All Good Things...

...must come to an end.  And that is how it was for our vacation last week.  It was SO wonderful to get away, relax a little, and spend some time with family.  But, it had to end eventually, and here we are, hitting the ground running.  We have a busy summer ahead of us, beginning next week when we head to Sandy Cove Bible Camp where Matt is the speaker for the week.  If you have been with me since last year, you may remember that he spoke there last year.  It would take too long to recap all that happened that week, but you can read about it here..  I do believe it was one of the busiest weeks of the year last year!  Maybe it won't be as hectic this year!

So now, about our vacation.  We have been planning this for some time.  We wanted to go and spend some time in New Hampshire at my brother, Andrew's house.  We had planned to leave on Monday, June 28, but Sunday morning Matt decided he wanted to leave that night after church.  We had a fellowship lunch at church that day, then went home.  I got the kids down for their naps and started packing like a mad woman.  I had planned to pack Sunday night so not much was done.  I worked like that till the second we left for church.  We had a great service at church, then left for NH.  The first few hours were fine.  The kids got settled into their seats, and Matt and I talked and talked.  It was great.  We have been so busy lately, that we haven't had much uninterrupted time to just talk about whatever.  So I really enjoyed that.  It wasn't until we had about 2 hours left that we both were getting a little tired and Matt was a bit weary.  And as we were driving, we suddenly found ourselves in a very dense fog.  Now, I don't know how many of you have travelled in Maine, but it is quite the moose country - and the interstate for most of the way has forest on either side.  So, we were trying to be alert to moose and deer.

So, with having only 2 hours left, Matt had to slow way down just so he could see through the fog.  Up until this time, we had already seen one moose standing right near the side of the road, 2 deer, and one dead fox (well, I think it was a fox).  I was praying the Lord would keep us safe since the fog was so bad and we had seen quite a bit of wildlife so far.  And I believe he did.  At one point, we saw some flashing lights up ahead, but it was hard to see what was going on.  It wasn't until we were right on it that we saw that it was a police car and a tow truck, hooking up a small car to be towed away.  The whole front driver side of the car was smashed, and the whole windshield was gone.  And then we saw it - all over the road.  Moose guts.  And a large, dead moose.  I didn't see the driver or any passengers, so I don't know it they are alright.  I hope so.  Hitting a moose is never a good thing, but definitely not when you are in a smaller vehicle.  Moose are quite tall and have skinny, scrawny legs, so if you hit them in a smaller car, the heaviest part - the body - comes down near the top instead of on your hood.  We are so thankful to have made it safely!

We got there around 2 a.m. and quietly went into the house and all fell asleep.  It was fun to wake up and be there and start our fun.  That Monday Danielle and I went grocery shopping and got ready for our trip the next day.  A sweet couple in their church have a beautiful cabin on Maidstone Lake in Vermont, about 3 hours from Andrew's house.  They offered it to us for the week, so Tuesday morning we all packed up and headed there.  It was a beautiful drive and a wonderful several days.  We were away from everything - internet, cell phones - it was nice and quiet.  We went to a little beach to swim, though it was a bit too windy and we had to leave after about 20 minutes.  The cabin was right on the lake and there were two kayaks and one canoe at our disposal.  We had chicken on the grill one night, and pizza on the grill another night (SOOO good!), and had s'mores by the campfire.  We celebrated Canada Day with sparklers for the kids.  After the kids went to bed each night, us adults would go out and sit by the campfire and just talk.  One night we played Scrabble (I came in 4th :-)  haha!)

Thursday we went back to Andrew's house, and that night Danielle and I had girls' night out.  It was so fun!  Danielle and I have not done that together in a very long time.  Friday we just hung around the house while Matt and Andrew and Danielle's dad went golfing.  Saturday, Matt went to Danielle's brother-in-law's house (Pierre and Deana's house) and helped Pierre lay their new floor in their house.  Meanwhile, Danielle and I took the kids to the mall where we feasted in Chick-fil-A (yummy!) and let them play in the play area at the mall (that is, until a bunch of big kids came to play and were running around knocking our kids down!  I was NOT happy about that!)  Sunday morning we went to church.  I really enjoyed being in Andrew's Young Marrieds class.  Then, after lunch and naps on Sunday, we went to Nashua to see the fireworks.  I have not seen fireworks in a LONG time, and my kids have never seen them.  We had a TON of fun.  I wasn't sure how my kids would react - with it being loud and past their bed time - but they did great!  Liam kept saying, "Oh wow!" and "There's another one!"  Leila said, "Oh, nice!" Liam is still talking about it and asking when we will see more.

Monday, yesterday, we came home.  We had a great time.  It was busy at times, but a different kind of busy.  And we loved it.  I think Matt was able to get a bit refreshed and refocused, able to clear his mind a bit and our kids had fun with their cousins (with not TOO much fighting! haha!).  I am so thankful that I have some of my family so close.  Colorado is so far away.  So it is nice to have someone near us to go visit a couple times a year!  Now I can't wait until Christmas when my WHOLE family is together in Colorado!  We are renting a "cabin" (more like a big house!) in the mountains in Estes Park!  It should be fun with all of my siblings, their spouses, and kids - 12 in all (so far! ;-) )

So, I am back.  I hope to post several more times this week of stuff that I have been thinking about lately.  But...

Until next time...