Home!

After an amazing trip to England and Scotland, we are home.
We are home, safe and sound, and we thank the Lord for the trip that we had.

It was such a sweet reunion between our younger two and us, and with their siblings. They genuinely missed each other! Our little Kate was beside herself with elation. She was jumping up and down, and then crying! She didn't know quite what to do!

Kate and Ezra were extremely well spoiled, and are now back in the real world with having to do chores and use manners.

Caleb and Marie were unbelievable during the travel…they hauled their own luggage and kept up with buses, trains, subways, and planes! They were amazing. They adjusted to the time difference, the food differences, the pillow differences (those Brits sure don’t have thick pillows) and all the other differences overseas travel can bring. Joel and I were THOROUGHLY impressed with them! We are so proud to be their parents!

I have lots of pictures, but wanted to send a few of the highlights. In both countries, England and Scotland, we saw the Lord’s hand guiding us, guarding us, and taking care of us every step of the way. We met some amazing people, and we are so encouraged.

One story of many that we could share shows God’s sweet tender care. We had purchased a “family pass” at the Stirling castle in Scotland on Wednesday, knowing that we would see other castles in Edinburgh and St. Andrews, and it was a discounted rate to buy all 3 at once. SO we did. We enjoyed the Stirling castle, but the next day when we went to Edinburgh, we forgot the pass and left it at the hotel (over an hour a way by train). So, knowing it was a long shot, Joel went to the “visitors center” at the castle and showed them our receipt for the pass (not itemized), explaining that we had purchased the pass but forgotten it, and the guy just said, “Sorry, we can’t help you.” So we waited in a long line for normal tickets for 30 minutes, just praying the whole time with the kids that the Lord would provide for us, even though we had already been told there was nothing they could do for the forgotten pass. It is finally our turn in line, and we told the cashier our story and showed him our non-itemized receipt (which just showed that we spent money at the Stirling castle, but not what we spent that money on). He said, “I’m sorry you have waited in this line, you could just go to the Visitors Center and they will let you in.” We explained that we already had gone to the center, and they wouldn’t help us. This cashier got on his walkie-talkie, walked away from the window while he gently “explained” to someone how things work, and then came back with apologies, and free tickets to get in! Of course, we had already paid for tickets to get in on the pass, but we thought we were going to have to pay for another set of tickets since we left them at the hotel.

God is so good! I walked away from the window with tears in my eyes, so thankful for God’s goodness, but especially thankful that my children were there to see what God did for us. As we got out of the crowded window area, Joel pulled us aside as a family and we thanked the Lord then and there for His provision and His care for us!