Colorado

After 8 hours of driving, we arrived at Jeff and Brenna's house in Colorado! We were so happy to see family.

Jeff and Brenna had some fun adventures planned for us. Our first outing was to the top of a very high mountain peak. 

It was a windy road and we had to stop for some fresh air a few times. But the scenery was amazing! 

When we reached the top we got out to look around. It was very windy! And cold! And so hard to breathe. Our sea level lungs were struggling a little bit at this elevation.  

Mt. Evans. Elevation 14,130 feet. The highest point you can go without an airplane. The view was awesome!

We saw mountain goats.  

And snow.  

When we drove back down the mountain, we stopped for a picnic, some hiking and fishing.  

Right after this picture was taken, Jeff told Jake to wash his hands off in the river. As he was washing, he lost his balance and fell in! As you can see, he was wearing this big sweatshirt and it was weighing him down in the water. Thankfully Uncle Jeff jumped in and pulled him out. Then we went home. 

Then next day we went on a little road trip to Colorado Springs. We stopped at the Air Force Academy and took this picture. Maybe some day we will be assigned to this beautiful part of the world. 

Then we went on to The Garden of The God's and had fun hiking around.  

Brenna was such a good sport to host and go out on all of these outings at 37 weeks (I think) pregnant! All of the other hikers we saw were amazed by her. 

On our way home we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants, Rudy's! We had to get some sauce and big cups to take home to Aaron. 

After all of our adventures, we decided to spend a day relaxing in the backyard. Root beer floats, soccer and cousins. So fun!

Movie night.  

Jeff went fishing early one morning and came home with enough fish for fish tacos! And Jake liked helping clean the fish.  

Lucy and Janie dancing in their twirly dresses on the front lawn.  

I don't have a picture of this, but one of the things I loved about this part of our trip was going mountain biking with Jeff. I had never been mountain biking before and so Jeff took me to one of his favorite spots. It was so much fun and I really liked spending that time with my brother. 

We had a great time in beautiful Colorado. After 4 days of some great family time, lots of fun adventures, and some delicious food, we headed out once again. Another rental car and 8 more hours of driving. Next stop, Utah!

Nebraska

 Our first stop on our 10,000 mile trip, was Nebraska! We were so excited to see our good friends the Tyrrell's again. We went to all of our favorite spots and tried to eat all of our favorite foods. The only thing missing was Aaron.

The waterpark

Jake and Aubrey are such cute little friends. 

Two Rivers, our favorite camping spot!

Not exactly the Pacific Ocean, but we were in paradise!

We also had a great time just hanging out at the house together.   

Laser tag and go-kart racing! 

We worked really hard at wearing everyone out! 

After a week of endless activities and a lot of food, it was time for us to move on. We got a rental car and started the drive to Colorado. But before we could officially leave Nebraska, we had to drive by our old house.  

Goodbye Nebraska. Here we come Colorado! 

The Beginning of an Unforgettable Summer!

On May 28th we found out there was an Air Force flight going to Lincoln Nebraska in 72 hours. After some discussion about missing Lucy's ballet recital, logistics of making our way across the country, how to get home, being away from Aaron for a month, and having never done the free Air Force flights before, we decided to go for it! Early in the morning (5:30 AM) on the 31st, he headed to Hickam Air Force Base to try and get a seat on a plane that was leaving in a few hours. After some waiting, we found out we had been chosen for the flight and we had our tickets! We checked our bags and waited to board the plane. Everything was going so smoothly until they made the announcement that our plane had mechanical problems and there would be a 24 hour delay. No problem, we thought. But we quickly learned that this process of getting on a free flight was not going to come easily. 

We went home and crashed. Later that afternoon we found out the the flight would now be leaving at midnight. So at 11:00 PM I loaded up the kids and headed back to the air force base. We were then sent home again for a flight time change to 10:00 in the morning. 

We slept and then went back. When we got there, they still had not fixed the plane. New time: 4:30. We spent the day at the park, shopping, and just hanging out waiting for 4:30 to come. At 4:30 we were a little nervous to go back...but the plane was fixed! We checked our bags, again, and waited to board the plane with the understanding that until we were on the plane and had been in flight 4 hours, there was still a chance we were not going to Nebraska. 

We rode a bus out to the flight line where we watched them load our bags. 

Then, after a quick emergency briefing which scared Grace, we were getting on this huge air force plane! 

There were no assigned seats, or really any seats at all. Just a long bench along the sides. So we sat down and strapped ourselves in. 

Then, the crew asked Noah if he wanted to sit up in the cockpit for take off! They put the headphones on him so he could hear the pilots talking, and he sat up front for the first hour of the flight. So cool. 

The plane was really, really loud. The engines were right next to us so we had to wear earplugs.  We left Hawaii at 7:30 PM on June 1st.

The kids got a great tour of the plane! They all to to go up into the cockpit and look out the front window. They also got to see how and where they refuel planes and how it all works. 

They each took turns laying down and moving the boom. So cool. 

After they had toured the plane, everyone fell asleep. The airplane did not have climate control. They had a small heater that they could turn up or down but it would only heat from the waist up. So our feet were freezing! After a 7 1/2 hour flight. we arrived in Lincoln Nebraska at 8:30 AM on June 2nd. 

This would be the start of an amazing adventure that would total 10,947 miles by the time it was over.