On the Road Again...

Well, another chapter of our journey has come to an end. This past Monday we packed up our traveling circus and left Colorado. We are currently in Amarillo until next Tuesday, then will head back to the Dallas area for a few weeks.

We spent about six weeks in Colorado, most of which we were in Springfield, where both sets of Ryan's grandparents live. Springfield is a small town in southeast CO, most of the residents are farmers. Ryan's grandparents on his mother's side (the Wesslers) live on a farm about 10 miles outside of town, this is where we set up camp for our time there. We are extremely grateful to them for letting us take over their home for several weeks. It hasn't always been easy on me being "homeless", but I also know it isn't easy to have someone else invade your home for an extended period of time. In case we didn't say it enough - Thank you, Grandpa & Grandma Wessler! We will always cherish the memories of our time there. We also enjoyed spending time with Grandpa & Grandma Williams (Ryan's grandparents on his dad's side) while in Springfield. Carter loved raiding their toy closet and always had a blast at their house.

One of the things we were looking forward to about spending time there was the slower pace of life. We were able to relax a bit more and enjoy some great family time. Ryan had to do a little bit of work for his job, but other than that, we had very little responsibilities. We were able to help out with some odds and ends on the farm and occasionally eat at one of the three restaurants in town. And we rarely had to worry about having cash, because most places in town just "put it on Melvin's account." :) I was thinking about what a contrast it will be to live in Bucharest, Romania, a city of over 2 million, rather than Springfield, CO, population: 1,500. On the other hand, the feelings of unfamiliarity and desperate longing for a Sonic Diet Vanilla Coke were probably good preparation for me.

In addition to our time in Springfield, we spent a week traveling up to Colorado Springs to visit other family and friends, and also enjoyed a weekend ski trip. While all these travels and transitions have presented some challenges, especially with the kids, we are so thankful that we have had this opportunity. We have made wonderful memories with our own little family and also with many extended family members and friends. I also feel that I should take this opportunity to mention how thankful we are for Ryan's employer, The Beck Group. They have been nothing but supportive of us since Ryan shared our plans and have allowed him to work remotely during this time. None of these experiences would have been possible were it not for their flexibility. I'm continually amazed at the way God works out the details in our lives!

In the spirit of being open and honest, I will say that over the past few weeks, I've been struggling with feelings of homesickness and a variety of other emotions. We still have a long road ahead before we will have a place to call our home, but once we reach the end of that road, I know that these memories will be priceless!