White Christmas

Well, we made it to Colorado and back safely! Wish we could have stayed there, but we have to get married first then we are moving back :) We were able to get all our furniture there in one piece (thanks to my parents). We headed out at about 4:30am on December 21st for camp "Id-Ra-Ha-Je" just past Somerset, CO. My dad set up his truck so that it would fit all the furniture in the bed of the truck. He built wood sides and put a tarp on the top. As we started driving on the freeway the tarp started blowing like crazy everywhere. Wess and I were driving behind them in our little Honda CRV watching the tarp pick up the wind like a hot air baloon. We had to stop quite a few times with my parents for that crazy tarp 'til we drove off in front of them determined to make it to our destination in one day (15 hours or so of driving through about 5 states). My parents made it to Grand Junction, CO at about 8:30pm when we made it to the camp (they were about 3 hours behind us). It was a clear sunny drive the whole day. I had never seen so much snow in my life - there was about 8 hours of it accross 4 states! It was amazingly beautiful! It was like God had laid a blanket on the United States. The next day on Dec. 22nd my parents started making there way up to the camp right when more snow started falling. The storm had hit that night and continued on throughout the whole day. As my parents were pulling in my car found itself in a ditch (which is a very long story). It took about 4 or 5 hours to get my car out of the snowy ditch... my mom and I were praying that someone would come and help because Jeff and Ethan (two guys from the camp) had gone into town. After we prayed we looked up and two people with their dogs were walking our way from a distance. They were defenitely a gift from God. They tried pulling my car out with their truck, but it kept slipping. They told us we could just go to the neighbors house accross the way and they could probably help. So they went over there to ask and the neighbors said they were getting ready to come out and help us (praise the Lord). They came out with a big snow tractor and pulled the car right out in a couple minutes. The people of Colorado are so friendly and always willing to help (We can't wait to meet them all). After we were freezing ourselves in the snow we sat ourselves next to the fire to thaw out before my dad and Wess had to go back out to put our furniture in our new home (while it is still snowing). My mom and I just stayed inside where it was nice and warm with Jennie (Jeff's wife). We were blessed that night with a warm pot roast dinner that Jennie had made. The next morning Dec. 23rd all the guys were up plowing the snow (if you don't keep up with the snow fall everything will eventually be piled under it). My mom and I played with Andrew and Jeremiah (Jeff and Jennie's boys) in the snow; building a ramp for their snow sled. Later after lunch Wess and I went in to town (about 40 minutes out) to pick up ingredients for chili and cornbread (YUM!). We were back just in time for it to be made (thank you mom) and while it was being made I spent some time with Jennie. Wess and I are going out there to live to help them out because we know it is what God has called us to do. While talking with Jennie I realized how God has a perfect plan and He has prepared my heart and has given us all a like-mind. There will be a new semester of students coming in January and we are all on the same page with the same vision. God is so good and we can't wait to see what He does out there in Colorado. The next day, Christmas Eve, we were planning on leaving (praise the Lord it stopped snowing the night before) at about 6am to get home to California. It was below zero degrees outside and my dads truck could not start because it was so cold. We waited about an hour for the engine to warm up with a heater and the car finally started. The roads were icy, wet and it started to snow/rain once we started driving through Utah. We defenitely got a feel of all types of weather this trip, but we got the furniture there :) We made it to California safely on Christmas day just in time for Christmas dinner and fellowship with the family. Please pray for this next semester of students. Pray for Jeff Christianson, he is dealing with an illness, but we know that God has a perfect plan through it. Pray for Wess and I, now that we are mentally prepared, pray that we would be physically, spiritually, and financially prepared. Keep in touch with us as this new journey unfolds.