Road Trip Stop #2: Taylor University

Road-tripping we will go, road-tripping we will go...

Stop two of our recent road trip was a LightSys stop through Taylor University in Indiana.  We were busy recruiting missions IT interns and talking to Spring Break code-a-thon peoples.  Of course, hanging out with friends and seeing the new Euler Science Complex were added benefits.  This was Baby J's first visit to Taylor!

Baby J manning the LightSys booth outside the new CSE department.
 

"Yes, may I help you?"
P.S. Yes, the diaper bag, which he is unpacking, is an ICCM backpack.

Mr. A checking out the new server racks in the old Dungeon.
 

Baby J and his favorite prof with the award-winning CSE Christmas Tree.
 

Cutting teeth on floppy disk (well, except he doesn't have any teeth yet).


Pray for a Taylor student to join us as a summer intern this coming year!

Road Trip Stop #1: Thanksgiving in Kansas

Road-tripping we will go, road-tripping we will go...

Our first stop was seeing family in Kansas for Thanksgiving.  I need to grab family dinner pictures from a cousin, but we did have some rural-style recreation the day after Thanksgiving.

Simply put: We had fun. :)
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This last picture? This is just a crazy Shriner car in the "Santa Comes to Town" parade. :)

2011 Travels

I was mapping out how many miles Greg and I traveled for LightSys this year. Only a mere 16,658 or so... Here's a rough overview of our 2011 travels. Darker blue lines mean we traveled that route more than once. Dear God, thank you for a wonderful husband who does a great job of keeping our van running!

Friends, Friends, Friends

This post is really, really, really belated, but for the fun of it...

When Mr. Amazing and I drove back from Seattle at the end of September, we detoured through Oregon so I could meet several friends that I had only emailed with or talked with via computer.  Include a random stop in Utah and we had a ton of fun!

Stop #1: Mt. Saint Helens.  That missing top/gaping hole in the mountain just flabbergasts me!

Stop #2: Meeting a LightSys volunteer that I had worked with via phone and email.  (And she is SUCH a blessing to me and the ministry!)  She wonderfully packed a last minute picnic supper for us and we had great fellowship with her and her children.

Stop #3: An overnight stay with gracious hosts Aaron and Lindsay and their three blessings.  In conversation, they recalled Greg's last visit in Jan '09.  Greg had seemed distracted, caught up in thought, and often sighed.  We did the math and realized the cause: it was the day before Greg asked me about pursing a relationship.  So yes - he had a lot on his mind!  (So glad I said yes!)  We had a good laugh over the memories!  Thanks for your hospitality, Aaron and Lindsay!

Stop #4: A quick detour by old friends (people I actually HAD met before).  So great to see and visit with the Dawes!  (Their daughter Jen is a good friend at GFA.)  They graciously loaded us up with Hanson soda and Sunchips on our way out. :)

 Stop #5: Bend, OR so I could meet the chairman of the LightSys board and his wife.  I had talked with him via phone and computer, but hadn't met them yet.  Again, gracious hosts and much fun!

Stop #6: Ogden, UT for a late lunch.  We randomly rendezvoused with college friend Angelynn and friends for a quick lunch.  So good to see her and her brothers again after 9+ years (and meet her boyfriend Ben)!

And then came the end of the trip.  We stopped for a rest day at Arches National Park in Utah (see Greg's amazing post) and then traveled on home to Colorado.  SO blessed to be a part of the family of Christ and to have so many people rooting for us, praying for us, and encouraging us -- thank you!

Trips, Friends, and Weddings

Another road trip!  This time from Colorado to Indiana to Michigan to Indiana to St. Louis to Colorado.  But we're still on the "Indiana" part of the trip.  We'll leave for St. Louis tomorrow.  The purpose of the trip: share about Missions IT opportunities with students at Taylor University and at Calvin College and then attend a friend's wedding.

In between busy schedules, we got our newsletters sent out with the news to "Celebrate!"

We missed pictures of our time at Taylor U. with the students. :(

We did get to see friends and supporters while we were en route to Michigan.

Friends that we played air hockey with.  My worthy opponent scored the game ending goal!

And... friends put us up at the Essenhaus Inn for our 2nd Anniversary.  It was delightful!

The quilt and handicraft shops were (genuine) old farm buildings.

And you could go up inside the silo!

And look out the top!

On the nearby streets, there was lots of traffic - both 4 wheeled and 4 legged!

Then up to Calvin College to talk to students there!

 Then back to Indiana for a wedding!
Us and the bride and groom!

And with good friends (eh?)

And finally, just for you, dear readers, the only picture that comes anywhere close to showing the tiny bit of a baby bump that (if you can imagine really well) I might have...

Tomorrow - HOME!  Well, at least heading that general direction. :)

Blog Post Postponed

I was going to write a nice, long blog (with pictures - don't worry!) about our trip, but then I got distracted and now it's bedtime.  So here are just a few pics instead.

As we traveled from Seattle back to Colorado, we spent one night at City of Rocks National Reserve in Idaho.  The campground was COMPLETELY full.  And yes, we know this because we checked every single one of the 60 some campsites.  After looking at the map of campsites one more time, we realized that we had missed checking #59 and #60.  Stopping back by, we found out that #59 was occupied, but #60 was open!  Hurrah!  We think we found (well, God saved us) one of the best sites in the park.  About 500ft away from the parking area and other campsites, it was rimmed with rocks and quiet (except for the noisy cows in the nearby pasture).

So... a few pics of those rocks...  Lots of fun rocks to climb on... :)

 

I know! Let's get a picture!

 

Whoops!  Try 2!

Yay!  We made it!

Travel Update

Hi blog readers!
For those of you who know we're road, this an update!
For those of you who don't know we're on the road - guess what!?!  We're on the road!

Just before our trip, we had a great time fellowshipping with supporters who were traveling through Colorado Springs.

In reference to the trip, I told them, "It's just a short three week trip and we only have one major stop. So it's not that big of a deal."

I forget that when a trip includes driving 3,094 miles through 6 states over 3 weeks, most people don't define it as "not that big of a deal."

We camped in Idaho on our way out to Seattle and had a beautiful, full moon over Lake Walcott.

Then drove the rest of the way to Seattle.  We're here working on the Kardia software project for Action International Ministries.  (English for the newcomers: LightSys is creating financial software for ACTION.)  The last BIG piece is being put into place this week and Greg has been HARD at work.

We're seeing more computer screens these days than beautiful lakes.  And yes, Seattle has been giving us cloudy, rainy weather (with a couple sunny days tucked in!).

Pray:
* For strength and focus as we pour ourselves into this project for the next week.  Lots of things still to do.
* For God to go before us.
* For the database cutover to go smoothly.  (What?  Yes, I know you don't understand what that means. It's okay.  God does.)

Praise:
* Safe travels to Washington!
* Wonderful host home!
* Good work on the project so far!
* Good fellowship time with a missionary back from the Philippines.  I so enjoy hearing what God is doing on the field!  The Gospel is going forth -- and that's why we do what we do!

(Random note: When the missionary asked what our roles were, I said: "You know those reports you get each month that let you know how much financial support has come in?  And give you your donor updates?  We write the software that sends you those reports!"  We got a big thank you! after that. :)

Okay, a little, tiny, ultra-cute "thank you" in the form of a keychain. :)  A reminder to pray for those we serve.

Seattle Subjects

We had a great time here in Seattle working with Action International Ministries.  The trip has been short -- about 10 days -- but seeing the staff and hearing the stories from the field are always encouraging.  One of ACTION's missionaries was through the office on furlough during our visit.  She shared her work and expanding vision of training national pastors and churches in India to reach out to India's disabled community.  So fun to see how God uses so many parts of the body!

A few picture highlights from the trip:

 Tulips for me from Mr. Amazing!

Yummy shish kabobs with friends.

Lovely evening view from our (host home) bathroom window

Interns getting a tour of a mission organization's server room.

An unexpected opportunity for tea and scones with friends. :)

Road Trip!!!

We are on our way!

to Seattle!

with three interns!  (SJ is hiding in the back making faces.)

But it's hard to get the camera right when you're shooting it from the dash of the van.

But here we go!!!