Honoring Almaz

This last weekend we were so blessed to have a short visit from Almaz, the woman who runs Hannah's Hope Ethiopia. It seemed as if it might not happen even though we had been planning it for quite some time. God gifted us all when He made it possible and though she was only here for less than 48 hours, we made the most of our time together.

Here Almaz is pictured with 13 of the 15 kids that were here for our reunion. For most of these kids, it had been 1 or 2 years since they had last seen her and they all remember the love she showered on them in Ethiopia. I know it was very emotional for her to see the kids that she released so long ago and better yet, to see them all thriving in their new families and country. Over and over again she stated, "Only God could do this."

Here are the mommas of the special bunch of kids. We were surprised and yet blessed that the Morby's travelled all the way from New Hampshire and the Riggs drove all the way up from Oklahoma, for such a short and spontaneous trip. The rest of us Missouri Mommas had it easy in comparison. Of course, we all took turns filling in Almaz on our children and picking her brains about what God continues to do in her life and at Hannah's Hope. We will not forget this weekend!

A special treat for our family was having the Riggs stay at our home. Though we'd met Michelle & Hannah at last year's reunion, we got to meet Abby & Landis this time. It was our own mini-Guatemala reunion over here. Poor Abby http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/ didn't feel great through the weekend and yet she was such a trooper and just the sweetest thing you could imagine. It's both inspiring and heartbreaking to know the difficult road she has been travelling with her Leukemia. Please continue to pray for her and her family.

We had 3 big meals together as a group and filled in the gaps between with lots of laughing, playing and talking. My man marvelled at how we ladies could all talk for two days straight and yet still not run out of things to say. Almaz said that last evening that she wished it would continue on for 3 more days. Men will never understand us...

Not only did God take a humble woman from Ethiopia and call her to make a big difference in the lives of so many children and families, He endeared her to my heart in such a special way. Not only is Almaz my sister in Christ, in so many ways she is like a little sister to me. I have said many prayers on her behalf and I am compelled to continue to lift her up in prayer as I see even deeper into her calling, her heart and her needs. Her road is hard, her heart is big and it is surrendered to His will. ""Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised". Proverbs 31:29-30

Bryce Canyon National Park

We ended our trip with a short stay at Bryce, one of my favorite places. Even though I took a TON of photos, they just still can't do it justice. These "spires" behind us are called the hoodoos and they seem to go as far as we can see. The kids were entranced at the first sight of the canyon and when we took a 2 hour hike down to the bottom and back, they had such fun exploring.

Once again, Goose was so dramatic that she said, "I never want to leave this place". They saw chipmunks, birds and lizards but unfortunately no bears or mountain lions. :)

There was plenty of time for trailblazing along our hike and the kids slept very well in our tent that night (Did I tell you that it doesn't work that way for adults?). We got an early start for home the next day but for our final night before getting home, we opted to stay at a hotel instead. It was wonderful!!

Now it's time to get things ready to start school next week.

Lagoon

Our first full day in Utah was met with a surprise for the kids. Aunt Susie treated us all to a day at the local amusment park, Lagoon. Not only was this the highlight of my own childhood when we got to go on those rare occassions. Here is was riding rides with my little brother and big sister for the day. Even better was watching the new generation as my kids had never been to an amusment park before. Their idea of a roller coaster was riding on hilly country roads. Well....



MAYBE it wasn't such a great idea but I thought that if we started the kids on one of the bigger roller coasters, they wouldn't have a chance to get nervous and everything else would be downhill. Hmmm. Maybe I'm not the best mom but as Aunt Susie went to the kiddie rides with Boo, we took Jaybird, Spiderman and Goose to the Colossus - the double upside down roller coaster. They were filled with nervous excitement as we stood in line but once we were half way up that first hill, panic settled in. The boys both closed their eyes, held on tight and screamed through the ride. My man (who sat next to Goose) tells me that she squeezed her eyes shut and yelled, "Jesus help me! Jesus don't let me be scared. Help me Jesus, help me!" throughout the entire ride. At the end I turned around to see tears streaming down her face. So maybe I would do it differently if I did it over again BUT by the end of the day, they did decide that they kind of liked it. :) We stayed till almost 11:00 pm so we obvioulsy had a great day.

As for Boo, she wasn't too sure about even the kiddie rides and sweet Aunt Susie (unlike myself) was more accomodating. When we rejoined, I convinced and bribed Boo to try out these smaller kids bumper cars with Spiderman (who is just the right size to ride both the big rides and kiddie ones). The picture above was at the start of the ride. By the end she sat there with her arms crossed, practically growling at me and still gets huffy when I mention the bumper cards. Se la vie!

Thanks again Aunt Susie! This day really was such a treat.

Family Reunion

So the REAL reason we went to Utah was to have a family reunion revolving around my parents 40th anniversary. We got as many together as possible and had a fun picnic at the park (despite the 102 degree heat). There was plenty of food and games but what brought the most laughs was when "Grandpa" started a water gun fight and we all got carried away and cooled off.


Of course Aunt Susie made plans for the younger crowd and had fun stuff including a pinata, games and these tattoos. She has earned her reputation as a party planner and child spoiler so none of this was any surprise. Thanks Sis! You're the best!

And of course, the whole gang that came - My parents with all their kids, most of their grandkids and some of their great grandkids. Quite a crowd. Thanks Steve for handling the awesome photography!

There is still more to come.....

Camp UtIBaCa

A real highlight of the trip was getting to go back to my old summer camp with just our family and the Grandparents. Since my Dad has always helped to run the camp (approx. 35 years now), we had access to the grounds while no camp was in session. There have been many improvements over the years but so much looked the same. We had a cabin to ourselves, which the kids thought was really cool and we did plenty of hiking. Goose just insists that she HAS to go back as a camper in the next couple of years, we'll see...

The kids saw this mountain stream on one of our hikes. I remembered splashing in this creek to cool off when I was a kid and so we had to carry on that tradition. The water was FREEZING but the kids had a blast daring each other to get in deeper. Youthful adrenaline always trumps physical comfort. :)

We drove to the top of the mountain one afternoon and could see so incredibly far. One of the biggest things I miss about living in Utah is the mountains, what a grand reminder of God's awesome power and might. Murph was just taking it all in when I snapped this picture, taken at 10,000 feet altitude.

The real reason for the trip was these two lovebirds. They just celebrated their 40th anniversary (reunion photos to come next) and they are obviously still plenty in love. Goose was completely smitten with them too and struggled between wanting to "stay with them forever" and wanting to come home with us. What precious memories with my Mom & Dad!

We go WAYYYYYY back!

I guess I'm not really covering our trip in order but I will cover it. We got to spend two days with my old high school "BFF" (to steal my daughter's term). We enjoyed lots of crazy laughs ("many much moosen" has been quoted repeatedly Jen), some yummy food, a beautiful hike to Bridal Veil Falls and our typical BFF talks. Her kids are a bit older than mine but they got along great and had lots of fun. You can see all 8 of them here the night before we left.


Jen and I have been there together through thick and thin through the years. Shared our dreams as teenagers, lived together for a time, had wonderful adventures together and have kept up from a distance as God brought husbands and children and moved us in different directions. Even over the distance, we always pick right back up where we left off. She's a "perennial" friend, the kind that blooms again, year after year. I just love ya Jen!

For fun I had to pull this out of an old album. Anyone guess the date of this photo by the big hair and acid wash jeans? This is 1989 - twenty years ago. Here is to the next 20 as we add empty nests and Grandkids to our lives. Ooh, that's scarey!

Our Road Trip

We made it, we enjoyed it and we returned home alive to tell about it! Our first family road trip to Utah and it was filled with some wonderful memories. In the past we made this trip via airplane but with 6 of us (and all our stuff), we are relegated to getting there via the mini-van. Here you see the kids happy faces when we made it to Utah, and you can tell they were still getting along after 20 hours on the road together (we did stop and camp out for the night at what can only be described at a railroad campground. Between the trains, the rain and the flat air mattress, our sleep was scarce.)


Half way through day one we stopped to visit some AGCI friends. They recently brought home their little sweetie from Hannah's Hope and we just had to meet each other's Ethiopian jewels. Precious huh?

Even better was uniting these two girls who once shared a crib together at HH Guatemala. Though we have kept up with each other over the years, it's not the same as an in person reunion. By the way Stacey, the boys still consider playing Legos with Noah a highlight of our vacation. :)

Here was the theme of the 11 days we were gone - DRIVING! In all we covered 7 states and 3,150 miles. We only had to take the van to the mechanic once (God worked that out beautifully) and only one deer tried to hit us (it was close but God protected us on that one for sure). The best part was that the kids did so much better than we dared hope for. They got along so well and enjoyed each other -- 99% of the time. HUGE answer to prayer!

More details to come.....