An Autumn of Awesome trips...

The end of September marked the beginning of a time of busy travel for us. It all just kind of worked out that way, and in the end, even though it was busy and tiring, it was a lot of fun!

Sante Fe, end of September:

We went to Sante Fe "on business" for the church. Me, Levi & Nathan and our friends, Jeff & Autumn Nottingham, flew all the way down there to meet with a church about what they were doing there for their prayer ministry. To sum up, it was an amazing trip. I have never been to the southwest (well, except for Texas), and Sante Fe is its own magical little southwest world. It felt like Venice and the Pacific Northwest with bits of Florida (not the creepy parts) rolled into one. Levi was our little mascot and he mostly did well traveling with us and going through all of the time changes.

Tennessee, Mid-October:

We headed south again to see our family but also to see our dear friend from Seattle, Jeff Overstreet, who was in town to speak at a retreat. He stayed out at the Meeksarosa and even though our time with him was short, it was really sweet. We also had fun celebrating MY 36th birthday, with more friends and a bonfire. The kids and I stayed in TN for another week, as Nathan had to head home after being in Nashville for 24 hours, to work. He had to be home for worship on Sunday as well as a retreat, the next week. Yes, it was busy and we didn't get to see much of each other that week!

Tennessee AGAIN! Oct 24-26:

That's right, we headed back down to TN, this time with Mike and Julie Berend for an extended double date weekend. Mike had some work to do at Vanderbilt and invited us to go along with them.  So
we got to show them some fun in the Music City. Also, it was super fun for us to go, stay in the city, *without kids!!!* Needless to say, it was a really fun trip.

Seattle/Bellingham, WA, for Ruthie Mae's birth:

I had the immense gift of traveling up to the Pacific Northwest *by myself!* for almost a week, to be with my mom, Abby and the Robbins, in hopes of seeing little Ruthie Mae come into the world. It was an amazing trip. I booked it way back in the summer and didn't know that that time with be full with so much travel. All the same, it was a great time and I was so thankful to Nathan and our friends who helped to make it happen!

{Sidenote: I haven't had time like this away in a very long time. I so enjoyed the time and space I had to think and reflect on the past and the present. Last year was a very intense year, as we were in so much transition, with selling our house, moving in with the Berends and fixing up our duplex. Too, it was such a gift to visit with a few of our closest Seattle friends and my former workmates. I woke up very early on Wednesday, Oct 30th, arrived in Seattle at 10:30 am, rented a car, drove around all day seeing friends, and then spent the night north of Seattle. Thursday morning, I took Laura to work, and then drove all the way back down to the airport, with a stop at the Space Needle. I dropped off the car and caught the shuttle bus up to Bellingham, which again, was a very rich time. The leaves were beautiful and I loved looking out the windows. I arrived at the Robbins' house in time to walk around the sweet little downtown of Bellingham, trick-or-treating. The rest of the weekend was spent waiting on little Ruthie, who made her entrance on Sunday night. Early Monday morning, I was up and heading back to the airport, via shuttle.
I loved it, loved being up there, in that beautiful place, with such dear souls and then experiencing Ruthie Mae's birth. It was a huge gift, none of it taken for granted.}

Part 1: Seattle:

Part 2: Bellingham and Ruthie's birth:

I think that about covers all of our travel for the fall. It was a crazy but blessed time!