We've moved!

I'm back! Sorry about the lack of posts... It's been a crazy week and half. We arrived home from our vacation and had 6 days to pack up our entire house and move. We moved into our new home last Thursday and Friday. We had lots of help moving, so it went very quickly.

We are loving our new home and are so thankful to the Lord for how he orchestrated both the purchase and sale of our homes.

Graduation and more growing pains

Sunday night Roland officially graduated from the Master's Seminary. It was a very special evening. In the middle of the service Cade leaned over to me and said, "Mom, I just wanna shout, 'My dad is done with seminary!'" We are thankful that we were able to go down to be a part of it. We were all so proud of Roland.

We are now in Northern California at Roland's parents' house. We took the van in to get fixed this morning and had planned to leave tomorrow morning. But we got a call that the repair will take 2 days, instead of just one. (The rack and pinion steering system needs to be replaced. Price tag: $1600) So, once again, with tears, I find myself needing to put aside my will-to get home when we planned, to start packing for our move, to save money for our new house-and embrace the Lord's will for us. I've been reminded of Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

Praise God for his never failing goodness.

Southern California and Spiritual Lessons

We arrived in Southern California on Friday and have been staying with our dear friends, Ben and Jannel James. Saturday night we went to the graduation banquet at the seminary. It was a wonderful dinner. We enjoyed our time reconnecting with the Spokane folks who are graduating also-the Dykstras, the Tobins, and the Hochs. (Pictures to come...)

Kailyn and I went to a baby shower for Jessica on Saturday morning while Roland spent the morning taking our (new) van to two different repair shops. We have been having problems with it since the second or third day of our trip. It's making a very loud clunking sound. One mechanic said it's the rack and pinion steering system that needs to be replaced. (Not a cheap repair!) So, we made an appt. to have it serviced when we arrive in Fairfield on Tues. We're gonna need to pray it up there.

This vacation, while it has been a wonderful time together as a family, has been very spiritually challenging for us. The house. The van. The Lord continues to stretch us through trials. It seems to always come back to dependence. How I long for an easy road, yet I know that would only cultivate in me a heart of prideful self-reliance, a heart that lacks compassion for others, a heart that sees no need to cry out to God for His sustaining grace. Roland has been encouraging us, in the midst of tears, to "consider it all joy when we face trials" and to "give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for us in Christ Jesus." Letting go of my will and embracing the Lord's will ...it's been my constant prayer.

2008 Vacation Slide Show

Here's a slide show of some of things we've done so far on this trip.

Bryce National Park

Today we spent the day hiking around Bryce National Park. The unique formations, called hoodoos, were incredible. All different shapes, sizes and colors. Cade did a research paper on them before we left so he was eager to share with us all again how they were formed.

Capitol Reef National Park

We are in southern Utah at Capitol Reef National Park. We arrived yesterday at noon after a wonderful visit with the Brandley family in Provo. We had a great time of fellowship with them.

We spent yesterday afternoon hiking. We were sunburned and exhausted by the end of the day, but in awe of God's beautiful creation!

Planets and Mormons

Today, we drove from Idaho to Salt Lake City, Utah. Our first stop was the Clark Planetarium. The above picture shows Roland and the kids on the surface of Mars. After much discussion it was determined that our next stop would be Temple Square. The grounds of the Mormon Temple were beautifully landscaped with tulips in full bloom. The place was swarming with "sisters" and "brothers" and "elders". We were trying to mind our own business, but then 2 sisters approached us and "forced" Roland into a theological discussion. : ) The sisters were happy to leave the conversation agreeing that we all just loved Jesus, but Roland couldn't concede that we loved the same Jesus...

Craters of the Moon and Termites

Today we drove from Butte to Craters of the Moon National Preserve in southern Idaho. It was an interesting place. 600 square miles of old lava fields and volcanic craters. It was desolate but pretty. We drove through the park and did a few short hikes, then decided to do a longer hike around the rims of a couple craters. 2 hours later we arrived at the end of the trail....the only problem was that the "end" of the trail wasn't the beginning of the trail. Imagine our surprise when we realized that we ended up 3 miles from our starting point!

But, Roland, being the incredible husband that he is, offered to jog back to the beginning and get the van. He jogged about a mile when a couple picked him up and drove him the rest of the way.

The house selling saga continues...an inspector came out to look at the deck and found termites. ugh. The implications are not fully known,. But we do know that the treatment is expensive and parts of the deck will need to be replaced. We haven't heard the buyer's response to this news.

We were holding up pretty well until this latest news. We've prayed a lot and cried a bit too. Trusting that God has a good plan.

Montana and a house un-sold

Today we started our 14 day trip across 5 western states. We went to Lewis and Clark caverns near Butte, Montana this afternoon. It was an amazing hike into the cave. Roland and I figured it took us about an hour to walk through it. It was absolutely beautiful inside.

The car ride over to Montana , though, was crazy. Dustin, our realtor, called and said our buyer had quite the demand. He looked at the home inspection and decided he wanted everything fixed! Including egress windows put in, updated electrical, plumbing work, etc. We, of course, said no. And went ahead and contacted the other couple that was interested in making an offer. Then the original "buyer" changed his mind and decided to be more "reasonable". He asked what we would be willing to fix. And we gave him a short list.
In all, we probably talked with Dustin 10 times today. It was crazy! So, now the ball is in his court. We'll see what he if he agrees to the short list. Perhaps we don't have our house sold...
We are praying for peace and seeking to trust the Lord.