Home

This is how our trip back home to Kentucky started this morning. We thought we might be in for another long trip home. While it was a long trip (about 12.5 total hours) the weather wasn't nearly as bad as the way up to New York.

For the first few hours things looked like the pic, or at least with wintry slushy conditions, but once we hit Erie and headed south things started to clear.

It's good to be home.

Praise the Lord for a great trip and great Christmas vacation with family. We loved seeing everyone, and even got to see much of our extended family too this time.

We are so blessed!

Over The River And Through The Woods

Here's another shot from our trip up to Grandma and Grandpa's in NY... what a great crew!

Blizzard

It was close to blizzard conditions as we headed north for Christmas today. We just got in about an hour ago. Praise the Lord we made it safely!

Welcome home to the frozen tundra!

Countryside Longings

I've lately here been dreaming of a cabin in the woods - mountain woods that is - a long driveway, wood stove, cozy nights inside tucked away from the cold snowy elements out....

I've also got this random longing to travel and see the country side, especially those things of the "grand" scale... Mountains, oceans, evergreens, highways, lakes, and all things outdoors in God's creation.

Maybe that's why I wanted to flip through a picture book of our nation tonight. Maybe that's why in general I love maps... because they take me somewhere.

With an Atlas or map I can explore the countryside, see new places, go on an adventure, all while sitting on my comfortable couch.

Alas, I must go...

I have some exploring to to do. ;)

Braggin'

Just to brag on my mother-in-law - she's knows what to get me! She surprised me with this gift when they visited last month. A perfect combination of maps and pictures, I love it!

Thanks Mom!

Home

There and back again, though, my journey lasted only about 30 hours.

To the rainy Northwest (Portland) and back. It was a fun adventure. I'll miss my traveling buddy ;)

Back in Kentucky tonight with my family - check out God's portrait in the southern sky.

No special effects needed. Just the Creator's creativity.

Life Boost

What's up with the soap?

Nothin'.

Except that I'm on the road again, traveling with my wife's grandmother back to beautiful Oregon.

Turning right around to head back home.

Bonus? The 36-year-old-never been-married-ad-agency-designer-by-day-band-member-by-night that I got to hang out with on the plane gave me some great advice:

Sometimes that kick in the pants is actually a boost.

I'll remember that.

Surprise!

Now that the cat's out of the bag, I can share more details :)

I recently spent a few days traveling to the west coast of the country. My recent posts included pictures of Arizona, Washington and Oregon. But I purposely tried to not get into too many details, and didn't really explain why I was making the trip.

We've been working for about six weeks to get my father-in-law's mother (my wife's grandmother) out to Kentucky. We had always wanted to get out to Oregon to see my wife's grandmother again, but just weren't sure when that would happen. So we decided to try to bring her to us instead of us going out there.

We weren't sure if Liz's grandmother would go for this, seeing I had only met her once in my life and she's getting up there in years a little bit. But she showed herself to be a young great grandmother when she didn't put up a fight at all, but said yes to going on this little adventure!

My mother-in-law and father-in-law we're making a trip to Kentucky this week, so we thought that would be a great opportunity to bring her out and surprise my father-in-law at the same time.

Well, it all worked together when they came to my brother-in-law's house today (many people have been working hard to keep this a secret and make this happen!) and, get this, my father-in-law's mother from Oregon opened the door for them! What a blast!! He was so surprised and had no idea!

The look on his face, the tears in Grandma's eyes, and the joy in everyone's hearts made it all worth it. Praise the Lord!

The View

No, not that view.

But check out the view from Hayden Island, Oregon across the Columbia River into Washington.

Beautiful.

That was this morning. Back in KY tonight.

The journey is almost complete...

Kentucky

One of my favorite things to do is to peruse the Kentucky state visitor's guide. Or any visitor's guide for that matter. So, when I was able to pick the 2012 Kentucky Visitor's Guide up while visiting Cumberland Falls this weekend, I was pumped.

I love the fact that adventures are waiting right in our backyard - all we need to do is be willing to open our eyes to see them.

So Kentucky, be warned... here we come!

Blessed

Our trip to NY to be with family during the loss of my Grandmother was such a meaningful trip. The time with family was priceless and meant so much to me. With my sister and I living out of state and my other siblings and cousins starting their own families or dealing with busy schedules, one evening all together makes for special memories.

Though it was an emotional trip, continually fighting back tears it seemed, it was a blessed trip. My Grandmother was a good woman who knew the Lord, so I can't even imagine what it is like for her right now, in heaven with Jesus! Many wonderful things were said about her, and I am thankful for my "Grandma" the Christian heritage she and all my Grandparents have passed down to all of us, as I now do my best to share that heritage with my children.

We greatly appreciate all prayers for us and my extended family during this time.

Blessings.

Dinner Stop

O'Charley's anyone??

On a side note - a great alternative to fast food for big families is calling ahead to a restaurant on the way. Don't order drinks - bring some with you, order from their deals, and split meals, and you'll pay about the same as you would getting fast food - or less! (And you wont feel as bad afterward:)

On the Road Again

Our family headed back out on the road again today. Liz's grandfather passed away this past week so we are traveling to be with the family in this time. We appreciate prayers for my wife and her family during this difficult season.

We enjoyed sunny skies and clear roads up to the frigid north as we drove today, and we shot a couple pics from the trip. Enjoy!

Our babies... they travel great!

Me and my better half :)

Columbus

View coming into Cincinnati from Kentucky

48 Hour Christmas

Christmas Day was a great opportunity to see old friends and family. We started the day worshiping God and celebrating the birth of our Savior with our former church family in Albion, NY. It was great to see old friends and familiar faces. We then continued packing for our return trip to Kentucky, then enjoyed festivities at my parents and desert with my wife's extended family. All in all, a great day with family and friends.

If it had been a normal day, we probably would have concluded the day with some more packing to leave in the morning and then some hanging out. However, we decided to give it a shot to drive through the night. So at around 10:45pm Christmas night, we left Albion, NY and headed for KY.

Needless to say, My wife and I are pretty wiped at the moment, as we took turns making the drive. The bed is sounding awfully good except for the semi-nauseous feeling I have from packing down Mountain Dew, Doritos, Reese's and Sour Patch Kids in an attempt to keep myself awake during the late our of the night. I am in definite need of a body purge (no more junk food!). So was it a good idea to drive through the night? Not so sure, but either way, we are back home.

I am hoping to post some more pics from our 10 day adventure here in the near future, so check back soon.

Hope your Christmas Day was filled with peace and joy in Christ, and great memories with those you love (and hopefully more sleep than what we got!)

Back Together

The oldest four of our kids were split up to both sets of grandparents in NY while Liz, our youngest son Caleb, and I celebrated our 10th anniversary in the warm sun of Florida (Caleb was our chaperone ;-)

We were all back together last night after being apart for these few days; it was so good to see each of our children. With Mom and Dad being back, there of course were some surprises to be passed out from the trip - smiles and gifts shown above.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My wife and I are enjoying some much appreciated R&R to celebrate 10 years of marriage together. We will also be enjoying some time with family for Chrtmas over the next little bit.

I wanted to let my readers know that for the next few days leading up to and through Christmas I'll be sharing some pics and short thoughts from our journeys and time with family with you. Please enjoy, and may God bless you as you celebrate this wonderful time of year with those you love.

By the way, the pic above is a shot of the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, taken Sunday night. Our view is absolutely gorgeous!

On the Road

We had a great trip up to NY to see family. The kids rode fantastic to say the least, for what is a long drive for them.

As you can see, we hit some snow as we got north of Columbus, OH. Unfortunately, shots like these are hard to come by in Kentucky.

Though not all snow storms are fun to drive in, most bring out the adventurer side of me :)

Back Home

South Beach Babies

Back home....

After a crazy day of traveling, I pulled into the house last night a little after 12:30 am. The day started in Palm Beach Gardens, on to South Beach, Miami, to the Miami Airport, to Charlotte, then Knoxville, Corbin, and then finally back to Somerset, KY. After a busy time in Florida for work and the travel home, I'm whooped.

It was so good to be back home and with my family. When the kids woke up this morning, I had the chance to give them big hugs and then pull some goodies out of my bag that I brought home for them. Fun moments for sure...

Below are a few more photos from my trip to southern Florida, including South Beach as well as a great place for seafood there - CJ's Crab Shack on Ocean Drive.

Enjoy!

South Beach

PGA National Resort & Spa

View of the Atlantic from the Westin

Fisherman's Platter, delish!

Looking Across Ocean Drive toward South Beach, eating at CJ's Crab Shack

Ocean view from South Beach

Almost Home

The journey is almost complete...

Perspective

We had another great day today with Grandpa and Grandma and the family. After a visit to The Apple Barn and then having a blast at Wonder Works, the day was full and we were ready to head for home.

Our van had other plans for us.

It had been acting funny on this trip, showing signs of an issue we had experienced in the past. We prayed and were ready to head for home in spite of or concerns, but our van wouldn't have it.

We headed over to a gas station to make a quick stop before we headed out, and our vehicle ended up parked in front of the gas pump for over two hours (the pic is a snapshot of our view across the road - some will recognize where this is in Pigeon Forge :). The only movement it had the rest of the night was on the back of a tow truck.

I was frustrated. No doubt.

But... Thanks to my in-laws, graciously taking us from gas station to hotel in trips. Thanks to Mike from the auto repair shop who came with a smile after a long day at work to chauffeur our van to the shop. Thanks to Diane who was so kind and sympathetic at the hotel we had to book. Thanks to my wife and kids who when we were given smoking rooms incorrectly - didn't complain, neither about the smelly room or the fact that we then were packing up our belongings and changing hotel rooms at 11 o'clock at night to get a non-smoking room.

So as I finish this blog post from our hotel room, waiting to hear the diagnosis regarding our van in the morning, I have so much to be thankful for. And thank you to everyone who reminded me of that tonight :)