The dry, hot, but beautiful southwest.

Tucson, Arizona

Our time is Arizona was pretty short this time through.  We stayed in Tucson just a few nights, but had a great time visiting with my niece that lives there and also seeing the Pima Air and Space Museum.  

The Pima Air Museum is a very well done museum.  Our kids are usually up for anything
and they love to walk around airplanes.  One thing that we did and I would recommend is taking a tour.  I believe you pay to get into the museum but the tour was free.  (Funny how we did this in February, and some of the details are already being forgotten.)   

Not very often that all five of us are in a picture.  Here we are in front of
the SR-71, such a cool plane. 

Garrett is trying his hand at being an aircraft traffic controller.  At this time the other two were learning the basics; pitch, roll and yaw.   

When you first walk in the museum you see a replica of the Wright Flyer.  It's
amazing to think how air flying started and where it is today.  

Out at the museum they have a huge collection of planes outside.  This was a plane that
NASA used to simulate weightlessness.  The astronauts would sit in the back as the pilots had
the plane go up then down.  I would not make it!  

Next stop, White Sands National Park in New Mexico, a beautiful sea of white right in the middle of the desert. 

If you ask any one of the kids which National Park is there
favorite, they will excitedly say White Sands.  

Getting ready to sled.

After climbing up the hills a few times we all thought it would be
easier without shoes.  Since it was winter the sand was super
cold, something we did not expect.  Don't think I would
try that in the summer.

See that hill in the distance, that's the one we will conquer.  As
we got closer we all decided that Graham should go first, just
to make sure it was safe.  Gracie even said, "Dad, I'm a little
scared for you".  How sweet is she!!!

Getting ready to send Danny down.

Being the lightest in the family, he flew down the hills.

Does this look like fun or what???!!!  

By the time we walked back to the motor home our
 footprints  had been blown away by the wind.  

Getting ready to take the plunge.

Altus, Oklahoma - There are many things that I love or should say loved about being a military spouse and that is all the people you meet along the way.  Each assignment we have been at, God has brought people into our lives who we get to love on and in turn loves on us.  I believe that He hand picks the people we are surrounded by whether as neighbors or church friends, work friends, or kids friends.  Whenever we move I pray that God puts us right where He needs and wants us and that we would be a light to those around us. Our trip out to Altus had nothing to do with the sights we would see, but was all about the people.

Our friends the Golovach's planned a dinner at the community
center so we could meet up with friends from past assignments.
It was so good to see many friendly faces and to catch up
with many we had not seen in a while.  Thank you all
for making a difference in our lives.

This is one special family and each of these kids (although they
are not really kids anymore) have a special place in both our hearts.
When we first moved to Charleston we lived right across the street
and these three were about the age of our kids now.  They
have turned out to be three amazing people, who love the
Lord and impact those around them.  

If you have been to Altus or Lawton, Oklahoma
for any reason this is a place you would go, Meers.
They have amazing burgers, and even better cobbler.
My mouth is watering now.  

After our lunch we drove around the wildlife refuge there and
spotted a few Texas longhorn and prairie dogs, the buffalo were hiding
that day.  

Austin, TX - The state capitol

In the early planning process of our trip Graham and
I decided that if we could we would try and visit
the state capitols.  We drove down to Austin, Texas
and were not disappointed in what we saw.  The
grounds outside the building and the building itself are
spectacular.  

Had to take a sign with this kid in front of something Texas,
he loves Texas.  

Always love going in the house and senate chambers.
Wondering though when these people work. We have been
to many different capitols and many different times in the year
and have yet to come across any in session.  One of these days.

On the floor there were the seals of all the different countries
that had possession of Texas.   

If there is a cannon to sit on, climb on, play on this kids find it.
Now to make his dreams come true we need to find one he can
fire!  Ha, wouldn't that surprise him!!

I think I have set a record for most posts in a three day period.  Trying to catch up here before I forget everything that has happened on our trip.   Coming up... Johnson Space Center and Louisiana, you won't want to miss it!

To Plan or not to Plan

Over the last nine months we have traveled to the east, north, to the south, back west, back east, to the south again, then northwest and now southeast once again.  With any trip there are many things that need to happen to make each leg of the journey fun and as care free as possible.  Now for most people who know me planning is not a strong point of mine, so I knew from the beginning this was something I would really have to work on.  Planner or not, the journey across the country was going to happen, there would be times where the plan would be executed just as we worked out and times where we would just have to go with the flow. One way or another we were determined to enjoy the madness, I mean, enjoy making memories! 

 As our journey began we had a general idea on where we wanted to go, what we would see along the way and when we would go.  We also knew that along the way Graham would have to work and we would need to locate the family to an area where we had friends. Graham knew that he was not to leave us at Jim Bob's Trailer Park in Podunk, Arkansas for any reason.  (For all my Arkansas friends I mean nothing by this, and I'm sure I will love your state when we make it through.) Now, after traveling around for a while, as long as Jim Bobs has hook ups to include, a dumping area I will take it. 

In the initial planning process I had these grand ideas that we would be able to just leisurely go from spot to spot stopping at all the road side attractions like, Car Hedge, or South of the Border, Wall Drug, and while in the car we would be singing, "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain, The Bean Song, or playing games such as, I'm going on vacation and I'm bringing”, or the license plate game.  Then, I would give the kids their schoolwork for the day and they would smile cheerfully at me and just do their work.   I would answer questions about what we have seen or what they are working on and all would be just dandy.  Well, that imaginary bubble was popped just 200 miles after we pulled out of my parent’s driveway in Nevada.  On our 2 1/2 hour drive the kids asked are we there yet a gazillion times, said, "I'm bored more times then I can count, and already were making rules about whose side is whose on the couch and what lines can or cannot be crossed.  As far as the singing, that is always a go and playing games, always a hit.   Whew!  I won't even mention the school work, if you have kids you can just imagine how well it went, if you don't well let's just say we may have had a small outburst here or there.

Execution and flexibility have become the key to any plan we make. The execution part comes quite easy at times as all we have to do is get on the road and, check, plan has been executed!  Flexibility, however, gets a little trickier for me.  Let me give you an example of flexibility from our trip. The second leg of our journey started in February in California.  The plan was to go south for obvious reasons, the weather, and also get to Florida by April for Graham to attend a month long class for his job.  We get to Florida and while there we find out that he is not going to the class in April and his job in May has been canceled as well. So after much discussion we decide that it is best for us to go see some wonderful friends in Montgomery while he goes back to Hawaii to work, and really, get some money. 

Now, as I type this, it is mid July and we are on our way to Florida (for Graham's class) by way of South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and finally Florida.  We have ten days and things have been planned.  Do I think the plan will change?  There is no doubt!  Will we have to forgo stopping at the "Welcome to (insert name of state here) sign for a picture? Probably!  Will the kids know any difference?  Nope!  Will they have a great time no matter what we see?  For sure!  (Well depending on the kid, the time of day and the state of the moon.) 

With all these changes in the plans, I discovered my need for some sort of stability.  And since we didn't have a house, we were in a different area every couple days, we didn't have a church family, there were no friends houses to walk down to and talk with while the kids played, all the change of plans was hard for me to wrap my mind around.  After many discussions with Graham and time in prayer God showed me something.  What if tomorrow He asked us to go serve Him in another country, minister to those in need, give up everything and live in a hut with a dirt floor?  Would I go stomping and kicking and have a bad attitude the whole time, or would I get myself together and rely on him to fill me with His peace, joy, goodness, kindness, and self-control? He reminded me that this is what He has called us to for now.  Now is the time!  And in this I need to grab onto the joy that only He can give. And when plans change, my first reaction needs to be to pray and ask Him what He has in store for us today.  I love the passage in Mathew where Jesus is getting ready to send out his disciples.  He tells them, "Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." Before that He goes into more detail.  "Don't worry about what you will eat, or where you will live, or what you will wear. " So fitting for this season of life.  Think about today, live for today.  Another verse that often comes to mind is Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".  My prayer is that we would have ears to listen to Him as He leads us and shows us where our next stop needs to be. That way anywhere we go we know it is another opportunity that He has brought our way to tell others of the greatness of our God.   

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!!!

Where does the time go?   The last few weeks I have been trying to just sit down and spend some time catching up on this blog, but the task of where to start has kept me from writing.  Do I start out west where our journey began or do I just write about our most current adventures?  Originally I thought  to start with the present and work my way back, go with what is fresh on my mind.  However, I was having trouble downloading pictures so I will go with what I have pictures of for now.  So here we go,  we will start in California, head west to Arizona, then over to New Mexico, up to Oklahoma, down to Texas, across to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, then leave off in Florida.  After that I will pick up with our visit in Alabama, quick trip to Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, I'll even throw in a visit to Hawaii, and finally leave you with Colorado.  That will get us caught up just not sure how much I will get done in this post.  Well here goes.  I'm putting my typing fingers on, will try to remember the highlights and put some pictures in to go along with everything.  Wish me luck!  

California - The Golden State

A beautiful day for us to tour the city.  Starting off with
our boat ride to Alcatraz Island.  Saw the city and Golden Gate
Bridge from the water. 

From shore this is a very unassuming island, once you are on it
the stories come to life.    

       We spent the day in San Francisco and I don't think we could have thrown anything more into this day.  Both Graham and I have always wanted to go and see Alcatraz Island. When I was younger we would visit San Francisco's Pier 39, see the seals, eat clam chowder and stare off into the distance at Alcatraz.  Most of the time it was freezing so we would look from a distance and then retreat to find somewhere warm. 
       Fortunately for the Boutz fam it was unseasonably warm. We left San Jose early in the morning and headed to the city to start our day over on Alcatraz.   This in itself was wonderful as off in the distance we could see the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge and   the city.  Beautiful!!!  The island itself is beautiful, historic, and a bit creepy.  Walking along the cell blocks you hear story after story of daily life in the cells. Some making the most by painting, writing, and then some plotting with others their escape from the island.  Most were caught before they made it too far but a few escaped and were never heard from or seen again.  One thing we had never known was that the guards who worked at Alcatraz also lived on the island and if they had a family guess what, they lived there too.  The family side of the island was a bit more picturesque.  Stories of kids playing baseball, foursquare, and even commuting to the city everyday for school.  Wow, to live in a place like that.  Think of the stories they could tell!!!

Next stop on our city tour is FOOD! We walked over to Pier 30 and had our fill of clam chowder and fresh fish and chips.  This will not be the last time you see a picture of us eating on this particular trip, many more things to try!  

A trip to SF would not be complete without riding the cable cars.  With all the hills that we went up and then back down the kids had a hard time staying in one place.  They were sliding from one side of their seats to the next. We took to cable car to Ghiradelli square and had ice cream sundaes, a highlight of the trip for sure.  After getting fueled up we walked up to Lombard Street.  I should say we walked, kids were pulled up by us!  We did think about driving the motor home down the street just to say we did, but we ran out of time!  :)  Last stop on our tour was to Boudin Bakery to get some bread.  While there we watched them make football loaves of bread with the words 49er's attached.  All in all this was a great day in San Francisco!  

After lots of encouragement and maybe a bit of complaining
from Graham (ha ha) we made it to the top of Lombard.  

Yummy!!!!  Ice cream sundaes, chocolate, doesn't get much
better.  

Making footballs to celebrate the 49er's being in the Super
Bowl. 

Who would have thought you could sculpt an alligator out
of sourdough.  We were ready to eat this tasty guy.

Stay tuned for highlights from Arizona!!!  I may even try to squeeze in some of the current things we have done!   

Here we go again...

After two wonderful months with our best friends, the Hurst's, in Windsor, Colorado we are off to Yellowstone, The Grand Tetons, Montana, North Dakota and finally South Dakota.  Graham got back from a quick work trip in Hawaii on Saturday night and the plan was to leave on Monday.  Well Sunday rolls around and it is quite obvious that we are NO where near ready to pack it up and leave, so we assess and figure by Tuesday we should be ready.   Now here it is Tuesday night and take a guess as to where we are?  If you guessed Yellowstone I'm sorry to say that is  incorrect.  However, if you guessed  the Hurst's living room watching "So You Think You Can Dance" you would be CORRECT!!!   

Clothes have been packed and put away, fridge is full, bikes have been tuned and are stored, books to read have been located, radio worked on but still a no go (big bummer),  on the road entertainment for all three kids selected.  I would say we are ready.  Bright and early tomorrow morning (4:00 am)  we will be pulling out of the Hurst's driveway for the 523 mile drive to Yellowstone.  Not sure how the five of us will do after our long break of driving.  Tomorrow night I will let you know if we survived the trek, how many times, "How much longer?" or "Are we there yet?"  had been asked and how many movies we went through.  My guess three!  One if things are going well and my kids are throughly enjoying each moment with there siblings.  Five or more if we are losing it!  

Yellowstone or BUST!!!!  

   

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

"It's snowing!"  For some of us it had been years since we had actually seen snow fall from the sky and for others (Daniel) this was the first time.  So you can only imagine our excitement when we woke up one morning in Nevada with snow on the way.  It didn't take long for the kids to get into their snow gear and head outside to shovel and play in this new white stuff.

This is how we found Daniel throughout his first experience in the snow.  He would get so excited when a tiny flake of snow made it to his tongue.

We have taught this girl that sticking out her tongue is not lady like, but she just couldn't resist having the snow fall right on her tongue.  

All kids have to make a snow angel and this sweet one would plop herself down anytime she could to make one.

Let the sledding BEGIN!!!!

Growing up, after a snow storm, we would go outside to shovel the driveway.  There were many reasons this was necessary,  but the main reason for was to make the ramp for our sled run.  We would spend hours outside going up and down then hill over and over again.  

Garrett starts off  in one of our night sledding adventures.  The kids realized that if they waited till it got cooler and the run started to freeze they would FLY down.

Even the smallest sledders have to carry their sled up the hill.

Gracie trying to steer around to make the "jump"

Right on track

Nice one!!!

Coming Up:  Pony Express Trail, Virginia City, and a little Nevada History