That's the sound of a transmission when it blows up.
Yes – ours did.
Today.
Somewhere on the scenic route out of Texas. The backside of nowhere – or so it seemed.
Deserted Highway. Sheriff. AAA. Car towed!
It is late, I am exhausted. Our car is in service center, we are in a hotel in a pretty little town called Bonham in North Easternish Texas and I am going to bed.
Should update and fill you all in soon.
We specifically planned our trip to America to include this conference and had purchased tickets way back in February. Talk about stepping out in faith – we hadn't even got our airline tickets at that point.
This week we drove down to Dallas to attend the Rebelution Conference. The four hour drive went by in a flash as we all enjoyed the variety of scenery going south through Eastern Oklahoma and in to Texas. We listened to some great audio's including The Time machine while we traveled. It's neat hearing old classic story books in this way.
We can now add Texas to the growing list of states we have been to in America.
It also gave Jarred and I the opportunity to meet up again with some friends we had met in Atlanta last August. This was such a treat and we were very blessed by this visit.
The Rebelution Conference is put on by the Harris family, namely Alex and Brett Harris and their father Greg. Their brother Joel ran the praise and worship which was wonderful. Nice to see the shift in the substance of worship there.
The whole premise of this is to glorify God and to encourage today's youth to 'Do Hard Things". They talked about how in general today's society expects teens to be less than they should and can be. To expect them to party and be 'bad', just because they are teens. To waste their youth on mindless pursuits that will in no way enhance their adult life.
Then they worked through how youth could work against expectation and do the hard stuff to make these valuable years count. To put the responsibility back on to them, encouraging them to be above the norm. To make a difference in this world, and how not having the mentality of most teens of their generation is good for them.
As this is so near and dear to how we feel, we knew we would enjoy the conference, and traveling such a long way would be so worth it.
It was!
We all came away having learnt something. Both parents and youth!
The guests we took were very encouraged. One even commented about it being 'life changing". It can be such a step out in faith when you invite people to something so strong in it's focus.
'PTL' that they all found something of value in learning about how HE wants us to improve and to raise our standards even in the face of censure, and misunderstanding by those in the world around us. Even Christ faced that!
There was a contest to see who had come the furthest to the conference. Of course that was us. Chloe and Jarred were invited up on stage for this and were presented with some "Do Hard Things" t-shirts. This was a hoot for me to watch and they both handled the limelight very well. After all it was only a minute or two!
To learn more about the teaching, the conferences and about Brett and Alex, visit them at www.therebelution.com
The swim meet here was over three days. The children all swam really well, especially given that they have gone to a 50 meter pool and their times are supposed to be a bit slower. Several races saw personal best times which means they have improved in a big way.
The coach is from the right hemisphere….he was born in New Zealand and the kids are very much enjoying his coaching. The assistant coach is gorgeous too.
Jarred's photo made the front page of the sports section in the newspaper and both he and Cody made copy in the article below. This was such a surprise…we turned up at the meet early on the morning of day two and everyone was coming up saying "congrats at the photo" and "have you seen the paper?" and such things.
It was very cool!
Jarred was in the pool warming up and oblivious to the whole thing.
Needless to say we went out and bought the newspaper.
Here is a little taste of the weekend.
I'll post more on it all later.
This week has been one of getting into a routine and back into the swim training for the children.
The team is a good size and varied ages, including some older boys and girls which is a nice change from usual. The pool is outdoors, 50 meters long and over 10 lanes wide.
It took a couple of days for the children to feel comfortable with the length but they have settled in nicely. This weekend they will compete in a meet here which should be quite interesting. There are 371 swimmers due to attend. With races on Friday night, then time trials on the Saturday and Sunday mornings with finals in the late afternoon and evenings.
The car is running nicely. In fact it is so nice I don't think I will want to go home after this trip and give up driving and the car. I am thinking perhaps it is big enough to live in…perhaps we'll have to sort out a bathroom!!
Just kidding!
The weather here has been amazing. Hot, then cold, tornado warnings, storms with thunder and lightning. The swim coach had a tree fall on his roof. Then we tried to drive down another road and there was a tree across it…with power lines down. So of course I took some photo's before backing up and turning around. The area was without power for a lot of the day too.
Photo to be placed here. ( when I down-load it from the camera)
I am yet to see a tornado….but I can keep hoping. 
A lot of time spent on the internet and looking at Auto Trader had given us a fair idea of what we wanted to purchase and how much we could reasonably expect to get it for.
Lots of ringing around, a visit to a car yard by a friend in another state (within a couple of hours drive) and lots more discussion ended up with me buying our new used car fairly close by.
I drove out with another friend to have a look at 2 cars in one yard. Settled on one but decided to go away and pray about it. Went back today, drove it again and checked it out a bit further.
Came away with a car!
Simple you say!
Nope.
Not for someone who really has not had much of the driving time in a car for over 9 years. However I am enjoying this one and loving the space it has. The process was a good confidence builder for me again.
Ok – for those who want all the "male details".
2001 Suburban. It's the extra long wheel base model, so all our luggage fits. We are planning a lot of miles in it including going into Canada so we wanted the space, the height and the comfort of a bigger vehicle.
Lots of bells and whistles.
The cruise control is fab! The munchkins think it is funny that I can drive without my foot on the pedals.
5.3 ltr / 327 Small Block engine.
130 litre tank – don't cringe – the price of petrol (gas) here is still under $1 a litre. For highway driving which is mostly what we will be doing around here I am told it will get between 17 and 20 mile per gallon. ( You can convert that for yourselves if you like). Time will tell if this proves to be correct.
It is nice to drive. Comparable to how comfortable I used to be in my old silver ford falcon.
So without any further ado, here are a couple of photo's of our new ride.
Jarred opened his email today to a blog newsletter update from Alex and Brett Harris of The Rebelution. Imagine his surprise to find a photo of Chloe and himself on their blog.
Check it out here – http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2008/06/dallas-recap-and-photos/
In case you were wondering about, or recognizing the Harris name. Alex and Brett's older brother Josh Harris wrote "I Kissed Dating Goodbye".
We arrived in the USA via Heathrow and Dallas Fort Worth in Texas. The trip was uneventful except for Chloe being ill. We have never had that happen on a flight before and it appears to have been food poisoning. Possibly the hamour she had for dinner before we flew. I don't imagine she will eat that again before flying.
A good way to while away the time in Heathrow airport.
Chloe was still a little green here and struggling to eat!
Not so the others as you can see.
We did have a two hour delay in Heathrow due to a technical issue on the plane. It was there, just couldn't take off yet. We were very blessed to spend a large part of our 7 hour stopover with a missionary family on their way home from Nairobi for furlough. They were such a delight to share with and to learn from. Please keep the Doug Lee Family in your prayers. They are doing a mighty work out there!
We also flew over Greenland, amongst many other places. This was the one that had the children and me continually peering out the plane windows for what was coming up next to see. Snow capped peaks, glaciers and icebergs just to name a few. The photos do not do the view justice but should give some idea.
So now the search begins….off to find a car.
Tomorrow we leave for America.
Just taking a break from packing so thought I would jump on here and write some. Right now I am surrounded by washing from our Jeddah trip, suitcases and all the bits and pieces needed for a trip of a couple of months.
Not having had a real vacation (read more than 4 days out of Kingdom) for 18 months we are taking this opportunity to have a longish break.
105 days in fact.
Wayne joins us on the 8th of July and we will return about the 16th of September. The cost of flying to America is less than Australia and the accommodation, if you need a hotel room there, is so economical. It is crazy the amount it would cost us at home.
For instance I just booked a hotel room for the night we arrive as it is late. The room will sleep all five of us and we get a hot cooked breakfast in the morning….total cost $89. How amazing is that?
We have had various offers of accommodation in lots of places/states. The hospitality of our American friends is very heartwarming and such an example to me and they all seem to be the same way. Just a shame we can't offer it here – the visa issues is a little hard to get around.
Thanks so much you guys, or should that be Y'all – have to get the lingo right! You know who you are!! The fact you would want your crazy Aussie friends to stay is a blessing to us….and we know the time spent with you will be wonderful memory making! Just hope we can bless you as much sometime.
One place we have been invited is for the whole of Summer at my friend Connie's place in Oklahoma. It's right close by to where some tornado's touched down recently (though I understand where her home is situated is safe something about being on a hill) so we may even get lucky enough to see one or two.
The plan is to base ourselves there, and do a bit of traveling around. Trip itinerary TBA in a later post. When I can finalize it all.
After looking at car hire for that length of time we decide to purchase a vehicle as we can save a bundle of money. We may sell it when we leave or ship it out to here – just depends how much we like it!
Watch this space for more on the car – as the job falls to me.
So if there are no posts for a little while you'll know why. I am either traveling, jet lagged or out shopping for a car.
Yeehhhaaaa…I get to drive. I haven't done much of that for a looooonnnnnng time!
Be back soon.
The weekend was busy, emotional, hot, and humid.
Jarred was privileged to compete against some extremely talented swimmers including one we were told trained with the National Swim Squad. He did very well, gaining some good personal best times, placing for various medals including a couple of 2nd places.
Overall he came fourth place in the Nation!
4th Place Tropy.
This thing is about 9 inches tall and very heavy.
We are of course thrilled to bits. Coming from 14th place last year this is quite an achievement. It shows all his efforts in training and working hard towards this goal have really paid off.
Chloe and Shania also placed in some races with Shania getting a couple of medals and both got medals in the relays. Cody swam very well getting good personal best times in a lot of his races. In one of the largest age groups, often with three heats, it was tough going to even place. There were so many in that age group he didn't even get on a relay team, as they only take 8 from each region. He was very happy to even be competing at the Nationals, after not even qualifying for the regionals last year!
So that's it for training now for a little while. It will be nice to have the break and just swim for "fun" as they have been needing to do for some time.
This week has been somewhat strange.
There has been that feeling you get after a major event, but at the same time the anticipation is building for this weekend. The children have been tired but we have also tapered their training sessions back a bit and this has allowed some relief. Both mental and physical.
Jarred has even been sleeping in the afternoons. Cody and Shania are also having a growth spurt. This means more food..like they don't eat enough already!
We are busy packing and I can't get my head around packing for two trips at one time. One lot has to include food for a couple of days as well as all the paraphernalia you need for a two day swim meet. Perhaps I shall leave the other lot of packing till Saturday after we get back from the Nationals.
We then leave on Monday afternoon for America. So at least I have a couple of days to prepare. It's just I like to be packed a week ahead or so and not leave it to the last minute. We have been putting clothes and bits and pieces aside for the last week so really it should just be organizing it all and putting it into cases.
In the meantime I have also spent the better part of 3 days going backwards and forwards between specialists, xrays, utrasounds and laboratory tests and the like trying to sort out a couple of health issues. I won't go into details…nothing life threatening etc. However would really appreciate prayer for patience and the ability to deal with the management that is required. Relief from the issues would be nice too!
So anyway…we would love to hear how YOU are!
Email us or leave a comment on the comment button just below here. It's been a while and we are wondering how YOU are!