Iowa- Grampa and Grama's house

We are on our way!!!!

Saturday, June 30th 2012:

Wow!  We made it!  Thank you for your prayers for safety.  We did not hit any of the bad weather that covered much of the East Coast and avoided the large safety ladder that was in our lane as we went around Chicago.  We started out last night about 8:30pm and made it here at 4pm (5pm Eastern time).  The kids did a great job and were wonderful travelers. 

The first of many sunrises and sunsets!

We enjoyed seeing the Chicago skyline and we were almost to Iowa when we saw the strangest sight...a shark.  Of course, we had to stop for pictures. 

Josh and the shark!

We are SO excited to be here at Grama and Grampa's house.  It is an over 100 year old Victorian home and the kids love exploring all the nooks and cranny for the treasures that they have here. 



My parents house.



We were treated to a wonderful meal outside on the deck of the best pizza in the world....Pizza Ranch!  MMMM-MMMM!  In the middle of the meal, huge winds started blowing and we thought we were going to have a typical Midwestern summer storm but as soon as we got everything inside, it stopped!

We played some badmiton, got to read stories with Grama, played with Traxx (their Great Dane) and we can't wait to sleep!!  Tomorrow we get to see some cousins and will celebrate Annika's birthday a couple days early.  We are very excited to be started on our adventures and are looking forward to lots of wonderful memories.

On the Road

Yeah, our day is here!  Hard to believe!  We are hoping to pull out in the next hour or two or three :)  We are getting the last things packed and then our adventure begins.   Dave was able to finish up the deck and he did a GREAT job!!!  We can't wait to have everyone over to enjoy it! 

Annika FINALLY lost her tooth so we are glad the tooth fairy was able to find her.  We did have some bad news.  Our air conditioning died!  But the good news is, we are leaving and it doesn't matter right now :)My AMAZING sister took all the kids swimming today so they did not need to be in the hot house and I could get things done.  THANK YOU SO MUCH TAMI!!!!



Helping to pack?? I don't think so!



I think it will fit!



We are driving 21 hours straight tonight to my parents house so we appreciate prayer as we are starting out tired.  But we are all excited for our adventures that God has waiting for us and for our time together.  Thank you for your prayers!!!

Projects

Monday, June 25th  So, the packing is coming along.  But I am amazed at the projects Dave is trying to get done before we go.  He is working like a maniac to get the deck done (or mostly done).  We will keep you updated on his progress. 



Annika wearing a dress that Nana made



Joshua



 We also needed to prepare for activities that we will jump right into when we get back.  We will have 2 football players (tackle), one playing flag football and a cheerleader.  We already got our equipment and the boys have been practicing throwing with the extra gear.  Nana made Annika some beautiful dresses for her birthday but the only one that can make the trip is for Little House on the Prairie.

Josh and Chris



Jonathan picking blueberries!



Oh yes, did I mention that we have 2 basketball camps AND swimming lessons going on this week???  In the midst of everything, we are taking a break early in the morning to go pick some blueberries- YUM!

June 23rd,   6 days until the Odyssey Adventure

Big work day today.  The kids got the car washed and vacuumed out.  We even started packing it some today (AMAZING).  The camping gear is mostly packed.  Dave is busy laying the boards on the porch and we will see how far he gets- he is doing a great job!  Next job is to start packing clothes in the bags and find a home for everything in the car.  That should not be hard as there is not much space.  I am praying nothing else pops up for us this week.  The breaker for the air conditioning in the house keeps tripping (Dave says it is preparing us for our trip), I am going to sleep and pray that it is feeling better in the morning.

Little Dancer

OK, so Annika was not pleased that her picture was posted without her permission (can't say that I blame her :)  I did keep telling her that people thought she was cute anyway that she looked but she wasn't buying it.  So, we are posting a picture of her "looking cute".

Shopping & Wacky pics

Monday, June 18th:

Today was a big shopping day:  sleeping bags, hiking boots, shampoo, sunblock, socks and about 6 hours worth of stuff.  The kids were troopers but we were dragging when we got home- I am thinking of it as "boot camp" for all the hikes coming up.  It is fun going through the things we collected today but I have to wonder, "Is it going to all fit?"  We will keep you updated.

On a more fun note than shopping all day, I did receive for my birthday a fun new lens.  It is a macro/fisheye lens.  It will be for some "wacky" pics.  We were trying it out today on the kids.   As you can see, they may not be the most attractive pics of my kids ever, but they sure did provide some great belly laughs.  I think we may have an entertainment option for some of those long car rides.

June 17th, 2012

We are planning, packing and dreaming about our adventures that await us.  We are also frantically trying to tie up home projects.  It will be a busy two weeks but we are excited (with just a little bit of panic) to see what God has in store for our family.  We are excited to share our adventures with you and ask for your prayers for us in our safety, health and time together in very close spaces :)

You can see by the picture that we have had no shortage of projects to complete before we go.  Dave is doing a great job and we will enjoy our deck immensely when it is done.