Settling In

We are learning many things already and classes have not even officially began. First, Thomas broke the law. Just in Oregon a day and a half and he pumped his own gas. It is against the law in Oregon to pump your own gas! But some things are the same. There is a Walmart just minutes away and yes we have already spent some time and money there.

Thankfully, unlike the all day rain yesterday, today there were only a few scattered showers. The girls being able to spend most of the day outside helped preserve the little sanity I have left.
We went to a Vineyard church this morning along with some others from the base. It is much like our beloved Cornerstone. Annalise did miss worshipping in the front row with her pal Noah and this church didn't have cookies after service or Mrs. Emmerth to spoil her. The Maxwells really know how to make a first impression...one of the girls accidently set off the fire alarm!

This afternoon we had a meeting about the Children of Destiny program the girls will be attending. We are really excited about what our girls will be doing. They will be going to school with children from Brazil, Canada, Korea, and Latvia. As most of the Korean children do not speak English there is a translator. Before long, all the girls will be speaking some Korean. Annalise is already imitating what she hears her Korean friends say. The girls will be learning the same principles as Thomas and I. They will also be ministering in the local park and a nursing home as well as daily service around the base.

Tonight we all met for some mandatory fun. We did several fun activities to get to know each other. During one, all the Korean students were told they could only speak English. The rest of us could only speak Korean. For those who have joined us for Cross Cultural Orientation, you know the type of activities we did. But as they were all new, we have plenty of fun to share with you when given the opportunity. The night ended with a challenge to go to the extreme. This meant a trip down the zip line! Climb a tree to a platform 30 feet above ground and then zip 800 feet down the hill hanging from a cable. For those who may not know, I am extremely frightened of heights. Yet, I am determined to allow God to stretch me and teach me whatever He desires so up I climbed. Actually I really did well climbing up. I have learned from previous experiences the importance of not looking down. I even did great jumping off the platform. I did not enjoy the incredibly fast ride across campus however! But I did it and cameras were ready to capture my bravery. But you'll have to take my word for it as the person working my camera didn't operate the camera properly. I'll have to do it again, but not too soon! Thomas followed me, but it was not a challenge for him.

Lisa

Day 7

We made it!! We arrived about 1:00 pm, local time. We made good time today. The last part of the trip was in the rain. I am sure the rear shocks of the van are sighing in relief.

This is the entrance drive to the base.

There was a nice collection of items waiting in our room for us.

Thank you for all of your prayers. The trip was a much better experience than I had hoped for. The girls were generally well behaved and travelled well. We didn't have any real problems at all. We were blessed to see the variety of God's creation. That was probably my favorite part of the journey. We are all looking forward to establishing a new normal instead of living in the van.

Please pray for all of us to make the adjustments to life at the base. We look forward to meeting the staff and students on the base. Alayna and Annalise have already found a few children to befriend. Once they learn Korean, they will even be able to talk to them!

Grace,
Tom

Day 6

An awesome gultch and bridge in Idaho!

Not much other than driving today, but we made it into Oregon. We are currently in Pendleton. A little farther down the road than we had anticipated, a first.

We are still on the Oregon Trail, but we anticipate being in Salem around lunch tomorrow.

Day 5

We got a late start today. Across the street from our motel was a outdoor supply store from whom we receive catalogs, Sierra Trading Post. We decided to stop in before we departed Cody. It turned into a much longer stop than planned. Talking to a store clerk about our plans to drive through Yellowstone, he warned that there had been a snow advisory and that some of the roads may have been shut down. As it turned out, the roads were fine. However, our warm clothes had been packed at the bottom of the heap. After some digging we came up with suitable clothes for moderately cold weather. This was not an easy task.

No DVDs played today. Only the wonder of Yellowstone. It was beautiful. We were able to see a bear and her two cubs. (We are sure they were Nana, Nicome, and Chinook from Santa and the Three Bears.) The cubs wrestled and played with each other. It was fun to watch. We also saw a few moose, a coyote, several elk, and lots of Bison. We were able to have our snowball fight. The pictures didn't turn out so well, but you get the idea.

We made it to Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Grace,
Tom

Day 5

Day 5

We had our snowball fight. Not the best pictures, but you get the idea.

We had been warned that traffic might get shut down because of the overnight forecast.

Day 5