July 6, 2021

Last Week Before Tour::Life on the Homefront

14  comments

Lots of preparations are going on! 
We leave late tonight on a two month expedition-a tour to Canada & Alaska! 
The areas we are going to on this trip aren’t nearly as populated and definitely less traveled by music groups than the south US, for example. 
This means we have to take more music, products, and pretty much everything. 
Also things are more expensive in Canada, and Wal-marts aren’t very plentiful either! 
So we have a much larger inventory to take along, of everything from cds to paper products.
We have been nearly splitting at the seams for quite some time in our bus, and knew we were going to have to do something different for our summer tour, in order for everything to fit.
Two weeks ago, God amazingly provided the perfect update bus for us, and last week we were able to find a trailer at a nearby dealership.
We are so grateful to the Lord for the extra space that will enable us to be more efficient!
Also the shower, larger water bays, & newer engine are a huge blessing too.
We’ve been busy transferring everything that was in the other bus, to the new bus, and finding the right location for everything that has to go along.

getting ready to leave for two months means lots of farm & garden work has to get done ahead of time! There’s also lots of additional baking to do since we don’t have an oven in the bus.
Here’s just a little picture recap of life this past week.

We babysat earlier this week for our preacher’s two oldest children.
It was such a blast to have babies in the house again!!
Allison has also been babysitting alot lately for our little neighbor boy, Javan.
Our younger ones have really enjoyed having these little people around. =)

the kitties were definitely the toy of choice for Aaron. =)

Hannah loved Rebecca’s dolls…

this spring was a tough one for planting, because we’ve had SO much rain. Every single day that the ground was dry enough for dad to get in the fields and plant…he had at least one breakdown each time. =(
Finally, the other day, the last field got planted!

done!

“Someone” speeding off to run farm errands.

Josh hauling dry manure.

several of us walked into the empty kitchen last week and simultaneously said “WHAT is that smell??”
we discovered the above phenomenon on the stove. =)
After turning the burner OFF, we did some investigating….
and discovered that a certain family member who has requested to remain anonymous…
decided to sanitize a toothbrush by giving it a minute in boiling water.
The problem obviously was that the “person” left the room and totally forgot about the toothbrush.
thirty minutes later…we have the above:
a very charred and ruined kettle.
and a very melted and ruined toothbrush.
made for a good laugh though.
 I suggested to the “person” that they could be a guest on my new “blonde moments” series that may or may not be starting over on my blog.
the offer was denied!
imagine that. =)

The front of our refrigerator has been literally loaded with wedding & graduation invitations!
So before we leave we’re trying to get all the gifts mailed or delivered!
I’ve been having fun using brown packaging paper 
(recycled box stuffing) 
and leftover tulle (from a dress I made for Allison)
to wrap the gifts. Its such a fresh, fun, “organic” look.
Allison & I played for a wedding last Saturday, and had a little extra time to stop in and visit a dear friend from church who is recovering from knee replacement surgery.

Some sweet people we met in Illinois at our concert this past Sunday
gave us a big box of bananas!
Hudson & I put most of them in the freezer…but I couldn’t resist taking a small amount and making a batch of banana bread.

yummy-ness…!!

Liz is our latest chef in training. She’s started making all our granola & she does a great job!
And among other things…Carson & Joshua are graduating! This spring has been so crazy so we will be waiting to have their grad party when we get home from tour in August.
We went ahead and shot a few pictures last week to use for their grad invites.
They’re going to each get a full senior photo shoot session while in Alaska. =) 
Pretty sure that will be the most amazing location ever!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
Ephesians 5:15&16

Tags

family, farm, home


You may also like

camp recap+registration open!

camp recap+registration open!

Summer Tour Update!

Summer Tour Update!
Leave a Reply
  1. Wow, I love these kind of post the best!! Of stuff just around the house!!! And AWE, Aaron and Hannah are adorable, so good to see them again!!! Thanks for posting… you guys sound SO busy…
    I think I comment to much, so maybe I won't be commenting on every post you do.. lol… I just love your post!!! ~Mary

  2. Oh, Mary! Please don't stop commenting! It's fun to hear your thoughts.:) So good to see you today…thanks for stopping by!

    And Kristi- there are several different people who do different jobs on the farm while we're gone. We're so blessed; we certainly couldn't do the farming and singing without fabulous help!

    Allison

  3. Praying for you as you begin your travels! And {wow} I am really inspired by your diligence. 🙂 It sounds like you have quite the summer ahead! Your family is such an awesome blessing + encouragement and I'm sure that you will bless many on this tour, too. 🙂 Blessings!!

  4. What a great post. 🙂 The toothbrush thing…so funny! I hope the tour goes wonderfully, Chels! Also, I loved the way you wrapped my graduation gift! So cool.

  5. Praying for you and I hope you have a wonderful trip. Please, please, please take lots of good pictures when you're in Alaska!!!

    I hope you guys didn't forget anything to bring.

    Rebecca K.

  6. Lisa-
    we'll try to post the recipe once we get home! It's soo easy….I started making it when I was probably 11 or 12 and Liz just learned how!
    Allison

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}