Life as a Yowler

We had a great week in Arkansas with our friends. They may feel differently, as we invaded their place for over a week. I think I know them well enough to know, that it really didn’t stress them out. It did help having the motor home. We each had our own separate place to sleep(although the kids did each have a couple sleepovers together). We tried to be as helpful as possible. Brandon helped Paul a lot on construction projects. I did help Arin on a couple organizing projects, but towards the end of the week I found the most helpful thing I could do was supervise the kids while she worked on unpacking. The kids all had a great time together. Sweet little Layla had the hardest time when we left. She was very sad. Brielle said, “you don’t need to be sad, Layla. You guys are moving back to Michigan.” Brielle obviously doesn’t have an understanding of her friend moving. This Winter, when we’re back home, I’m sure reality will hit her. But I am thankful for the visits we have to look forward to. I’m very thankful for our lifestyle of traveling. It provides us an opportunity to see friends who live far away.

They have such a beautiful house!

The kids hung out in the motor home pretty often.

We had a couple movie nights together in the motor home. How cute are these two?

The favorite spot was up in this loft bed.

The kids did some painting projects together. They painted some of the tile that the dads knocked off the walls.

Last night, on our last night together, we had an ice cream party.

Selah and Joah were obsessed with a puzzle solving game this week. They even got the dads and other siblings involved in their game last evening.

Arin is the very best at helping me find good deals on clothes and shoes for my kids. We found these shoes for Caed together while shopping for $4. He loved them so much, I caught him sleeping with them.

The worst part of the entire week was pulling in and out of our friends’ driveway. I let Paul handle directing Brandon. I am way too cautious to handle that job. Paul got him out without reversing even once.

Their driveway is on a very steep incline. You can see there are just inches to spare(from scraping) as Brandon was at the bottom of the driveway, pulling onto the road. Once we made it onto the road, we had to stop traffic and load the trailer and van, we’re towing. That took another 10 minutes. It was no fast process. It made me thankful for pull through sites at campgrounds.

All the kids slept like babies through the entire process of pulling down the driveway. It seemed the equivalent of sleeping through a tornado, so I was very thankful. It makes for a much better drive, if they can sleep for the first part of it.

And ending on a heavy note…..last night my youngest two brothers were in a bad car accident. They, along with a friend, were hit head on by a truck. There were 4 cars total involved in the accident. We are SO thankful for God’s protection. They all walked away with just scratches. They are all sore and pretty shook up, but doing well. Thank you, Lord!