AND…WE’RE HOME…

7,200 miles

47 days of uninterrupted family time

7 lbs of red licorice

520 gallons of gas

723,830 times of hearing Eli say “Mama” from the backseat

2 buffalo encounters

17 states

3 pricked fingers from sewing Junior Ranger badges on

numerous encounters with friends and extended family

1 lost green bucket floating down the Virgin River in UT

11 National Parks

the simplicity of life on the road

…all priceless experiences that I wouldn’t trade for the world! I lOVE my fam!;-)

All in all, the girls earned 11 Junior Ranger badges:-) Nice job, ladies!

 

 

 

 

THE CREATION MUSEUM

Wow, Wow, WOW!!… is what I have to say about the Creation Museum just outside of Cincinnati, OH.  After having run the National Park circuit for several weeks and having our children indoctrinated into evolutionist theories right and left, we decided it was time for Jody and I to get some education on creationism and set them right with the CORRECT info.  The attention to detail at this place is seriously unbelievable!  If you haven’t been there a) add it to your bucket list and b) plan to be there all day.  Not only do they have the indoor museum portion, but they also have outdoor botanical gardens and a petting farm.  They have a planetarium, speakers on differing topics throughout the day, and several movies you can pop in to.  It’s hands-on enough to keep the attention of the younger ones, while holding the interest of adults through all the reading/visuals.  My pics don’t give the museum justice;-(!

Em in the fossil room

Walking through the Prophets room

Standing in front of the Tree of Good & Evil

Portions of what an actual sized Ark would look like

Elijah riding a dino! He was pretty psyched;-)

Eli and the donkey having a stare down;-)

Aww, they made friends! Eli shared his water bottle with him. I had quite a fight getting this cute lil’ donkey to release that thing!!

Lexie and a Zdonk!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NASHVILLE!

We headed north to Nashville to spend some time with our good friend, Don Mencke.  He recently took a position with LifeWay and is currently house and church hunting so Devon and the kids can join him soon! We took advantage of his knowledge of the city and asked him to play tour guide for the day; he did an outstanding job!  We spent some time at Opryland, downtown, the West End and then the suburbs for some house/church hunting… and a little park time for some high energy kiddos!  No worries, Devon…we picked out a gorgeous home and super hospitable church for you guys;-)!  Don was also our first ever overnight guest in the Tracer Motel.  We even included a free hot breakfast!  No mints on the pillow though;-(

You made the blog, Don!!;-)

We also gorged on some yummy soul food as well as some good ole’ fashioned southern Bar-B-Que!

Yum-ola!

I also HAD to stop by Dave Ramsey’s offices!  Although it was a Saturday so he wasn’t taping;-(… I was bummed.  All those years of Jody preaching and it only took one Ramsey DVD to hook me on keeping a budget!  Love that guy!;-)

Gazelle intensity!!

Girls loved the Opryland hotel; Eli especially enjoyed watching the fish swim in their ponds!

Opryland

Here fishy, fishy!

On our way north we hit Mammoth Cave National Park in southern KY- how could we not?!?!  GREAT park, but haven’t they all been!  They have a dozen different cave tours running so we chose a popular one called Mammoth Passage and off we went to the dark underground!  They have the world’s longest explored cave systems… over 390 miles worth!  In his special 2-yr old way, Eli kept repeating “tunnel” going into, walking throughout and exiting the cave.  He’s obsessed with tunnels right now and we could not convince him that this was not a tunnel so at some point we just played by his rules.

Down we trek…

Mama & her muffin!

Can’t believe Jody got a pic down here with all our eyes open! The flash was a killer on the eyes!

Em happy about earning her Junior Ranger badge!

HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK

We decided to hit Hot Springs National Park just southwest of Little Rock, AR.  We didn’t take the time to research it beforehand and we refreshingly surprised when we got there!  Rather than your typical park, it consisted of eight bathhouses termed Bathhouse Row.  Hot Springs was really our first National Park, however they weren’t using the term ‘National Park’ yet so it was termed a National Reservation in 1832 and it wasn’t until 1941 that they changed the name to a National Park so it lost its title to Yellowstone.  It’s also our smallest National Park!

The girls in front of the park monument.

What drew people to this location were the 46 hot springs streaming out of the mountain side.  Today, due to massive landscaping efforts there are only a few hot springs you can see from the promenade behind the bathhouses as well as several man-made fountains.  The water emerges out of the spring at a steaming, literally, 143 degrees!  People flocked to the upscale bathhouses back in the day for relief from their aches and pains.  Many claimed to be cured of their ailment after relaxing in the mineral baths.  All the bathhouse are luxurious even to today’s standards; comprised of granite, marble and stained glass windows.  Of the eight bathhouses only two are currently functioning as bathhouses, which mimic a modern day spa atmosphere.  Right up my alley!!  We were able to go on a tour of the Fordyce Bathhouse…

Bathhouse tour

One of many stained glass ceilings.

At one of the hot spring fountains…

This particular fountain was for drinking purposes only… locals, and tourists alike, came with gallon jugs, water bottles and drinking cups to fill up on this steaming water! Once it cooled down, it tasted as a pure as RO water!

Smokin’ hot!

Thought I’d stick my toes in, but it was too hot!

The girls working on their Junior Ranger books on one of the bathhouse verandas.

The girls being sworn in… neat camera angle with a mirrored column.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK HEARTBREAK

We left Albuquerque and  headed to Oklahoma City, OK to see the Oklahoma City Memorial that honors the 168 victims of the 1995 federal building bombing.  It was devastating, even 17 years later.  We shed tears and spent most of the morning in silence trying to comprehend the devastation that those families, that city, and the country as a whole felt then and to many degrees now.  The foundation that won the rights to design the memorial did a beautiful, thoughtful job.

One of two entrance gates into the memorial. One says 9:01, which represents the minute of peace and normalcy before the bombing and the other says 9:03, which represents the destruction and life as we know it after the bombing.  The reflection pool is meant to symbolize the “soothing of wounds” as well as where NW 5th Street used to be.

The Survivor Tree, which lived through the attack; this 99+ year old tree represents the “resilience” of the city and its survivors.

This is the Field of Empty Chairs, which symbolizes the 168 lives lost that day. Nineteen of them represent the children that died in the bombing.  The field of chairs is located on what used to be the Murrah Federal Building.

The chairs are arranged in nine rows which represent the nine floors in the federal building and each chair has the name of a person who who killed on that particular floor. The smaller chairs represent the children, all 6 years old and under.

They created a gorgeous Children’s Area where some of the artwork that flooded in after the attack still stands today, especially glazed tiles. They also incorporated sections of chalkboard into the sidewalk so that children can write/draw what they’re feeling after experiencing the memorial. Emily decided to draw a picture of her helping the little children.

The is known as The Fence… it’s 200 feet of the original fence installed to protect the site in 1995. People continue to leave items of “remembrance and hope”. This part was probably the most difficult as there were current letters/pictures left from loved ones pouring out their hearts to those killed in the bombing…. mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. It was piercing!

This memorial definitely reminded us of how fragile life is and how precious Jesus needs to be….every day! To keep our eyes focused on the prize, which is about running this race well and reigning and ruling for His glory and not our own.

 

 

 

 

 

PETRIFIED FOREST NATIONAL PARK

We, of course, had to pop into the Petrified Forest National Park, which was on our way to Albuquerque.  Glad we did… it was awesome!  I assumed it was a small, little known national park but it’s actually a gem!  The petrified wood is SO beautiful!  They say it’s created when the wood is buried, lacks oxygen, and the soil contains high amounts of minerals like magnesium and iron, which causes the pretty colors.  We think God was just being creative and colorful;-)

Em with a piece of petrified wood.

Outside of the areas of petrified wood, it’s just barren land.

My babies;-)

Some of the trees were quite big & colorful…

Studying a petrified tree… Eli’s doing his own studying;-)

Emily working on her Junior Ranger booklet 😉

WE MADE IT TO ALBUQUERQUE!!!

Well, we finally made it to Albuquerque, NM… the entire reason this trip came into being!  My parents meet up with the Lewis’ and Lius every year and for 2012 it was decided they’d all meet in Albuquerque at the International Hot Air Balloon fiesta.  My parents originally asked to take the kids and some how Jody and I finagled our way in;-)  I thought it was an odd place for them to pick as none of them are balloonists BUT after arriving in Albuquerque we finally figured out the connection!!  Joy’s, Mrs. Lewis’, brother and sis-in-law, the Ellis’, are balloonists!  Ah-ha!!  It all came together after that;-)  Since we love to travel, it never occurred to us to ask if there was a connection in the destination… we just knew we were in regardless of any practical reasoning!

Ballooning is a difficult hobby as it’s SO weather dependent.  We arrived on a Friday and departed on a Tuesday and only got to see the balloons launch ONCE due to the weather conditions.  It would also be a very difficult hobby for the Medfords as it requires very early am departures and that’s just not how we roll;-)  This would be more of a Eaton Brown hobby!!;-)  This year they had over 550 balloons!

The fiesta last an entire week, with mass ascensions taking place in the early, COLD ams and evening glows where all the balloons inflate on the ground and then light up- very pretty!  They have over 100 specialty shaped balloons and do a special launch just for them one day.  Overall, it’s a very beautiful celebration of balloons!

Emmy’s favorite- Nelly the elephant!

Eli’s favorite- an ice cream cone with a cherry!

And even Darth Vader for you Star Wars fans!

This was Eli’s posture the entire morning! All he said was “Up! Up!” He knew exactly where those balloons were supposed to be;-)

Papa, Gigi & the kids…

Mr & Mrs Ellis were kind enough to come to the campground and hold a Balloon 101 class for the kids… and many adult campers joined in!  They were super educational for the whole audience.

Ballooning 101

Mr & Mrs Ellis giving their presentation.

My sis and Paul flew in for the weekend to join the family festivities;-)

The whole crew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEDONA

After picking Jody up from the airport we decided to take a day trip to Sedona. We’d heard such wonderful things about this lil’ city, we thought we’d check it out ourselves!  Jody’s parents have been here and recommended the Pink Jeep tour… so we did!  Ms Stella, from New York, was our tour guide.  She did a great job explaining the history of Sedona, as well as the Pink Jeep company.

A photo op in front of the famous pink jeep!

My girls!

Sweet Bubba just kickin’ back during the tour…

Our fam at the top of the mesa which was an old wagon trail that the farmers used to take their produce up to Flagstaff. Such beautiful scenery up there!

Apparently we ran Emmy too hard this day because this was how she looked toward the end of the tour…

Ms Stella also gave us the scoop on several other “must sees” while we were in town… the first being Chapel of the Holy Cross, which was built into a mountain.  It was great!  Emily had lots of questions about all the pretty lit candles;-)

Inside the little chapel

A side view of the chapel

And finally, a front view…

Had to include this pic as I thought it was so cute!  It was outside the church…

Love it!

We finished our day in Sedona with dinner at Ms Stella’s recommendation, The Barking Frog- no lie!  It was DELICIOUS!

GRAND CANYON

We got to spend several days at the GRAND CANYON… one of my favorite places on earth!  Jody flew home for business for most of the time we were here so the kids and I did some exploring on our own.  Papa & Gigi met up with us, as well as two of their friends, Mr & Mrs Lewis and Mr & Mrs Liu. Papa served in Vietnam with Mr Lewis and Mr Liu and have remained close ever since.  The Lewis’ came in from San Diego and the Lius came in from Salt Lake City.  It was great to spend some time with them all as it’s been several years since we’ve seen the Lius and the Lewis’ have never met the girls, or Eli, in person!

One of the Seven Wonders of the World…ahhh! Pure majesty from our Creator! (Pic taken by Lexie!)

Mr Lewis, Dad & Mr Lui

 

The girls at the south rim.

 

Lexie & Eli smilin’ for Mama 😉

Girls earning their Junior Ranger badge…

Gigi & Emmy on the shuttle to the South Kaibab trailhead.

Gigi & the girls on the South Kaibab trail…

You can’t really tell in this pic, but we’re dying about now…at least mom & I are!! It was SO HOT in the canyon and we were on the way back up- ugh!

 

 

ZION NATIONAL PARK

ZION! Ahhhh…. definitely Jody’s fav park along this route.  He’d hiked here before with the guys so was able to advise us on some adventurous, original hikes!  Most of the park is accessible by shuttle only, which has pros and cons.  It’s great not to have vehicles everywhere but it’s kind of a pain due to the time it takes to ride the shuttle everywhere.  Good time to work on patience, right?!?!  We started our time here strong with a hike up to Angel’s Landing…. despite my fear of heights I was doing pretty well, although I did have to hand  Eli over to Jody to pack up and down the chains;-)  It’s so steep and edgy that they’ve installed chains for you to hold and steady yourself on!  As Lexie said, “Imminent death on one side and permanent disability on the other.”  Nothing like a safe family hike!  We were about 3/4 of the way up and Emmy decided she didn’t want to go any further, so she and I found a nice spot to hang out at while the rest of the bunch summited, even Eli who fell asleep on the way up!  The kids were AMAZING!  This was a really tough, strenuous hike and they did it!

Hiking the chains up to the peak…

Jody, Lexie and sleeping Eli at the top of Angel’s Landing!

Our fams together on the trail.

The next day we decided to hike the Narrows, which I was really excited about!  They assured us that it was a good time of year for it and that the water would never be above our thighs so we rented our equipment and hit the trail!  Papa & Gigi were gracious enough to watch Elijah & Jack for us as this wasn’t the best hike to pack lil’ ones.

The kids in front of a waterfall…

It was AWESOME hiking through these narrow walls of rock, although Grace and Emily got a lil’ cold about 1/2 way through because the temps plummet once you get into the narrows and they don’t have much body fat!

We hiked into the portion they call the slots, where it gets skinny enough to hold your arms out and touch both side of the rock…. it starts just behind us in the pic.

I asked for their Ninja warrior poses…

My girls…

The next day we hiked to the Emerald Pools, which really weren’t all that emerald in color so the kids were a little disappointed…

Walking through one of the waterfalls that pours into the Emerald Falls…

We’re all on the other side of another waterfall that pours into the Emerald Pools…

And we hiked to Weeping Rock, which is a rock that looks like it’s crying because the sandstone hits limestone which doesn’t absorb water…

Weeping Rock

Hannah, Aaron, Casey, Lexie and Emily in front of Weeping Rock

And I couldn’t resist to stick in this pic of Emily… she’s her own girl!  Love the hiking getup;-)!

Fashionista! The best are the smilely face socks;-)

We’re sad to say goodbye to the LaCroixs as they are heading back home and we’re off to the Grand Canyon.  We’re thankful to have been joined together with this like-minded family and look very much forward to our next time together!