It’s funny how every place we’ve stayed has a different “feel”… it seems like the Lord has new lessons each stop and the environments we are surrounded by often reflect what He is doing spiritually. So interesting!!! Each week has been different and had its own unique rhythm. I would describe this 2nd week at Jordanelle as very quiet and relaxing. We’ve been doing a lot of thinking and praying. I think there are a handful of reasons this week has been full of reflection and deep thinking:

• My Dad’s father passed away this week which of course has led us to spend lots of time praying and thinking
• Our 14th wedding anniversary was Tuesday!!! Wow we just can’t believe how good God has been to us and the love and special family He gifted us. Sniff sniff
• One of my best friends had a baby this week! And I can’t believe one of my “babies” is a teen!!!!!
• Most of our homeschool friends are starting their school year this week and we normally would be as well. This was always one of my fave times of year back at the house!
• We have been thinking a lot about Utah and how heartbreaking it is that less than 4% of the population here are Christians. It’s truly the state in the US where witnesses to the true gospel are most needed.

We’ve been spending a lot of time on the water, by the water, or at the playground with plenty of time to talk to the Lord. I have so many thoughts and encouragements I’d like to share on homeschooling, the importance of strong families, our too-fast culture, the negative affects of social media…but instead it feels like the Lord is asking me to keep them tucked closer for awhile.

So I will obey and stick to the recap 😊:

First – I forgot to share these pics from our first visit to the Olympic Training Center. Awesome views over Park City, huh!?

For our anniversary we enjoyed a dinner out at a local farm-to-table restaurant. You could tell all the ingredients were so fresh. I’m pretty sure it was the best steak I’ve ever had!

We loved the views of the horses and mountains:

And we took a scenic drive to the opposite side of Jordanelle to check out the views:

Something very funny about this location is that we don’t have sewer hook up which means we have to use very little water so we are using paper plates for the first time. But even with us using minimal water we still ran out of space in the tanks after a week so we had to do dishes in a bucket outside. The girls think it’s fun and they volunteer each time! I appreciate that so much haha because right away all I see is how tiring and inconvenient it would get real fast. This of course made me think of our beloved kiddos and their families in Uganda Tanzania and Ghana. What a gift and privilege clean water is and one of the many conveniences we take for granted in America.

The kiddos are enjoying taking a break from “school work” as in spelling math writing drills etc (oh yeah we moved on in school and are now in 2nd 4th and 8th grade haha woops I forgot to congratulate us and announce that hahaha). They are filling their extra time with even more reading! We can’t keep up with their reading appetites. They devour books like little nerd candies. They often times won’t stop reading until they absolutely have to:

We love being on the water — but it also makes us crave our NC water and beaches:

The solo paddles B and I get to take are some of our faves! But also – can’t somebody fly out here for a few hours so B & I can go on a paddle date together? 😊. Here’s B and the Lord one night:

There’s been lots of playground time! And the laundry is right next to the playground so there’s been lots of that too. The views are great so I don’t mind:

We went on perhaps our fave field trip ever this week!!! Mrs Cavenaugh’s Chocolate Factory! I wish we had this in NC – our friends would love this.

We learned all about chocolate and how it’s made from bean to mouth. So interesting! We even tried a chocolate nibble from the crunched bean before it’s processed and got to compare that to a chocolate chip. The unprocessed tasted like bitter dirt ha.

Something I tuned into was that the far majority of cocoa is grown on family-owned, relatively-small farms (like more than 90%) which is really incredible…but also comes with its own problems which the world cocoa foundation is addressing.

This factory tour reminded me so much of Curious George which was appropriate because we found Curious George’s everywhere. (Mr Cavenaugh’s name was George)! Do you see any?

The taste testing was definitely the fave part of the tour 🙂

Can you believe there’s one lady who uses her fingers to put the chocolate design on the top of the chocolates so they can be distinguished from each other? Very impressive! So all those lines and swirls on top were put their purposefully:

We enjoyed being able to put up a pin on their visitor map!

They did such a great job on this tour and making it fun and educational. We loved it! And loved their ice cream too. I wish they had these stores nationwide.

It was such a great day! The kids are starting to like having a rainy day every so often to give us an excuse to field trip and find a thrift store for new books! 🙂

We have a few more adventures to do here and then we’re headed north! We are so so so excited for Glacier and Yellowstone.

Please continue to pray for a) safe travels and no issues with Betty or Woody b) continued bonding between us 5 and us 5 and the Lord c) patience and peace as we seek what’s next but continue to hear the message to just enjoy the NOW!!!

Love and miss you all!