I am so behind!  The past few days have flown by – we are currently in the middle of Connecticut, just outside of Hartford, hanging out at a hotel.

So, let me backtrack…when I left you last we were winding down after a great day with adopting families.  Sunday we drove just across the border to New Jersey to share with the congregation at Hope Community Church in GORGEOUS Moorestown.  An adopting mom who will be traveling this month attends there and got us connected.  We had a very warm welcome and really enjoyed talking with so many people there!  Then she took us out to lunch and we began the drive back over to PA in the biggest downpour yet.

That afternoon was a lazy one and it was time for evening church with our host family.  Worshipping with so many different people is a really unique highlight of our trek across the country and each congregation is so different!  Our last night with our hosts we watched a movie once all the kids were in bed and stayed up way too late.

We were sad to say goodbye Monday morning, but it was time to move on.  We decided to take a day for a little sightseeing and our first stop was a treat for me personally.  I have always been a nerd about the Amish lifestyle and community, reading some light Christian novels and whatnot to learn about their ways, so being so close to Lancaster County I really wanted to go.  It was drizzly, but we took a backroad through the most Amish-populated towns.  It was a beautiful piece of farmland – which we got to see at a slow speed, since we had to slow down to pass the many horse and buggies being driven by the locals!  About halfway to Lancaster (which, I’ve been saying incorrectly my whole life…it’s pronounced LANK-aster) we passed a farmer’s market-style set up, with a sign announcing it was a charity benefit for children with special needs in the Amish community.  We saw a few other tourists pulling in, but the buggies far outnumbered the autos in the grass parking lot.

Our kids were far more fascinated with the horses lined up along trailers loaded with hay than the Amish spread, but Matthew and I were interested in mingling under the tents and the FOOD.  All of the food was being prepared right there and we had our fair share – fried pies (still warm and the BEST you’ve ever had), warm soft pretzels with cheese sauce…but not cheese-from-a-can sauce, oh no…it was apple vinegar, dijon, cheese goodness from heaven that I cannot describe.  Pretty sure I gained five pounds.  Oh, and the fresh doughnuts.

Plus, there was the people watching, which is fun at any event, but when 3/4 of the people are Amish, it is even more interesting!  I already knew that children and some women go barefoot for the entire summer, so there was plenty of that, even at this public gathering, but the rest of the ladies wearing shoes?  They were flip flops or Crocs – this was a surprise to me!  The German dialect being tossed about made it even more cross-cultural.  The auction happening in an adjacent tent sounded surreal and was completely incomprehensible.  But, oooooo the quilts that were up for auction were tempting.  Not that one needs a warm Amish quilt in Africa…

As we took the kids back to the car and made one more stop at the horse line-up, an Amish man preparing his buggy for the ride home began chatting with us.  This, too, was surprising to me.  He asked if we were local and then didn’t understand how far we had driven…  When Matthew made a joke (which is not a joke, really) about still driving 10,000 miles, he asked if that would take the rest of the week.  We found this so interesting!  Imagine living in such a way that you don’t realize how long it would take to drive 10,000 miles…I’m not poking fun or looking down on his lack of understanding, but rather digesting how different a lifestyle he might live!  He asked why (because why WOULD you do that???) we were driving so far and for so long, and we told him about aviation missions in Africa.  It was similar to trying to describe snow to our Congolese friends.  So incomprehensible that you realize it’s time to change subjects.  But, it was fun to have a brief interaction with him and said goodbye as his family walked over.

We drove on into Lancaster and saw some really awesome farm houses – it was Monday, Amish wash day, so all the laundry was hanging at each house…in the rain.  Matthew took Levi into a local hardware store for a few minutes while Amelia napped in the car (I stayed with her, of course).

We had originally planned to stay the night, but decided we probably could move on and make a little progress on the road.  Downtown Philadelphia had yet to be driven through, so away we went.  It wasn’t far and we made our way right to Independence Hall.  We knew we didn’t want to spend the money to get in (it was full for the day anyway) or even to park, so we found a drop-off zone and I got out to get something VERY important to us: Cheesesteaks!  Known everywhere else as Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches, these are one of my most favorite foods and I’d been holding off eating one until I could have a REAL one.  From a truck!  Then I got behind the wheel while Matthew took the kids to the Hall to get pictures outside.  I ended up finding a great (free) one-hour spot four blocks away and, grabbing my purse and the computer bag, made the brief walk back – remember, our entire lives are in the truck, so we can’t exactly just park and leave it…we’ve already been broken into once.

We wandered the grounds for a few minutes and walked back to the truck and made our way north through PA.  We wanted to take the scenic route along the Delaware.  What a great place for American history.  We saw where Washington crossed the river on Christmas night to defeat the Hessians.  We also saw homes that were magnificent and looked as old as the historical events that made the area famous.

By evening we were tired of the car and needed to stop for the night.  We only made it to Easton, PA, but called it a day and found a hotel.  The kids went swimming with Daddy and I ordered dinner (tasty Italian from a local place that delivered).  We ate and I crashed.  You know I’m tired when I even ignore facebook for the day, which I did.

This morning we were up early, decided against much more in the way of touristy things, knowing we had quite a bit of computer and paperwork to do, and moved on.  We decided to get to Connecticut, New Haven specifically – the home of Yale and right on the water.  Mostly, it was our just-over-half-way point.  We drove through New York City, seeing the skyline in the distance, and even passing through parts of Manhattan and the Bronx.  We plan to spend a day in the Big Apple on our way back south next week, so it was okay to just drive past today.

We had a little trouble with traffic once we crossed into Connecticut and then couldn’t find a hotel in New Haven.  We just kept going north and settled on here, Berlin, I think?  I don’t think any of us have been to CT before…  Amelia and I went grocery shopping for dinner and road snacks while Matthew started in on the work.  Then we had dinner and pool time and now we have two sleeping kids.  Whew.  See?  Busy!

Tomorrow: PICTURES from the past week!  Woo hoo!  I know you can’t wait!

Yesterday we made the trek across Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia.  We thought it was a short drive, but the kids had other ideas.  Their crankiness made the drive feel much longer than it was, even despite our early departure.  We made our stop for lunch in Hershey.  The town that makes delicious treats and smells like chocolate was fun to drive through, though we didn’t stop for anything except a run into Aldi’s for some lunch-type snacks.  Matthew, who ran into the store with Amelia, did come out with a pack of Reese’s for me…since we drove past the Reese’s-specific factory immediately prior.

We began the last leg of the trip to Philly after a brief stop at a local park (that was otherwise deserted!) for some running around.  Even after all that, the kids still didn’t nap, but oh well.

We arrived at our host’s house in the mid-afternoon and were super grateful the kids had four new friends to keep them busy.  We met our hosts in Kinshasa in December while they were there to pick up their two girls.  They even joined us for Christmas dinner at the Christmas House!  It is so wonderful to see how much their girls have grown and their English skills are incredible!  They decided on the plane to forgo Lingala, so they immediately began to work on their English.  It has paid off, but I scolded Amelia today (we tend to do this in Lingala…I don’t know why) and it got their attention too.  I asked them if they knew what it meant…and they still translated it accurately!

We got the Cranky Ones to bed early (and they actually fell asleep) and turned in soon after – sitting on the porch, watching the lightening bugs and a few crazy neighbors until it was dark.

Levi slept for 12 hours and it felt like we were back in DRC (the kids slept 12 hours straight every night…I miss that…a lot), even though Amelia (and Matthew) got up at 6am.  We had a fantastic breakfast and prepared for the shin dig for today.  Four adopting families, three of whom have traveled, and two who I had taken shopping, were here and it was a great time of sharing and comparing stories of life in DRC.

This evening it is WARM and dinner is served, so I’m signing off…Levi has a lobster-style back from spending ALL day in the kiddy pool with his friends (we applied sunscreen often, but he’s super pasty).  I think they’ll sleep quite soundly tonight! Tomorrow we get to speak for a few minutes at Hope Community Church in New Jersey, about an hour from here.  Really excited to meet this community of believers and SHARE on DRC’s Independence Day!

Yesterday was a nice family day with the last little things finished and re-ready to hit the road again.  We also had our 20 week ultrasound at a local hospital with an OB (my very FIRST visit to a doctor for a prenatal visit, since I’m normally one of those midwife types).  We finished the day with a traditional family meal on my mom’s side (chowder!) and said our goodbyes.

Today we had a lazy morning and left for Pennsylvania.  Tonight we are in Pittsburgh with my cousin and her husband.  It rained for the entire drive until we entered the city.  Earlier in the day we stopped for lunch and decided to make it a real lunch, instead of fast food.  We were driving the small highway along the Ohio River, rather than the boring old interstate, and found this to be far more fun (and the slower speed to be far more fuel efficient – see?  practical!).  We passed through a fantastic little town called Gallipolis, OH – oh my goodness, it was like we were transported to 19th century Europe!  Some of the buildings were so adorable!  It was founded by some French settlers and their influence is still seen today.  We didn’t eat there, but rather a few miles down the road in Pomeroy, OH at the Wild Horse Cafe.  If you ever get there, order the meatloaf, or the bison burger, or the kids’ mac & cheese, or probably anything else and you’re sure not to be disappointed!  We took a walk along the river and checking out some VERY old houses along the street.

We pulled into town here in PA later this evening, had a lovely dinner and a relaxing evening.  Tomorrow, we head across PA to Philadelphia for the weekend!

This Week’s Travels

This week we definitely travel as far, but I’m not complaining about only driving 560 miles!  We had so many great stops and saw so many people, that the busyness of all of that made up for less driving.  Plus, I think the kids enjoyed not being in the truck so much.

Yesterday we left the Cincinnati area and headed to my (Lisa’s) uncle’s house in NE Kentucky.  My grandma and cousin also live in the area, so we are having a bit of a reset time with just family.  We are also planning on other life maintenance, such as a hair cut for Matthew, I am reorganizing our stuff so it doesn’t get out of control, the truck is being checked (see the photo from earlier) and just some downtime.

We’re reaching the end of the month and we REALLY would love to see (us and HQ) our support at 50% and beyond – if you have been called to join our ministry team, we want to remind you that starting now would give us a much-needed support and morale boost, as well as cement your place as a big part of our ministry.  God called us to go, is He calling you to join?  It’s super easy – just go here!

Saturday we had a great time with several adoption families (and friends) just outside Indianapolis!  We talked a bit about what we’re up to and answered questions about DRC.  It was fun to see TWO families that I had met while in Kinshasa and it was so fun to see them again.  One family in particular made some connections for us that very afternoon and we found ourselves in someone else’s house for an hour sharing about our ministry with a friend of theirs.  God does amazing things in this process of deputation and we get to meet awesome people unexpectedly – it’s crazy and fantastic and completely indescribable.  Whew!

Saturday evening we left Indy and headed toward Cincinnati.  Our hosts, long time friend of my (Lisa’s) family, who have known me since I was 7, technically live just across the border in Kentucky, but church today was in Cincinnati and we got to drive through downtown.  We loved worshipping with the church during morning service and seeing a few people who remembered us from when we were here last January.  The afternoon was restful (I think…I slept through it…ha!) and evening service was just as great, with Matthew unexpectedly getting a few minutes to give an update on what we’re doing.  We finished the evening at Skyline Chili – famous, of course!  I love their chili on spaghetti (seriously, weird, but try it).

Tomorrow morning we’ll head across Kentucky to my aunt and uncle’s house for a few days of family time.  My only living grandparent, Great-Grandma-Grace to the kids, is there as well and it’ll be so great to spent time with all of them.  Plus, Matthew is planning to make sure the truck gets all of its maintenance and I’ll have an OB update – 20 weeks on Tuesday!  Halfway there…