Okay, so we're back to blogging after a month-long "bloggus interruptus". We hope that you'll forgive our time off. It's been a crazy month of packing, moving from Reno to Illinois and trying to get a bit settled at our temporary home in Rock Island...Teri's wonderful and gracious parents' house.
Anyway, to get you up to speed...
Anyway, to get you up to speed...
For the last month before we actually left Reno, we tried to do as much fun stuff as we could before we left the mountains. One awesome day was spent driving around Lake Tahoe and spending some time at Emerald Bay. We'd never hiked down to the bay before so we were glad we had the opportunity to do so before we left. It is absolutely gorgeous! I've attached a couple of pictures for you. Steve was even able to don his wetsuit and swim out to the island in the bay (shhhh, the sign says no swimming!). Judah did get a bit zealous in running down one particularly steep section of the paved trail down to the bay and managed to do a face plant that scraped his nose and face up pretty good. Other than that, we had a great time and we thank God for creating a place as beautiful and majestic as Lake Tahoe for us to enjoy.
After a month of packing, saying many sad goodbyes and wrapping things up in Reno, we loaded up our Jeep with Judah and our dog Cassidy and hit the road for our looooong trip home to Illinois (via Oregon--a place we've both always wanted to see). The California and Oregon coastline is truly a sight to behold. We were in awe of our amazing Creator as we looked at the vastness of it all.
Our friend, Laura McCoid (a fellow midwesterner!), was our gracious host during our stay in Eugene, Oregon. We had so much fun hanging out with her again after not having seen her for more than 3 years. Steve was so excited to be able to get out on the U of O Track and Field running track. I've included a picture of Steve and Judah on the track and them in front of a picture of the legendary track star Steve Prefontaine. We wandered the U of O campus and ate at Tracktown Pizza, a local fave. On our drive home from pizza, Laura and I got to laughing and carrying on so Judah piped up from the backseat and told us to "Calm down!" Of course that made us laugh even harder so Judah then had to tell us, "That's 'nough!" He had us laughing so hard that I could hardly see the road through the tears in my eyes and I think I heard a snort or two from Laura. Good times! Cassidy also got to wrestle and chase squirrels with her old friend, Horton, so she had a great time in Eugene too. Thanks Laura and Horton!
Our trip home was long, fun (for the most part) and, thankfully, uneventful. We camped a couple of times along the way, stopped for ice cream occasionally and tried to take in every detail of our beautiful country. Judah and Cassidy were real troopers and are two of the best travelers we could ask for. Below are a few miscellaneous photos from our trip. Note: Don't be alarmed, Judah's arms didn't get stretched out. :) He was wearing daddy's shirt since all of his warm clothes got wet on the beach and he needed to stay warm while we camped. The shirt sleeves kept coming unrolled and he just looked adorable with those super long sleeves dragging the ground.
I'll post more soon, including some video but wanted to (FINALLY) get an update on our trip and some pictures up for everyone to check out. Sorry for the long hiatus!
