Abilene, TX (Adventure One)

We started our 1st Adventure on Saturday Oct 1st, 2011 with the plan of leaving the house at noon and not really leaving until 4pm.. I finally understood how much goes in to Jonathan trying to leave for a job, I not sure how he does it it over and over again, your tired before you even get out on the road.


Well we had to make 4 pit stops on the way
1st for Food
2nd for a Bathroom break (at the GROSSES place EVER, but when Haven has to go she had to go)
3rd for Gas 
4th for Food again and to give Grace a break from the car seat...

DAY 1- We didn't do much of anything because I didn't have a car and Jonathan had to work most of the morning. So the girls and I watched the Texans game and once Jonathan got back when to eat BarBQ  at Famous Dave's..  Kids Eat for $2.22 on Sunday so it was a great deal for us. (except Haven eat to much and go sick that night)

DAY 2- We had to move hotels because the 1st one was kind of yuck and the girls and I are delicate flowers (as Jonathan likes to call us) So before we could check into to the next hotel, the girls and I went exploring..
We made our way to the Abilene visitor center and they had the COOLEST exhibit on Frontier Texas and the Old West. http://www.frontiertexas.com  Grace slept the whole time so Haven and I really got to enjoy this time and we both learned a lot.. One of Haven's favorite and Grosses Things she learned about the old west  the Community Toothbrush.  (This was Haven's Home School History Lesson)

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DAY 3-  ZOO DAY and Science Lesson.. Haven picked two animals to learn about and write a paper about.. It was a beautiful day for the zoo and being that it was Abilene the girls and I where the only ones there. : )  After the Zoo we went to the park near by and had a nice talk about how amazing God is to make all the amazing creations we saw in the zoo. Once we got back to the room Haven and I worked on spelling and reading. 

DAY 4-  We planned on going to the Grace Museum and seeing all the ART Abilene had to offer but instead we went out to the line and had pizza with Jonathan. It was so GREAT to be able to see him at work : ) The girls LOVED IT!!


Grace even got to try on her Daddy's Pack for work. 

After leaving Jonathan to keep working the girls and I found the Russell Stovers Outlet Candy Store and got Mr. Owen Sir some sugar free candy..

HAVEN LOVED THIS PART OF THE TRIP!!!  She couldn't stop saying I'm like a kid in a candy store, IT's Funny because it true MOM!!! (LOL) I just love that little girl. 




DAY 5- We started this day with school and breakfast, we worked on Math and MORE MATH!! Haven just loved it. HA- : ) We final had both had enough math to last us forever so we headed out to Buffalo Gap TX to the History Village.  After only getting lost twice once we got close we finally arrived and where a little disappointed because Haven and I thought it was going to be a Cowboy town and it was more like a late 1900's Town. 
It was still a lot of fun except for the face that I couldn't use the stroller and had to lug Grace bug around for 2 hours (that little baby gets HEAVY after a while).. 

Haven loved the court House and She was the Judge and Grace was the Jury and they found me GUILTY (I'm still not sure what I did)

After a rest back at the room we headed to the Grace Museum (which is an Art Museum in the old Grace Hotel)

Haven fell in LOVE this painting because it looked so really and reminded her of Lion King.
(she had now decide she wants to be an artiest when she grows up or many even sooner she said)


They had a Children's part on the 2nd floor that both of the girls enjoyed. 

That night the girls sleep great after all the playing and running around we did. : )




Day 6-  We planned on heading back home Friday just the girls and I because I really wanted to make it to see a movie with my sister in law Lisa on Saturday, but I just couldn't make myself pack.. So the girls and I hung around and had lunch at Dairy Queen and hit up the 12th Armored Division Museum..


http://www.12tharmoredmuseum.com/

While at  the museum Jonathan texted me that he would get to come up with us... : )
That evening Jonathan had to work later then normal so the girls and I hung around the room waiting for him and once he got back to the room Grace was on the floor playing and she looked up at him and crawled toward him (ok his boots) for the VERY 1st TIME!!!
It was so amazing that we where able to all be together and see this.




I know I talked a lot about what the girls and I did during the day but I have to say the best part of all of this was the evening when Jonathan got back to the room and the girls faces and his light up when he walked in the door.


After spending this time together as a family in Abilene, Jonathan and I both feel that God has   showed us a glimmer of what his plans is for us and its so much better then ANYTHING we could have planned ourselves.




So it looks like this is the start to an Adventure that I get to take with 3 amazing people that I love So Much.. 


GOD IS GOOD!!! 

a thought, a prayer Our reality

Shortly after Jonathan and I got married (2008) we talked about how it would be cool for us as a family to go out on the road with him when he works, but it was just a thought and it never really went any further then that.


But fast forward to September of 2009 when we had a miscarriage and he was in Tulsa working (I'll blog later on that) did it become apparent that we needed him to be closer to home. We talked ALOT about him finding a job here in town, but knew that it would be a pretty bold task to walk away from a job to look for something in this economy, so we took to praying about it. 
Well...................................... Life started happening and we kind of got into our ways of him going out of town and us visiting him if the job was longer then a few weeks, then him being home for a few week and so on and so on... 
Then we found out we where pregnant for the 1st time after the miscarriage in June of 2010 and it was a GREAT time in our lives. We added Grace Renee Owen to our family January 25, 2011...


Adding Grace to our family REALLY started to show that being away from a growing family just wasn't something Jonathan, myself or the girls could/wanted to do, so we took to praying hard about finding away to keep us together as a family while Jonathan worked. 
GOD heard this prayer loud in clear and gave Jonathan a answer, take the girls out on the road with you..


When Jonathan first told me "what do you think about buying a travel trailer and going out on the road with me?"  I was like sounds AWESOME but inside I was thinking I can't quit my job and pull Haven out of school to go out on the road.... But I know that God gave Jonathan authority over our family so if that's what he wanted then I would do it even if it scared me to no end.
Over the next few months Jonathan's was gone more then ever working and it was harder and harder to be away from him..  It even started to effect the up beat sun shine of a girl Haven. 
So during the time Jonathan worked more and more I started to pray that God would open and door and window or even a crack in the wall for us to be together full time ( I was thinking Jonathan would find a new job) but the more I prayed the more I loved the idea of being on the road with Jonathan and the girls. Home schooling Haven and Grace and seeing America like never before. 


So we made the plunge in to it, be picked a job in Abilene Tx as our test run so make sure it was something we could do.. : ) A week of home school and me will the girls full time..


(Check out our next blog Abilene TX to see how it goes : )