Kate Drives...Everyone Lives

Did you see my Facebook post asking for prayers?  Thank you for praying!!!  Your prayers for God’s grace were answered. 

Today was the day I was to drive the RV from northeastern Oklahoma to Dallas, Texas.  With four kids.  Without Travis.  Have I ever driven the RV before, you ask?  Technically yes.  When we first got the Flyer I drove it from our dear friends’ house (the Totten’s) to our house (about 3 miles and 5 turns away). 

We knew Travis would have meetings for two days over this trip.  As we discussed where he would fly in and out of we contemplated the idea of me driving the RV to pick him up from an airport.  “Sure.  I’ll do that,” I said.  “I would like to practice driving it a little bit.  Maybe I could drive for awhile on our way down to Oklahoma while you are in the RV.”  I thought that was a good idea.  I’d feel better about driving this monster with four kids by myself if I had some behind-the-wheel drivers education.

That brings us to the day before we left.  It’s Friday, 7:45am.  My kids are at my mom’s (with our house going on the market they are no longer allowed in my house).  I’m in the living room working on my Bible study.  I realize I have to bring something out to the RV.  I get out there and hear the ear-piercing refrigerator indicator telling me that we have run out of propane.  The propane is used for cooling the refrigerator/freezer and for heating the RV.  So now my food is warming and the rest of the RV is freezing. 

Travis is sleeping so I return to the living room to continue working on my Bible study and I text Travis the problem.  He’ll see it when he wakes up.  Within minutes I hear footsteps walking out the garage.  Then back in.  Then Travis is standing next to me handing me the keys.  “We need propane – like now.  And I have a conference call in 15 minutes.  You’ll have to go get it," he informs me.

What?!  I was hoping my drivers training would be WITH HIM IN THE RV!!  Plus, we had recently gotten snow!  The roads weren’t completely clear.  I was still sliding around in my mini-van.  Ughhh!  I relayed my concerns.  “You’ll do fine.  I have confidence in you,” he tried to comfort me.  He sent me on my way. 

Travis gave me three options of places I could go to fill up the propane tank.  I chose the one with the least amount of city streets and turns.  Of course, it was the farthest away.  Northfield, Minnesota…The Big Steer travel stop.  I drove 35 minutes on mostly major roads – well cleared.  All was going well…until I arrived at The Big Steer and they told me they don’t fill RV’s with propane. 

What!?!  My misinformed husband inadvertently sent me on a wild goose chase.    I looked at the time…9:00am.   The only necessary chore on my list for the morning was to get to Target.  I had to purchase a twin bed skirt and be home to meet the photographer who was to shoot photos of our home for the MLS at 10:00am.  I needed to find a place with propane, but I didn’t have time to traipse all over greater Minnesota.  I called a gas station in New Prague (a town on my way home if I take the back roads).  They have propane for RV’s!!!  Yes!  Twenty minutes later I was at the Super America in New Prague.  “Hi!  I called a few minutes ago about filling my RV’s propane tank.  Can someone help me?” I asked.

“Well, we have propane, but let me see if someone knows how to use the tank,” the cashier said.  They had propane, but all 3 women (the only three on-duty employees) did not know how to fill a propane tank.  Now it’s 9:25.  I have just over 30 minutes to get to Target then home.  Propane is going to have to wait.  I haul this beast to Target – take up the back half of the parking lot, get my bed skirt, maneuver my way out of the windy, narrow roads of the Target parking lot (who knew they were so curvy and narrow!!!), and make it home just seconds before our friend, Teri, met me there.  She took pictures then I took on the city streets toward Shakopee to get the tank filled.  I made it.  Nothing exploded.  I didn’t crash into anyone or anything.  And I got over two hours of behind-the-wheel training.

You’d think with that kind of training, today’s journey from Grove to Dallas would be No Big Thang.  And it wasn’t, until about 15 minutes before departure time.  My heart started to race, adrenaline pumping.  I had to take deep breaths…typical of me when I’m about to do something outside of my comfort zone.  

We drove for over six hours today.  For all six of those hours I only saw the road and my side-view mirrors to make sure I was keeping the RV positioned between the lines on the road.  I drove 60 miles per hour in a 75 mile per hour zone.  (Yes, I, Kate Wilson – formerly known as Leadfoot or Iron Ankle – drove 15 miles per hour under the speed limit!!)  I hadn’t even gotten to Tulsa and my right hand started cramping.  By the time we were in Fort Worth both hands were cramping.  I washed my hands before dinner and noticed a layer of black film on my palms – steering wheel remnants.  Even my jaw hurts I was clenching it so hard.

Last night Travis warned me, “You are going to deal with some wind tomorrow.  So remember, you’ll have to drive the RV more like a boat than your mini-van.  It will kind of…float.  Don’t over-correct it.”  What?!  At this point I’ve driven a boat less than I’ve driven an RV.  That tidbit was not helpful. 

After six hours of driving in the wind I now know what he was talking about.  It was so windy, the RV was floating all over the place!  Driving the RV today was a lot like driving in a snowstorm (for six hours!). In the end, nobody honked at me.  Not a single rude hand gesture (at least none that I noticed – my eyes were on the road, you know).  In fact, every time we stopped I got compliments on my cute kids or people asked if I was driving that ‘rig’ – and they said it was cool.   

Although I didn’t spend much time in conversation with my children today, I do have one cute-kid story…

Someone was hungry and wanted a snack (so everyone was hungry and needed snacks).  I offered maple venison sticks and Cuties or bananas.  Of course the venison sticks were a HUGE hit!  (Thank you Justin and Kami Ellingson.)  Taite and Calla both grabbed a Cutie.  Taite bit into his to open it.

Taite:  “Yuck!!  Mom!  Can I have an orange peeler or something?  This tastes terrible!”

Me:  “Sure.  Grab a spoon to open it.  Just this morning I read the Cutie box and it says ‘Coated with vegetable resin or beeswax to maintain freshness.’  That can’t taste good.”

They went back to get a spoon to open the Cutie.  Then Lincoln walked up spitting and showing me his cutie with a small bite out of the rind.

Lincoln: “Mom!  I do not want to eat this!  It has ear wax on it!”

That was just what I needed to help me relieve some stress today.  I’m definitely going to need a massage after this. Oh, and the weather is fabulous here.  Warm and in the 70’s.  Warm weather, a massage and some laughs – the perfect remedy to a crazy day.

Oklahoma - Day 4 and 5

Day 4 (Tuesday)

Well, if you read my post from the other day that included a description on what great friends Lincoln and Parker have been, there's more to the story.  It went like this:
Me: "Wilson children!  Come here please," I called from Jim and Linda's back patio.  We were going to do some face painting.  Everyone except Calla came immediately.  "Where is Calla?"
Taite:  "She's going to the bathroom in the RV."
Me:  "What?!  Let's go get her."  So we all swiftly walked over to the RV (which is now parked level on the grass in the yard).  Calla met us at the door.  "Calla, were you using the bathroom in here?"
Calla:  "Yes."
Me:  "Ok, everyone look at me.  I'm not going to be able to empty the blackwater tank - the tank with poop and pee in it - before we drive to Dallas.  So the more we use this now, the more likely it is that our drive from here to Dallas Thursday will stink."
Kids:  "Ewww!  Gross!  Pewww!"
Me:  "Ok, ok, ok.  Let's just not use this bathroom anymore since Nana and Papa Jim have two other bathrooms right over there," I point toward the house.  "Just go into the house, please."
Taite:  "Oh, so we shouldn't go in the yard then?"
Me:  A confused look.  "What?!"
Taite:  "Well, Lincoln and Parker went in the backyard yesterday by the tree."

Are we turning into rednecks or have we always been this way? 

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It's the Christmas season so Tuesday night we decided to look at Christmas lights.  Linda knows of a great park that hosts a Christmas lights contest.  About 25 organizations set up a light display in the park.  Patrons drive through the park enjoying the show then cast their vote for the best presentation.  We listened to Christmas music along the way and enjoyed all of it.  I will say, though, that one of our favorite light displays is one we saw on the local news.  It's a Tulsa home with a light display to one of the kids' favorite songs, "What Does The Fox Say?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvweoQBh0ck

The kids got most excited about venturing out to see the lights because I promised we could have Braum's ice cream afterwards.  The drive from the light spectacle to Braum's was about 25 minutes.  Papa Jim suggested we decide which flavor of ice cream we would have before we arrived at Braum's.
"Mint Chocolate Chip!" declared Taite.
"I want Mint Chocolate Chip.  Actually I want Chocolate.  Can I have two, Mommy?" asked our indecisive Lincoln.
"Chocolate Chip Mint, Mommy," whispered Parker meekly to me.
"Um, if we can have two I want Mint Chocolate Chip and Vanilla," announced Calla.
Who knew Mint Chocolate Chip was so popular?! 
Lincoln contemplated all this then innocently and very seriously asked, "How does a cow make Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream?"
I thought that was a very good question.  I told him so and answered, "They must eat a lot of mints and chocolate chips."  Within seconds Taite and Calla were calling me out on my fib and gave Lincoln a correct answer.  I can't fool my nine- and seven-year-olds anymore.

Once we all had finished our ice cream we made the 5-minute trek home.  Then Lincoln and Taite decided they needed to run around the house (shoeless, I might add).  I called everyone inside.  It was time to take off the face paint and get ready for bed.  Here is where we learned something new about Lincoln.  He goes psycho after ice cream!!  He lost all emotional control.  He freaked out about the coconut oil being rubbed on his face to remove the face paint.  He was screaming so loud he couldn't even hear me telling him it was coconut oil and that it won't sting his eyes.  He was screaming so loud Papa Jim rushed to the rescue concerned Lincoln was dying.  After about five minutes (which is five minutes too long of this screaming), he finally calmed down long enough to realize that it didn't hurt.  When I scolded him for his screaming and complete loss of emotional control, he told me I should have told him it wouldn't hurt him.  (Hand on forehead with a head shake.)  So was it the sugar?  Two scoops on a kiddy cone is too much?  Was it the food coloring in the ice cream?  How did my happy, calm, collected, and inquisitive child turn psycho somewhere between Braum's and face-painting-removal?

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Day 5 (Wednesday)

Nana started it yesterday when she decided Taite's pajama pants were too long for him.  "Taite, let's go put a quick stitch in those.  Then you won't be dragging them on the ground.  The stitch will be easy to take out when you grow, too," she said.

Taite reluctantly followed her into her sewing room/spare bedroom.  A few minutes later Calla returns to the living room with a small 'blanket.'  "Taite made it for us," she reported excitedly.  Nana didn't put the stitch in Taite's pajamas.  She taught Taite how to do it!  He enjoyed it so much he asked if he could make something else.  Of course, Nana had tons of material available and he sewed a small blanket the other kids could use while they played house.

"Nana, can I make a pillow?" Taite asked today, remembering how fun it was to use that sewing machine yesterday.

"Sure.  Maybe mom will get some stuffing for us when she goes to Wal-Mart."

By the time I had returned from Wal-Mart his rectangular pieces were sewed together and he was ready for the batting.  He stuffed the pillow and prepared his needle and thread for the final corner stitches.  When he got done it looked pretty cool.  The other kids decided they needed a pillow, too.

"Oww!!" yelled Lincoln as the pins poked at his fingers.   Even with some finger pokes, sewing was a hit!  Nana, Calla, Taite, and Parker walked out to the living area to complete Calla's pillow.  Ten minutes later Nana returned to the sewing room to find small chunks of batting all over the floor!  Lincoln thought it looked like snow.  Nice.  (This is why we can't keep our house on the market after we get home.)

Papa Jim noticed what a good time everyone was having.  "Nana is in heaven," he said.  "She loves sewing but doesn't do much of it anymore."  How cool to have your grandkids have an interest in something you enjoy so much.

Oklahoma nights

It gets cool when the sun goes down in Grove, Oklahoma!  Don't get me wrong, it's nothing like a Minnesota night.  But it's pretty chilly when we're talking thin RV walls.  Upon arrival, Travis opted to sleep inside Nana and Papa Jim's house.  Linda (Nana) offered to blow up her queen bed and have our typical sleeping arrangements inside their house.  They've got two spare rooms with queen beds and we usually add another queen blow up bed in the dining room and just move the bed out of the way during the day.  Instead of making an inconvenient mess I told kids they could sleep in the RV.  The boys jumped all over that!  Trav was against this idea not wanting to unnecessarily waste all the propane for the RV's furnace.  I told him we wouldn't turn it on.  So now we have children who want to sleep in the RV and a promise of no heat. 

I went out to assess the situation and found a small space heater packed in a cabinet.  Perfect!  We'll use electricity instead of propane and have the boys sleep in the back bedroom so we just have to heat one small area.  But I wasn't comfortable with the boys out there by themselves so I opted to sleep out there with them.  Parker (my barnacle) wanted to sleep wherever I was sleeping, so now 4 of us are planning to sleep on the queen-size bed in the RV.  Calla - the only logical kid of the bunch - chose the other spare bedroom's queen-size bed.  She had it all to herself.

As you stand at the foot of the bed looking at us, Parker is cozy-ed up on the left wearing Calla's giant purple 2-layered winter coat and feety pajamas.  I'm in the middle with a sweatshirt, SmartWool socks, and a scarf.  And Lincoln is on the right with his feety pajamas.  We are all covered with two thick, heavy blankets my sister crocheted for us and a comforter.  Where is Taite, you wonder?  He's at the end of the bed...like a dog.  He rolled himself up in two more crocheted blankets and plopped himself as close to the space heater as possible.  As you can imagine, I didn't have much space to straighten out.  So I either slept with my legs crunched up to my chest - fetal-like position - or I straightened out and slept crooked.

The most unique part to the sleeping story is that the RV was parked on a slope in Jim and Linda's driveway.  Last night I was woken up by Lincoln pushing my face and yelling, "Parker!!  Move over!!"  He was at the lower end of our sloped bed.  It was our second night sleeping together in the RV.  Anytime I woke up either night I found myself lifting Parker and moving her toward her side.  Then I would scoot myself over and re-adjust my covers and pillow.  Then I would drag Lincoln over so he didn't fall off the bed.  I guess this time I had remained sleeping for too long and hadn't rearranged us soon enough.

Nana experienced something similar with Calla.  They weren't on a slope, but Papa Jim was snoring too loud for Nana.  She decided to slip into Calla's bed and cuddle up with her for the night (unbeknownst to Calla).  Nana woke up to Calla pulling her hair and yelling, "Lincoln!!  Stop it!!"  I guess Nana's hair was tickling Calla?  Calla says she was having a dream (or maybe a nightmare?).  Nana asked us to check her head in the morning to see if she was a missing patch of hair.

Who would our family be without our drama queen and king, Calla and Lincoln?  As I pray for my children, I pray that Calla and Lincoln receive the spiritual fruit of self control.  I also always pray James 2:19-20 for all of us.  "...be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."  I would prefer if God could magically change us, but apparently that's not how it works.

Travis is flying to Nashville tonight for some meetings.  We'll have a bit more indoor sleeping space here so I think we'll try to squeeze all of us inside without a blow up bed tonight in hopes of kindness toward each other all night long and into the morning.  Oh, the adventure of bedtime.

Oklahoma - Trip days 2 and 3

I love warm weather!!!  As I packed the RV last week I asked Travis to please turn on the RV heater so the place warm enough to stand on the carpet without shoes.  (You can't wear snow and mud-filled shoes in the RV.)  Some of the days were so cold and the wind was so swift I couldn't even bear bringing the loads of belongings from the dining room through the garage and out to the RV parked in the driveway just 45 feet away.  I mean...-9...and that wasn't with windchill.  I still had to change some light bulbs on the front porch.  Every time I thought of it, I shivered.  I procrastinated until the very last moment hoping the weather would change.  It did.  The temperatures hit positive numbers Wednesday...5.  (That's f-i-v-e.)  Not much of a windchill either.  A great day to pack and change light bulbs.

DAY 2
Fast forward to Oklahoma (the first stop on our trip).  We crashed the Christmas party at Uncle Gail's house Sunday.  Much of the Boots family (Trav's mom's family) was there including Gail's daughters, Ti and Jackie, and their families.  Their kids are all about the same ages as our kids.  It was GORGEOUS outside!!!  In the 50's!  I stood in the backyard facing the sun, soaking up the Vitamin D.  All nine kids ran around playing football and tag.  They climbed trees, had a tug-of-war, and jumped rope.  Taite and cousin Landrey took Uncle Gail on a nature walk and Taite taught them about petrified wood.  With the snow and rain they've had in Claremore, Oklahoma, the ground was covertly muddy.  Of course Taite and Lincoln were a mess and didn't even notice - they had mud from head to toe!  The girls, on the other hand, noticed and did their best to enjoy the outside without becoming a disaster.  Parker hurried desperately toward me to show me her now-muddy sparkly silver shoes.  No tears, but she was concerned.  We'll work on getting them clean.

Our day was wonderful.  I'd like to say that the weather was the best part about it - because that was a big deal.  But the bigger deal was spending time with such a fabulous family.  Grandma Boots (or Nanny Boots as the rest of this southern family affectionately calls her) is now 90.  Here is a photo of her with 9 of her 17 great grandchildren.  The Boots' family is wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.

DAY 3
Monday's weather was even better...60's!  I sound like a true Minnesotan, I'm still talking about weather.  But it was really nice outside.  So nice that we decided to wash the RV!  And boy did it need it!  The Flyer needed a washing before we left but, as you can imagine, it was just too cold.  Today we were outside in t-shirts, scrubbing away.  We played cribbage and colored pictures outside, too.  We had a hard time bringing ourselves inside.

Inside or outside, Lincoln and Parker entertained us Monday.  They've always been the best of friends/worst of enemies.  Monday they were the best of friends.  They did everything together.  Lincoln would decide to do something and Parker would 'decide' to do the same thing.  Then Lincoln would ask Parker if she wanted to play something else and then she would choose the next activity.  They made up songs.  They played with the farm toys in the garage.  They both helped wash the tires on the Flyer.  They colored together and played UNO.  They even spent time seeing how goofy they could be.  Everything.  I can only hope the rest of the trip is like this!  It's heart-warming to see siblings enjoy each other's company like this.

Parker looked at me and said, "Mommy!  Look at my microphones!"  I corrected her only after she showed everyone in the family her microphones.  ;-)

December 14, 2013 - We left.

“How does it feel?” Travis asked as we crossed the Iowa border.  He was wondering how it felt to leave 15250 Nautica Circle, Prior Lake, to embark upon our 6-week journey.  I wasn’t sure how to answer. 

It’s been a month since we made the commitment to put our house on the market while we are RVing for these 6 weeks.  It sounded logical at the time - then we don't have to worry about keeping our house clean for showings, right?  What better time is there to put your house on the market than when you won’t be in it?!

It was jury duty that brought me back to Minnesota after our trip to Cancun, Mexico, mid-November.  Originally my plan was to stay in Oklahoma for the following two weeks until Thanksgiving.  Then Travis’ brother and his wife would join us all in Oklahoma at Jim and Linda's (Trav's parents) house for the holiday.  A call to jury duty changed our plans.  Travis and I flew back to Minnesota while our children remained in Oklahoma with Jim and Linda for those following weeks.  Yes, Jim and Linda had the kids and dog for 3 weeks without us!  (Lord, bless them immensely!!) It made sense that I would use the time I was without kids and dog (as long as I was not on a jury) to prepare our house.

Scott County has a fabulous jury system.  Potential jurors are divided into groups.  They then call in at 4:30 pm and listen to a recording to find out if their group has to show up to court the following morning.  If not, they are required to call in again at 11:30am the next day.  I abided by all the rules and called twice daily.  Never once was I called in!!!  Instead I spent the entire time with my mom (and some with my sister) spackling, painting, and Magic Eraser-ing walls.  We de-cluttered and organized every room…and every closet.  We used Old English or Aulwood on every cabinet door and piece of wood trim.  Windows were washed.  Carpets were cleaned.  I mean, my mom even had a toothbrush and the Resolve scrubbing every stain in the carpet!!!!!  (We got her something extra nice for Christmas.)  The handyman and our favorite cleaning person both came to our house Thursday.  Our children and dog were no longer allowed in our house.  They all stayed at my mom’s house Thursday and Friday nights.   

Our friend Teri came Friday to take pictures of our house.  She sent them to our realtor and the house is now officially listed…for these next 6 weeks.  I could barely handle the small messes Travis and I were making.  I told Travis he couldn’t shower in our bathroom because it has a glass door and I didn’t want water stains on the door.  Can you imagine the toys, clothes, artwork, and school messes?  Mail and meals?  Bathrooms?  And KC’s hair!!!  No thanks.  I will not be able to keep up with it.  We won’t be able to have the house on the market while we are home.  How do people do that?!?! 

Amidst the house preparation we packed the RV for this trip.  I have no idea if I’ve packed everything we need.  I guess we’ll find out as we go.  Besides preparing a house and packing for a 6-week trip, we continued with school.  Both Taite and Calla had their biggest-school-projects-of-the-year due last Tuesday.  There were Christmas preparations for the Wilson’s Christmas and Christmas at school (homeschool school).  Our Christmas card/letter got 50% done (you probably saw the Facebook post or received an email).  And, on top of all of that, there was still MonaVie business to take care of.  I’m stressed out just reading about all this.  I’m sure my health score has dropped a color.  MonaVie just came out with a new herb capsule to manage stress and anxiety.  I learned it works!  As long as I take it. 

"How does it feel?” Travis asked an hour and a half into our drive.  Well, when I saw a for sale sign in my yard Thursday my jaw dropped and I almost cried – I’m not sure if it was tears of sadness or joy.  It all became a tiny bit more real.  Today when we got on Interstate 35 driving south it again became a hair more real.  Just a hair.  Just give me an entire day where I don’t have to plan, prepare, organize, clean, or search for any piece of rogue fuzz and I’ll be in a completely different place.  

Embarking our next adventure,
The Wilson's

 

(Notice the "For Sale" sign in the background.  Yikes!)

Christmas Card 2013

Our family just keeps getting weirder.  We know it.  We’re fine with it.  It was just two years ago that we were feeling like God was calling us to homeschool.  “Why,” you ask?  We still aren’t 100% sure.  We were perfectly pleased with our public schools and I was counting down the days until all four kids were gone all day!!  Boy life changed...and now we can’t imagine it differently.  One of our favorite parts of homeschooling is the flexibility to travel.  Last year we bought a 1999 Itasca Sunflyer RV (affectionately named the Nautica Flyer) and lived my dream of being snowbirds!  We flew south for six weeks and traveled Route 66.  We were studying Native Americans so we examined that culture along the way.  The Flyer eventually landed in California.  If  you can’t find us during a Minnesota winter, check San Diego.  It was an unforgettable trip!  http://priorlakewilsons.blogspot.com/.

We’re feeling God calling us now, too.  So...here goes...we’re being called to farm.  It’s true!  What a perfect addition to homeschooling.  Does anyone have a jean dress I could use?!  Teach me how to put a bun in my hair with a bonnet?!  Seriously!  Never in my life have I wanted to farm.  I never even contemplated it until I married Travis, he’s the farm boy.  I told him I would not move to acreage.  Travis has traveled often for work and I was the lawn manicurist.  No way would I spend days mowing!  Now roles are changing.  Not only does Travis mow with Taite’s weed-whipping help, but he has read every book possible about organic farming (a Joel Salitan groupie).  He has a new plan on how to mow the lawn...with animals! 
   
Are the kids excited about this?  Nobody wants to leave our fabulous, huge, lake access, tennis/basketball court, sand volleyball court, wrap-around front porch, best-neighbors-ever home.  That being said, Taite is already planning how he’ll make a football field at this new place and how he’ll divide his friends on opposing teams.  Calla is trying the latest farm fashions.  She’s got all of us wearing our cowboy (or cowgirl) boots and more.  She is also reading up on horses.  Travis says there is no way we are getting horses, but Calla’s preparing a convincing pro-equestrian argument.  Lincoln is excited to find the best hiding spots (I think he’s planning ways to get out of farm work).  Parker is excited for animals.  If she can hold them that’s a bonus.  Then she can play house with them.  KC is ready to roam.  Is it possible to transition a house dog into a farm dog?  We’ll try.  I’m excited about planting lots of fruit and nut bushes/trees.  I am freaked out about the work it takes to run a farm.  Thankfully God has already sent us some farming angels.  Our friends, the Backlund’s, have agreed to partner with us.  Travis is excited about the whole thing, but, like me, he is committed to his business.  Unlike me, his business is a full-time gig and he won’t have much time to farm.  The Backlund’s are a key ingredient to this farm.  
   
Seven years ago we moved into our Prior Lake home, we had two kids, sent our kids to public preschool, planned to open a wine store, I was a pharmaceutical sales rep, and Travis was working tirelessly to get an insurance business going.  We were set in those ways and would not, could not have written this plan.  It is obvious to us how God has beautifully orchestrated our lives for our good and for His purposes.  In those moments of fear and anxiety we remind ourselves that His plan is much better than our plan, and that He’ll only give us what we can handle.
   
It was in that same way He sent Jesus, the Savior of the world.  Nobody could have planned it the way it happened, and the people of that time expected something much different.  But it was perfect and our family is eternally grateful.  We are also grateful for you and will plan to invite you to the new farm...once we know where it is...and once we make sure a house is on the farm.  ;-)

Christ’s love to you,
Travis (40 in April!), Kate (29 as always),
Taite (9), Calla (7), Lincoln (5), Parker (4), and KC (14!)
Wilson

Lesson #19 ~ We Learned A Lot!

Lesson #19 ~ We learned a lot

In 1997 I participated in a University of Minnesota foreign exchange program.  I went to Venezuela for three months to study Spanish.  My eyes were opened to so many things while I was there.  So many unforgettable experiences are etched into my memory.  And I learned so much about myself.

Just like my experience in Venezuela, this 6-week RV trip is unforgettable.  We see possibilities like we’ve never seen them before.  We saw things we didn’t even know existed.  We felt soft and fuzzy things.  We felt pokey, painful things.  We smelled things that made us want to pass out and things that made us want to eat.  We heard soothing sounds.  We heard ear-piercing sounds.  We tasted delicious things.  We tasted disgusting things.  It was amazing and I pray God lets us experience something like this again.  We are returning to Minnesota a slightly different family - we learned a lot along the way.

We learned:

Our children are very funny and fun

Lincoln is hilarious

Becoming a better person equates to a better marriage and a better family

We can really enjoy where we are

We have incredible friends all around the country

Mindy is the best sister ever

KC is the best dog ever

It’s really fun to travel with Jim and Linda in an RV

We miss Grammy when we are away

Parker is a cuddle bug and has a magnetic pull to my leg

Taite is very responsible

Calla is very helpful

Everyone needs their sleep

I stress easily if I’m paying attention to my phone and get interrupted

The kids can get along with a lot less (one toy each for six weeks!)

The adults can get along with a lot less

Humans need to take better care of animals

Humans need to take better care of the environment

If we want to be healthier, spend time with healthy people

If we want to be more like Christ, spend time with Christ-followers

Pray about everything

Know that our money isn’t our money - it’s God’s

Know that God can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine

Our kids are cute

There is a lot to see and do in our own country

Our family can do well in a confined space for over a month

Quantity time with our kids is as important as quality time

San Diego’s cold 50 degrees is still warmer than Prior Lake’s -2 degrees

Our cheap or free excursions are as, or more, fun than the expensive ones

We don’t lose as many things in our confined space

Our children can play hide and seek anywhere

Taite often gets ‘sick’ when he has to do schoolwork

Lincoln really likes Perplexus

Taite loves to draw, he doesn’t like to write

All of our kids can remember a lot

All of our kids are very intelligent

Lincoln is unbelievably intelligent

Everyone likes animals

Lincoln likes motors and fast things more than animals

We know God has blessed us with much, but it might be more of a blessing to have less

Minnesota is beautiful - even if it's cold

We have a great church family in Minnesota

We have great friends in Minnesota that we miss when we are gone

God makes all things work for good for those who love him and are called to his purpose

Once home, I noticed our kids bickering over their ‘things.’  While it’s important to take care of the things we have, I was disappointed to see them fighting over toys or yelling at a sibling for breaking a toy.  We hadn’t experienced that in weeks.  My friend, Amy Rogers, mentioned a great book she read called Seven.  It’s about a woman who did an experiment in her family, getting rid of all the excess in seven different areas of their lives.  Ultimately it proved to her that the excess is more of a problem than a blessing.  I consider.

We are still living in a place of, "Wow!  We really just did that!  Some people dream of doing that."  Long story short, our family has been impacted for a lifetime.  We are grateful to be back.  We are excited to see what lies ahead for our family.