tremendously cold temperatures on top of all that snow!  Wow.  I didn't step outside that day.  Nathan's dad is so funny though--he is a true Florida man at heart.  Here is Dave, shoveling snow in shorts and flipflops in the -40 degree windchill!  Crazy man!

The good thing is, God dumped a ton of snow on Missouri, too!  So Kaine and Halle's school was cancelled that day, which we were so thankful for.

Monday night, we went to bed thinking there was a hopeful possibility we could leave the next morning.  However, on Tuesday morning, the conditions really hadn't improved.  The roads were absolutely TERRIBLE, because in temperatures that cold, salt does not work.  So the roads were all covered in ice.  We knew if we left on Tuesday morning we would have to drive 30 mph max all the way to MO.  NOT FUN.  So we stayed another day! (again, praising God that Kaine and Halle's school was cancelled on Tuesday, too!)

It was pretty fun to be snowed in at Nathan's parents' house.  What better place to be stranded than a grandparents' house??  Our kids were very content to stay :)

By Tuesday night, we decided that Wednesday would warm up a little and it would be safe to attempt driving home to MO.  We packed up most of the van that night.  God poured more grace on us by allowing Kaine and Halle's school to be cancelled yet again on Wednesday!!  Wow, we didn't expect this.

So, around 8:15 on Wednesday morning, we finally loaded up and prepared for a long drive.  And this time, it was VERY. LONG.

What a trooper my hubby is.  He drove the WHOLE time.  He knows I don't drive nearly as well as he does, especially in stressful driving conditions!

And THIS is how the first leg of our journey was.  See our speed?  TWENTY-THREE miles per hour!  It looked like a long day ahead of us!

Our kids were troopers that day.  They did really well!  They entertained themselves by writing on the ice-covered windows... (it was still super cold outside!)

Grandma Terri sent along bags for each kid with a few treats inside.  One thing she gave them all was vibrating toothbrushes.  They were so excited, as they have begged me for these for years!

It didn't take Daisy long to eat her WHOLE box of tic-tacs.  (don't judge me...it was a LONG drive!)

We saw a LOT of scenes like this...

and this...

and this...

Seriously.  Not exaggerating, I bet we saw at LEAST 80 cars or semis in the ditches.  Yikes!

So.

• A lot of our journey was very slow because we were driving on solid ice.
• There were tons of back-ups because of accidents or tow trucks pulling cars out of ditches.
• We had a mishap at a gas station (we won't go into details, but lets just say it involved me getting caught in a long line of cars and semis exiting a gas station and heading toward the interstate...but Nathan and Daisy were still in the gas station.  And there was no place for me to pull over!!  It may or may not have involved Nathan carrying Daisy out of the gas station and up the road, heading toward the overpass, walking in between semis and other vehicles to try to get to me!  Thankfully, God sent a truck driver to pick them up and drive them the rest of the way.  It is a long story :)  ).  This whole scenario probably added an hour to our day.
• We accidentally went straight through St Louis.  The traffic through that city was horrendous!  I really think it took almost 2 hours to get through.

Our drive is usually 9 hours, but this time is was more like 13.5 hours.  It was a loooong day, but even though I probably made it sound miserable, it really wasn't!  Our kids did really well, and Nathan was a very calm, cool and collected driver.  And really, 13.5 hours wasn't terrible.  It could have been MUCH worse!

We were very glad to see HOME!

And we got home in time to go down and see our new sweet nephew, August!  Isn't he a cutie???

We are so glad to be back in a routine here at home!  We are praising the Lord for His protection and His grace.

Christmas break highlights...part two

Our second half of Christmas break in Indiana has been just as fun and busy as the first half.  And actually, it isn't over!  We had planned to leave yesterday (Sunday) to return to Missouri, but God decided to keep us here in Indiana with this winter storm!  So today, we are enjoying a snow day at Nathan's parents' house, with hopes to leave tomorrow morning to go back home to MO.  We are praying for good (or at least decent) weather conditions tomorrow!  

So anyway...here are some more highlights of our Christmas break...

My dad had a wonderful idea for Christmas day this year.  Remember the Christmas cookies we baked?  We took them to Christian Care (a Retirement Home here in town) to deliver them to the people there.  I think we took around 14 or so plates of cookies, and it was such a blessing!  To the residents who live there, but also to our family.  I hope this will become a new tradition.

Here is Daisy, "practicing" how to give a plate of cookie to an elderly person.  Dad, you played a good elderly person!

Loved visiting my great-aunt Jokie...

As you can imagine, Daisy was a hit among the residents there!  What a sweetie :)

The day after Christmas, we moved over to Nathan's parents' house for the rest of our break.  Just in time for Aunt Jenna to arrive!  She was here for about a week and as always, it was so much fun to hang out and catch up with her.

Our kids had fun making applesauce...

spending time with Grandpa Dave and Grandma Terri...

playing four-square... (brought back good memories from my elementary years!)

We had our Steffen Christmas--Halle was super excited to get some Christmas money!

Our kids LOOOOOVE their cousin Nichole!

I had a great time catching up with high school friends!

And a great time hanging out with this amazing group of ladies!

We had a fun time at Chuck E. Cheese's (thanks, Aunt Jenna and Uncle Kyle!!)

And another amazing time at Nick and Jessica's for New Year's Eve.  What a fun night.  Nick and Jess are rockstar friends, hosting all of these people for quite a few years now on New Year's!  Thanks, you guys!

All of our kiddos are growing up!  Here are the kids, preparing for a "Narnia battle" with the dads.  It was so much fun to watch!

We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here in Indiana  However, we are also ready and anxious to get back into the routine, back to our apartment in MO.  Excited to catch up with Aaron and Jill's family and hug my niece and nephews.  And especially my brand new nephew, August!  Can't wait to meet him :)  We are excited to take our kiddos this coming weekend to a hotel for a short family "vacation" (SHHH!  Please don't tell them!  We are going to surprise them).  And we will be VERY ready and excited to get back into our classes.  Missouri, hopefully we will see you soon!!