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45 Days

We leave on a jet plane in 45 days. Holy moly. How in the world? I can’t believe it. Did I mention one-way tickets? Anywaysssss….

In honor of 45 days remaining here in the good ol’ US of A, here are 45 thoughts.

1. It’s pretty cold here in Montana. When we left for this road trip on September 13th it was kind of hard to guesstimate how the weather would change before our return to Oregon on October 6th. Let’s just say that by not packing any long-sleeved shirts for my family I was less than successful at guesstimating correctly.

2. Staying with Jed’s fam is so fun. The kids and I get 10 whole days with Jed’s sis Jessy and her family. I love my sister. I am happy. πŸ™‚

3. Last Thanksgiving we brought 6 boxes of books and keepsakes to Montana to store in a garage. Today we found the boxes and went through them and I found a box full of books I’ve been looking for!!! It was like Christmas! Those books were never supposed to come to MT. Oh happy day!!

4. We’ve eaten a whole heckofalotta ice cream on this trip. (and by “we”, I mostly mean “me”) My body is very, very angry with me. So are my jeans.

5.

When we left Great Falls we had to say goodbye to Jed’s wonderful grandma. She is the biggest prayer warrior I know. She prays for us every.single.day. We are so blessed to be her kids. Sniff sniff…
6. I’m still curious how our visa situation is going to work out. I know God’s got it, but it’s a tad hard not to worry. If you want to pray about that it would be really awesome of you.
7. If you haven’t seen the movie “The Way, Way Back” you are missing out. I think it might be one of my all-time faves. I keep telling everyone about it. Go watch it, okay?
8. There’s a vintage clothing store here in Billings that I adore. So many skirts, too little time.
9. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it will be like to raise our kids overseas. We’ve always wanted to raise our kids out of the US for at least part of their childhoods. I wonder what it will be like? I wonder how it will shape them? Exciting stuff!
10.
My kids are in cousin heaven right now. Just so ya know.
11. Jed leaves tomorrow for Colorado Springs to a Vineyard Missional Leaders Summit. He is so excited to build more relationships with missions peeps in the Vineyard. We are blessed he gets to go. Super coooool.
12. Yay for Fall!!! Yay for pumpkin goodness! Yay for afternoon coffee! Yay for gray skies and drizzling clouds! Yay for less sunshine beating down on my too-white skin!
13. Another thing on my brain a lot lately is our family’s evolving philosophy of education. I’m liking it A LOT.
14. I think I feel a home school post brewing!
15.
We miss our boys at Romaniv. Our hearts ache to get back to them.
16. The friends and supporters of Wide Awake are amazing. Thank you all for sharing the word, praying for us, loving us, and loving the children of Ukraine. We truly don’t feel alone on this mission and are so giddy to be partnering with you.
17. Yesterday alone, three different friends from home texted me and included a conversation about Dairy Queen in the texts. Does that mean I have a problem???
18. Only 45 days of Dairy Queen left. Hold me.
19. Twitter baffles me. I don’t understand it, yet I feel like I’m a fairly bright person. Thank goodness for my dearest Sarah who can tackle the twitter beast for me. I owe Sarah a blizzard.
20. Today Seth and I had our first real (for a 3-year -old) convo about adoption. We were looking at pics of when Havalah was born and when I put Seth down for his nap he said “Remember when I come out your tummy too Mommy?” I told him about when I came to the hospital and asked if he could be my baby. Precious, precious moments. We are so blessed to have our baby.
21. I love adoption. Beautiful.
22.
My mom’s class sent us a Flat Stanley to take on the rest of our road trip. The kids are pretty excited!!
23. Running
24. Out
25. Of
26. Things
27. To
28. Say
29. Tonight we get to share Wide Awake at City Church of Billings. A group of people who love Jed and his sis are coming to hear what all the fuss is about. Yay for bringing Wide Awake into Montana territory!
30. Another thing mulling around in my brain: I wonder which friendships will survive and thrive when we move away, and which ones will kind of fall off the map? I wonder if we’ll be surprised at which ones keep on keepin’ on? I wonder if I’ll do a good job at loving my friends from far away? I hope I do well.
31. I never really knew what all the fuss was about concerning CS Lewis. I never thought I was smart enough or “deep” enough to read his works. I’m just now really discovering him for the first time and I get it.
33.
I got to go on a date with this guy today. I’m the luckiest wife eva.
34. As of today I’m officially unemployed.
35. Jed’s last day at work was the day before we left on this trip.
36. That means we’re both unemployed. Scary. Weird. Relieving. Scary. Faith-building. Eek!
37. Salem Hospital was good to me. I worked there for all of the 12 years I’ve been an RN, minus a brief 9-month stint in Corvallis. My boss for the past several years was the BEST.
38. The girls in this family need serious hair-trimming attention. Good thing Jessy can do it for us.
39. I’m not sure Havalah’s hair is capable of growing any longer than it is right now.
40. I’m not sure Havalah’s body is capable of growing any bigger than it is right now. πŸ˜‰
41. Speaking of hair. We just took a jaunt down memory lane, recalling the time when Addy got a mullet. Hahahahahaha! That’s what you get when you go to Great Clips in Montana. Kidding, kidding! (sorta)
42. My view right now:
43. And now…
44. And now!
45. I’m surrounded by cuteness and life is gooooooood. πŸ™‚

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Along the Way

Welp, we’re in Montana now. πŸ™‚

We arrived in Great Falls on Friday after a loooooong day of driving through nowheresville Idaho, a drive through part of Yellowstone, a stopover at a very cheap interesting motel, and another morning of driving. With all of us stuffed in a car, quarters are preeeeetty close and comfy. We’ve been listening to the audiobook of Pinocchio and it’s so funny! I’d only ever seen the Disney cartoon and the book is of course so different and so weird. With Pinocchio, a steady stream of Pimsleur Russian, and our favorite albums we don’t get too terribly bored. All that said, we are super happy to be out of the car and in Montana spending lots of quality time with the cousins and Jed’s grandma. We are so blessed!

Here’s some pics from along the way:

Seth calls this his Mickey Mouse pose. Hmmmm?

Havalah and her Playmobils. Inseparable.

Showin’ off the faves.

Addy is my VERY close car companion… πŸ™‚

We ate in a covered wagon! Note the creepy animals…only in good ol’ Montana!

Ridin’ a bear in West Yellowstone

Look! Elk! (Sorry about the stranger in the corner…I’m not in a photo editing mood)

BOYS!

GIRLS!

Listening to the accordion with the cousins at GG’s

Girly cousins. Addy looks just a wee bit frightening!

The little boys. Cuteness!

Either on Tuesday or Wednesday we’ll head to Jed’s sister and her fam in Billings, MT. This trip has been super wonderful so far! Jed is feeling quite a bit better, so thanks for the prayers!

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