Trusting in God

Tuesday, February 21:
Today was a whirlwind. We spent pretty much the whole day on the phone trying not to have our identities stolen and to track down proof that we owned the truck, since all our paperwork was in it. Sean made calls while working with patients, while on breaks, and at every possible free moment. I made calls while my children homeschooled themselves and while trying to keep them happy and occupied and not stressed.

Then our first miracle came... A man named Steven Johnson called Sean. He said that on his way home from work, he drove by a field next to the highway and saw tons of papers littering the area, so he decided to pick them up. He noticed that the papers were personal information and they all had our name on them. He knew they were important. He picked his son up from school, and they went back to pick up every paper they could find!!! When we got to his house that evening, he had a file box and another bag full of our papers! What a blessing! What an angel of a man!

THEN... about 2 minutes after we walked in the door, the Dallas Police called. The truck was found!!! The thieves abandoned it in a neighborhood about 40 miles from us, in south Dallas. AND... The 5th wheel hitch is still there!!! AND... The engine is still in tact!!! Those were the two most important items on the truck. However, the inside has been completely gutted, and the tailgate is gone. Seats, speakers, door panels, consoles, etc... It's an empty box on the interior. In fact, that's what was in there-- an empty box. That's what the thieves sat on to drive it to the neighborhood to dump it!

We are feeling very blessed though... The interior is replaceable, and the most important things to us have been recovered. God has surely taken care of us! He is worth trusting!!!

Passport to Adventure--With a Whole New Twist

Monday, February 20:
Today was mostly great, at least 3/4 of the day. After we finished our school work, we headed to the library for a special program they have called Passport to Adventure. Each month, they teach the kids all about a country. This month we learned about all things Australia. The kids had a great time! Then we continued our search for awesome parks, and found a unique and fun one! This was actually an outdoor play area at an outdoor mall. It had a maze (in the shape of Texas, of course!), 4 mini buildings making up a play town, and a real train caboose with activities and seats inside. If it weren't so blasted windy in this place, we would've stayed much longer! :)

Good thing we didn't stay though, because as soon as we got home, we got a text message from Sean: "My truck is stolen. Calling police now." WHAT?!?!

Sadly, it was not a joke. Sean had stopped at Lowe's for some supplies, and came out to find his truck gone. I quickly sent out a request for prayers and went to pick up Sean and meet the police. We began to recount all the things that were in the truck... 5th wheel hitch...a few empty boxes we had wanted...some random candy (including Sean's beloved chocolate covered coffee beans he brought back from Hawaii)...Sean's keepsake box...Sean's suits that he had planned to take to the cleaners... OH!!! And our file bin! With ALL of our personal information-- birth certificates, social security cards, vehicle titles, tax paperwork, sales documents from large purchases...everything. Great...

This evening has been very sober. We are trying to figure out what the next step is, and all the steps after that. We are asking everyone who is willing to pray-- for the truck, for the hitch (it's very expensive), and especially for the threat of identity theft! However, my heart was touched at Aile's prayer: "Dear Jesus, please help the thief to learn about You and how much You love him, and to turn away from his sin."

Time to file a fraud alert with the credit reporting companies and try to get some sleep...

So what IS a natatorium?

Sunday, February 19:

Family fun day again! Yay!

Today we went to the Rodenbaugh Natatorium. Is was completely awesome. :) A natatorium, as it was described on the website, is basically an indoor swimming pool. But this was way more than that! I wish I could have taken my camera in there, but I was afraid it would get ruined...

Anyway, this place had two huge swimming pools. One had several lanes for lap swimming, and a large diving board area. The other half of the building was taken up by another large swimming pool, a kiddie pool area with a huge play structure/slide thing that had squirty things and fountains all over and around it, a lazy river, and a huge twisty water slide! We all had a blast! Oh, and in the middle of all that fun stuff was the largest hot tub I have ever seen--very relaxing! :) That was a great way to just relax and have some plain old good fun with the kids!

Milestones and Hot Air Balloons

February 16:

Well, today was a wonderful day! First off, BRENNER READ HIS FIRST BOOK! His little face was so full of excitement and joy as he sounded out words and realized he could do it! YAY, BRENNER! He has been wanting this for a long time, and I am so happy for him! I'll try to post pics of him reading soon... :)

Next, we went exploring. We found a place called Erwin Park--a huge place full of open fields and hiking/biking trails and creeks and ponds, tons of picnic and bonfire options, and a few swing sets scattered around for good measure. As we were hiking around and searching for the perfect walking sticks, the kids saw a truck drive by with a hot air balloon basket in the back. They all ran down the trail to see where it would go, and we got to watch the whole process! Fun! We had just read a story about hot air balloons, so their interest was already piqued. Here are some pics from our experience there:

Can you spot the hot air balloon way off in the distance in that last photo? :)

Our First TX Lesson

Just a side note...

In all the adventure so far, the first thing we have learned about Texas is that Texas REALLY likes Texas! It's everywhere! My kids learned to recognize the state flag the first day we were here, and other reminders of this great state are literally everywhere you go. Sort-of amusing at times, actually... :)

Family Fun Day

Sunday, February 12:

We have decided to declare Sundays as Family Fun and Exploration Days while we're traveling! There are many sights to see, and the kids and I will experience some things during the week, such as playgrounds and the library and such. But we want Daddy to be able to see the best sight with us!

Our first Sunday was actually not that exciting since we had to do laundry and figure out water leaks and heating issues in the RV, but we did go out to breakfast AND dinner, which is a rarity, so that was fun. :) For breakfast we headed to Spoons Cafe in the historic downtown district of McKinney. It was good times and a unique atmosphere. For dinner, we all wanted Thai food. I'm really very excited that all members of our family love Thai food! That is truly great! :) After our day of eating out, we finally made it to Super Target to get some groceries so we wouldn't go broke on food!

We have so far enjoyed our cozy family worships in the evenings, and are having fun on our new adventure! Looking forward to continuing to organize and adjust to the RV, and exploring our new town! :)

On the road pics...

This picture was supposed to be a picture of the RV driving past the Welcome to Texas sign, but I think I snapped the pic a second too soon. Oh well. :)

Meeting New Friends

Our first Sabbath in Texas...

Well, I better start at the beginning... We ran out of propane in the night, or so we thought, and we FROZE! Found another water leak--this is number 3 now, but who's counting, and still have no hot water, so we took showers in the bathhouse of the RV park.

We went to Richardson SDA Church to check it out and ended up staying all day! Had potluck, ran and got a heater for the RV because it was supposed to 20 degrees that night (!), went back to the church so Aile and Brenner could join a new Adventurers club, ran back to the RV to turn on the new heater to give it time to heat up the place before bedtime, and went back to the church for a Valentines banquet! Wow! What a day! The banquet was very fun, and Aile was grateful to make a couple new friends. We were thankful for good food, nice people, and some adult time while the kids played! Yay! And now back to the RV...

So when we turned on the new heater, it was 49 degrees in the RV. When we came back 4 hours later, tired and looking for warm beds, it was even colder! 48 this time! We wore 2 or 3 layers plus 4 blankets to sleep, but we made it! We will figure out this RV yet!

First Day in Texas

Found an RV store to get supplies--toilet paper and sewer hose!-- and I took the kids to a park in Plano while Sean got the mandatory chicken pox vaccine for this job. (I thought that was an odd requirement for a 40 year old!) We also found a much closer RV park with lots of amenities, so we moved!

The Journey Begins

We have become the Griswalds... Or Robin Williams' family in RV... or maybe we're just our crazy selves... Whatever the reasoning, we have embarked on a new and life-changing adventure. Full time RVing. Traveling to a new location every 13 weeks as Sean does travel therapy. Sounds like the Ultimate Homeschool Field Trip to me... We shall see!

So, here's the start of it all... We pack it all up (well, not ALL--we sell a lot, toss a lot, give a lot--it's time to learn to live simply!), and head on out:

February 8, 3pm: Okay, Chattanooga, we're out of here, but we will miss you! TEXAS, here we come!

Mile 18: We stop at 3 different truck stops before finding one where we can air up truck tires. The CD player in the van breaks.

Mile 114: Somewhere in Alabama. Due to aforementioned CD player error, we've been listening to Aile's iPod. So if anyone in the Behold the Lamb of God cast needs an understudy, Aile and I are now well equipped! Asking when we will be done driving began at mile 89.

Mile 155: The kids start yelling, "There's the Statue of Liberty!" I'm thinking I know I didn't make a wrong turn that big, are they crazy?! But no, there it was, a small scale replica, fire torch blazing... Good old' Boy Scouts of America...

Mile 238: We almost run out of diesel fuel in the truck because apparently not all diesel stations are properly marked on Sean's nifty gas app. Gotta love "smart" phones! Meanwhile, we eat at a Subway in a gas station because it's the ONLY place in town to eat! Yikes!

Mile 304: Stopped for the night in Meridian, Mississippi. Night night for now! We'll be on the road again tomorrow for the next 500 miles! (We stayed in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart, which was interesting. Conveniently, though, there was a McDonalds inside, so we could get an easy breakfast. The boys were enamored by the life-sized Ronald McDonald sitting on the bench in the store entryway.)

Mile 567: Cops!!! Saw 10 cops in a span of about 20 miles! Yikes! These guys in Louisiana ae serious!

Mile 602: Taco Bell in Shreveport, Louisiana. I asked Caelum what he has been doing in daddy's truck, and he looked at me incredulously-- "Going down the highway!"

Mile 629: Entered Texas! Saw 6 or 7 more cops pulling people over as they crossed the state line from Texas to Louisiana! Wow!

Mile 708: Almost there! Last stop in Lindale, Texas. We are off the interstate now. Now we get to choose which RV park we like best!

Mile 806: We have landed in McKinney! Sean has had his crash course in backing up a behemoth RV, we've had our first water leak debacle, we've finally figured out how to turn all of the lights on, and now we're going to get some sleep! We'll explore Texas on the morning! :)