Well, all good things must come to an end…
I can’t believe we have been here over two weeks, and it’s actually time to pack up the Airstream and head back across the country! WOW! Time sure does fly!
It’s been such an awesome time here in California, most of all because we have spent it with Andrew, Leigh and NOLAN! It’s been good to see their life out here, and their home, work, community, etc.! Now we have a picture of what it’s all about for them!
Some of the highlights of these two weeks:
*PLAYING WITH NOLAN!
*Camping by the river and waking up to temperatures of 66 degrees in the mornings!
*The miles and miles of endless produce – trees of every kind growing everywhere!
*PLAYING WITH NOLAN!
*Spending time with Andrew and Leigh!
*Swimming in their pool!
*PLAYING WITH NOLAN!
*Delicious dinners almost every night, made by Andrew and Leigh – wow, can they cook! We played with Nolan while they made dinner – we are definitely spoiled and are wondering who will cook for us when we get back to Pittsburgh!
*Seeing the mountains on the horizon as we drove back to our campsite every evening!
*PLAYING WITH NOLAN!
*Helping with projects in their house and getting the nursery ready for baby #2!
*Seeing a whole new part of our country!
*Just enjoying the Airstream! (Leonard said if we got out here and didn’t like it, we would sell it and fly home – haha) – well…WE LOVE IT!
*AND…..
*PLAYING WITH NOLAN!
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But the adventure isn’t over – we have a couple of fun things planned on our way home!
We leave tomorrow and head to Farmington, New Mexico – we will stay there a couple of days and I am going to meet a group of “new” friends I made when Andrew was on deployment with the USS Theodore Roosevelt! One of the moms started a prayer group for our kids, and there are 9 of us who have been meeting EVERY week on a zoom call to get to know each other, support each other, and pray for our kids in the Navy! They have really become special to me, and we decided to see if we could all pick a place and meet in person (we have been meeting together virtually for 20 months!)
One of the gals lives in New Mexico, and she and her husband are part of Navajo Ministries – they have invited us there, and so five of us out of the nine will be meeting and spending the weekend together! A couple of the husbands are even coming too! (mine HAS to because he is driving with me in the truck back home!)
I am so excited to meet these gals in person and get to know them even more – they have become SO special to me!
After that, we will make our way over the next couple days to Branson, Missouri – we are staying there a bit so we can see the town and maybe see a show!
I am so excited because, after Branson, we are heading to Indiana and will get to see and spend some time with EMILY!!! I miss that girl! She has graduated from graduate school at Purdue, and is working as an audiologist at a private practice and loves her job – we don’t get to see her as much as we would like, so we are excited to spend time with her and catch up!
Then we head home – wow!!! What a trip it will have been – such great memories have already been made, and we know there will be more!!!
I hope you all have a great day and a great week!!! Blessings to you all!
PLAYING WITH NOLAN! How wonderful to get this opportunity!
I love that Leigh and Andrew enjoy cooking together….George and I mostly enjoy me cooking : )
I hope you have a wonderful in person visit with the ladies from your prayer group! I love that your kids brought you together and that you all share prayers and life! What a huge blessing you must be for each other.
Have a great time in Branson and visiting Emily!
Prayers for travel mercies and for your hearts not to ache too much at your leaving Andrew, Leigh and Nolan. I’m sure it won’t be long that you can visit again and get to know baby #2!
Take care….MK
Thank you Mary Kay!
Amazing. So glad to hear your happy voice as your write. I know you will never get enough of Nolan, but hopefully this will tide you over for a while. Are you going out to see the baby when he’s born? Have they picked a name? Enjoy your meeting with those lovely special women whose kids were on the Air Craft Carrier. Hope to see you one day back here in good old Pittsburgh.
Love
Celia
The meeting with the moms was AMAZING!!!!
I busted out laughing when I saw that tower!!!! Nolan must’ve thought that was the coolest thing to knock down!
So fun! Drive safe! Going down should be easier, right?!??
And tell the Navy moms that we we are so thankful for their sons sacrifice for our country. ❤️ I love that the Lord has brought you together- what a blessing
Nolan LOVED that giant tower!!
I can tell that tower was made by an engineer 🤣. These pictures have all been so fun!
HAHA – it sure was!
How wonderful!! Sounds like a wonderful time was had by all!! I am so glad that you and Leonard really like the airstream!! Nolan is a cutie and I am sure he was the highlight of the trip!! Give Emily a big hug from me!!
I sure will – can’t wait to see her!
Thank you for the updates. You guys look like you were having so much fun with Nolan, it must’ve been hard to pack up.😢
What a blessing to have other moms praying together for your sons, and now all these new friends! God is certainly good.
Try to go to the Jesus production at Sight and Sound theater in Branson https://sight-sound.com/ticketing/shows/title?location=BRANSON_MO
Really good, though everyone there said you can’t miss the David production in Lancaster PA … it’s even better 🙂
We ARE going to the Sight and Sound Jesus production! We had just made the reservations when I saw your comment!
Truly enjoyed all your comments and photos. Such a great experience and so many terrific memories. So glad it all worked out. I see many more trips in your future! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the nice words!!
Such fun adventures!! So much fun so far and even more to come with travel and seeing Emily!