Rainy Denver

It was another long drive today as we headed over to Denver for a dual purpose visit.  We barely missed the terrible rain and flash flooding that ocurred here this evening.  We are here to pick up Kenny, Angela and Olesya on Saturday, and I am also working at a homeschool conference for Nancy Larson Science.  It is a small Catholic homeschool conference and it should be interesting.  I am going to present a short session on using the curriculum, and am a little nervous about that but it is always good to step outside our box and try something new.  I really hope that someday our kids will remember all the times when we did something uncomfortable or new and they find the confidence to try something themselves that they might otherwise decline to try.  Kenny tackling being litirgist at church was certainly a step outside his personal box, and I want all the kids to see us actively challenging ourselves to "do the hard thing" on many levels.

We all miss our three campers so much!  The car drive over was waaaayyyy too quiet, and more than once each and every day Josh and Matthew have commented about missing their brother and sisters, wondering out loud what they are doing at that moment.  Not to worry, a couple more days and we'll be back to normal.

We're going to have a busy few weeks ahead of us.  We have a down week once we get back on Sunday, and then we are going to take Big Bertha out for a week of trial camping.  She is getting her brakes done right now, and we (notice I include myself in that "we" even though I did nothing but offer applause while Dominick and Matthew worked!) completed our little re-stuffing project for the couch and seats, and actually it turned out quite nice...for a 25 year old unit.  Matthew was so competent, and watching him I realized how much I have come to think of him as capable in many areas.  Dominick literally couldn't have done the project without him. 

We also pulled up the carpet which was NASTY and unable to be cleaned decently, and when we return we are going to sand the plywood floor and paint it.  We can't put a floor tiles over it as we had hoped as there are bolts coming through the floor holding things to the underside of the motorhome.  That's OK, we just need a clean, smooth, sweepable surface.  We'll see how it turns out.

Our weeklong camp is going to be Science Camp 2011!  We are going to do a block learning session with mostly science as the focus.  I thought it would be fun to take our curriculum (yes, from Nancy Larson Science!) and take it along with us, working on several lessons at a time over the course of the week in between bike riding, camp fires and other fun activities.   Then it will be Matt's turn to go to church camp, then surgery for Kenny, return and the next day get to Salt Lake City for Matt's appointment at Shriner's...then heave a big sigh of relief and relax :-) 

So, looking forward to meeting new folks tomorrow and talking "homeschooling", then wrapping my arms around our threesome!

And a last little note...Shannon made a comment on yesterday's post about "hope", and how she was struggling to hold on to hope herself as she and her husband were up against a wall trying to come up with funds for the adoption of their waiting Ethiopian children.  This family is PHENOMENAL, committed, providing a home to two children already with their daughter in particular facing incredible special needs.  They are one of the waiting families for another child from Kyrgyzstan to join their son adopted from Kyrgyzstan.  Their daughter in Kyrgyzstan has a cleft lip and palate like Kenny.  On Facebook tonight I read that something had happened since early this morning, hope has returned!!  I don't know the details, but I love to hear when God moves things forward that seem so hopeless.  Shannon, I am so very happy that hope replaces the darkness you were facing, and I'll continue to pray for your entire family...those home and those who still wait.