Where did they go?

This is kind of a "placeholder" post, for those who are wondering if we have abandoned the blog.  The answer is a resounding "no", but we've been quite crazy busy.  There is much to tell, and we will try to get around to it soon.

A little Q&A:

Where are we?  Currently, we are in Seattle, WA, and in a few hours, we will get on a cruise ship with Eric's family to head to Alaska for 7 days.  This has significant implications for Rachel's State Race.  Then, we will be in the Twin Cities for a bit, before heading to Baltimore for a month of tropical medicine for Eric.

Where have we been since Moab?  We were back in Colorado for two weeks of Language Acquisition Training, which was great.  Then, we had a wonderful time visiting friends and family, all the way from Denver to Minneapolis, where we flew to Seattle.

Are you surviving?  Yes.

Do the kids' sleeping patterns suggest that they have any idea what time zone they are in?  No, and the 4am daylight of late May in the Northwest does not seem to help.

Is Eric on crutches?  Yes, due to a story that I'm sure we'll blog on later, but hopefully he'll be off soon.

Should we pray for all of you?  Yes, please.

Are you still enjoying where you are, despite the fact that it sounds (and is) quite nuts sometimes?  Yes, we are.  "The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." (Ps 126) =)

Moab

We are currently in the middle of a week off between our two Mission Training Institute classes, and have taken the opportunity to vacation!  First, Eric's parents came to town for the big birthday.  Then, we headed west...to Utah!  My best friend from med school and her family live in Salt Lake City, and they met us for a long weekend in Moab, near Arches National Park.  It has been great so far.  Maggie was especially excited to see "My buddy.  Wilson." 

On the way, we decided to take the scenic route from Colorado Springs west and then borth to Breckenridge.  Our state highway took us past TONS of beautiful mountains and an area that looked just like Rohan (think Edoras and the Golden Hall, LOTR fans).  Below is a view from the car.

 Then, after we got onto I-70, the highway went right through a beautiful canyon west of Vail.  There were points where we were literally driving at the base of a narrow canyon, just the highway and the Colorado river at the bottom and sheer walls on either side.  I hung the camera out the window and tried to get some shots.

 We arrived in Moab on Thursday night and spent the morning on Friday in Arches National Park.  It is beautiful! (in a fascinating but no desire to live here sort of way)

 Balancing rock, featured below:

 We were able to take a few short "hikes"...the Balancing Rock loop was about 0.25 miles, perfect for our family. :)

 Maggie showing off some mini-balancing rocks.

 The other hike we were able to do was to a formation called North Window.  It was huge!  So pretty.

 Eric walked to Landscape rock, a very thin arch, while I stayed in the car with a sleeping Ben.

Such a beautiful park!  Some day we will have to return when the kids are older and we can do some more hiking.

THREE!

Hard to believe it, but our baby girl turned three years old yesterday.  It was a fun birthday!  We are currently still in Colorado Springs, CO, and Eric's parents came out to visit for the big day.  We went to Garden of the Gods in the morning, and then headed home for a festive PINK lunch.  The lunch featured strawberry applesauce, raspberry lemonade, tomato soup (more orange than pink), and corn dog muffins (the hot dogs were sort of pink, as was the ketchup...).  The cake was, of course, pink.  With pink frosting and princesses.

Here she is, showing off some of her ballerina moves while wearing a favorite gift, PINK ballet slippers.

Here she shows off another favorite gift, a tea-pot shaped castle for her princesses to play in.  Wow, is she a little girl or WHAT? :)

It has been a wonderful adventure these past three years, being Maggie's mommy.  I can only imagine what the future holds.  I am fully expecting that the terrible twos came to an abrupt halt on Tuesday. :)  But regardless, she fills our days with smiles and joys.  Happy birthday, sweetie!

"Being Belmont"

Here's a story that my alma mater, Belmont University, has put up on their website.  Most of it is drawn from the talk I did for the homecoming chapel service in February.  I hope that Joshua, Hannah, Yvonne, and Alex don't mind their picture getting a bit of play.  I didn't ask them, but it's a lovely photo of all of them, and they are forgiving sorts of friends.

Click here for the link.

Goodbyes to New Friends

Well, we just wrapped up our three week SPLICE session in Palmer Lake, CO.  Saying goodbye on Friday was surprisingly difficult, considering that we had all only know each other for 19 days.  But during that time, we really bonded as a community...from common interests and desires, shared goals, similar stories.  We met people going to every continent in the name of Jesus, to do everything from work at orphanages to dental ministry.  It was amazing to get to know people and walk alongside them as we learned about conflict management, stress, Sabbath rest, and grief.

One great thing about our time at MTI was that not only did WE get to enjoy meeting new people, but everyone was so sweet and kind to our kids, too.  Maggie and Ben both had some good buddies by the end of the time:

"Mr. Dustin" and Nigel...Maggie would specifically request Mr. Dustin to sit by her at every meal.  Why?  I mean, he's a great guy and all, but the real draw was the Angry Birds app on his IPad....

 Ira is a missionary in central Mexico.  Very nice guy but pretty stoic...until Ben walks into the room.  Ben and Ira became good buddies.  They especially liked hanging out at 5:30 every morning. :)

 Miss Carol, Maggie's teacher.  Maggie went to "school" every day from 8:30-12 and 1:30-4.  She had a blast and loved her teacher.

Aunt Allyssa (another one, in case our faithful readers are confused).  She is going to work with the Roma people in Romania.  And ALL the kids (and parents) were tremendously blessed by her heart for children.  She was great!

One night, we had a little fire in the firepit (you flip a switch and it turns on, sort of cheating) and made smores.  Here's Maggie watching me toast her first ever toasted marshmallows.

 Success!

 Meanwhile, Ben enjoyed his graham cracker.

One of our last days there, a rainbow showed up in the sky, always a good reminder of God's promises.  We are blessed to have know the other 27 adults in our group, and we look forward to seeing them again.  Someday.

Visiting "Focus Family"

Nestled away in the suburbs of Colorado Springs, with the snows of Pike's Peak in the background is the headquarters of Focus on the Family.  They have a visitor's center.  We tried to visit it in 2006, but they were closed for the Thanksgiving holidays.  Now we have had our revenge.

The pictures in this post are likely of little interest, save for a few people, and I am related to all of them.  There are, I guess, entire rooms and sections of the visitor center that are not directly related to Adventures in Odyssey, but I can't say that for certain.  And I may go back (after all, it's a free place for the kids to have a great time playing!), but I have little intention of explored the non-Odyssey sections.  And I know my family will resonate with that.  Without further ado, our visit to (as Maggie says) "Focus Family".

Outside the building

You have to take an elevator to the Odyssey section, but if you look closely, it's not really an elevator!  It's the Imagination Station, ready to transport you (and an obligatory novice friend who doesn't quite get it) off to another time, where a virtuous person of history is striving to make the right decisions!

Inside, just push the red button (behind Maggie)!

Here is the Whit's End soda shop.  We didn't buy anything there, but it's fun nonetheless.

After that, you have to travel through the Secret Passage, once used for transport of slaves during the Underground Railroad, to get to the rest of the areas.

I don't know who Maggie is supposed to be, because the only girls I can remember are Robyn, Lucy, and Donna Barclay, and I never pictured any of them with reddish pigtails.  But, in the back, there is a window into the KYDS radio station.

Maggie played with some of the puppets and costumes available for shows at "The Little Theater".

Out in the hallway, the staff offices (I guess) are all decorated with Odyssey names, such as this one as Bart Rathbone's Electric Palace.  There was also a "Harlow Doyle, Private Eye", and a theater poster for a Shakespearean drama starring Edwin (not Dr. Regis) Blackgaard.

Our kids hung out in the toddler room a good bit, which is painted to resemble Camp What-A-Nut.

And the best non-Odyssey moment went to the room that had a wardrobe, that you could open and walk through into a magical Narnia room (you may remember that FOTF did radio theater versions of many of the Narnia stories.)  It was like living a childhood dream.

Overall a great trip.  Things I would have liked to see:

• That secret room with all the knobs for controlling Whit's End
• Timmy's cabin, stayed in and possibly built by Johnny Appleseed
• Less of the cartoon characters from the videos, who never looked quite right to me (especially Eugene and Whit)
• A timeline of the various exploits of the Barclay family
• A timeline of the various generations of Odyssey children, whom I guess had to be retired when their voices changed.
• A to-scale model of Whit's End.  They had one from the outside, but it would have been fun to see how all the rooms fit together.

Maggie wants to go back.  Given that it's free and that my parents are coming out to visit, I foresee a good chance of this happening.

Colorado

So, phase 4 of our year in the States has begun.  Phase 1 was Nashville, phase 2 Phoenix, phase 3 Michigan, and now, Colorado.  Our family is here for six weeks attending some missionary training sessions at a place called MTI (Mission Training International), just north of Colorado Springs.  We are spending three weeks doing cross-cultural training, have a week off, then two weeks of language acquisition techniques (how to learn a language).

We've finished our first week of the cross cultural studies, and so far it has been good.  There were some questions about if we needed three weeks of this after living cross culturally in Kenya for 2 yrs, but so far I would say that it has been really good.  We're in the class along with about 30 other adults, most of whom have not served long term on the field, going to 15 different countries with 16 different agencies...aged just out of college to retirement age.  The sessions are on things like conflict (and finding our conflict styles), lifestyle, building relationships, becoming aware of our own culture, etc.

Maggie has also been attending her own "school" with other 2 and 3 yr olds, learning lessons about expressing her feelings and being part of God's creation.  Very sweet.  Ben likes the nursery. :)  It has been nice to settle in to one place and unpack all of our stuff into the dressers provided.  Highlights include the train tracks by our window (really, it's not too loud and the kids are totally fascinated), a constant supply of hot beverages from the dispenser by the kitchen, and the great friends we are making, as well as Ben learning how to walk!  Hopefully more to come from this "SPLICE" class.

Easter Eggs

We spent Easter with my cousin Sara in the Denver area.  It was great!  Eric worked through Good Friday and we needed to be in Colorado by Monday, so I ended up flying with the kids, and Eric drove the 18 hours Fri night/Saturday.  We both think we got the better end of the deal. :)

Unfortunately I didn't get any cute photos of the Easter apparel, but here are some other pics from Easter.

 We had only been at the Zillinger's for a few minutes when Ben found his favorite toy.

 Maggie and Keira became good friends!

 Ben loved Elijah's cars

 As well as Jaina pushing him in a "real" car

 We dyed 4-5 dozen eggs, yikes!  Maggie really got into it.

 Sunday afternoon we did an egg hunt.  Maggie and Ben's eggs were orange...nice to have the color coding so each kid had their own eggs to find!

 Mags LOVED finding the eggs

The boys, chillin' after the egg hunt

Tulip Time

This week is another week off for Eric.  He actually only has 4 days of work left...soon we'll be off for phase 4 of our year in the States, Colorado.  More to come.  In the meantime, we are visiting some friends in West Michigan/Illinois this week.  First stop, Holland!  That's Holland, MI for the non-MI natives.  But certainly, some similarities to its European namesake.  Namely, the tulips!  Holland is full of tulips and has a big tulip festival every year.  We've never gone, since we hear it's crazy packed with tourists.  It's actually in late April or early May.  But THIS year, due to the abnormally warm weather, the tulips bloomed quite early.  The weather is pretty chilly again, so none of the blooms are open, but it was still beautiful to see the multicolored buds.

We visited a park in the downtown area with our friends, Jay and Laura.  Their son Levi became immediate fast friends with Maggie and Ben!

 Fields of tulips...

 Maggie especially liked the purple ones.  Ironically enough, because of the warm weather I had just given most of our borrowed winter clothing back to its original owners.  So Levi graciously loaned Mags the tiger hat.

 Levi will make a great big brother soon!

 Also at Jay and Laura's was every kid's dream toy:  a ball pit!  It was an inflatable swimming pool filled with plastic balls of all sizes and colors.  SO much fun.

 The obligatory kids in a bathtub photo:

 And many happy moments spent reading, side by side.

Thanks for the great visit, Jay/Laura/Levi!  On to the next adventure...