Hey all!  I am giving Lisa a break and jumping on the keyboard for the first time in a long time.  I think Lisa caught y’all up to our first night in Durango…

At our first get together, I met our host’s next-door neighbor – who casually mentioned that it was the weekend of a big bike rally in nearby Ignacio, and if I wanted to borrow his bike to go for a cruise I was more than welcome.  He really had to twist my arm.

So, Saturday morning after breakfast I climbed onboard my borrowed Road King and went for a ride up to Vallecito Reservoir.  It. Was. Awesome.  The hardest thing was the fact the county roads were 45mph, and the sweet mountain curves were begging for a fist full of throttle.  I was back in time for lunch and had only a slight sunburn.

That night was our first presentation at the First United Methodist Church in Durango – it was a great group, and we followed that up with two presentations the next morning during services.  It was great to get to know the folks there – they actively support a couple mission initiatives in DRC and actually have a couple heading to Lubumbashi next month to check in with the mission post out thataway.  Oh yeah, and they just had a team come back from Nairobi Kenya!

Sunday afternoon was nice and relaxing, and it really started to turn into a “man”cation – catching a decent college football game after a Texas style barbecue lunch.  Durango is a really cool town that has a vibe of it’s own, kind of mix of Sante Fe and Boise perhaps?

Labor Day was more family time followed by further “man”cation… we loaded up in our truck and followed our host’s Suburban up to Silverwood, then on to Ouray hotsprings for playtime.  It was different than any hotsprings I have previously visited.  The springs were actually piped into several large city pools, with slides and wading areas and all that jazz.   If the water wasn’t warm, you would have thought it was any other small town public pool.

Can anyone out there visualize the waterfall on the Coors Beer ads?  We went there. Once again: It. Was. Awesome.  Not just the falls, the drive.  Already to get to Ouray we had to drive over a set of narrow mountain passes that had no guard rails because the avalanches just kept taking them off – think winding road with no shoulder and a sheer 1000ft drop.  Then it got seriously fun.  The road from Ouray to Yankee Boy Basin (where the falls are found) is a no joke four-wheel drive climb.  Not the “you need a lift kit and a winch” kind, but the “seriously man, trucks weren’t meant to stay on the pavement” kind.  It was a pretty fun drive that called for some aggressive driving and at some points the road literally went under cliffs overhanging the full width and only at about 15’ of  overhead clearance.   Some pictures should surface pretty soon of the truck at a pretty serious angle of attack taking on some of the bigger creek beds and ditches.

Apparently, one of the turn offs we passed is a four-wheel road running over Imogene pass to Telluride – it started off with a 2’ deep ford and was really calling my name…

We made it down in one piece right before a storm hit the mountain and went down in to Durango for a sample of the local cuisine – if you are ever there check out Carver’s.  Absolutely delicious!

Huge thanks to our Durango hosts for the hospitality, setting up logistics for 3 presentations, and really giving us a taste of Durango.   I will let Lisa write tomorrow about Tuesday’s adventure!  See you soon Nampa!

I wrote this post last night, hoping to post it earlier today, but didn’t get a chance…so the language is ever so slightly out of date…but anyway…

Our time in the mountains of Colorado was awesome.  We had a relaxing time, even though we did more than originally planned.  But overall it was really fun.  Here are some highlights…

Thanks to a facebook post about where we were, we were able to reconnect with one of Matthew’s oldest friends, who he hadn’t seen in about eight years (though I’d seen her more recently) and we got to meet her husband and adorable baby.  They  were two hours away, so we met in the middle for lunch.

The following day, thanks to a blog post about being in CO, we met up with some friends of ours from Alaska who also changed careers to being full time missionaries using airplanes to reach isolated people, but all within Alaska.  They, too, are traveling the country, raising awareness and support.  Her husband was out of town, so just us ladies and the kiddos met, again half way between our two-hour distance apart.  It was so awesome to swap notes and experiences, and encourage each other in this process.  Plus, it was fun to see their four kids and how much they’ve grown – they’d never met Amelia either!

Matthew was able to take care of tasks for my aunt, as well, as she settles into full time Colorado living – she’s summered in this house for quite a few years, but just moved here full time two weeks ago!  Matthew’s skills at taking care of engines to fix her snow blower to make it ready to sell, and helping her take care of some unwanted house guests, came in handy as well.  Today he was fixing her wood pile and I came out to help him as he was finishing to put the tarp over it.  Of course, he began commenting how he was grateful he hadn’t been bitten by anything sorting through old wood…but before he could finish his sentence, I got bit by a mean ant!  Ah well…far less painful than the dreaded army ants in Congo!

A neighbor has built a mine in his basement for kids to experience, so Levi mined for a few coins and had fun doing so.  The kids also went on a “bear hunt” in the neighborhood, but thankfully only found a lot of friendly dogs and some cool fishing ponds.

Spending the last four days at 9000 feet has been a fun experiment for me – my lungs are already super compressed deep into my chest cavity thanks to a particularly wiggly tiny person, so adding ridiculously thin air was a sure way to have fun for a few days.  I’ll be grateful to be breathing more oxygenated air this weekend!

Meanwhile, we are anticipating a busy busy weekend – Friday evening presentation, and a church with a Saturday night and three Sunday morning services, all of which are opportunities to share about God’s work in Congo and how He is using us there!  The following week will find us throughout Arizona (state number 36, if you’re counting), then just one more full week spent in California and driving toward a weekend with plans still in the air, and then we’re DONE.  We’ll be in Idaho for the next five months!

But, we’re not looking to the end with great longing (usually)…but rather, taking each day and each opportunity to share about our ministry with prayer, consideration, and energy toward each moment.

This weekend has been super fun – really relaxing, lots of time with new friends, who feel like old friends, and resting and getting laundry done.

Friday and Saturday were both kind of like that.  We really like Enid, Oklahoma and the small town-ness that it is.  While it IS a small town, it’s not too small.  They have all of the necessities (except a Target…but I’m used to that by now, having not lived near a Target since 2006) and in a lot of ways remind us of both Fairbanks and our next home (even temporarily), Nampa, where we’ll spend five months in training.

Anyway, when we haven’t been busy and visiting families here, we’ve been looking to the end of our time on the road and what our life will look like in Idaho for the next few months.  MAF training will be intense, having a third baby will keep us happily busy, and preparing for spending three and a half years in Congo will keep us on our toes, but having a life that rotates around being in the same town, in the same living space, and being with the same people is starting to feel like a novelty that we are only beginning to dream about!  It will have been exactly six months since we’ve had any sort of stability and haven’t lived out of a box or suitcase or trunk.  With two adults, it’s not really that long, but with two kiddos in tow, it’s a little crazy!  And we are excited for the next step!  However, I will emphasize that this road trip time has been fantastic and awesome and we wouldn’t trade it for the world…we’re already looking forward to repeating a version of it in four years!

Anyway, meanwhile, tomorrow we are getting up early and hitting the road for one of our longest drives – it’s estimated to be 10.5 hours of driving, so probably about 12 hours in travel time.  We will then be at my aunt’s house in the mountains of Colorado, where we’ll spend until Friday morning, then we’ll be in Durango for the weekend.  I’m actually not sure of the internet situation at my aunt’s house, seeing as she only moved there last week!  So, if you don’t hear from us, don’t worry – we’re happy and in the mountains of Colorado!

Until then, continue to pray for us, pray for new supporters to commit to the ministry God has for us in DRC and pray that God’s plan is continually carried out – we wouldn’t want it any other way!

Wednesday we woke, left the hotel, and went off to see Matthew’s grandfather.  It was a short visit, but we were so happy to spend some time with him just east of Tulsa.  We then set off across the state back to Enid, where we had spent Sunday.

We arrived at our hosts’ house (a new one for this stay) and settled in a bit before heading out for dinner and Wednesday evening service at the church.  Dinner was an amazing little taco place and church was really refreshing.

Thursday morning we got some computer and paperwork done, then went out to lunch with the pastor and his wife.  It was nice to spend some more time getting to know them a bit better.  After lunch, we went on a little tour.  Here in Enid is the premier spot for repairing Cessna Caravans, one of MAF’s favorite planes.  This company, ASIC (Aircraft Structures International Corp.), gets airplanes out of where they crashed, brings them back to Enid, and repairs them, often having to start from the main frame.  Once in a while, MAF will need to use their services, not hopefully not very often!  It was neat to see the entire operation.

After lunch and our excursion, we headed back to the house and BOTH kids took a nap!  Matthew and I got more work done until it was time to head out to dinner – back on Vance AFB where we stayed on Sunday.  Levi is quite taken with their kiddos, especially 5-year-old Cali, was super excited to see her again.  After we ate, our host, who is a flight instructor, took us all on a tour of where he works.  We got to see his airplane, aT-6, where he take some kids on some of their first flight hours.  It was neat to be on the tarmac around all of those planes – Levi was especially excited.

After seeing the planes, we got to go to the simulators!  These are not your arcade-style that just anybody has access to, these are the real deal.  I was super proud of Matthew that after just some coaching from our host, he was able to take off, fly around, and LAND!  He even did a few barrel rolls and came back from a stall.  The kids all got turns as well, but not me.  I wasn’t terribly interested, nor could I physically scale the side of the “plane” because I’m roughly the size of a small whale.

We arrived back to their house just as it got dark, enjoyed popsicles in the driveway while the kids ran around, and headed back and went straight to bed.

Today will be another fun day – Matthew is helping the pastor work on his daughter’s house and then we are joining their families for dinner.  Matthew very much misses his role working on houses and the like, so was excited for the opportunity to pick up some tools.  The kids and I are heading back on Vance AFB to have a play date…

Today was a bit stressful this morning, I’ll admit it.  We had a great morning with our hosts in Tulsa.  We had a miraculous connection – a friend of a friend of our host was a practicing midwife 15 minutes away AND she managed to take me that very morning.  Crisis averted, stress resolved.

Then we said goodbye to this super fun family and arrived at our appointment…but couldn’t find our camera.  Stress!  Matthew found it while we waited to be seen.  Whew.

The midwife, Ruth, was fantastic and so helpful – it is not normal to see a random patient for one visit, so no one really likes doing it.  The 28 week visit also includes lab work, a gestational diabetes test, and for me, a RhoGam shot, so it’s not as quick and easy as a few measurements and a proverbial pat on the belly.  However, because my first antibody screen came back positive in April (due to the RhoGam I’d received a few months prior for my miscarriage), they wanted to see the new results before I got my shot, thus I’d have to come back – and finding a time, or another place to get the shot took an hour of morale-busting research, unanswered phone calls, and STRESS!  Finally, it was decided that the midwife there could do it after their monthly open house, at 8:30pm, if we moved our dinner appointment up.

Once again, the Lord provided and the stress was relieved.  And we had lunch.  And we got to the hotel we booked last minute in Tulsa, due to our crazy schedule changes, and took a quick dip in the pool before heading out to our dinner engagement with a super supporter towards our ministry.  We had a great time seeing her again and catching up, then drove back to Tulsa, arriving just as the sun set to get my shot.  My bum is a little sore sitting here as I type this, but all of my labs came back normal and I am grateful for continued good medical care on the road.  Our next appointment will be with the midwives who will (hopefully) deliver this baby!  There is light at the end of the road tripping tunnel!  And just 10-14 weeks until we meet little Lind #3!!!  Girl or boy?  We have our suspicions, but only time will tell…and considering I’ve never been more than 38 weeks pregnant, maybe it’s less time than expected!

So, baby is growing well, kicking like crazy, and already has regular bouts with hiccups.  We are all doing well and encouraged by several new monthly supporters this week.  Tomorrow we drive a little east of Tulsa to see Matthew’s grandfather, then back west to Enid for the rest of the week.  Oklahoma is a great state in which to spend sometime wandering!

This is the longest I’ve gone without blogging since we began our road trip!  Yikes!!!!  But, we’ve been SUPER busy – the last four nights we have had a presentation and the days have been busy with traveling and resting, too.  So, here’s a brief recap…

Friday morning we drove from Bentonville, AR to Oklahoma City.  The drive was really pretty – this is a fantastic part of the country.  We passed through Tulsa, where we are now, as our visit to Oklahoma is really roundabout, but it’s all in how the dates worked out for everyone.

We arrived at our host’s house in the late afternoon and got to hang out with them for a bit – they have two daughters and one little boy just home from DRC since May.  It was fun to practice our Lingala and watch how quickly he picks up the English!

Friday night was our host’s informal collage reunion with some friends, so we tagged along and crashed their party.  The kids had fun and we were invited to share a little about our ministry.  What a blessing to suddenly be surrounded by strangers we’ve never met who are interested in Congo and what we’re doing there!

On the way to the party, we drove through Moore, OK – made famous by not one, but two disastrous tornados that hit in May.  The destruction is still clearly visible.  Even our host’s house was hit by the second tornado, with their upstairs ceiling being replaced – she mentioned that almost every house in the neighborhood has a new roof and new fences.

Saturday we headed out with our hosts to see a little bit of downtown OKC.  We went down to their river walk and ate some amazing tacos and took a leisurely walk around with all five kiddos.  It was a nice warm day, not too hot, though this pregnant lady was worn out by the end!

Saturday evening our hosts had many adopting families over for dinner and we presented our ministry.  It was so fun to meet so many more families in all phases of the adoption process!  We had a great time sharing our ministry and talking with the families.

Sunday morning we woke extra early and headed out for church…two hours away.  We went north to Enid, where we have been blessed by the prayer and financial support of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church.  This tiny congregation has truly been a wonderful connection and encouraging group of people.  We were very excited to see them all again and share with them about our first year in DRC.  We last saw the congregation on Super Bowl Sunday in 2012 – imagine an entire church skipping the Super Bowl (it was being recorded for after the service) to hear missionaries they’ve never met!  That was this amazing group of people!

After church we headed over to a family’s house who also hosted us for the evening.  They live on Vance Air Force Base – our first stay on a military post – and have four kids and one more on the way.  Levi and Amelia had a great time playing, though nap time for Amelia didn’t go too well.  She finally fell asleep on Daddy and suddenly woke up and threw up all over him.  So random!  She’s felt pretty well ever since, though we all feel like we might be coming down with yet another bug of some kind.

Anyway, I was completely exhausted, so also took a nap before evening service.  For the evening service, we spoke about our year in Congo and what God has planned for our future there.  After the service, there was a soup and sandwich dinner.  Such a fun evening socializing and dining with new and old friends!

We got to bed late and were super thankful the kids slept in a bit this morning.  Today we drove back over to Tulsa, stopping at the famous Eskimo Joe’s in Stillwater for lunch.  Our hosts here just brought home two kiddos from DRC in December – we missed meeting each other because they had appointments on the days I was taking adopting families out – and hosted a dinner and gathering for a group of people, some adopting, some interested in Congo, some interested in missionary life.  It was our fourth night in a row of presentations, yet once again, God blessed us with new relationships, new people supporting us through prayer, encouragement, and finances.

We are super blessed!!!  We have just four more weeks on the road – we are getting tired, not gonna lie.  We are looking forward to remembering what it means to have a home, a bed to call our own, a routine, etc.  Weird things that we haven’t experienced since March!

Please pray for our last month – that we get the rest we need to be ready for the intense training we’ll be doing right away in October and a new baby in November.  That we continue to grow our support team so that we can get back to DRC as soon as training is done.  Thank you for your prayers thus far – we have needed them!

Onward – to finish our week in Oklahoma…

My birthday on Saturday was fantastic.  Planes was fairly cute, though Amelia didn’t quite sit through the whole thing peacefully.  Levi, however, was entranced and doesn’t understand why we can’t go back.  After the movie, our amazing hosts treated us to lunch at a hibachi restaurant.  We had fun watching the kids watch the chef prepare the food and perform his fancy tricks.  Plus, it was delicious.

Amelia took a nap for most of the afternoon, I got some rest and the boys did…something.  They were in the house, but I don’t think we did much of anything.

After mac & cheese for the kids, we put them to bed and said goodbye for a REAL date night.  Our first stop was a Tex-Mex restaurant for dinner, followed by a short walk down the block for frozen custard.  Finally, we went to our second movie of the day.  Two theater showings in one day must certainly make up for the fact that I haven’t been to the theater since early 2012, or even possibly 2011!  We saw Elysium, which was a little less relax-and-enjoy-the-movie and more intensely-stare-at-the-screen because what’s going on is terrible, but it was pretty good.  We crashed into bed at 2am.

Sunday morning we woke (sort of…we were tired) and headed off to church with our hosts.  It was a great service and even the kids did okay.  After church, our hosts’ small group held a party, which we promptly crashed with our presence (pre-arranged crashing, however).  We got to meet the families and talk to them.  One in attendance with a five-week-old also named Amelia, but our Amelia was not a fan of her daddy holding any little baby.  I think we may need to warn her for the next three months about what’s coming…  It was a fun afternoon of food and pool.

After we headed out to Fort Worth, about an hour away, to see some friends of my (Lisa’s) parents from long ago.  It was fun to catch up and talk to them – they have spent their lives as ex-pats in countries around the globe and most recently are taking an unexpected “vacation” since they were living in Egypt until a few weeks ago.

We hung out with them for a while then went to their church’s evening service, where we got to present our ministry to the congregation.  The folks were so welcoming and loving in receiving us and our ministry.  Thanks to Aurora Baptist Church for the great evening!  We drove the hour home and headed pretty much straight for bed.

Amelia’s cold is now just a really stuffy nose, which caused her to sleep terribly last night, thus disrupting our sleep and we completely forgot Matthew had a morning meeting.  At the get together on Friday night, we met an adoptive grandma who works at MAF’s retirement company, dealing with the MAF accounts.  She suggested us coming to the company chapel Monday morning.  It was a great idea to make an appearance at the place that helps MAF missionaries have a retirement plan!  So, Matthew planned to go…but the long night of frequent wakings caused us to oversleep.  He did make it, though, just five minutes late (the rest of us had already planned to stay behind) and got meet lots of people at the company – what a fun connection!

We finished packing and took off toward our next stop: northwest Arkansas!  We decided to split up the drive and make two short drives out of it, plus use this evening to get some work done.  We drove into Oklahoma, right into a major rainstorm and flash flooding, but I think we’re okay now.  No tornados or anything!  We’re at the hotel, Matthew is on a business call and I’m, well, blogging.