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Caleb and Hannah were given the job of planning breakfasts and lunches for our five day trip home.

They made a grocery list… (Not healthy but road food rarely is)
-Two loaves of bread (may need three but since they don’t want it to get squished we will start with two and get a third later if needed)
-one loaf of GF bread
-peanut butter
-jelly
-drink powder (as a treat)
-package of cookies
-package of GF cookies
-5 travel packs of chips/crackers
-apples
-bananas
-oatmeal

They calculated their estimated cost to be around $66 and then tax. We told them they could spend $70 but they had to keep track of the total and stay in their budget. They could choose what to buy and how to spend the extra.
They have been looking forward to this trip for a week and a half. At first they fought a little over who would push the cart and who would pull things from the shelves, who should hold the list and who should keep track of the total. After a row we worked it out that I pushed the cart, Hannah managed the list and Caleb kept the total.

They chose stix, like Pringles, except GF that were $1.18 each and way more packing friendly. It was under their $3 a chip bag budget. They grabbed two boxes of oatmeal packets instead of one and came so far under their $25 budget in fruit and veggies with a bag of apples, Cuties and a bag of carrots that they decided on a bag of pistachios for a snack. Hannah was concerned that they weren’t getting enough healthy food. She didn’t want to be sick to her stomach. She was pleased with the final decisions.

The total came to $48.34 they were pretty proud of themselves and have a little left incase we need more bread, bananas or extras on the road.

Postpartums were a fun change of pace, but I felt bad discharging babies into this bitter cold wind. The exciting part of the day was surprise twins. I can’t imagine being pregnant with twins and keeping it as a surprise to my family. So crazy!
Chad was very productive today. All the kids clothes were packed in vacuum seal bags except three sets of clothes that they will be cycling through for the next two weeks until we get into our apartment in Victorville. We have been slowly crossing off the days on the calendar and can hardly believe that tomorrow is my last day shift. Then three night shifts next week.

It is quite interesting how three different people having practically the same procedure can have such a variance in pain, coping, and activity level. If the middle aged women barely moving next door knew that the elderly lady right beside her was doing laps around her I wonder what she would think. I had one of those “go getter” elderly ladies this morning that was so pleasantly confused and so amusing. As soon as I learned that I didn’t have to worry about her falling and her arm was no longer hooked to a pole via the IV I could enjoy her company and pleasant jovial spirit. She totally made my day.

Yesterday sorting through pamphlets and magazines that we had picked up about Wisconsin in an attempt to condense it down to two Manila envelopes for making into a memory book later I found an ad for The Wisconsin Veterans Museum on Capitol Square in Madison. I mentioned to Chad that it would be awesome to go there today (not remembering it was Veterans Day sad to admit) Chad agreed and reminded me that it might be busy since it is Veterans Day.

No rush to get there early we got ready and out of the house at a relaxed pace. Madison is 1 hour and 45 minutes away and the museum was open all day. We headed out about the time the snow dusting was melted off, brrrr it’s cold outside.

I learned several things today. One that we had a Philippine War. How had I never heard of that before?

The second thing is that it was only 14 years between the first flight of the Wright Brothers and WWI when they flew the below biplanes in a new dimension of warfare. That which was fought in the skies.

It is interesting to wonder what our world would have looked like without each of these different conflicts or even if the outcome had been different. What if the Revolution had not been won by the Americans, if the Civil war had not kept the country together and had set a precedence for future disagreements to just divide instead of work it out, if Hitler had won in WWII? How many Soldiers died in the wars (someone’s baby, husband, daddy and is the case now Sister, wife, or mother)? Imagining the life that each one left behind for the freedom of the current and future generations. These men and women are Heros.

The kids LOVED the museum, Eve was begging to go to another museum when we left exclaiming that she loved it. And the kids all came away having learned something new and an increased appreciation for what members of our armed services do to protect our freedom.
Check out this girl’s outfit.

On the way home we stopped at a U Pull to pick up license plates since we are trying to get plates from every state we have been in. It turns it in Wisconsin it is illegal for U Pull places to sell old license plates. So we may be getting Wisconsin off of EBay. That is sad since we had some fun memories of getting our New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona plates.

So many good guesses were made at the end of our last assignment on how many miles you think we drove during the assignment. We are excited to announce the next opportunity to win something! We still don’t know what. The big thing around here is the Green Bay packers but being from the land of Seahawks it may not be the best prize option.
On our last assignment we drove 13,015 miles getting to 211,423 miles on our trusty 4Runner, how many miles do you think we drove this assignment? It was three weeks longer, we made a few longer trips but less medium length trips, and it will count from leaving our apartment in New Mexico to getting back to our home in Salem. We will announce the prize when we have one until then you can be pondering your guess.

We woke up to another dusting which called to the kids. They were out playing in it as Chad and I did dishes, made breakfast and heated up hot water. They are so darn cute!

Hannah made a little snowman family.

Then she showed me what was left of her snowman from the day before.

Eve finally got dressed and ready to head out as the big kids were coming in. So I filled a bottle with hot water to help them keep their hands warm and they all headed back out.

The kids came in to hot drinks with their oatmeal candles lit on the table, Christmas music and declared it was the very best day of their whole life.
After breakfast we packed two boxes with stuff to be mailed home and our first load of things to go to goodwill (including Caleb’s keyboard, but with no stand for it, it did not get played. I’m sad about that.) While Chad was out he returned all of our library books and paid the $0.20 we had in library fines. We resorted through our school supplies tub and are pairing down even farther. The kids each had a big three ring binders that were pretty cool but they rarely open them. Instead they have been using skinny spiral bound notebooks to do their homework in. So the binders are out. Most of the flash cards are too, except the alphabet ones which we do use a lot for Eve. The states and presidents ones as well as the stars and galaxies and even math were just taking space or we didn’t use them often enough to justify the space it takes up. I kind of wish we could get rid of the rest of the kids toys as they don’t really use them much. Instead they like to draw, read and play games that require acting and props, but you all might think I’m an abusive parent. As it is they have a stack of toys that they plan on leaving in Salem when we swing through at Thanksgiving. The Legos that we have been keeping in a cupboard in the kitchen so that they don’t keep them spread from one end of the house to the other have been out of sight out of mind. We told them they can play with them they just have to pick them up when they are done and I don’t know that they have asked even once. I think the big pile of books that we got for free from the library sale is going to be the hardest to sort through, there are too many good ones in there. The kids are all in bed now and I should be too soon enough, so I had better get back to work there is more sorting and organizing to be done!

I woke up to snow yesterday morning 11/9/14 I wish I knew the depth exactly but if I had to guess I would say a half inch. Enough to be overwhelming to the windshield wipers and I had to scrape the windows. But then again I kind of liked that part. It was slightly wet and perfect for packing. It would have made for a good snowball fight if the kids had been awake. The roads were clear except for the bridge which was slushy, so I arrived safely to work where I promptly forgot about the snow until I came out again 13 hours later. Of course all traces of the beautiful white fluffy stuff was gone. The kids built a snowman so I hear. There were no pictures, but it was clear from our dinner discussion that they enjoyed their day of snow.

In shutting off my alarm this morning I noticed a text from my mother. “She is gone.” The distance between Phoenix Arizona and Cambridge Idaho seemed so far as a kid. Being tied to a dairy farm did not allow us many trips that far from home. So the memories I have of my Aunt Heidi are few. She was the master of talking like Donald Duck and did it often. Since she loved Disney and pretty much everything about them she was proud of her Donald Duck talent. Also she was a very talented artist. Sometimes I wonder how different her life could have looked if different choices would have been made.
Three beautiful kids and 11 beautiful grandkids later she found herself fighting a long fight with Cancer. Our last assignment at Four Corners put us close enough to visit two times. The first a big family dinner out with Aunt Heidi, Heidi Marie and her husband and girls. We had so much fun chatting and catching up. The second visit was one on one. With Heidi Marie and her family at Disneyland and my family in Oregon/Honduras. We sat out on the back porch enjoying the heat and talking about life, Aunt Heidi talked about her childhood, about her siblings as children each individual (yes you too mom, you don’t know what all I learned either ;0). She talked and talked. Each pause in the conversation urged her on. I sat quietly and listened. You learn so much when you just listen. I can’t say I agree with everything that she said but it was a window into how she thought that I had never had a chance to see (hear as the case may be) before.
I am thankful for both of those visits. I knew in my head when I hugged her goodbye in July that I would never see her/hug her again in this life. I don’t think it has really sunk into my conscience. This years long battle with cancer is over she has no more pain and no more suffering. It sounds like the being together that occurred in and around her death was healing in and of itself for her family, but continued prayers for her children, grandchildren and parents would be appreciated. May they stay close and find strength in the relationships that they have with each other. May they turn to their creator in their time of need. May he hold them close in his arms as we head straight into the holiday season when she will surely be missed.

One of those shifts where they call everyone employed on the unit to ask for help… Yep that pretty much sums it up. Now I’m home and eating coconut milk Ice cream in bed. Crossing that one off my countdown, 8 more to go.

We have participated for several years in the Operation Christmas Child where a toy, school supplies, hygiene products such as soap and toothpaste are sent to children around the world as shoebox sized gifts.  These are good, as the gospel story is presented at the time the kids receive the shoebox gift.  This year we have been made aware of a great need for shoes, the health risks (hook worm and other parasites), foot deformation, and foot diseases that are caused from not having them.  Feeling like the ability to send quality shoes that adjust for size and are durable with an average life span of five years, to help meet the shoe need of children for such a long time is an opportunity we can’t/shouldn’t pass up to bless, love on, and give to these children.  It would be an overwhelming gift and blessing that I would wish someone would do for me if the roles were reversed.  Our goal is to send a duffle bag (50 shoes) with a new friend that this endeavor has brought to our acquaintance, with covering the cost to get the additional bag to it’s destination so that it doesn’t impose any financial burden for her.  All that being said we want to give you an opportunity to help too. theshoethatgrows.org gives you an opportunity on their website to get involved, you can help fill a duffle bag to Ecuador, Haiti, Ghana, Kenya, and other places around the globe.  If you are family or a close friend who were wondering what you could get a family traveling the states with five people, one big dog, with only room for essential possessions all packed in a Toyota 4Runner for Christmas.  Here you go! You can get 1 pair for $10 each, providing shoes for $2 per year for kids in need. You can contribute to the shoes going to Uganda which would be awesome by contacting us at owensendeavors@gmail.com or my messenger on Facebook.  Yay!  It isn’t the front lines (yet…I say that just for Donna’s sake.  I love you Donna), but let us pray daily that The Lord will use us for his purpose.