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May 4th - Having room is nice! We are moved into the addition! Put up closet rods/shelves this weekend and curtains in the bedrooms. I am leaving on the 6th for Zambia and will be gone 3 weeks. I will try to keep everyone updated as things go. It is so green here it is amazing! For 5 days it has rained at night and in the morning and then been sunny for a while in the afternoon so things grow. Vanessa and the kids came back with colds but are getting over them. Pray that I will have health on my trip and safety.
May 11th - We arrived in Zambia - the updates are here and I have pictures on my Facebook. Jasper went to the prom with Cathyrn and apparently had fun although I have not seen any pictures yet. Starlit & Cierla went also but not with escorts. I miss my family but I know that God is doing a work here in Zambia.
June 8th - Wow! I got back from Zambia and totally did not update this news page. God is great! We had a safe trip back and out luggage did not arrive for 2 days. Not so bad on the return trip though. The house is great! Most of the trim is up and having some room is really nice. Nick & Holly and the kids were here all last week and that was really nice. The older mare had her foal, a nice little filly and the younger mare is obviously not going to have one as she was due 2 weeks before the other. We are haying and enjoying good weather. Gramma Grace is doing quite poorly so please lift her and the family up in your prayers.
June 25th - well this will be a long update. Gramma Grace passed away on June 9th and we went up for the funeral and to clear out our house and storage unit. It was good to see Hollis, Jenny and Hanz as well as all the rest of the family in ND and who came for the funeral. When we left to come back the fun began - here is the story.
We left Washburn around 7:15 Tuesday morning and went to hook up to the horse
trailer in Bismarck.
Got the license for the trailer and final stuff from the house and hit
the road for Fargo. No problems and
we met George for lunch at Dennys around 12:30 then went to Wal-mart to get some
supplies and I went to gas up at Sams club.
Remembered at the pumps that Jasper had my Sams card so drove back to wal-mart
to get the card and ran out of gas right there in front of the wal-mart!
Had Jasper buy a gas can and walk over to the Sams club gas pumps for
some gas and then we drove over and gassed up.
Took off for Minneapolis and called Steve Rendall to say we could not
stop and see them. Steve would not
take no for an answer and so we agreed to meet them at the McDonalds in Maple
Grove just out of Minneapolis. Had a
great visit and Jasper noticed some antifreeze leaking from the rear of the van.
Seemed like a small amount and in the meantime Steve had mentioned my old
buddy Jim Chamberlain who lived close to where we were so I called Jim and we
were within 10 miles of his house so decided to go say high.
Drove over to meet him and the antifreeze was still leaking so Jim said
his brother had a shop at his house and we should drive there and look at it
which seemed like a good plan. It
was just a mile away and when we got there we realized that we had left Buddy
the dog (we had never traveled with him before as Hollis had been keeping him)
at the McDonalds tied to a tree.
Jasper and Tim Chamberlain (Jims older brother) drove
back to get him but he had chewed through his leash and was gone.
We finally contacted the
Maple Grove PD and found out that he had been impounded but was OK but we could
not get him until tomorrow. By now
it was 10:00 PM so I checked into a motel and left Vanessa and the little kids
there and went out to get the van taken care of.
Jasper and Tim C had it fixed so we got to bed around midnight with the
plan that we would see Jim in the morning at his house and then pickup Buddy and
go.
We had a WONDERFUL time visiting Jim & family and took off around 10:00 AM to get Buddy. Had a tough time finding the PD due to bad directions but finally pulled in and the left rear van tire was going flat quickly. Jasper and I changed it while Vanessa went to pay the fine (which the night before had been told was $43 but for some reason ended up being $116) and we left to go to the pound and get Buddy. Surprise surprise! The pound did not open until 2:00 PM! So we went to get the tire fixed and here it was the valve stem leaking (brand new tires from Big O don’t buy from them!) and we had had the other rear tire valve stem go bad the week before in Bismarck! So we got the tire back on and had lunch and picked up Buddy and left Maple Grove around 2:30 PM.
Stopped for a doggy potty break and found that the left front trailer tire had lost its tread but was still holding air so we changed that (we had 2 spares for the trailer). We were WAY behind and pushing to get home and drove through so bad construction and rough bridges that about knocked your teeth out (and the rough bridges were not even marked with a BUMP sign).
We called Triple A and they sent a truck and taxi (after 2 ½ hours wait) and
they would pay for the van tow but not the trailer or the taxi.
Vanessa and the other but Jasper and I went to the first motel and checked in
around 5:30 AM and Jasper and I arrived with the van and trailer and got it
unloaded around 6:30 AM.
I went in to sleep for a couple hours while Jasper went to find a parts
store and buy 5 studs and lug nuts and a wheel drum (the other drum for some
reason had this big flat spot on one side!) so he got stuff put together and
then I got up around 9:00 and helped him tighten things up and we took a tire
from the front and put on the rear and put the spare on the front and then we
were ready to come home.
Praise God that we are all safe and here in one piece.
Waiting for the tow truck and the taxi for that long was a bit frustrating but was a HUGELY better than waiting for ambulance and EMT’s to come.
God is still in control and He is the one with the plan. I only pray that I continue to learn and grow through the things He takes me through.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers for our family on this trip.