home sweet home!

Randy

my cousin D, father of 8

N. age 9, youngest child. he rushed to pick all these flowers out of his garden and put them in the vase before driving me to meet my ride to the next destination. thought of it all on his own. i miss him so much!

L. age 13

B. age 22

Charlie 18 mos. beagle

J. almost 18, N. age 9

N. in his tree

N. riding his pig lol

i forgot their names!

n. with Randy

checking his birds nest

baby goat

best tree house ever!

small fire, which got bigger

Charles

L & N at J&M's soccer game

i have a video of him playing, but have been unsuccessful at putting videos on my blog :(

ive tried everything!

but DANG, my trip was the best. i never sleep well away from home, but aside from that, pure bliss, especially for someone like me, since i love long car rides anyway. we flew all day, with delay after delay after delay(thanks Delta/Northwest! NOT!) to get there, then drove 2 hours to meet my cousin Young D., then my cousin D. drove me another 2 hours to his house-so a very long, tiring, sore first day. after that, it was relaxing, pretty much, and lots of fun. My cousin has 8 kids- 1 girl, then 7 boys. 4 still live at home and all live locally. they range from 24 to 9 years old. My cousin and his wife P. are amazing parents. they have the kind of family most of us want, i think. they are such a positive force. in general conversation with 2 of their sons, i overheard D. say "but what does the Bible say?". they make it part of their every day lives, it isn't just a Sunday experience to them. they turn to God in everything they do and experience. they don't yell. They homeschool and do it well. They help others learn to homeschool and are there for other parents in their church family to lean on at any time. and let me tell you, home schooling is A TRIP. Ive never seen anything like it. after raising 8 kids, Mom is pretty fly(laid back).
9 year old boy,N.- "hey mom, i started a fire next to your car in the driveway!"
P.-"that's nice Dear, here are some more combustibles for you to burn. be careful."
the fire got bigger and bigger and we all enjoyed it. we took photos. the car didn't catch fire. boy was smiling. all was well. then, girlfriend of older brother B. came in and asked N. to explain to her the 3 elements of fire, asked a few more questions, the boy answered them and POOF! science was done for the day. CHECK! very very cool. and it was saturday!
then theres the music part. all 8 kids are musically inclined and enjoy it immensely, as do I. the room i slept in was full of drums, guitars, they have a mandolin, a piano, keyboards...the kids have jam sessions at night and since they don't have a TV, they are always being creative, are critical thinkers and know how relate to each other in a positive way. even when one boy is annoying another, the annoyer is dealt with fairly, without any mean spirited stuff, or raised voices.
then there are the animals. They have pigs, goats, chickens and a beautiful horse named Randy, who i adore. i got a beautiful picture of him, and a few other good shots while N. took me on a tour of the grounds. The place has beautiful gardens, a big field behind the house, a farmer's porch, a cool tree house... everything i love and more. Ok, the pigs were stinky so i may avoid that! the kids and their Dad built a go cart out of an old snow blower motor, they sure have fun with that. They have a beagle, named Charlie, who i wanted to take home with me. just everything was great.
i loved their church and everybody in it, we also visited some friends of theirs who live in an amazing log home they built, that was so fun. the owner even shared progress pictures with me from back in the mid 80's, those were cool to see. what a house. we did a lot of driving around, but i enjoy that. i really didn't want to leave! i mostly enjoyed my cousins wife, P, who i really look up to as a mom and friend. she rocks! i really miss her. My cousin D. is such a calm, loving, involved Father, he reminds me of my husband. he really gets involved with what they do and takes a true interest.
well, enough babble, i had an awesome time and although the homecoming was great, it's been hard to get back into the swing of things here, and i feel like a slave lol. i'll adjust. i missed everyone here so much! there is so much to catch up on though. my RAD son missed me a lot and even hugged me!

tomorrow i will fill you in about the 2nd leg of my trip, which was helping my room mate pack a 27 foot u haul truck with all his belongings and drive it back here. it was FUN!