Here and There and Everywhere

In brief, within the past three weeks we moved from Minnesota to Michigan, began to get settled at our new temporary home, then traveled to Colorado where we've already spent a week at Mission Training International.  Life's been a blur.  Our boys are managing the transitions remarkably well, thanks be to God.  We've been suffering in the sleep department, however, so we take each day as it comes and by God's grace get through each day.

Our flight to Colorado Springs went as well as we could've hoped with three kids.  It was Asa's first flight and he was an all-star traveler.  It was Kai's first time with a seat to himself and it was great to have the extra wiggle room.  It was a long day of traveling and we were exhausted by the time we arrived at MTI, but we made it!

We are going through the Compass program at MTI.  It's a requirement of our mission organization and is a 4-week course here in Palmer Lake, CO.  After one week we can officially say that it's fabulous.  There are many other people here, heading to countries all over the world to do ministries of all kinds.  It's exciting to be surrounded by other missionaries headed to the field.  One of the most encouraging things we can experience is to fellowship with other missionaries.  We understand each other in a way no one else can.  We've been talking with people about how we each were called to missions, how the training process is going, how the fundraising process is going, and where our hearts are at as we journey toward the mission field.  We've been talking with other families about the hopes and concerns of raising our kids overseas.  We've been praying for each other as we meander this unique life we're called to.  And we've been sitting in class together, hearing former missionaries speak about cross-cultural issues and language learning concepts.  It's been enriching even though we're exhausted.  We are so thankful to be here!

The boys are having a great time too.  Caleb and Kai spend each day in their classroom and they love it!  There are a total of 16 kids here this month and the boys are making new friends and playing hard every day.  They are being taught about the love of Jesus and we are so thankful for their teacher, Miss Emily, who is caring for them every day while we're in class upstairs.

Asa spends time in the nursery except when I need to nurse him or just want to have him with me.  The staff here are caring and understanding of the fact that we have a newborn with us and they've encouraged me to take naps when I need them, even if it means skipping class.  Everyone adores Asa and he gets passed around a lot.  He's added a wonderful dimension to the group!

We do training during the week, but the evenings and weekends are mostly free.  So today we rested as much as we could and enjoyed some family time.  We brought costumes for the boys to wear on Halloween and they were elated to be superheroes for the day!  Then, because the people here are so awesome, the kids got to trick-or-treat through the halls of the building.  It was so much fun!

We'll be here for another three weeks, learning about culture and language, reflecting on who God is and what He's doing in and through us, and investing in new friendships.  It's good and it's exhausting, like so many things in life.  We're glad to be here and are thankful for God's grace to sustain as we press on!

Birthday Boy

Kai turned two last Saturday!  We had planned to visit an apple orchard in the morning but the day was cold and rainy so we opted to play with friends instead and have a low-key celebration.

Kai started the day watching one of his favorite movies - about construction machines!  This boy loves construction, especially diggers and backhoes.  Few things give him greater joy than driving by a construction site and seeing machines at work.

There are also fewer things that give this boy greater joy than eating Special K.  He loves to eat that particular cereal, and he likes it plain and dry.  We made cinnamon rolls for his birthday but he opted for his usual Special K instead.  Eventually he started stealing bites from everyone else's cinnamon rolls but he kept coming back to the cereal.

And then he opened his first present of the day.  Caleb was perhaps more excited than Kai was, but our darling two-year old was pretty happy with his presents :)

My parents came over for dinner and Eli made stir-fry because Kai loves it.  He gobbled it up and made an enormous rice mess and was a content little dude :)  We also made a cake and Kai was particularly happy to pick off the chocolate chip "rocks" from the "mud" frosting.

And that was it!  A low-key celebration but a celebration nonetheless.  Hezekiah is an amazing little man who loves to run and wrestle and get raspberries from his daddy.  He speaks emphatically and repeats himself until you've heard him correctly.  He plays hard and takes good naps.  Kai isn't much of a snuggler but loves to be tickled and chased and thrown around.  He loves to read and loves to sing.  Every night he wants to hear "Leaving on a Jet Plane" as his bedtime song and he perpetually chews all four corners of his snuggle blanket as he gets ready to fall asleep.  He's a fan of Curious George and Bubble Guppies and his favorite Avenger is the Hulk.  He loves to learn about David and Goliath and the story of Creation and we sometimes catch him singing "Jesus Loves Me" to himself.  We adore this boy and pray that He will grow in the strength of the Lord all the days of his life!

One Month Young

It's already been a month since Asa joined our family!  Yesterday he was one month old and spent the day traveling as we worked our way from Minnesota to Michigan.  He woke up in a hotel in Madison, WI, and spent the night at his great-aunt and uncle's house in Cedar Springs, MI.  We've had a busy few days but Asa has been a dream.  He's an amazing traveler already and we're grateful!

Our little moose has been sleeping a lot during the day and waking up a bit more at night, but overall we can't brag about him enough.  He goes with the flow and is wonderful to have along for the ride!  He's a complete chunk and scarcely anyone can believe he's only a month old.  He's positively smoochable and gets smothered with kisses and snuggles every day.  Quite frankly, he's simply adorable and totally worth the lack of sleep in our life :)  What a wonderful month we've had with this beautiful boy!

Shameless

This was the car that Eli drove in college.  She hauled many people many places and made many memories for us all.  She's a 1988 Chevy Suburban and we called her Shameless.

This was the car that Eli drove into the cornfields behind the Farm where we sat on the hood and watched the stars while eating Subway sandwiches right before Eli proposed to me in the barn.  She was a memorable car still making memories, and we loved her.  She was Shameless.

This was the car that we drove from our wedding to our reception site.  She was barely moving at that point, but she lasted long enough to be our getaway car.  That was the last time we rode in the Suburban and we were unashamed, driving down the highway in tuxedo and wedding gown, riding in such a memorable car.  She was Shameless!

And now, even though she's been relegated to being a lawn ornament at the Farm, this is the car our sons love to play on, running and jumping off her hood into Daddy's arms.  She's still a beauty in our eyes and she's still making us smile.  She's old and rusty and falling apart, but she's Shameless!

Life at the Farm

We left Duluth last week and have since been living at the Farm in Cambridge.  The Farm has been in Eli's family for a long time and is a Horn gathering place with lots of room to spread out and play.  The boys love it here and so do we.  We're extremely grateful it's available to us during this two-week interlude before we officially move to Michigan.

One of the highlights of being here: no internet.  Yes, that's a highlight.  It makes it difficult to keep up with emails and other "internet chores" but it's extremely freeing at the same time.  It's forced us to slow down and spend more time watching our kids and their antics.  It's forced us to read a real book rather than skim online articles.  It's forced us to forgo Netflix and actually go to bed on time.  It's simply been good!

There have been several highlights for the boys too, namely new toys to play with and new books to read.  Kai is in love with the train table.  Caleb is in love with Where the Wild Things Are.  And they're both in love with going outside to pick and eat apples from the apple tree.

Highlights for Asa include sleeping and snuggling.  He still likes to sleep most of the time and still likes to be held a lot.  He is smiling a bit more, usually right after nursing, and his smiles make time stand still!  And Asa is doing great with the other boys running around, being showered with affection and sometimes getting smooshed :)  It's as if these boys have always had each other and they seem to like it that way.

Mostly we've enjoyed time outside, whether that's marveling in Grandpa's tractor, going for nature walks, picking dried corn cobs from the fields, or venturing to the lake at the county park nearby.  It's wonderful to spend so much time outside!

And we've finally gotten some photos of all three boys together!  It must be Farm Magic because although we tried to do this before leaving Duluth, it simply did not happen.  Kid #1 wouldn't cooperate and/or Kid #2 would scamper off to do something else.  But we've gotten some decent pictures of these three moose babies together, even if they're only wearing jammies, or nothing at all :)

So all is well as we've stepped into the first of the transitions ahead of us.  Caleb did remark once last week that he doesn't want to go to the Farm and he doesn't want to go to Michigan because he wants to go "to the real house" (meaning our house in Duluth), which broke my heart, but he hasn't mentioned it since and hasn't shown any indication of actually struggling.  So all is well.  And we thank God for that.  He's been gracious and kind and faithful, and we are ever grateful to Him!