10 Weeks--1/4 of the way through!

The days have been up and down lately. Yesterday was really good and today not so much. Mike started a side remodel job yesterday and we are thankful even for the little ones. He also has a lead at the local Home Depot. He's hoping to have another conversation tomorrow with one of the managers. If anyone can sell Home Depot's product; Mike can. Most times when he has a question there he realizes he knows more than the employee on hand. I have one more week here in Lincoln. I'm thankful for the help but looking forward to seeing Mike. After this we move back in the trailer. We've decided to live there until the baby is born to save some money. (or until I can't fit through the door (a serious possibility)).

Yesterday I was looking through pics on our camera. One of Mike came up and Charlize immediately said, "Da, da!" That's a pretty rare thing still so I was glad that she still recognizes him. She's really starting to babble. Every animal says "bow, wow, wow" according to her. It's pretty cute. She's really trying.

Prescott

Yes, Cristina, we are looking at Prescott at this time as a more permanent stop. As permanent as a Jolly can be any way. (6 moves in 4 1/2 years of marriage). =) Mike is looking into some of the newly created gov. jobs. One option is at the V.A. hospitol and there are several other options that revolve around construction/maintenance. At this point benefits are a bigger factor than pay as rent is pretty cheap there. We've found some houses under $700. PTL! We are praying that God would lead Mike to the right place for work and that He would bless quickly if it's His will. Also that we would remain trusting Him no matter the timeline. I'm hoping to be feeling better by May and look forward to seeing all of you in the valley soon.

Case of the Yukks!

Sorry it's been a while. Thanks for everyone who's praying. It's been another though 1st tri-mester but better this time as I have help and a better diet. (my mom makes my food) Last time i couldn't stand to smell the cooking so I ate freezer meals. Not so nutritious. Mike is currently driving our trailer back to AZ. (Prescott). Charlize and I will fly back on Ap 8th. That way my mom can help me for a few weeks and then Mike's mom can help me finish up. Please pray for continued strength and health for me and obedience from charlize and job for Mike. I'm getting dizzy.....more later.

Simple Math

3+1=4

Or at least it will in October. =)

Next Stop: Hammond, IN

Now we're in Hammond with my oldest sister. They had some snow damage in their dinning room so Mike is redoing plumbing and electrical and then replacing drywall on the ceiling and two walls. Quite the project when you have 4 kids running around the house. We'll probably be here a few more days and then finally head back to Lincoln and eventually AZ. I'm getting really anxious for this to be over but it's great to have time with my sister and family. They are so much fun to be around.

PS: Jon and Jen we got your message. Our cell is dead and I can't find the charger. Thanks for a great time. We made it in at 1am and the trip was smoothe.

Next Stop: Nashville, TN

Finishing up Houston: We had a great time in corpus Christi. The only snafu was when Mark got chased down by a dog while on his bike. As he tried to defend himself from being bit, he crashed his bike. We were all at breakfast without our cell phone so it took him an hour to get a hold of us. After 6 cars passed him while he was lying in the middle of the road finally someone stopped to help. We were all thankful when we found out he was just sore and had no broken bones. Mike finished the fence yesterday and we left at 8pm for Nashville.

Traveling all night went quite well. Charlize slept all 14 hours! I was a little bummed to miss Louisiana along the 10 in the dark but the swampland was still ominous in the dark. Huge trees towered over us on both sides of the road. They must have been 30 or 40 feet tall. Mississippi was a smoothe drive but as soon as we got to Alabama the snow started. Around 5am we had to pull over for Mike to rest his eyes. We had been looking into the snow for so long I was expecting any minute to see in big bold yellow print, "Long Long ago, in a galaxy far far away. . . I took the next shift driving and pretty much prayed the whole way. We saw 4 major wrecks involving jackknifed trailers or flipped over cars that completely stopped the freeway. Thankfully we were never involved and they were all on the other side of the freeway. I think by the end of the night we must have seen 30 cars that had slip off the road. Made us thankful for a heavy truck and 4 wheel drive. We finally pulled into our friends house at 10:30 am. We had a great lunch meeting our friends extended family and enjoying lots of hospitality. Our friends are in the middle of opening their first franchise of Little Ceasars here in Nashville.

After lunch Charlize and I were both in much need of a nap. We both went down while Mike took a shower. I slept about three hours and after talking to Mike tonight apparently I got up and picked up Charlize in my sleep and took care of her till Mike finished. Then handed her off and went back to bed. I remember none of this. Hmmm, I think maybe I can't miss a nights sleep as well as I thought. I wonder what other chores I could learn to do while I sleep. This could be a good deal! . . . . maybe.

Next Stop: Houston TX

What a nice break Houston has been from the cold! We got in at 3:30am Sat. Traveling with a sleeping one year old is so worth the late hours! We've been enjoying time with Mark and Monica and Reagan. It's been in the 60's and with the light humidity it feels like spring! Mike is working on the back yard fence that collapsed from the hurricane last fall. All over the neighborhood you can see new and old fence boards as almost everyone had some damage. Right now M&M and their backyard neighbors have one large combined backyard. The neighbors have a large bird aviary and the kids enjoy watching the parakeets. I had both kids at Home Depot and must have had 5 people ask if they were twins. What fun to have cousin time together. That's something that I really miss in our long distance family.

Wednesday all of us are headed to Corpus Christy for some fun in the sun. Padre Island is only an hour from there so we might have to fit that in. I guess Padre has the Caribbean like beaches. hmm I think that's worth another hour. =) Monica was able to get an apt for Charlize before our insurance ran out so she's working on four shots today. She's pretty fussy but this is a great place to deal with it rather than a traveling day.

Our main accomplishment of the week: Charlize taught Reagan to walk. He definately thrives on the encouragement and is very wobbly but aren't we all with something new. =)

Next Stop: Rapid City, SD

Friday night we made the drive between Gelndive and Rapid City. This was by far the worst weather we have had traveling. It wasn't too bad though. I have learned that when it's freezing out side you need to bring the baby wipes into the truck. They don't work well when they are frozen solid! What barren open country though. Not many stops along the way. We tried to buy dinner and they didn't even take credit cards but she was sweet and took my out of state check.

Rapid City was gorgeous! The black hills are beautiful with all the pine trees and rocky hills around every bend. Sat we took as a vacation day and visited Mt. Rushmore. It was snowing pretty good so we didn't stay out long but there's quite an exibit indoors as well. The presidents faces are 60 feet tall and origionally the plan was to do complete busts but the master sculpter died shortly after the faces were complete. He was the highest paid person on the project at $1.50 per hour!

We knew very quickly that we want to look into this area more closely so we didn't spend a lot of time there now. Our plan is to spend a few days here at my parents in Lincoln, NE and finish removing a wall from their living room. Then we'll leave Charlize here and go to Rapid City just the two of us so we can look into things a little closer.

We're also thinking of fitting a trip to Texas to see Mark and Monica. Friday is Marks last day at Voss and so he'll have a few weeks off before starting a new one. We'd like to go see Corpus Christi with them. I'm so ready for some warmer weather! This job change is Mark's decision and has come with much prayer. We're excited to see what God has in store. Kinda funny that all three of us girl's husbands have changed jobs this year. =)

Thanks to everyone who's been writing...we miss you all a lot!

Next Stop: Glendive Mt

Grrrr....I just typed a ton and the computer erased it all. Ahhhhh! Okay second try. finishing up Idaho Falls.....Sunday we went to church and increased attendance by 30%. There were a total of 10 people there and thus no nursery. They were so gracious about Charlize who made it about half way through. On a side note....anyone who's ever sat in front of Mike in church....the hyms were led by someone with twice the country twang of my husband. It was great!! They were such a kind group of people and was so refreshing to be in Christian fellowship. The whole church took us out to lunch and were so helpful in telling us about the area.

By 1pm we were on the road and drove North and crossed the ENTIRE state of Montana. What a gorgeous state. Mike and I mused that maybe God was practicing for heaven when He made Montana. We saw the sun setting as we gazed across the Big Sky state with amazing mountains, free range cattle and rarely any houses or any kind of developement. 1am we pulled into Glendive, slept in a truck lot and ran into our friend Bryan at breakfast. It was a good thing because our phone doesn't work here and we didn't know where he lived. We've really been enjoying staying at Bryan and Annas for frienship, good food and lots of laughs. The roads are still snow closed in ND so it'll be another day or so until we hit the road.

Next Stop: Idaho Falls, Idaho

With news of a snow storm coming in we hit the road and didn't stop till we got to Idaho. We put in 12 hours on the road yesterday. Traveling while Charlize sleeps is always easier and it was a gorgeous drive. The road between Fort Collins and Laramie is so beautiful. We saw huge slanted rock formations that you could tell used to be flat and had at one point been removed from the surface whether by flood or earth quake. Later than night most of Utah and Idaho we traveled roads with snow covered mountains towering on both sides of the road. Under complete cloud cover the moonlight still shone bright, illuminating the deepest of snow filled crevaces while the rocky surfaces hid in plain sight. We pulled into a truck stop around 11pm. and spent the night. Charlize woke up as we moved her to the trailer. She had already had 5 hours so to her it was morning. Ahhhh. We finally convinced her to go to bed at 1:30. I was so exhausted!

In between Ft Collins and Laramie

Hmmm, I would love to have seen how this happened . . .

Our Little Traveler
Idaho Falls, ID



A little fun at the town museum