A summary for days six, seven, and eight!

 

Traveling North

 

 

Now traveling on the Alaskan Highway!

The last three days have been busy with seeing family, friends, and traveling. I think it's been a tad overwhelming for them, as today three of the four were crying in the truck wanting to go home!

 

 

Enjoying time with the cousins in Calgary

We spent Sunday visiting family in Calgary, Alberta. We visited Solid Rock Baptist Church with Elle and Becky in the morning. Then we caught up with some friends that I went to college with, Joy and Eric Jensen, and  visited with their family. It was a condensed visit, but they are such good friends that it was kinda like just picking up where we left off seven years ago (minus the six boys between us!). Following that visit, we headed to church at Old Path Baptist Church where our brother-in-law, Jason Bueckert, is pastoring. Since Jason was out of town, they needed a piano player for the evening service. I am so THANKFUL that my parents gave me piano lessons and for the years that Mrs. Hammond poured into me.  I really enjoyed the opportunity to play, even though I wasn't familiar with all the songs! Roger gave a brief synopsis of our trip and they took up a love offering. It was an unexpected blessing and one for which we are very thankful for their generous giving.  After the evening service, we headed back to Roger's sister house and enjoyed a joyous and chaotic evening celebrating Christmas early together. We are thankful for the opportunity to visit family, and it was truly a blessing.

Nancy Falconer, myself, and an unhappy Travis

We left Calgary, Alberta on Monday morning. We traveled for 8.5 hours to Grande Prairie, Alberta. Roger has friends there from long years ago, but they were willing to host us. Dustin and Nancy Falconer opened their home, blessed us with their hospitality, and gave us a place to rest without having to pay for a hotel room. We gathered up our belongings and pulled out of Grande Prairie about 9am. It was a crisp morning, starting out at -9degrees. But the scenery was gorgeous as we traveled north, and our thermometer did reach 17 degrees at one point. No amount of picture taking can do justice to God's creation out here...but I've been taking pictures anyway! We spotted our first caribou and that was fun. The farther north we travel, the father apart the gas stops become, and the fewer cars we see. We probably traveled over 200 miles without passing more than 20 domestic vehicles. We saw quite a few pulp trucks, but you definitely get the feeling of isolation.

 

Beautiful scenery

Please continue to pray for us as we have a long travel day tomorrow. From Fort Nelson, BC, to Whitehorse, Yukon is 670 miles. The scenery will be breathtaking, I'm sure, but it will be a long time between stops. The truck has run amazingly well since Rapid City, SD, so we are very thankful for God's mercies. Please pray that the boys will adjust quickly once we reach our final destination. Traveling is getting old for them, and Wyatt was crying in the car today saying he just "wants to go back to 'consin!" Garett hasn't asked about doing school...so we'll have a few days we need to catch up on once we get to Manley Hot Springs. We've been trying to do a little in the car  but space is limited! Also, I have a wisdom tooth coming in that is really bothering me. I haven't had any trouble with my teeth for years, but it does seem that as soon as we stepped off of our home porch and into the truck, Satan has been hard at work to discourage us.

 

We have a lot to rejoice in tonight and I've listed a few below:

Thankful that we weren't in the ditch

1) We made excellent time today traveling and found a hotel in Fort Nelson, BC.

2) Driving on the Alaskan Highway has been breathtaking and gorgeous.

3) We been especially encouraged with the stops we have made to visit family and friends and are thankful for the blessing they have been to us.

4) The love offering on Sunday night was a special encouragement to us just solidifying in our minds that God will provide for us every step of the way.

 

We love you all and appreciate your prayers.