I can’t believe that we are taking a road trip as a family that is (get this!) 10 DAYS long! I’m in shock!! It has been so fun (even though there have been interestingly annoying times too in the car with a brother who still finds reason and chance to poke and pester… 😉 ) to spend time with my parents and siblings. I am taking in every quirk and -ism of each person because I know that I will be missing all of these very shortly.

On Saturday night we stayed at my Nelson Grandparents’ house before leaving early to head West. We traveled through corn-filled Iowa, dry and brown Nebraska, and finally arrived in desert-like Colorado! We stayed in Castle Rock, CO the first night before traveling to Colorado Springs to see the Air Force Academy, Focus on the Family, and Garden of the Gods (or, more accurately, of GOD).

The Air Force Academy was SO interesting to visit. The chapel was by far my favorite part. It was gorgeous inside, with beautiful rainbow stained glass and purple colors. It also had a grand organ in the upper balcony of the chapel which reminded me of the organ at Bethel Lutheran in Rochester (only it wasn’t QUITE that big). We toured the exhibit that talked about cadet life and other interesting things about the Air Force. Their gift shop was huge – I guess they take memorabilia pretty seriously. 😛

Focus on the Family had a beautiful bookstore — perfect place to hide away for a few minutes! They also had a very fun-looking Whit’s End replica with tons of things that kids would LOVE to play with and explore.

The Garden of the Gods had great red rock formations of sandstone. They had named the different rocks; my favorite has to be the Kissing Camels (because yes, it does look like two camels kissing!!). The Balanced Rock was pretty cool, too, though because we got to take pictures of us pretending to hold the giant, 7-ton rock up. 🙂

Tonight we got to our “cabin” in Woodland Park which Jenna said is really close to where the mission team was when they were here a month ago! Pretty sweet if you ask me. Reed and I “went hot-tubbing” (according to him) and then we watched the Olympics for the second time this year. I love watching those gymnastics girls on the bars twirl and flip. They’re so graceful and lovely to watch; I thank God for the beauty and splendor of the human body He has made every time I see it.

Well, time for some much-needed rest! Tomorrow we will get to tour Compassion International!! SO excited! I have postcards to send to my three wonderful sponsored children. 😀 I want to learn more about their internship program and see how they translate and organize  ALL of those letters!