an update

Ivar and I made it to Mesa! It was a long flight, and Ivar stayed awake for all of it, but we were lucky to sit next to a first grader and her mom. They switched my seat when I arrived at the airport and put me in the back with three other babies! Four babies in the last two rows of the airplane. And they all did pretty well. Ivar was very excited to look out the window, excited to eat all of the treats I had packed and excited each time we hit turbulence. He thought it was some lap bouncing game I was playing. We head home tomorrow, and I hope it goes as smoothly. It is downright exhausting to be the mama sometimes.

The desert is beautiful and we've enjoyed our days here with mom and dad. I have some fun pictures to share.

And finally, a quick update on Mount Carmel. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! It was a great weekend and though I can't share anything for another month or so, I can share that I came home with a happy heart. And that felt so, so good. I stayed in Lodge Room 5, and when I got there I read through the guest book and found entries from Grandma B from 2001, 2002 and 2008. Handwriting is powerful, but her voice in her writing was overwhelming. This picture turned out so dark, but it reads:

"A little bit of heaven on earth: Mount Carmel." This is my 50th year at Mt. Carmel. Mt Carmel raised our seven children and I maintain- bring your family here one week of the year and they will be Children of God. Ready to do His will- serve Him wherever they are- whatever vocation they chose. I thank all the staff for their love and care. This year we have many here from other countries. Thank you. Velma Bredberg.

I read this just before I stepped into my first meeting of the weekend and felt so grounded, surrounded, empowered and strong. And as God does, he faithfully filled every moment of our time together and guided our hearts, united our vision and made clear the decisions to be made. He's always faithful.