First touches of winter

When I got home from work Friday night, I wasn't quite able to make it all the way up the hill in the snow.  This picture was taken at 1 in the morning.

This is the trail we normally run on around our property.

Merry Christmas

 

Merry Christmas.

"It's tradition"

This year we've celebrated our Savior's birthday with an eye on the future.  Thinking about selling our house, moving to Canada, and then to Senegal has blossomed in us a new perspective on our possessions and activities.  We have stopped by Goodwill enough times to know their hours and cleaned out an entire closet of decorations.  Strange to have an entire closet sitting empty.  And we've chatted about what things we will go with us in our adventure.  This Christmas Train recipe made the list because, "It's tradition."

Traditions in a family just happen.  Seven years ago when I had two toddlers, a baby and a little motivated, turned into something we do every year.   This year we had the blessing of having our friends join us.  Thanks friends for making our tradition even sweeter. 

 

Looking Like Christmas

It is always fun digging out the ornaments the kids have made over the years.  They remember so many details about their creations.  What a joy to share in their memories.  At the end of the season we will box up our favorite, favorite, favorite decorations to take with us to French  language school. Next year in Canada, I'm guessing we'll have a white Christmas.

Not quite ready for this

Each year winter sneaks up on me.   I enjoy, cherish, and relish fall, but winter and I have a different relationship.  It is cold and I am grumpy.    These pictures are beautiful, and I enjoy them best from inside by our wood stove.

December Newsletter

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Making snowflakes

Each year our entry way becomes a winter wonderland with homemade snowflakes dangling from ceiling.  We usually use only white, but this year I told the kids they could make different colors.  They were very creative with their designs.   Now that the snowflakes are made, all we need to do is hang them.

Another year older

Darin and the kids made my day wonderful yesterday with a surprise party.  Upon returning home after a day of shopping, the house was decorated with purple and pink streamers and yellow balloons.  The kids jumped out from their hiding places and shouted, "Happy Birthday."  It was a surprise.

I received "A Stuffed Animal Story" from Gabby (written and illustrated by Gabby), a picture frame with two pictures from Samuel  (built and painted by Samuel),  long johns from Darin in preparation for Quebec, and a dinner of grilled Salmon, stuffed mushrooms, and chocolate silk pie.  I am very blessed to have a wonderful family make my birthday special.

Do What??

Sometimes God asks us to do things which, from our earthly perspective, make no sense.  Many times it is only after we have taken the step of faith and obeyed that we begin to understand what it is that God is doing.  Consider the following conversation which may or may not have taken place in Exodus Chapter 17.

Moses - God, we have taken a poll and the majority of the Israelites are really thirsty and we were wondering if you could show us where some water is.

God - Take your staff and strike that rock.

Moses - I understand that you typically know what you are talking about, but our research has indicated there may be an aquifer under the ground near here and we just need to find where it is so that we can dig a well.

God - Strike the rock.

Moses - I hear what you are saying and I think typically that would be a great idea, but historically we have found that large boulders contain, well, rock.

God - Strike the rock.

Moses - I feel as though we aren't communicating here.  We have 100 people with all the shovels and equipment ready to dig for water, we just need to know where to dig.  Everyone knows you dig for water in the desert.  I mean it would look really foolish for me to stand up in front of everyone and begin banging on that rock.  What would they think?

God - STRIKE THE ROCK!  I want to show you my POWER and my GLORY.  This is about me, not you!

Hiking in Sedona

One of my favorite things to do while in northern AZ is to go hiking in Sedona.  One morning I decided to do a hike up Bear Mountain by myself.

I was actually standing on the trail at this point.  There were some pretty precarious places.

A favorite Stop

Peering over this ledge, to gaze at the Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona, has long been a favorite view of mine.  Seeing the tall Pine trees stretching into the crystal, clear blue sky, listening to the rustle of leaves on the many deciduous trees lining the hillside, and feeling the warmth of the Arizona sun, ahhhh, that's home. 

Hamsters have all the fun.

At my uncle's house in Colorado, he provided a great opportunity to use some energy and get a feeling for what it would be like to be a hamster.   To use this toy simply climb inside and walk, run or slide around.  If you have an extra person, ask for a push.  This adds to the fun of being dizzy.  Thanks Gary, we had a blast.

Balloon Crazy

Samuel, Rebekah, and I ventured to church last night to learn from a balloon artist how to twist balloons into animals, hats, and games.    We had a wonderful time practicing the craft and hearing  Gilbert Adams' testimony of his work with children in other countries.  It is always encouraging to hear how God is working through so many avenues, in so many countries.

Rebekah is wearing the baseball hat proven to entertain for hours and cause dizziness.

I am wearing my butterfly hat and holding my dog on a leash that was quite difficult to attach. 

One of these things is different.  While the rest of us followed directions and made a butterfly hat, Samuel turned his hat into a dog. 

What my living room looks like today. Swords, dogs, hats, butterflies, and flowers are covering the floor.   Gilbert told us to practice.  That we did, until we ran out of balloons.   Another trip to Wal-mart and we'll be on our way to more fun. 

The Final Statistics

Yesterday we (I) decided we were tired of driving and that we should just push through and drive all the way home from Denver.  We arrived home at 6:30 this morning.  Here are a few of the statistics from the last three weeks.

Total Miles Driven - 6,991

Hours sitting in the car - 127

Longest day in the car - 19 hours,  1,255 miles

Gallons of gas - 249

Different beds slept in - 13

Most boring state to drive through - Kansas (Sorry Kansas people)

Most expensive gas - Lee Vining, CA - $5.19

Cheapest gas - Kansas City, MO - $2.97

Random pictures from our trip.

Samuel's Civil War costume

Our stop at the Petrified National Forest.  It looked a lot like the Badlands in South Dakota

A giant petrified tree

We found this old rusted out car along Route 66 in eastern Arizona.

The cold hike

 

We went hiking up Mingus Mountain while we spent a few days with Holly's parents.

For those who think it is always hot and dry in Arizona, I can assure you it is not.  It was a very chilly hike.

Rebekah came up with a unique way to keep her face warm.  It may start a trend.

We stopped by where they launch hang gliders off the cliff.

Apparently they start where Holly is standing and then they run down this ramp.  The last step is quite large.  They land down in the town of Cottonwood on the left which is about 4,500 feet lower.

Halloween

What I started with: a size 10 brown dress, a size 8 red skirt, and a sewing machine.

 

What we ended with...

Rebekah was American Girl Doll, Kaya

Gabby was American Girl Doll, Josephina.

Samuel was a Civil War solider. 

We made it to the other end of the country!

We headed out to the Los Angele area for the first time in almost 10 years.  We decided to camp out in the mountains to save a little money over staying in a hotel.

Apparently brushing teeth outside is hilarious.

We hiked up to a small waterfall Holly and I had hiked to many times after we were first married.

This was our first apartment in Whittier CA.

That evening we had the opportunity to go to the San Diego area and share with a church which was planted by a friend of mine from high school.  Thanks Tim, and it was great to see how God is using you to share his love with the community.

How you can support us

Teaching Gabby to read has been the most rewarding task I have experienced in homeschooling.  We began by singing the ABCs and learning the letter names.  Then every day we repeated each letter's sound, followed by learning how to slide the sounds together to create words.  Only after she experienced proficiency of the basic sounds did I introduce the exceptions and double vowel rules.  There is a process to learning to read, a process full of important small steps that can not be eliminated or done in random order.

So it is with support raising, a process of small steps done in specific order.  The step we are on is building a team of financial supporters.  Although we look forward to receiving care packages or cards when on the field, that is not the step we are on.  We cannot go to Senegal until we have 100% of our support raised.  Here are the areas we need you to give.

We need monthly pledges.  People who give every month so that we can stay in Senegal.

We need one-time gifts.  These gifts cover one-time needs, such as airfare, a vehicle purchase, language school, visas, etc.

We cannot skip the step of raising support and just go to the field, just like you don't form words before knowing the individual letter's sounds.  We need you to be part of our financial team and help us get to the next step:  French language school.

CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO OUR SUPPORT PAGE

https://usanet.sim.org/SIMGift/index.php?FundID=037640-001&LNme=Larrabee&Dsg=Support

The journey west

The first day of our trip we drove to Louisiana and spent the night with the Petzold Family.  We were treated to some good fried cajun food.

The following day we drove to Oklahoma and spent the night with the Millers.  They took us out for a picnic and the kids got an ATV driving lesson from their cousins.  It was a blast.

 We roasted hotdogs and had smores over a fire in a little canyon.

The following day was filled with driving through the wide expanses of the west.

We found this grill at a rest area in Texas.  It doesn't look like anyone has ever used it.